Up Against (Paying For) The Wall

After 19 days (as of 1/9/2019), the government of the United States is still in shutdown mode.  Landmarks are closed and thousands of people are either working without pay, calling in sick or staying home because President Donald Trump and the new Democratic Congressional leadership can't (or won't) find a way to fund the government.  Not without also paying for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, which no one else seems to want and Mexico refuses to pay for.

But the President doesn't seem to care what you, I or the Democrats (who now control the House of Representatives) want.  He told his loyal base back in the 2016 campaign that he wants that wall built and, by God, he's going to get it.  Even if it takes a national emergency to pay for it and let the military do the work.

In his oft-ridiculed Oval Office speech Tuesday night, Trump described what's happening these days at the border as a "humanitarian crisis", citing "caravans" of drug smugglers, violent gangs and terrorists coming from all over Central America to do us harm.  He didn't mention the tear-gassing of civilians frantically trying to cross the border, nor did he mention all those reports of children locked in cages.  If that's not a "humanitarian crisis", what is?

Only a big, huge wall can shield us from those thugs, Trump and other Republicans have been telling us.  That sounds reassuring, until you think of the many ways walls can be circumvented.  As the bad guys and other desperate people have already figured out, you can get around, fly over or crawl underneath walls.  The Great Wall of China, the Maginot Line, the Berlin Wall and other structures designed to keep invaders out and their own citizens in all failed for that reason.

There are other benefits for the President to keep holding his breath until his face turns blue.  It's to take media attention away from the incoming Democratic majority in the House, including the return of Nancy Pelosi of California as Speaker, and newcomers such as Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of New York aka The Dancing Congresswoman.  Also, there's Trump's ongoing legal troubles as more and more of his cronies are indicted for colluding with the Russians during the 2016 election.  And the shutdown also mutes all talk of impeachment, at least for now.

Notice we haven't said a word since the first paragraph about all those federal employees who suddenly face an uncertain future with the shutdown.  Neither did Trump in his speech, though he has said the dispute could be settled in one day or one year.  On Wednesday, he stormed out of a meeting with Democrats Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York with nothing being settled.

This whole mess can be resolved by agreeing to spend more money on better border security.  If President Trump wants a wall so badly, he can go build one to guard Mar-a-Lago.  Stop acting like a child and get those people back to work.