A WALL FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP

It is not very often that President Trump’s wishes align with the wishes of liberal-minded people like me, but when they do it bears noting and taking time to consider the possibilities generated by that alignment.  President Trump wishes to live behind a 30-foot high wall and he wants people other than himself (preferably Mexican citizens) to pay for it.  Occasionally, the President has even suggested that the wall be topped with barbed wire (to prevent would-be rapists and criminals from crossing it) and again, his wishes align with the wishes of liberal-minded people like me.  That might seem a bit unusual, even foolhardy to suggest, but really, it’s not!  According to a survey of Americans conducted across the political spectrum in late 2016, almost sixty-six million Americans agreed with the need for President Trump to get a wall, and many were liberal Democrats like me who thought that America needed all the protection it could get.  Yeah, that’s YUGE!

There has been much discussion over the past two years regarding the kind of wall that would satisfy the President’s demands.  In fact, eight prototypes have already been erected near the Otay Mesa port of entry in San Diego, California, just across the border from Tijuana, Mexico.  If you Google “wall prototype images” you can take a look at them yourself.  If you ask me, those prototypes are aesthetically bland and fall short of the standards befitting a President like Trump.  First of all, none of them are gilded in gold, so that’s disappointing.  Next, the all-cement versions look like an open invitation to graffiti artists on both sides of the border, and the last thing we need are graffiti artists messing with the border’s natural beauty.  The vertical slat prototypes are similarly underwhelming.  They remind me of the cheap vertical blinds that beach-front condo owners regularly install.  Blinds like that have a habit of breaking whenever something bumps against them.  I worry that a similar kind of wall at the border would allow drug cartels to slip their products through the slats with ease, and emaciated children from Central America could slip through, too.  Both would provide bad optics for the President.

And it’s not like there aren’t better wall options available.  Officials in Florence, Colorado have already built a prototype wall that fits all the elements demanded by President Trump.  It’s big and it’s beautiful, and while it meets the height and protection requirements that Trump envisions, including barbed wire, its biggest selling point is that a person can actually look through the wall and gaze upon the majestic snow-covered peaks of the Rocky Mountains.  It’s the kind of view folks kill for. 

Many of my liberal brethren were initially skeptical of Trump’s campaign promise that Mexicans would pay for a wall, especially when the Mexican President at the time said, “That ain’t happening!” (only in Spanish)  Even today, many liberals question why President Trump had to shut down the US government over a demand for a $5 billion dollar wall down-payment from Congress, when the money was supposed to come from Mexico.  Shouldn’t Trump be shutting down Mexico’s government instead?  I admit there’s a certain logic to that way of thinking, but many of my liberal brethren simply do not get the fact that President Trump doesn’t need logic or critical analysis to justify his decisions.  His gut suits him just fine!

FOX news has reported that a GoFundMe campaign for the President’s wall has already raised $17 million dollars, which might sound like a lot of money, but that’s just a drop-in-a-bucket given the $18 billion dollar price tag that President Trump’s wall carries.  That amount also pales in comparison to what we liberals would raise to make the President’s wish to live behind a wall come true, if only he would log off Twitter long enough to act presidential and recognize that he’s got more in common with Big Mack-eating liberals than he realizes. 

President Trump has also been critical of Democratic opposition in Congress to a wall being built, but I think the President is overlooking the forest for the trees.  Millions of liberal Democrats like me support a wall for Trump.  I have personally spoken to eleven of my like-minded peers and we are of the unanimous conviction that President Trump should get the wall he deserves.  In fact, all of us would volunteer to start digging the foundation if Congress would finally get off its butt and make it happen!