Reason # 61: Promises: An Iron Curtain
Why do we need to defeat Donald Trump and ensure that a Democrat occupies the White House?
Donald Trump’s second major strategy to scam voters is his cynical promise to build his “beautiful” wall. He railed against the harm that was being perpetrated by undocumented aliens who were allegedly driving a crime wave of drug smuggling, rape, murder and other depredations in the U.S.. Specifically, Trump promised voters that he would build an impenetrable iron wall between the United States and Mexico. Not only would he build the wall: it would not cost America a dollar. Mexico would pay for the entire construction!
Now to believe such a nonsensical idea requires either low intelligence or an almost religious belief in a political Savior.
Why do I stigmatize Trump voters in such an impolite manner? Take a look at a map. The U.S. Mexican border is more than two thousand seven hundred miles long! Get a bid from a fencing contractor, estimating the cost of building a continent-long thirty-foot-high steel wall, with extensive associated fencing. Then remember that much of the border traverses menacing terrain, featuring deserts, mountains, river valleys and towns and cities. From this standpoint, it was patently dishonest to promise the American public that such a wall could be built quickly, or at all.
The second problem with the wall is whether it would do what it was intended to do. Historically, the Chinese built a really beautiful wall to keep out groups they considered to be “barbarians” from invading. It failed. Mongol khans conquered China in the early thirteenth century.
https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-china/great-wall-of-china
East Germany built an iron curtain (actually concrete) in a limited area of border centered upon the city of Berlin. It was built for an entirely different reason. East Germany was humiliated by enormous numbers seeking to escape their form of government. It was highly effective, but only when supplemented by armed patrols, using dogs and a brutal willingness to shoot to kill anyone who climbed over the wall in an attempt to escape Communist East Germany.
Early in the process of building the Trump wall, a child demonstrated how a healthy individual could make their way over the wall within seconds.
https://www.indy100.com/news/trump-border-wall-men-climb-mexico-viral-video-watch-9235931
Accordingly, the physical wall would have to be supplemented by a heavy border patrol presence, covering twenty-seven hundred miles, twenty-four hours a day.
Are we willing to deploy a real iron curtain, one with mine fields, machine guns and savage dogs? The Trump administration did not do any of these things, but they did employ terror. They incarcerated those who crossed the border in what can be accurately characterized as concentration camps. Worse, they separated them from their children! Can you imagine anything more terrifying than having your children taken from you, with no idea where they have gone?
In the end, the wall is a humiliating stain on our national character.
In any case, Trump did not keep his promise. He only built five hundred miles of wall. Did it work? Not at all. In the early years of the Biden administration, illegal crossings peaked. The Trump wall, despite his grandiose promises proved completely ineffective. Mexico did not provide a penny.
Donald Trump’s promises are fraudulent. Don’t be taken in again. Do not vote for Donald Trump.
Have a heart; use your mind, search your conscience, and vote for Democratic candidates – across the ballot – on November. 5th.
Please share this message with your friends and please, add your thoughts, to expand upon what are only brief sketches here.
Fred Grannis
September 20, 2024