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The Wall Is a Symbol of Donald Trump’s Neediness Seldom has a president’s ego required so much shoring up. There’s not enough concrete in creation for that job. By Frank Bruni Jan. 8, 2019 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/08/opinion/trump-speech-border-wall.html?em_pos=small&emc=edit_ty_20190109&nl=opinion-today&nl_art=2&nlid=87544576emc%3Dedit_ty_20190109&ref=headline&te=1 Reaction from the Daily Beast WEST WING STINKER Donald Trump Delivers a Wet Fart Oval Office Address The president can’t get his wall. So like a shitty salesman, he’s now trying to pitch you on something else. Rick Wilson 01.08.19 https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-delivers-a-wet-fart-oval-office-address?fbclid=IwAR3cgV9kTLOf9Ov5lY3jHmLTec-mW6dR8QKFw4pJ5CxbmVclyUWV6VsUzA0 Trump looked exhausted, squinty, and bored, reading in a near-monotone from the Teleprompter. It went over like a wet fart. He said it tonight; the idea of a glorious concrete wall from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico is deader than that lemur he glues on his head every morning. [My opinion: At least, now we have seen that the guy can read ... just barely, and from his voice tone I'd conclude, with little comprehension.] Rashida Tlaib said "Impeach the motherfucker" and all the Repubs ran to protect their mothers. The real national emergency is the threat of Trump’s collapse By Greg Sargent Opinion writer January 8, 2019 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/01/08/real-national-emergency-is-threat-trumps-collapse/?utm_term=.95d2f8ea731f Because there isn’t any real national security emergency at the border and the rest of the political system won’t play along, Trump must invent one, because both the existence of such a crisis and Trump’s ability to “solve” it (which he may be able to act out only through executive overreach) are foundational to Trumpism. The collapse of these foundational myths is the real looming emergency. Your fact-checking cheat sheet for Trump’s immigration address https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/01/08/your-fact-checking-cheat-sheet-trumps-immigration-address/?utm_term=.3cedca50f97c The situation along our southern border is a national crisis. By any available measure, there is no new crisis at the border. The wall will be paid for by the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal. This is a Four-Pinocchio claim. I have already started building the wall. No, Trump has not started building the wall. Congress only appropriated money for bollard fencing, replacement fencing or secondary fencing. The wall will be built by good old American steel companies that were practically out of business. Steel companies were not practically out of business. I never said it would be a concrete wall. Au contraire. Trump has said it repeatedly: On Dec. 31, he tweeted: “An all-concrete wall was NEVER ABANDONED.” The wall in Israel is 99.9 percent effective. Only one-tenth (33 miles) of the Israeli barrier with Palestinian territories is an eight-meter (25-foot) concrete wall. The other 90 percent is a two-meter (6-foot) high electronic fence. As for “99.9 percent,” these numbers are a fantasy. U.S. officials have blocked nearly 4,000 known or suspected terrorists from entering the country. DHS officials will concede that “most of these individuals are trying to enter the U.S. by air” According to the State Department, at the end of 2017, “there was no credible evidence indicating that international terrorist groups have established bases in Mexico, worked with Mexican drug cartels, or sent operatives via Mexico into the United States.” DHS data show that most individuals on the terrorist watch list — a different statistic than encounters with known or suspected terrorists — attempt to enter by air. Most of the 2,554 people on the terrorist watch list who were encountered by U.S. officials in 2017 tried to enter through airports (2,170) or by sea (49). 9 facts you should know about the border before Trump addresses the nation Sally Kohn, Opinion contributor Published 4:00 a.m. ET Jan. 8, 2019 https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/01/08/facts-donald-trumps-border-wall-address-nation-immigration-shutdown-column/2503981002/?fbclid=IwAR2TXGBARPXi7zXVrqfTClUmFk47-VWfCKRdl4URx9n7uTqwfgWn-LYxEGo It would be nice if Donald Trump would stick to the facts in his address to the nation, but that's not likely. After all, Trump has been hyping fears about violence stemming from the United States/Mexico border since the early moments of his presidential campaign. In June 2015, for instance, he painted an ugly picture of Mexican migrants crossing the border. “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists,” Trump said. He has kept up his fearmongering about the border, but ramped it up in recent weeks as justification for his sudden decision to shutdown the federal government because neither Democrats nor Republicans in his own party will approve funding for Trump’s border wall. He has tweeted about “our VERY DANGEROUS SOUTHERN BORDER” and even threatened to declare a state of emergency to build the wall that he insists is not only needed but is also needed now more than ever. Trump is simply, on these and related points, incorrect. Here are the key facts: ►Illegal border crossings are down. Significantly. ►The counties along the southern border are among the safest in the United States. ►Most undocumented immigrants don’t “sneak” across the border. ►The White House is lying about terrorists crossing the southern border. ►Migrant caravans aren’t “sneaking” across the border, either. ►Drugs entering the USA across the southern border are most often hidden in legal shipments. ►Conservative political figures and think tanks think Trump’s wall is pointless. ►There are already 654 miles of border fencing. ►Americans do not support Trump’s wall. Nancy Pelosi said, “This is not a wall between Mexico and the United States that the president is creating here; it’s a wall between reality and his supporters. He doesn't want them to know what he's doing to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security in his budget proposal. He doesn't want them to know what he's doing to clean air and clean water and the EPA. He doesn't want them to know how he is hurting them, so he keeps the subject on the wall. Here is a good analysis of the Grifter's wall: How the Border Wall Is Boxing Trump In https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/05/us/politics/donald-trump-border-wall.html?emc=edit_th_190106&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=875445760106&fbclid=IwAR3xW_2jMnEfRvWdAPqcU0jmW_dgG7QYEltQa9YTbU8U0z0No8De7RTLav0 What started out as a memory trick for an undisciplined candidate has… run headlong into the realities of divided government The federal shutdown hinges on whether the United States should fund a large wall on its border with Mexico. While Trump has described the wall’s progress, not a single mile of an extended wall has been built so far. https://www.nytimes.com/.../01/05/us/border-wall.html... Here is an article that makes a strong case against a "Wall" from conservative think tanks, newspapers and other outlets. It is succinct, well written and fact based. To my Trump friends, take a minute to read it and ponder what smart conservative people have to say about a wall's effectiveness. What Happened When A Trump Supporter Challenged Me About the Wall Policy and Politics - what do you think?
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AuthorWith over seven decades of experience - feeling the hopes and disappointments of policies, seeing the idealism and disgust of politics - some of the things Bruce Joffe has learned in life may be wisdom, others may be delusion. ... You decide. Categories - select the topics that interest you
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