Beta O’Rourke’s Video on the Border Wall
In the Room Where It Happens – Hamilton
Speaking English
Writing essays for “Trump World” has given me the opportunity to get in lots of conversations about our times. Some have been face to face, some have been through comments directly to the “Trump World” site, and some have been on social media. Last week I was in an extended discussion with a pro-Trump friend about “WALL.”
I came into the discussion with a pre-conceived of what a “wall” was. To fall back on my Mom’s British upbringing; the Oxford dictionary definition of a wall is, “A continuous vertical brick or stone structure that encloses or divides an area of land.” That seemed pretty “cut and dried,” a wall is – a wall.
In our current polarized world it is difficult to have discussions. We often don’t share the same facts, or communicate using the same terms. It’s hard to discuss when you don’t understand each other; that incomprehension contributes to the divisions in our society. The feeling often is, “I don’t understand you – so you must be stupid,” or words to that effect.
But, arguing about the definition of “a wall”? Is that what our political discussion has come to? Maybe the problem isn’t in defining a “wall,” but in reading and listening more closely. Maybe “WALL” is different than a “wall,” at least as my Trumpian friends define it.
I know, this all sounds like nonsense, but this may be the basis for a win-win deal to re-open the government. Regardless of what many Trump supporters say, Democrats are in favor of trying to solve the problems on our Southern border. Democrats believe in a more humane and comprehensive solution, dealing with both migrants that are at the border now, and the conditions in Central America that are causing the migrations. Democrats are not “in favor” of illegal immigration and are willing to strengthen our position on the Southern border.
But Democrats are NOT willing to see the “Great Wall of Trump” built from the Gulf to the Pacific. It not only represents a huge waste of money in a low-tech, outdated mode of border control, completely deferrable by ladder or tunnel; but it also embodies a racist view of Hispanics, who must be “walled out.”
As I listen to the Republicans, they are beginning to change their definition of a wall to “WALL.” Already the President has left his construction world of concrete and re-bar, and moved to a steel-slat barrier, something that I define as a fence. His statement is that the “WALL fence” would serve the same purpose as a true wall, and would allow the Border Patrol to see through to what’s happening on the other side. And today, the President’s new Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney, acknowledged that “WALL” would be used where appropriate, not as a continuous barrier from Gulf to Pacific.
Jared Kushner and Senator Lindsey Graham have both suggested that a deal could include solving the DACA situation, with a permanent law replacing the current Obama executive order that’s being challenged in court. Over a year ago, Democrats were willing to take an “actual wall” for $25 Billion to get comprehensive immigration reform, maybe there’s room for less on each side now.
So is all of this about semantics, about the definition of “WALL?” If the President was willing to accept $2.6 Billion for “improvements” including steel-slat fence, electronic surveillance and detection on the border, in exchange for a limited DACA deal and changes on how migrants are handled, is that enough “WALL” to re-open the government?
The President has to have “WALL.” As Lindsey Graham said, it’s what Trump has staked his Presidency on. Democrats cannot allow a “wall,” they staked their election victory of 2018 on stopping it. The entire left wing of the Democratic Party would be betrayed by a “wall.”
So we will each have our own version of the deal. To Democrats, there will be border security enhancements, legalization of DACA, and improved treatments of migrants at the border. To Republicans, there will be “WALL”, even though it’s a steel fence, only going in certain places. Both sides will get something, neither side will get everything: it’s “…how the sausage is made;” a compromise to open the government. And we will all be speaking our own version of English.
