The Great Wall of Trump

[kybkh]

Throwback Thursday...

Trying to understand the rise of Trump is as complicated as any anthropological study ever undertaken. The complexity of the situation is best witnessed by reading the commentary of his detractors. Only in the past few weeks have his ideas been attacked. Last night, the unprecedented use of a slideshow by Fox News was one of the only real attempts anyone has made to discredit his platform as opposed to his character.

When Romney played mouthpiece for the political elites earlier in the day providing talking points to attack Trump with in the debate, he didn't impune the ideas of a Mexican border wall or starting a global trade war. Mitt's and nearly all other anti-Trump commentary is 95% about Donald the individual not the ideas his supporters are attracted to.

The ideas are the real problem after all; not Trump's "temperament" or his "unpresidential manners". Listen to the Nixon tapes and you should have plenty of perspective of what presidential behavior sounds like. It's the ideas which have found resonance within the middleclass of society which are what The Establishment fears, and what frightful ideas they are.

Imagine a company like Ford being hit with an excise tax for cars made outside the US. The past three decades of capital asset investment by multinational corporations have been made under the impression NAFTA is and will forever be the economic rules of the game. Also, in the Trans-Pacific, companies have long been building and preparing for the TPP to be in place by the end of this decade. Billions of dollars of investment in research, building, training, upgrading infrastructure and relocating workforces have been spent with the expectations that the rate of return was formulaic. These companies stand to lose immeasurable amounts of money if tariffs were suddenly placed on imports.

The MIC must be shaking in their boots at the idea of a retrenched foreign policy. How is the General Staff going to justify it's size if our interventions are cut in half and we withdraw from F.O.B.'s. And if Trump is serious about tackling improper bidding, corruption and waste the Pentagon very well might lead a coup.

Not to be left out, Wall Street and TBTFB are just as snot nosed and shivering as every other tentacle of what were thought to be "vested" interests. Starting a currency war or raising taxes on the financial sector would be the tip of the iceberg. The real fear will set in once it's appointment time and all these former "insiders" start to feel vulnerable. Christ, to imagine what Fed Chair a president Trump might appoint probably gives any resident in Manhattan a anxiety attack.

Not hard to see why so many people from "different political affiliations" appear to be teaming up to attack Trump, hoping that his defeat will lead to the end of the rebellion. Keeping him out of office won't change his supporters ideas about the world they live in however and they will find a new champion soon enough. Maybe someone with a little more grace and a cleaner record, maybe even someone with a little more evangelical in their blood. (I'd say Ted Cruz but I don't believe he is independent. Wall Street would say "he's a friend of ours".)

Trump has yet to state clearly what he intends to do on any situation aside build a wall. He flip-flops and avoids getting off in the weeds of details as good as any bullshit artist you'll meet so it isn't details that his supporters are worried about. Trumpians don't care how other nations might react to large tariffs or how a lessened military presence overseas might change the dynamic of the world. All they care about is that damn wall.

The Wall is not the same to everyone. To some who live in the southern United States it very literally could be the wall to keep out drug runners and illegals but to someone in NH The Wall means something different, they aren't worried about Mexican immigrants taking their jobs. Maybe to them The Wall is a symbol of protection against the heroin epidemic sweeping across poor communities. In New York The Wall is the last line of defense for those weary of constant threats from terrorists. I'd imagine in Indianapolis The Wall might appear to be a way of keeping manufacturers from pulling up stakes and heading to lesser developed nations.

The Wall is safety for a populace beaten down and weary of constant threats faced in every aspect of life. America is tired of fighting off the wolves nipping at our jobs and our security. Tired of being told that Hope will lead to Change only to be laid off so a company can add a couple cents to their EPS. We want that Wall because we feel like the minute we take our eyes off something we have, someone might snatch it.

The Wall is all encompassing. The Wall is the heart Conservatism.

[Fife]

That was a hell of a thread on the old DCF. Good get.

"The Wall" was an amazing magic trick.

You see, snowflakes, "the Wall" has been there all along. It's bigger and better than ever.

https://www.mediaite.com/online/fox-fri ... -symbolic/





The Wall has always been there.

[Fife]

Another throwback:

Andrew C. McCarthy; May 2, 2016: Where Would Trump Be If He Had Run as What He Is: the Amnesty Candidate?

One of the great ironies of the 2016 campaign is that Donald Trump, who has run as the immigration scourge, is actually the amnesty candidate.

Trump has expressly vowed to give legal status to millions of illegal aliens. For any other candidate, such a promise would have been the campaign death knell. To compare, John Kasich -- who is openly pro-amnesty -- has lost 38 of 39 primaries (the sole exception being his own state) and has never been a plausible contestant. When it comes to Trump, however, it seems that the all-important amnesty fine-print of his immigration position has been overlooked. This is no doubt due to his consciously controversial rhetoric: his fixation about building a wall on the Mexican border, his oft-repeated commitment to mass-deportation of illegal aliens, his disparaging comments about Mexicans, and his proposed moratorium on Muslim immigration.

Yet, Trump is the amnesty candidate. What’s more, the amnesty component of his immigration plan is the only part that has a realistic chance of happening.

. . .

Mark this down: Trump is running as the immigration scourge, but there is no way the wall is happening, and there is no way the Muslim moratorium is happening. If elected, after due hemming and hawing, Trump would state the obvious: It would be impractical and prohibitively expensive to arrest and deport 11 million people just so we can bring them back again. But he would also claim that his victory was a mandate for the ultimate objective of his immigration proposal: the granting of amnesty to millions of illegal aliens through a legal process. The Trump administration would thus dispense with any talk of deportations, and proceed promptly to the legalization part of the plan.

Donald Trump is the amnesty candidate. If he had made that clear to Republican voters at the beginning, he would already be out of the race.

[SuburbanFarmer]

Just for the lulz.

Imagine a company like Ford being hit with an excise tax for cars made outside the US. The past three decades of capital asset investment by multinational corporations have been made under the impression NAFTA is and will forever be the economic rules of the game. Also, in the Trans-Pacific, companies have long been building and preparing for the TPP to be in place by the end of this decade. Billions of dollars of investment in research, building, training, upgrading infrastructure and relocating workforces have been spent with the expectations that the rate of return was formulaic. These companies stand to lose immeasurable amounts of money if tariffs were suddenly placed on imports.

Everyone would lose money. A lot of it. You think paying half-a-house for a minivan now is bad? How about a $60,000 Elantra?

The MIC must be shaking in their boots at the idea of a retrenched foreign policy. How is the General Staff going to justify it's size if our interventions are cut in half and we withdraw from F.O.B.'s. And if Trump is serious about tackling improper bidding, corruption and waste the Pentagon very well might lead a coup.

Never going to happen, and not even part of Trump's platform anymore. He's fallen completely in-line with the MIC/IC.

Not to be left out, Wall Street and TBTFB are just as snot nosed and shivering as every other tentacle of what were thought to be "vested" interests. Starting a currency war or raising taxes on the financial sector would be the tip of the iceberg. The real fear will set in once it's appointment time and all these former "insiders" start to feel vulnerable. Christ, to imagine what Fed Chair a president Trump might appoint probably gives any resident in Manhattan a anxiety attack.

Yeah, wake me up if he sacks Gramma Yellen. Not in this timeline.

Trump has yet to state clearly what he intends to do on any situation aside build a wall. He flip-flops and avoids getting off in the weeds of details as good as any bullshit artist you'll meet

Exactly. End of story.
A leader with no principles is not a leader.

[kybkh]

Well Grump, its the IDEAS that scares the Elites.

At the time I posted that I did not think Trump stood a chance of winning. I did think the IDEAS he was promoting were catching on though.

Not hard to see why so many people from "different political affiliations" appear to be teaming up to attack Trump, hoping that his defeat will lead to the end of the rebellion. Keeping him out of office won't change his supporters ideas about the world they live in however and they will find a new champion soon enough. Maybe someone with a little more grace and a cleaner record, maybe even someone with a little more evangelical in their blood.

My belief about Trump when he first announced was that there is no way a NY businessman is "clean" enough to make it through the wringer. I always figured there had to have been some corruption that he could be easily tied to. I am stunned that there hasn't been any more easily found illegal activities than what we are currently aware of.

I do not believe Trump has the insight to implement these ideas on his own and he certainly does not have the support of his own party to do so through them. So, the fact that Trump is not coming through as many hoped, should not be too surprising to anyone. Still, the point remains that he ran and won on IDEAS which pose a threat to the wealthy elite in our society and those ideas will find a new champion soon enough. I doubt the next guy is from Manhattan...

[C-Mag]

Construction has begun
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/new ... alifornia/

construction crews broke ground on prototype designs for a border wall, starting a 30-day sprint to construct eight examples in a fenced-off area on Otay Mesa.

Once completed, CBP will select a winning design. The project is underway despite the lack of congressional funding for President Donald Trump’s promised wall, which would be constructed along portions of the U.S.-Mexico border.

[Hanarchy Montanarchy]

I am not sure a bunch of A/B testing on some wall chunks for an unfunded project counts as "construction has begun."

[C-Mag]

BREAKING: Mexico Agrees To Pay for Wall

While the mainstream media was busy talking about the meeting between America and Mexico, they ignored that Mexico agreed to close the ‘NAFTA loophole’ and ensure that Mexico wouldn’t be a backdoor for bringing Asian goods into the American market. In doing so, Mexico signaled that Trump has the upper hand, and that Mexico has no problem with paying for the border wall, albeit in a roundabout manner. They also heralded the return of jobs to the United States of America.
https://conservativedailypost.com/media ... rder-wall/

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/20 ... -loophole/




I don't think the final agreement has been signed yet, sure hope this holds up.

[C-Mag]

Trump poised to get $5 Billion for his wall in FY19 Budget

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wash ... order-wall

[SuburbanFarmer]

Trump poised to get $5 Billion for his wall in FY19 Budget

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wash ... order-wall

should manage to wall off a few miles with that.