The President's New Wall

One day, two fellows calling themselves builders came to town. They said that they knew how to mason brick of the most beautiful colors and patterns. The wall made from these wonderful bricks would be invisible to everyone who was unfit for the job he held, or who was very simple in character.

This must, indeed, be a splendid wall!” thought the President. “If I had such a barrier, I might at once find out what men in my kingdom are unfit for their job. I would be able to tell the wise men from the foolish! This wall must be built for me immediately.” He gave $5 billion dollars to both the builders in order that they might begin their work at once.

They worked very busily, though in reality they did nothing at all. They asked for the finest cement and the purest gold bricks. They put both into their own knapsacks. Then they pretended to work on the empty terrain until late at night.

“I should like to know how the builders are getting on with my wall,” said the President to himself one day. When he remembered that a simpleton, or one unfit for his job would be unable to see the wall he began to worry. To be sure, he thought he was safe. However, he would prefer sending somebody else to bring him news about the builders, and their work. All the people in the country had heard of the wonderful wall. All were eager to learn how wise or how foolish their neighbors might be.

“I will send my faithful old wise man to the builders,” said the President at last. “He will be best able to see how the wall looks. He is a man of sense. No one can be better for his job than he is.”

So the faithful old wise man went to Texas where the builders were working with all their might at the empty site. “What can be the meaning of this?” thought the old man, opening his eyes very wide. “I cannot find a single brick.” However, he did not say his thoughts aloud.

“Is it possible that I am a fool? I have never thought so myself. No one must know it now if I am so. Can it be, that I am unfit for my job? No, the President must not know that either. I will never tell that I could not see the wall.”

“Well, Sir!” said one of the builders still pretending to work. “You do not say whether the wall pleases you.”

“Oh, it is excellent!” replied the old wise man, looking at the empty ground through his spectacles. “This pattern, and the colors, yes, I will tell the President without delay, how very beautiful I think it.

And so he praised the wall he could not see. He declared that he was happy with both colors and patterns. “Indeed, his excellency,” he said to the President when he returned. “The wall which the builders are preparing is extraordinarily magnificent.”

The whole city was talking of the splendid structure, which the President had ordered to be built.

Finally, the President himself wished to see the costly wall.. He took many Congressmen of his Party. As soon as the builders saw the President approach, they went on working faster than ever although they still did not place a single brick.

“How is this?” said the President to himself. “I can see nothing! This is indeed a terrible affair! Am I a simpleton, or am I unfit to be President? That would be the worst thing that could happen—Oh! The wall is charming,” said he, aloud. “I approve of it completely.” He smiled most graciously and looked closely at the empty ground. No way would he say that he could not see what two of his advisors had praised so much. Everyone with the Emperor now strained his or her eyes hoping to discover something on the ground, but they could see no more than the others.

Nevertheless, they all exclaimed, “Oh, how beautiful!” Everyone was very cheerful. The President was pleased. The thieves sat up the whole of the night before the day on which the parade was to take place. They had sixteen lights burning, so that everyone might see how anxious they were to finish the President's new wall. “See!” cried they, at last.

“The President’s new wall is ready!”

The President, with all his Cabinet, came to the builders. The thieves raised their hand, as if pointing at something. “Here is your wall! Here is the baseboard! Here is the lintel!

How splendid the President looks next to his new wall, and how well it works!” everyone cried out. “What a design! What colors! This is indeed a Republican barrier!”

“I am quite ready,” said the Emperor. He appeared to be examining his beautiful wall.

The President walked under his high canopy in the midst of the procession, through the streets of Texas. All the people standing by, and those at the windows, cried out, “Oh! How beautiful is our President's new wall! What a magnificent baseboard there is to the structure; and how gracefully the lintel hangs!” No one would admit this much admired wall could not be seen because, in doing so, he would have been saying he was either a simpleton or unfit for his job.

But there is nothing there!” said a little child. “Listen to the voice of the child!” exclaimed his father. What the child had said was whispered from one to another. “But there is no wall!” at last cried out all the people. The President was upset, for he knew that the people were right. However, he thought the procession must go on now! The Senators took greater pains than ever, to appear to see a wall, although, in reality, there was nothing there and the President walked on next to an empty lot.

Inspired by (and with apologies to) Hans-Christen-Anderson

 

Point being

 

I call it Nu-Wall

Takes elements of Nu-Metal and Post Hardcore and bundles them up in a neat little populist package.

Some pedantic music enthusiasts think Nu-Wall is too close to 60s era Nu-Math or 90s era Nu-Coke, but I think it stands on its own as a genre, in large part due to the erraric off beat frequently used by leading bands like God Emperor Trump and the Illegals, 5 Star Salvini, and Bolsonaro and the Heartbreakers.

 

Point is that Trump supporters suffer from a condition known as Pluralistic Ignorance. Mind you, not only in what pertains to the wall. That is just one symptomatic manifestation of many.

 

The Times reports, "President Trump declared a national emergency at the border on Friday to access billions of dollars to build a border wall that Congress refused to give him, transforming a highly charged policy dispute into a fundamental confrontation over separation of powers.

"In a televised announcement in the Rose Garden, Mr. Trump said he would sign the declaration to protect the country from the flow of drugs, criminals and illegal immigrants coming across the border from Mexico, which he characterized as a profound threat to national security."

In the first place, Trump has this moronic idea that a border wall will stop criminals and drugs from entering our country. He mistakenly associates various crimes by illegal aliens to a border wall. Notice how he avoids mentioning the wall. “We’re going to confront the national security crisis on our southern border and we’re going to do it one way or the other. It’s an invasion. We have an invasion of drugs and criminals coming into our country. We don't control our own border. We're going to confront the national security crisis on our southern border and we're going to do it -- one way or the other we have to do it.”

"IT!" He knows his wall is stupid and ineffectual, and he avoids using the term. The majority of drugs come through ports of entry, and his wall will not even slow down criminals from entering our country. He wants the wall because he made an outrageous campaign promise that is already broken. Mexico is not going to pay for any wall. Unfortunately, 60 million Americans have forgotten that fact, somehow think Trump's wall will stop crime, and support his medieval wall instead of 21st Century methods that will do a better job at less cost.

In the second place, either intentionally or inadvertently, Trump is acting like a Russian agent. Putin's dream is to weaken the American government and throw it into chaos.

In December, contrary to the wishes of his own party, Trump proudly shut down the government over his border wall. It was the longest shutdown in American history. Now he is challenging the Separation of Powers concept contained in our Constitution, once again in opposition to his own party along with the Democrats. Congress appropriates funds. Trump wants to challenge Congress and go around the legislative branch.

In other words, Trump, all on his own, is creating a Constitutional crisis. Putin has to be smiling. He could not be more pleased with what Trump is doing.

Either by accident or by design or through sheer stupidity, Trump is acting like an agent for the Russian Federation. I do not understand how Americans who represent his fan base can support him on this. What in the world is their rationale?

Or, are they ignoring reality? Again?

 

None. LOL.

 

Jeff Greenfield of Politico writes, "It is now clear that, consciously or not, Trump was delivering a warning to the Republican Party about what he was going to do to it. Two years into his administration, Trump has recognized that the institutional power of the Republican Party has all the effectiveness of the Maginot Line. He can ignore its leaders, scorn them, or just smash through them with no lasting political damage.

"That’s why, on the national emergency, Trump is about to win again. Republican officeholders like Maine’s Susan Collins will surely reach for the thesaurus to find appropriate adjectives (“troubling,” “disturbing,” “unsettling”). The naysayers will look over their shoulders at a party base that stands solidly behind the president. And when the rubble clears, Trump will still be standing, and another key element of the catechism—this time, limited constitutional government with a separation of powers that was outlined by James Madison and other framers—will be in ruins."

It is true prominent Republican leaders like Senators Lamar Alexander, Marco Rubio, Susan Collins, and Rand Paul have made their obligatory dissenting remarks, including "tsk, tsk," then they will quietly agree with Trump and to hell with our Constitution and that Separation of Powers thing everyone is talking about.

Trump's fans will simply ignore the issue and go on cheering Trump. They could care less about the Constitution and the terrible precedent that would be set if Trump is successful. Imagine President Ocassio-Cortez declaring a global warming or gun control national emergency. They will not think about that. Avoidance of issues is their main weapon.

Trump's fans and Republican leaders in Congress can't get it in their heads that Trump's wall and his immigration issues are a losing proposition. That is all Trump talked about at rallies leading up to the 2018 elections. The GOP lost 40 seats and control of the House. Despite a 26 to 9 advantage, they barely hung onto the Senate. They lost several state houses and state legislatures.

Go figure.

 

Consider a border crisis has been developing slowly
and reacted like the proverbial frog in a pan
of water, slowly brought to boiling.

Trump is NOT that frog!



Secure borders, similar to food production are national security issues
we don't think about much.
What part do I have incorrect?


Moi

Support the Two Wall Solution.
Across an immense, unguarded, ethereal border, Canadians, cool and unsympathetic,
regard our America with envious eyes and slowly and surely draw their plans against us. ​

 

Its really shitty when a candidate is elected on promises and actually goes to the mat trying to make them a reality.
Too bad you alt-lefties don't understand the importance of that action.

 

I'm marginally intelligent (so I've been told) yet I can't decipher what you are saying....? (is it a riddle? )

Alright, I get it 'Moi' but I don't think that we can lay the blame at Trump's feet. He passed a horrendous budget bill last year "caught between a rock & military spending'.. OK whatever. If we get through the 9th circuit courts & past SCOTUS & 8 Billion or more gets spent --> 'erected in ramrod steel' Thank God!

 

I am saying a border problem has just been increasing very slowly over decades.

<end thought, digest>
​

Sadly when Reagan issued his amnesty, dealing with the border was not part of it.

<end thought, digest>​

As the border problem steadily increased, Clinton, Bush, Jr., Obama took no notice of worth.
Now Trump has.

<end thought, digest> ​

<summary thought>​

It isn't Trump's fault he recognizes what seems so obvious to Moi.
The fault lies with RepubloCrats, Clinton, Bush, Jr. , Obama who took no action.

@Sahba*
Now that should be plain enough even for a



For a good time, ref.: Smart Wall. Sadly no wiki page, yet.

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/P...e-plus-wall-best-option-for-Mex-border-479864

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/14/democrats-wall-border-trump-security



Please do not replicate the frog in a pan of slowly warming to boil.

 

How many times do you have to be told his campaign promise is already busted. Mexico is not paying for the wall!

Maybe if I say it twice.

Mexico is not paying for the wall!

That was his campaign promise.

Also as is your custom, you avoided everything I said. Why do you support Trump? You can't say anything good about him. Instead, you ignore him.

But that is alright. You are no better and no worse than other Trump fans. They all ignore reality, too. It's pretty pathetic. Vote for a man for President and they can't even defend him.

 

Can you decipher what I am saying? Posts 5 & 7. Trump's fans aren't talking.

 

Could be Trump plans to get it out of Mexico
in ways other than direct payment.

Can you imagine a few?


Moi

​

 

But Mexico is paying for it. That was a promise as well.

 

He never should have said Mexico would pay for it. That was a mis-step.

 

Who is perfect?

Besides, Moi


Can you think of ways the businessmeister
could make Mexico pay for it?
@Vegas giants too. The above. No to magic.

 

He will use........magic. lol

 

That is a biggie. As in Ukraine and elsewhere, what Putin does is create chaos and shape it into what he wants. If he is very successful in creating chaos here, there is no telling what he might accomplish in the aftermath. At the very least, it would be the end of US hegemony, which is already weakening significantly under this Moscow Asset Governing America.

As for why Americans support MAGA, well, they're deeply invested into the alt-right that MAGA took and made his own when he ran for president. You might as well be asking why people stay in a cult, because that is what is MAGA cultivates, a cult of personality, just as such figures as Kim Jong Un, Chairman Mao, Lenin and Stalin, and of course Hitler did in their times and places. This is a common and repeating dynamic, the breakdown of an existing social and political order by a combination of angry, disaffected citizenry and the charismatic, narcissistic con men who rise up to lead them as populists. Such a figure is obviously also useful to one who knows how to manipulate them, and Putin has been manipulating such foreign heads of state for years, as he is doing now with Assad and Maduro.

I'm sure Putin will continue to try and sow chaos here after MAGA is finally gone. Perhaps he will immediately find another, more competent ally to use and manipulate, or perhaps he will just try to keep dividing us and breaking down our system. That alone would open up untold opportunity for inflitration and exploitation. If it all goes far enough, he could probably send his Green Men to Alaska and annex it one day. I'll bet he dreams of doing just that.

 

Is it over yet?

 

explanations are like the movie version of a great book...

 

The wall, the "criminals", "drugs" entering across the boarder outside designated points of entry, the "Islamist terrorists" that Trump announced were coming in the caravan.... all those things are "the importance of tht action".

They all have one thing in common: they don't exist! Lefties see that The Emperor has no clothes. But Trump fanatics are dazzled by the "beautiful colors and patterns"

 

That is exactly the moral of the story on the OP. Trump and his supporters "see" the non-existent wall, the non-existent Islamist terrorist in the Caravan, the violent crimes that are so rare among these refugees, the drugs that they were supposed to be trying to smuggle where there is no point of entry....

But they don't exist. Just like the "wall" doesn't exist. Just like the Emperor's new clothes don't exist. And yet, you claim seeing them because you repeat what your leader says.

 

No, I did not claim he needed to perfect, just that he made a mis-step. The average voter and/or media jackal is not smart enough to deduce the nuanced argument you are advancing. "Pay for it" means "write a check."

Besides, we should be sending ZERO aid to Mexico to begin with. They are a very wealthy nation with very poor people. They need to expel the plutocrats and take back their mineral wealth. They don't need our damn foreign aid.

 

He's groveling in front of Nana Pelousy. That whole episode was just plain distasteful. Frankly -- and to his credit he admitted this -- he missed the opportunity to get everything done when the congress was more favorable to his agenda. But promising he was going to "get Mexico to pay" was a mis-step.

That said, we don't need a wall. Never have. All we need do is enforce the laws we already have written. And we need to fix the 14th Amendment and reserve all public acts and benefits for citizens and lawful permanent residents. You get hit by a bus crossing the San Diego Freeway in the dead of night? Too bad, so sad, tell us where to send the corpse... because unless you can pay you get not medical treatment.

Unbelievable that we had to put up signs like these ON THE ****ING FREEWAY...



And you get no free school, no free college, no driver licenses, no nothing. Go home. Get in line. Maybe we'll let you back in if you actually ASK. But if I'm in charge, you get a nice lifetime ban if you've already been deported.

My problem with the wall is the less informed will cheer and applaud when it is really just a distraction from the real issue that being the magnet that draws them here, starting with under the table employment and the unscrupulous employers (who are literally traitors). For all the progress he's made wrt the border, I haven't once heard the president talk about workplace enforcement or any of the bennies these people are stealing from me and you and all our taxpaying fellow citizens.