The Wall...Isn't Actually Getting Built?

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Re: The Wall...Isn't Actually Getting Built?

Postby Krashlia » Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:09 pm

Tesseracts wrote:This is the least surprising news of all time.


CALLED IT! I'M A WIZARD! I predict that sunglasses will win the lottery tomorrow!
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Re: The Wall...Isn't Actually Getting Built?

Postby Aquila89 » Thu Jan 18, 2018 7:05 pm

Chief of Staff John Kelly said on Wednesday that there won't be an actual physical wall through the border, when Trump promised that he was not "fully informed" and his views "evolved" since. Trump directly contradicted Kelly on the next day, claiming that he never changed his postion.
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Re: The Wall...Isn't Actually Getting Built?

Postby blehblah » Thu Jan 18, 2018 8:34 pm

Aquila89 wrote:Chief of Staff John Kelly said on Wednesday that there won't be an actual physical wall through the border, when Trump promised that he was not "fully informed" and his views "evolved" since. Trump directly contradicted Kelly on the next day, claiming that he never changed his postion.


Kelly and Tillerson will need to share a stiff drink after this administration. Trump does seem to enjoy contradicting his senior staff, who are trying to be moderate, or at least, somewhat realistic. Senior staff want to get things done (at least, the ones who appear to have a clue about how to go about doing so, and thereby set their public-facing targets/comments accordingly) while Trump wants to be the champion opposition voice, even within his own administration.

On second thought, forget the stiff drink - Kelly and Tillerson will need to brace for reconstructive dental surgeory to repair ground-down molars.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-mexi ... -1.4492716

Kelly said on Fox he told the caucus "they all say things during the course of campaigns that may or may not be fully informed." He said Trump has "very definitely changed his attitude" toward protecting the young immigrants, "and even the wall, once we briefed him."

"So he has evolved in the way he's looked at things," Kelly said. "Campaign to governing are two different things and this president has been very, very flexible in terms of what is within the realms of the possible."


There are two problems there. One, implying Trump understands the difference between governing and campaigning is, at best, problematic. Two, Trump cannot admit to changing his attitude based on new information, because the very idea is far too close to changing his mind, for longer than five seconds*, because he was wrong.

Vicente Fox, former Mexican president and frequent Trump critic, told CBC News on Thursday morning that it's another example of a president "trying to impose his will' in a democratic process.

"It's an absolute mess, the White House. Nobody can plan ahead, nobody can think what's coming," said Fox.

His comments echo concerns expressed by Democrats and even Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who have felt on more than one occasion that they were close to a deal on the about 800,000 people who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children, and could be deported without legal protections. Part of negotiators' problem has been uncertainty over what Trump would accept.


Actually, when it comes to the wall, Trump has been consistent; it has everything to do with campaigning. He will do anything, including holding DACA and NAFTA hostage - or shooting them in the head - to get his wall.

To a considerable degree, all politicians are constantly campaigning. Trump, though, truly has no off-button on selling. He could reasonably dial this back and find other things - like the infrastructure plan, not fake news awards - to concentrate on, and it's likely that not too many voters would give two shits about who is going to fund an imaginary wall that runs down the middle of the Rio Grande.

Donald, dude, let it go. Call it 'a wall of border security all along the watchtower', or whatever, and move-on. Really, Donald, the number of voters who will abandon you if this isn't a literal sea-to-sea wall which Mexico pays for likely constitute a rounding error. Big picture, man! You can do it! You don't even need to admit your were wrong, tell everyone you were right, big guy, and based on further information, you're still right, just differently right. People do it all the time, man. It's a tacit form of compromise - some might even say it's downright reasonable - and it's part of human interaction. Hell, if we didn't have the ability, friendships and marriages would be doomed from... *remembers Sloppy Steve and Ivana and Marla*... erm, let's go with it's how you keep winning!

* I don't know if Trump changes his mind based on the last thing someone told him, or simply regurgitates/agrees with the last thing he heard as a two-dollar sales tactic of appeasement/avoidance while having zero intention of changing his core stance.
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