Bizarre, Congress, Politics

No SOTU For You: Pelosi Moves To Postpone State Of The Union Due To Shutdown

Claiming security concerns, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has asked President Donald Trump to postpone his Jan. 29 State of the Union speech due to the shutdown of the government. There is no question that security can be guaranteed, as reaffirmed by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen who said that federal law enforcement is “fully prepared to support and secure the State of the Union.” The general view however is that the security risk is a thin, if not transparent, cover for a political muscle play. In reality, Congress controls the invitation and a joint meeting of Congress requires an invitation from both houses.

In her letter, Pelosi wrote “Sadly, given the security concerns and unless government re-opens this week, I suggest we work together to determine another suitable date after government has re-opened for this address or for you to consider delivering your State of the Union address in writing to the Congress on January 29.” 

There is in fact no requirement that the SOTU be given in person, let alone in Congress. Indeed, this communication was not even called the State of the Union until the 1930s. Article II, Section 3 states:

“He shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”

The January SOTU address has been a tradition not a textual requirement of Article I or Article II. George Washington however gave the first SOTU on January 8, 1790. Thomas Jefferson did not like the practice.

Trump could give the SOTU in writing in or in another location. However, the threat to close the doors of the House floor to the President creates a disturbing precedent, particularly because it does not appear that there is a security barrier to holding the SOTU. This seems more like a bargaining chip than a security imperative.

What do you think?

240 thoughts on “No SOTU For You: Pelosi Moves To Postpone State Of The Union Due To Shutdown”

  2. SEND A BRICK TO CHUCK & NANCY
    Fight to fund the wall & secure the border!

    Dear Nancy
    Here’s a Reminder That
    We Need the Wall

    SEND YOUR BRICK
    President Trump came up with a brilliant idea to make sure Chuck and Nancy have no choice but to listen to the American people.

    We have set a goal to send 100,000 BRICKS to their offices to prove that WALLS WORK!

    Please make a contribution of at least $20.20 by MIDNIGHT TONIGHT and we will send your brick directly to Nancy Pelosi’s office.

    https://www.buildtheborderwall.com

  4. Repeat from further down.

    Here the hated Shill responds to Kurtz regarding Shill’s alleged ‘fetish’ for Donald Trump’s source of wealth.

    Kurtz, I’m fine with wealthy men and women pursuing careers in politics and, or, government. But Trump is ‘not’ a self-made man. Which isn’t an issue in itself. Trump had a big career as a media celebrity with no help from father Fred.

    But here we might pause to ask: “Why was Trump involved in ‘The Apprentice’ if real estate paid so much?”

    TV shows require working days of up to 12 hours. Not a lot of time for much of anything else. That’s why stars get paid so much; ‘long working days’.

    Trump, I’m sure, was working hard. Trying to keep The Apprentice alive. That requires focus and energy.

    But if you’re a multibillionaire running a highly profitable company, you don’t need a TV job. It would be unproductive time for a busy CEO.

    It suggests to me that Trump really wanted a job. Perhaps he found it lucrative for franchising the name. But again, if you’re a multibillionaire running a highly profitable company why would you need to franchise your name?

      1. https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/gutfeld-on-trumps-letter-to-pelosi

        Gutfeld on Trump’s letter to Pelosi

        President Trump should accept Nancy Pelosi’s State of the Union offer, skip town and hold a giant event in the middle of America.

        Citing security concerns during the shutdown, Nancy Pelosi has asked Donald Trump to give his State of the Union address in writing.

        Trump’s response?

        Canceling her trip to Brussels Thursday night right before takeoff.

        In the letter he said, he was “sorry to inform her,” that he’s canceling the trip.

        No, he wasn’t sorry. Not at all!

        He basically stole her lunch money. And then he ate her lunch.

        Still, Trump should accept her offer. And send the State of the Union address in writing: a sheet with just two words:

        Bye bye.

        Then he should hold a giant event in the middle of America.

        After all, the people elected Trump, not Washington, D.C. Nancy and the Dems can take shelter under their desks and watch it all on iPads.

        And Trump can cite his accomplishments, tell some jokes — just so the press has a reason to burn their hair. He can broadcast it on YouTube. The media will cover it in highly flammable fact-checks.

        It’ll be the first People’s State of the Union!

        If the media doesn’t show it — then we know it’s personal and political — for this is historical. And hysterical!

        Cuz what do the Dems do then?

        Do they not respond when he does it anyway — at a better place, with better-looking people? With music, prizes, farm animals and face painting? And almost no carbon footprint! Think about that!

        Do they hold a response? With the same cardboard cutouts from before?

        Nancy just offered Trump an amazing chance.

        It gets him out of a dull speech

        1. If Trump decides to really play hardball, he may allow her to use the govt. planes to go on these flights, but instruct airport maintenance people to tamper with the fuel gauges, and allow only enough jet fuel to make it halfway across the Atlantic.
          Nancy may be looking at ocean liners for her future junkets.

  7. “THE CHUCK AND NANCY SHOW”

    Let’s end its run.
    ___________________________

    A one-time $5 Billion is trivial compared to $4.4 Trillion annually.

    A one-time $5 Billion is only 1/5 of $22 Billion for Border Patrol and ICE every year.

    $5 Billion is a small price to pay to secure a $4.4 Trillion economy from the deadly and devastating drug trade, human/sex trafficking,
    murderers/rapists/robbers/miscreants, radical extremist terrorists, tuberculosis, head lice, bed bugs et al., agricultural pests, enemy foreign intelligence operatives and an invasion by illegal alien foreigners.

    A one-time $5 Billion is appropriate and necessary to quell a “Crisis on the Border.”

  9. Donald Trump just dunked on Nancy Pelosi’s CODEL and yes that is actually the headline

    Chris Cillizza
    Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large

    Updated 4:07 PM ET, Thu January 17, 2019

    https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/17/politics/donald-trump-nancy-pelosi-shutdown-state-of-the-union/index.html

    (CNN)Less than 24 hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told President Donald Trump that he should reconsider delivering his State of the Union on January 29, the famed counter-puncher struck back. Bigly.

    “Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has been postponed,” Trump wrote to Pelosi in a letter tweeted by White House press secretary Sarah Sanders Thursday afternoon. “In light of the 800,000 great American workers not receiving pay, I am sure you would agree that postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate.”

    And then, this dagger: “Obviously, if you would like to make your journey by flying commercial, that would certainly be your prerogative.”

    1. it gets better. She is learning that when it comes to entertainment and theater. Trump Casino Dealer is heavier handed then Pancy Nelosi

      “Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Mrs. Pelosi, said on Twitter that the speaker was traveling to Afghanistan to express appreciation to men and women in uniform there and get “critical national security & intelligence briefings from those on the front lines.”

      Mr. Hammill said the delegation had planned to stop in Brussels for “pilot rest” and had planned to meet there with North Atlantic Treaty Organization commanders. He said the delegation didn’t plan to stop in Egypt.

      After the president issued his letter, lawmakers who were on their way to depart for the trip waited to hear whether they would still be leaving, as aides frantically called to try to obtain more information, according to people familiar with the matter.”

      wsj

  10. NEW RESEARCH PAPER:

    MANY AMERICANS DON’T KNOW TRUMP’S FAMILY WAS MEGA-RICH

    MYTH OF SELF-MADE BILLIONAIRE AFFECTED VOTER PERCEPTIONS

    In research recently published in Political Behavior, we found that voters are not simply uninformed about President Trump’s biographical background, but misinformed—and that misinformation has serious political consequences.

    Large swaths of the public believe the Trump myth. Across three surveys of eligible voters from 2016 to 2018, we found that as many as half of all Americans do not know that he was born into a very wealthy family. And while Americans are divided along party lines in their assessment of Trump’s performance as president, misperceptions regarding his financial background are found among Democrats and Republicans.

    The narrative of Trump as self-made is simply false. Throughout his life, the president has downplayed the role his father, real estate developer Fred Trump, played in his success, claiming it was “limited to a small loan of $1 million.” That isn’t true, of course: A comprehensive New York Times investigation last year estimated that over the course of his lifetime, the younger Trump received more than $413 million in today’s dollars from his father. While this exact figure was not known before the Times’ report, it was a matter of record that by the mid-1980s, Trump had been loaned at least $14 million by his father, was loaned at least $3.5 million more in 1990, had borrowed several more million against his inheritance in the 1990s after many of his ventures failed, and had benefited enormously from his father’s political connections and co-signing on loans early in his career as a builder.

    Edited from: “Many Voters Think Trump’s A Self-Made Man. What Happens When You Tell Them Otherwise?”

    Today’s POLITICO

    Research from: SPRINGER SCIENCE BUSINESS MEDIA, January 2019

    1. RE. ABOVE:

      The research revealed that Republicans more than Democrats were less impressed by Trump upon learning how wealthy Trump’s father was.

      Said research notes that during the 2016 campaign, journalists tended to assume voters knew the Trump family history. Perhaps because many journalists live in New York City where the Trump name has been a staple for generations. But it turns out that enough voters were ignorant of Trump’s family that it may have factored to Trump’s advantage in the 2016 campaign.

    2. His net worth had surpassed his father’s by 1982, Peter. His father was a developer of residential real estate outside of Manhattan, a business that is currently run by brother Robert Trump. Trump was in the business of developing commercial real estate and embraced Manhattan, then branched out into resort development and entertainment properties.

      1. Tabby, please, show me a recognizable source that says ‘Trump’s net worth surpassed his father’s by 1982’. I don’t believe that for a moment. Fred Trump ranked as one NYC’s wealthiest residents right up to his death.

        1. Fred Trump’s was a centimillionaire at the time of his death, worth about $300 million.

          Again, PrivCo, which assesses privately held firms, estimated annual revenue of the Trump Organization at $9.5 bn per year. Forbes has been publishing estimates of his assets for over 35 years. He’s one of just six real estate developers who have been consistently present on the list since it has been compiled.

          I don’t believe that for a moment.

          It’s emotionally distressing to you.

          1. were he alive today I bet Fred Trump would be the happiest man in the world to see his son having done so well and put it all aside to take on the grief and challenge of helping the American people.

            If you have a kid, you give them gifts, including pecuniary ones. What parent begrudges another parent this right?

            And to see a kid take a gift and make it grow, only makes a parent proud!

            God bless Donald J Trump!

          2. Tabby, you’re way off on Donald Trump’s worth in 1982. And I notice you didn’t post from any particular source. This article was written by a journalist who compiled the Forbes 400:

            “But it took decades to unwind the elaborate farce Trump had enacted to project an image as one of the richest people in America. Nearly every assertion supporting that claim was untrue. Trump wasn’t just poorer than he said he was. Over time, I have learned that he should not have been on the first three Forbes 400 lists at all. In our first-ever list, in 1982, we included him at $100 million, but Trump was actually worth roughly $5 million — a paltry sum by the standards of his super-monied peers — as a spate of government reports and books showed only much later.

            I was a determined 25-year-old reporter, and I thought that, by reeling Trump back from some of his more outrageous claims, I’d done a public service and exposed the truth. But his confident deceptions were so big that they had an unexpected effect: Instead of believing that they were outright fabrications, my Forbes colleagues and I saw them simply as vain embellishments on the truth. We were so wrong.

            Edited From: “Trump Lied To Me About His Wealth To Get Onto The Forbes 400”.

            THE WASHINGTON POST, 4/20/18

                2. dude why do you care? seriously, a bizarre fixation

                  peter I get the real sense that there are insights of value which you have to share but this is not one of them

                  1. Kurtz, I’m fine with wealthy men and women pursuing careers in politics and, or, government. But Trump is ‘not’ a self-made man. Which isn’t an issue in itself. Trump had a big career as a media celebrity with no help from father Fred.

                    But here we might pause to ask: “Why was Trump involved in ‘The Apprentice’ if real estate paid so much?”

                    TV shows require working days of up to 12 hours. Not a lot of time for much of anything else. That’s why stars get paid so much; ‘long working days’.

                    Trump, I’m sure, was working hard. Trying to keep The Apprentice alive. That requires focus and energy.

                    But if you’re a multibillionaire running a highly profitable company, you don’t need a TV job. It would be unproductive time for a busy CEO.

                    It suggests to me that Trump really wanted a job. Perhaps he found it lucrative for franchising the name. But again, if you’re a multibillionaire running a highly profitable company why would you need to franchise your name?

                    1. “But Trump is ‘not’ a self-made man”

                      Peter that is a strawberry torte.

                      “TV shows require working days of up to 12 hours. Not a lot of time for much of anything else. That’s why stars get paid so much; ‘long working days’.”

                      Peter thinks it took Vanna White 12 hours a day to flip those letters. He’s been practicing such flipping ever since hoping to earn more than minimum wage.

                      I believe Trump was paid over $200 Million for his appearances on that show which increased the value of his brand. Additionally, I bet he loved it.

                3. I’ll say something that may not be very easily understood by people who are not regularly involved in asset valuations.

                  real estate is some of the most hard to value assets which people commonly hold.

                  about the only harder thing to value are collectibles.

                  like collectibles real estate is often not very liquidity. few buyers and few sellers, which makes a big spread between bid and ask,

                  like collectibles the special factors and peculiarities make it defy commodification.

                  also you get a wide range even from the main usually accepted means of valuing real estate. study up on that if you care. if you have ever read a single commercial real estate valuation it’s stock introductory explanation.

                  now throw in leverage or debt which complicates valuation.

                  in short, valuation of real estate assets is a guessing game. a real estate “empire” can actually be a straw house which is ridiculously overvalued and the most lame looking cruddy real estate which has an awesome cash flowing tenant can be vastly undervalued relative to some other pretty place.

                  so stop pretending the subject lends itself to precision at all

          1. “Trump did all that while Peter was playing with Peter.”

            “SHUT UP, ALAN..!!”

            Go back to playing with Peter, Peter.

            2. Thank you, Alan, seriously. You just handed me a tort. My attorney just came over and we talked for an hour. Your smutty references above more than likely awards a 7 figure settlement. So you and the wife had better consider which assets you want to liquidate.

              1. PH:

                “Thank you, Alan, seriously. You just handed me a tort. My attorney just came over and we talked for an hour.”
                *******************
                I bet you never got a lawyer “house call” tonight. Every tort lawyer knows Allan’s comments were constitutionally protected ridicule not intended to convey defamatory falsehoods. Thus no reasonable person could rely on them as statements of fact. On the damage front, no one here took it seriously so you don’t meet the threshold of a monetary award. Plus no one here knows who you really are given your anonymity. Thus even if we presume something like defamation, it’s libel of a phantom who can’t possibly show and adverse impact approaching damages. Nice try but scare tactics rarely work on legal blogs; they just make you look small.

                2. Mespo,…
                  I think Avenatti is in the L.A. area, but I don’t know if he makes house calls.

                3. Mespo, if I was serious I wouldn’t posting my intentions. That would be like showing one’s hand. But thanks for lending an air of reality. Jokes are funnier when there’s a foil of some kind.

              2. hey PH!

                “Lighten up while you still can. Don’t even try to understand.”

                Guess what song these lyrics are from?

                That’s right. ‘Take it Easy’

                by the Eagles 😉

                1. Thank you, TBob for lightening the moment. For a second there Mespo pulled me into his reality.

    3. many successful business people are from successful families, so what else is new?

      very envious and jealous!

      this angle has been debunked before

      the question is not:
      did you have to walk to school in the snow–
      but did you make it grow?

  11. Darren – I tried to post a response to Bekka, but I don’t see it. Is it caught in the filter? I swear there was no swearing.

  12. Becka:

    Secret Service said that the shutdown will not interfere with their duties.

    I am sympathetic with the federal employees impacted. Therefore, it is unfair that Congress continues to get paid. There are some who voluntarily forego their checks during the shutdown. I suspect those are already independently wealthy. Republican Rep Curtis of Utah has proposed a bill to make it mandatory to suspend the pay of Congress during a shutdown.

    https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2019/01/16/members-congress-paid-shutdown-curious-texas-finds

    I find it irresponsible that Democrats would fight this hard against securing our border. Some of our fence is just rusted helicopter landing pads from Vietnam. Inexcusable. It’s like fighting against allowing people to lock their front door.

    They sure seem to fight against anything that makes illegal immigration harder. The sanctuary cities protected convicte felons like rapists from deportation, drivers licenses to illegal aliens, warning illegal aliens agains ICE raids, rhetoric that ICE and Border Patrol are like Nazis, auto insurance for illegals in CA that have lower premiums and coverage than citizens, free healthcare for illegals in CA…it all adds up to paint a very clear picture on whom they protect. They want illegal immigration because it is politically expedient. It courts the Latino vote, because illlegal immigrants have kids here who are citizens. Periodic amnesties produce big chunks of Democratic voters. And then there area the auto voter enrollment at the DMV. I’ve known illegal immigrants who voted. It’s a racket, and it comes at the expense of citizens and legal, invited residents.

    They have already caught terrorists trying to illegally cross the border. How many have they missed? Is the next 9/11 cell already here having illegally crossed or overstayed their visas? This is so stupid. People just won’t learn. But they’ll point fingers later.

    Stop kicking the can down the road and deal with illegal immigration already. An improvement I would like to see in the legal immigration system is to add a category for people who just want to be an American. They want the freedom. Right now, that’s not a qualifying category that I am aware of.

    Congress was voted in to do the tough job. They are fighting doing that job. Sure, they’ll vote for pork deals and scratch each other’s backs, but deal with illegal immigration? No way. They’d rather shut down the government, make middle class federal employees go without a paycheck for weeks on end, than to secure our border. The boondoggle vacation train to San Francisco will cost upwards of $75 billion for a projected mostly empty ridership. Trump is asking for $5 billion to begin construction and remodeling on a few hundred miles of border fencing. Renovate the dilapidated rusty debris we euphemistically call a “fence”. Better fencing helped San Diego. Congress – Stop your bellyaching and political grandstanding and get it done.

    1. “I find it irresponsible that Democrats would fight this hard against securing our border.”
      And I find it irresponsible that the facts be spun and twisted so.
      “They have already caught terrorists trying to illegally cross the border.”
      False, if DHS is too believed.
      Anyone read the stories about how intelligent bots are becoming?

      1. I follow AI stories and we are really in for it. This all we seem very quaint in a decade.

        But for now it matters.

    2. “I am sympathetic with the federal employees impacted. Therefore, it is unfair that Congress continues to get paid.”

      Karen, you are being unfair to Democrats. They need their checks while in Puerto Rico partying. How are they going to pay their bar bill?

  13. Pelosi seems more concerned with her own safety than that of the American people she represents.

    It is absurdly negligent not to secure our border. It’s like refusing to lock your door at night. They have caught terrorists trying to cross the border, as well as many people from terrorist regions with unknown backgrounds. The drug cartels own our borders right now. We have signs posted, on our side, about the dangers of being near the border. This is not responsible.

    People who want to come here need to respect our laws. Period. Come to the front door and be our welcomed guests. Try to climb in our window and get deported.

    Failure to erect a border in the gaps means that there are more interactions between Border Patrol and illegal immigrants, like that photo of the tear gas with the kids in the foreground of a sea of angry men. A physical, unscaleable barrier deters people from risking the rape trail. As it stands, we have provided an inducement for either unaccompanied minors, or parents with young children. The kids have become a shield from deportation, and are put at risk. So many have died over the years on the crossing, or just on our side of the border. Many are raped, trafficked, sold to pedophiles. It’s disgusting and it must stop. This is not how a modern country in the 21st century enacts an immigration policy – luring people to pay exhorbitant sums of money to drug cartels to illegally cross inhospitable terrain. There are many cases where the immigrants agree to “work off” the debt of their crossing to the drug cartels. The smugglers, being drug cartels, then traffick them, forcing them into prostitution or a form a modern day slavery.

    What is wrong with people to support such a system? We pump in billions to the coffers of drug cartels who then smuggle drugs and guns and prostitued women, and then we complain about the opioid epidemic, illegal guns, and trafficking. Shut. The. Door.

    The only responsible system is a legal system in which we set the criteria on who and how many. We also need to regularly adjust the flow to meet the needs of our employment opportunities, housing, benefits, land use, water resources, and schools. You do not, for example, dump a million entry level workers in to take opportunities away from our poor when such jobs are already hard to find. Such a lack of planning hurts those most vulnerable.

    Another issue is quantity. Western values are in the minority, globally. Most places in the world live under dictarships or repressive theocracies such as sharia law. They do not believe in individual rights, women’s rights, gay rights. They bring such views here. In small enough numbers, they can be absorbed. If our immigration seeks out peopel who wish to accept Western values, then hopefully they will assimilate and become assets. Allowing in vast, undifferentiated swaths of people from dangerous parts of the country imports dangerous people. For example, there are many parts of the world with travel advisories regarding safety. Many SJW Peace Ambassadors discover that the world is a dangerous place as their last thoughts on Earth before they are raped and murdered. Importing the very people who murdered them, rather than restricting places to those who embrace the West, brings those dangerous people here, with obvious consequences. We do not owe the world the right to make the US just as dangerous and repressive as any other part of the world, or to exhaust our water resources. We owe our citizens and legal residents the duty to maintain our freedoms, public safety, and uniquely American values.

    This is how a responsible country triages the needs of the world: It puts its own citizens needs first, as those are who it represents. Then it budgets time and resources for charity.

    1. There’s always a buzzkiller like you, full of facts and common sense that these idiots on the left simply do not understand. I’m sure you can’t imagine how many democrats are suffering head pains right now, reading what you’ve written.
      Shame. On. You.

      1. Thanks, Wally. Sometimes I feel like I’m banging my head against a wall. I don’t think I have ever changed anyone’s mind. Opinions are too entrenched.

        1. An entrenched position that doesn’t respond to facts is a strong indication of a stupid person.

        2. It is the non posters who have minds that can be changed. On this blog the left is represented by facists, communists and national socialists.

    2. i agree only to a point. it is not just irresponsible however it is deliberate. it is more like somebody in your own household who leaves the door open for the burglar they know is coming because the burglar promises to cut them in on the loot.

      well you can never have a secure household with people like that under your roof. so you have to deal forcefully with them. the problem now is that so many Americans actually want there to be an illegal immigrant invasion because it fits with their ongoing political rackets.

      so at some point, this will only be resolved with greater force and I don’t mean a wall i mean inside the wall. the shutdown is a preface. it may come soon or it may come later but it will come or we will eventually just be over run. deal with this reality that we are talking now about americans who are essentially traitors.

      Trump is not the traitor its those who oppose proper border security who are traitors and collaborators with invasion. take the pulse of those you know and those around you because at some point the sheeps may need to get separated from the goats.

      the sharper the faster this gets the easier it will be. delay will only worsen the resolution of this untenable situation.

      1. It certainly is deliberate.

        One of the great tragedies is that they have produced a serf class – the illegals. People vote for more protections, higher wages, more benefits, but the illegal aliens get none of that. They don’t get work comp. They get exposed to more pesticides. They’re the ones out leaf blowing the sidewalks of dried human waste and vomit after they clear homeless encampments (temporarily) without proper protection. Many businesses went under because they could not compete with those running illegal alien crews under the table. Pay good wages and benefits, and you cannot compete.

        Illegal aliens are becoming a caste, especially here in CA. They do the dirty jobs. That is creating stereotypes and a stratification that is very troubling in a country that is supposed to represent equality and upward mobility. It’s not the skin color, but the illegality that is driving this caste system, under the protection of Democrats. They do like their cheap labor.

        1. A lot of migrants are also in a grey zone where they have temporary work cards and are not illegals but papered, and yet without green cards. They have been adversely affected by the whole thing and due to the proclivities of foreign language media, often are taught to blame Republicans reflexively.

          It would be smart for Republicans to start making mass communications in Spanish and Chinese and so forth to make an inroads with these populations of decent law abiding workers and explain to them how they too have an interest in a safe and secure America with borders rather than one in which the traffickers have the run of it aided and abetted by the Democrat party leadership.

          but there is no need to kiss up to them; a lot of people from the third world value strength and obsequiousness never signals power. the hand of goodwill extended, but not in a phony or self deprecating way, that’s the way to go

          big opportunities at hand
          https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/nearly-40-percent-asian-americans-voters-don-t-favor-party-n862806

        2. The Democrats are still Pis-ed that Lincoln won the election and freed the slaves. They had to get them back somehow.

    3. Karen, Honey, please….for your own sake, stop watching only Faux News and listening to Coulter and Rush. The current urination contest is about Trump and his ego, not border security, which everyone agrees needs to be improved. The disagreement is as to the best means. Democrats are listening to experts who know best about the most effective and cost effective means to achieve security. Trump is relying on his campaign promise, but now that Mexico made clear it won’t pay, after agreeing not to shut down the government, he knuckled under to criticism by Ann Coulter. There are many better ways to secure our border than just a wall. There is a wall along several hundred miles of the border, and there are numerous tunnels, but a wall is not the only way nor is it the best or most cost-effective means to accomplish border security.

      Most drugs are smuggled in at ports of entry, and there are means to improve detection which Democrats want to spend money on. There are remote areas adjacent to vast stretches of desert in which a wall would not serve any useful purpose. There are vast areas of Texas in which land would need to be taken by eminent domain, and landowners there have vowed to fight. There is an historic village with an 18th Century chapel that is protected that would need to be demolished. Cell towers need to be constructed. There can be various forms of electronic surveillance and sensors and critical response teams available to be quickly deployed. The only reason Trump insists on a wall as the only solution is his campaign promise that he’s already violated because he can’t force Mexico to pay for it.

      Illegal immigration is at an all time low, and has been declining for years. The only crisis right now is the ego of a malignant narcissist who doesn’t care who gets hurt in the process of protecting his fragile ego.

      1. Natacha, honey, please – Shut up. One thing you fools refuse to recognize is that all of this wonderful technology has a singular failing. It will not stop one person from crossing the border. At best, it only lets us know they have. That’s not border security, that’s border stupidity, and you on the left seem to own it.

        1. Wally, dear, have you seen videos of the illegals climbing over existing walls, even with little kids? Once someone crosses illegally, they will be detained, but only if they are detected, which is what smart border security can accomplish that a wall cannot. It can monitor every inch of border and stop illegals before they get very far. If enough of them get caught regularly, they’ll stop coming. Don’t you think that coyotes could get a bulldozer, a semi, a tank or other heavy equipment and simply knock down a segment of wall if that was all there was to stop illegals? What about all of the tunnels? Did you see the photos of the steel slats that can be cut with a simple hacksaw?

          You just want to believe in Trump and his fake promises. You just want to believe that the wall is the only answer because Trump just has to look like he’s delivering on his promises. How many of those “Promises Made…Promises Kept” signs got printed up, anyway? He didn’t and can’t keep his promise to make Mexico pay for the wall, but that doesn’t matter to people like you.

          1. dumb, that’s like saying don’t lock your doors because someone can break a window

            you probably dont know the first thing about security but it’s always best in layers and layers includes walls and doors and fences and things like that not just seismic detectors and more agents and drones or whatever else

            here is one of the best examples in history

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_of_China

          2. Natacha, honey, I’m not your “dear”. If you want to patronize something, go patronize your local pub, if the people there will put up with you.
            Nobody with any sense at all thinks that the wall will stop a determined intruder. The purpose of a wall – or a lock, fence, door or other barrier, is to slow intruders down until either technology (cameras, drones, etc) or personnel see the intrusion underway and can act to stop it.
            Furthermore, and this is what you lying (fatherless people) don’t like to admit, once someone is over, under or through, they are in, and can then claim asylum and go run and hide in America. The point of a fence is to keep them out. O-U-T out. Out as in unable to make their phoney asylum claims to some fool of a democratic judge who will buy into their bunk.
            As for your idea of someone bringing out a bulldozer to take out a section of the wall – this is desert country, miles from any road. You would need a transport truck to get one in, and those vehicles don’t run in sand – they’d bog down.
            As usual, you yammer on senselessly.

          3. Natacha, one of the walls in Israel is to keep illegal Africans out. Since the wall close to zero have gotten into Israel.

      2. yes there are vast stretches of desert where the coyotes bring peope in every night. and verbally you enable these human traffickers.

        why? what’s in it for you? You work for a social agency maybe or an NGO? Just wondering what’s your end of the scam, huh? how do you dip your beak?

      3. Natacha – why does the Left use sexist language with conservative women? How would you react if someone addressed Hillary or Elizabeth Warren as “honey, please”?

        Just wondering…

        It’s a free country. Call me what you want. But you look really bad doing so. In the meantime, your comments show a woefully uninformed view of our border.

        What would electronic surveillance do if thousands crossed all at once? Hey, there’s an intruder. Now you guys go out there and physically interact with them. Good luck! That creates maximum interaction between Border Patrol agents and illegal immigrants smuggled in with drug cartels. A physical barrier reduces interpersonal interaction.

        What if there was a crazy person outside your home and you didn’t have a front door. All you had was a security system that notified you that there was a person walking up to your gaping entry way for you to go deal with?

        If walls don’t help then why did Democrats just agree to pay for one for Jordan to keep terrorists out? Why does it help in Israel? Why do people fence in schools? Why did the sections of border with solid walls see reductions in illegal immigration? Why are we mandated to fence in pools? Why do businesses in bad neighborhoods use roll down locking gates? All of the above are not 100% effective, alone, but they do help, and are one arrow in the quiver.

        Open borders in inhospital territory, like deserts, are an inducement for people to make dangerous crossings. Did you know that they check the desert in NM annually for the bleached skeletons of illegal immigrants who didn’t make it? As security increased in other areas, more people died in that open desert. They thought they could make it through that unfenced area. They couldn’t survive. I have seen border ranchers talk about pregnant women they found dead in the desert, or struggling to give birth while dehydrated. They carry a gun with them for the cartels, and water for those they find dying. That is inexcusable for our country to promote this.

        If a pool must be fenced because it is an attractive dangerous nusance, then the same logic applies to an open border. This is especially true now that our policies have rewarded illegal aliens for bringing young children, or paying drug cartels to smuggle them in. Imagine, creating an inducement for peopel to hand their precious children over to vicious murderous cartels because it gives themselves a better chance of being allowed in.

        Trump is not knuckling under to any prominent personality. He is responding to his base. There have been comments about poll numbers; that represents the peopel who voted for him on the express promise that he would build a wall. Ignoring them and succumbing to Democrat demands won’t make any Democrats vote for him, but it will most certainly turn off those who did vote for him. Any political commentary discusses the temperature of his base.

        Who else is going to care what happens to American citizens and legal residents? Certainly not the Democrats. They are going to the mattresses to keep us from locking our front door. What hope do we have of securing our borders? The party of sanctuary cities?

        1. I call you “Honey” to avoid calling you what I really think of stupid females like you who blindly support a malignant narcissist, racist, and misogynist, and who repeats the drivel she heard from Hannity, Rush, Coulter and Ingraham, her heroes. I do not respect a Faux News disciple who cannot think for herself and who doesn’t have a clue as to the truth because she doesn’t want to. Constant lying doesn’t faze her. Deference by the POTUS to a Russian dictator–so what? She could care less about the plight of federal workers who can’t pay their bills because Trump wussed out after Ann Coulter told him he should shut down the government over the wall because he has the power. And, yes, that is what happened. But, if there’s blame, well, that belongs to Pelosi for not giving in to Trump’s demand. She really, truly, believes that a wall is the only way to accomplish border security and that “Dems” and “the left” oppose the wall because they want illegals here to vote Democratic because that’s what Hannity, Rush, Coulter and Ingraham say. Since she doesn’t watch mainstream news, she really doesn’t know what the Democrats have proposed or why they do not believe a wall is either efficient or cost-effective, but it wouldn’t matter anyway because she’s a true believer. She believes that Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton are evil and motivated by bad intentions because that’s what she hears on Faux News. No, I don’t respect you because you don’t deserve respect. Your views are not based on a dispassionate evaluation of facts or evidence, but blind faith in Faux News, Coulter and Rush.

          1. Natacha – because the person you addressed that to is probably too polite to say what she’s thinking, I’ll do it for you.
            You’re a stupid, unpleasant and misogynistic bitch. You’re bigoted, biased and very badly misinformed. You rant on here with no understanding of what your betters – which is virtually every other person posting here – knows.
            Now kindly STFU and let the adults discuss things that you’ve proven over and over are far beyond your meagre understanding.

            1. Thanks, Wally. Well done. Natacha has got to be one of the vilest creatures on earth.

              1. I’ve always thought that particular honour belonged to Al Franken to be honest.

          2. hey Natacha, are your views based on “dispassionate evaluation of facts” you get from watching Rachel Maddow?

            Oh and, fwiw, I immensely enjoy reading your comments. You are almost as entertaining as watching an episode of ‘Real Housewives of New Jersey.’ I always picture you with bleach blonde hair, bright red lipstick, and with a closet full of slutty CFM stilletos to choose from. Am I right? Anyhoo, your comments are a delight to read. Pure entertainment. Keep them coming, sweetheart. 😉

        2. Karen S. and Wally M.,
          Natcookoo is not necessarily being condescending with the “Honey” and “Dear” names she uses.
          She might, instead, be on the make❤; I don’t think she ever got over the fact that Melania took Trump off the market💔, and maybe she’s been on the prowl ever since, on the rebound.
          So if her comments become increasingly “familiar” or personal, might be best to nip it in the bud.

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