An Immoral Wall?

By

Old Gadfly

As of today, nonessential portions of the federal government have been shut down for 19 days.  Tomorrow, thousands of these individuals will not be paid.  Some have already applied for unemployment benefits.  Why is this happening?

President Trump has not agreed to sign an appropriations bill that would provide funding for the federal government because it does not include $5.7 billion for a wall at our southern border.  This is one of the campaign promises that led to his election.  New Speaker of the House Pelosi calls this promise immoral.

Yesterday, President Trump met with Congressional leaders to negotiate a deal.  After about 20 minutes, the President asked the new Speaker of the House if she would agree to funding the wall if he approved government funding, and she said no.  At this point, he stood up, said "we're done here," and walked out.  Leaving the White House, Democrat leaders immediately addressed reporters describing this part of the meeting as a tantrum: "the President slapped the table and stormed out."  This tactic was recently described by Speaker Pelosi as a "wrap-up smear" that Republicans employ, which is itself a "wrap-up smear" because there is little to no evidence of Republicans using this tactic especially in light of a mainstream media that is ideologically aligned with the left.  Republicans in attendance said the President never raised his voice, slapped the table, or "stormed out."  Yet, "stormed out" is the language used on the front page of today's The New York Times.  Shepard Smith even used that expression at Fox News. 

The night before, even before the President’s Oval Office address, many of the news outlets were cautioning those who were prepared to tune-in about all the lies to be told and that fact checkers were already prepared to point out the lies.  Should we be concerned?  Douglas Hyde, a Brit and author of I Believed, described his conversion from a believing Christian to a militant, atheistic Marxist (Communist).  Here is how he reflected upon the Communist movement riots, strikes, and other violent forms of protest:

And then?  The end of capitalism and the end of all crises, all unemployment.

After all, there was evidence which appeared to support this argument for the communist and left-wing Press was daily proclaiming the liquidation of unemployment in the Soviet Union.  And if the opposition Press said that Russian unemployment was concealed by the millions in forced labour camps, why, that, we knew was just bourgeois propaganda and, as such, suspect.  Was it really to be wondered at if a generation which had grown up in the din and strife of modern propaganda rejected all that which came from official and “respectable” sources and accepted only what fitted in with what it wanted to believe?  There was a certain “kick” to be had out of rejecting all that came from the most respectable quarters and accepting all that came from those who were most abused and distrusted (pp. 35-36; published by The Reprint Society of London, 1952).

Earlier today, a good friend forwarded a video clip of Charlie Kirk, of USA Turning Point, responding to a question about the border wall from an attendee at one of his public appearances.  The implication in the question is that those who argue for the wall provide no evidence or logic.  Unfortunately, the young man asking the question, like so many in America, is at the mercy of the “wrap-up smear” that dominates most of the news networks.  Kirk answered the question with facts and explained the importance of fairness and sovereignty as they relate to border security.

Thousands of Americans lost their jobs just before Christmas when General Motors closed three plants.  They weren’t furloughed like today’s federal employees.  General Motors jobs are gone.  The real crime here, however, is that General Motors’ plant closures came after a $10 billion bailout from the American taxpayer.

On border security, Americans are hoping for compromise.  For Democrats, compromise is really capitulation:  win-lose, or lose-lose.  Win-win or no deal are not acceptable options. 

My prediction is that Democrats will double down and force President Trump to invoke his Constitutional responsibility to protect our nation by declaring a national emergency.  Democrats already have a bench of prepositioned federal judges to block any action by the President.  Meanwhile, “catch and release” for illegal aliens crossing the southern border will continue and collateral damage (low skill job competition, crime, and federal subsidies paid for by American taxpayers) outside the Washington D.C. swamp will accumulate.  The Democrat-controlled House will crank up the heat by re-energizing the Russian-collusion meme even though there is no indication that special prosecutor Mueller and his team succeeded in uncovering any criminal activity here.  There will be plenty of “wrap-up smear” to be employed, just as Douglas Hyde realized during his own seduction by the militant left.

This is the new America: the “transformed” America promised by a previous occupant of the White House.  Shall we get used to being called “comrade”?  The alternative could be decapitation and not knowing we are bleeding.  These are not nice people.  Several associates of President Trump are experiencing the wrath of a political party that refuses to accept the presidential election results.  I guess to Democrats, these political targets are just road kill, as opposed to mere “speed bumps,” (the former White House occupant’s label for the four Americans killed at Benghazi) on their way to power.