I must applaud Gary Horton’s column of 26 December, “Border Wall Shutdown Is a Bad Gift for Christmas.” It’s a glorious illustration of TDS: Trump Derangement Syndrome.
When Dem/socialist Obama was president and the Republican-controlled Congress blocked his proposals, leading to government shutdowns, the leftists bellowed that it was the Republicans who were at fault for being obstructionist.
Now that Republican President Trump’s border wall proposal is being blocked in the Senate by Dem/socialists, leading to a government shutdown, to those with TDS it’s still magically the Republican’s (Trump’s) fault.
If Trump were to announce he was on the verge of finding a cure for cancer, Horton and his cohorts would demand he stop his “war on cancer,” their TDS is so bad.
As to the government “shutdown” itself… Meh. It’s the boogeyman doll the Dem/socialists like to wave around every time they don’t get their way when they throw a tantrum. I mean, really… who cares?
Have you noticed any effect at all on your own life? Some government workers are going to be having a paid-for-later vacation. A few parks may be shut down for a while, in the middle of winter, not exactly the big tourism season anyway. Big whoop.
The fact is that the border wall was Trump’s signature campaign issue, and he’s finally thrown down the gauntlet. There’s absolutely no doubt that a big part of the blame lies with Paul Ryan and his incompetent speakership in the House while the Repubs had control until they lost it in the recent mid-term election. Ryan’s now gone; good riddance.
But make no mistake. This particular shutdown lies squarely in the laps of Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. They’re the ones leading the charge against funding the wall, all while trying to throw the blame off for their own actions onto Trump.
Not only was the wall Trump’s main issue, but it’s also an effective method of border control. I know the left likes to decry that reality, but all one has to do is look at Israel to see how effective a wall is to control a border.
This is an issue that’s worth going to the mats for. I hope Trump sticks to his guns.
Brian Baker is a Saugus resident.