You might as well build a ‘border wall’ from Legos for all the security a U.S./Mexico barricade would provide

Donald Trump has long been on a kick out of building a physical barrier to separate the United States from Mexico, going so far in recent days as to make the “compromise” gesture of building a wall out of steel slats – rather than concrete blocks.

Let's make Internet 'gag' a reality!

The Trumpster, who is quite deluded on so many issues, seems to think that would be more likely to placate the people who speak out against a border wall.

NOT THAT IT matters one bit. It’s the very concept of thinking we ought to have a physical barrier between the two major nations of North America (sorry Canada!) that so many people find offensive.

Particularly since it would involve the spending of so much money -- $5.7 billion is the most recent figure I have heard tossed about. In fact, the only thing more absurd than spending that much of taxpayer funds on this pathetic project is to keep being deluded that ANY other nation would pick up the tab, in any form.

No, the government of Mexico is not paying for this. Nor are they under any legal or moral obligation to pay for this Trump boondoggle of a project.

Of course, even if Trump himself were to use his personal wealth to pay for construction of a border barricade, I and most other people would still find the concept morally abhorrent! We are one continent – no matter how much ideologues want to split us apart.

Lego 'Trump' looks no more ridiculous … 

IN FACT, IF one seriously studies the southwestern portion of the United States, they’d see how obvious it is that we are one – even if all those white Texans want to think their presence in the region is something special.

Rather than something the rest of the nation often finds to be a cultural embarrassment to us all.

It’s why I almost get a chuckle when I see the gag image on the Internet that suggests Mexico will gladly pay for a border wall – if it means restoring the southwestern U.S. back to Mexico.

… than the real Trump

No more confusion about Texas or Arizona, Utah or Nevada or Colorado. And no more confusion about whether New Mexico ought to be regarded a “foreign” land.

TRUMP ON THURSDAY tried to advance the cause further by using Air Force One to take a trip to McAllen, Texas – which put him in sight of the U.S./Mexico border. And probably gave some Mexican citizens the laugh of a lifetime if they caught a glimpse of his absurd pompadour.

But Trump staged a border event that I’m sure was meant to scare the bejeezus out of ideologues of a particularly xenophobic bent – citing what he says are all the illicit items that get smuggled across the border.

He literally had federal agents set up a table containing assorted firearms, bags of illicit cash and heroin and meth bound with black tape into bricks. Which bears a strong resemblance to the same kind of presentation local cops make whenever they want to make their latest local drug bust seem much more significant than it really is.

A real southwestern 'restoration'

Of course, this stunt occurred one day after Trump walked out of a meeting with Democratic leadership of Congress to try to negotiate something serious. Not that Trump himself is about anything serious – he was just determined to tell people he rejected anything “that woman” (House Speaker Nancy Pelosi) put forth to him.

IN REALITY THOUGH, it showed Trump is more interested in playing games with this border barricade issue than doing anything involving serious public policy. Seeing Democratic leadership refuse to give in to Trump’s inanity may well give them political points.

So since this has become nothing more than a game with public officials acting like children, I suggest that if a border wall is to be built, we do it from Legos. As in those plastic bricks children use to construct so many structures from their imaginations to reality.

Envision all those kids working along the border with their Legos

Seriously, a Lego-built wall wouldn’t be any less secure than a concrete- or steel-built one that Trump suggests. It wouldn’t stop anything or anyone from being able to get across the border. Just envision the image of children from all over the 1,900-mile border region combining their Lego building blocks to assemble a wall.

And since we’re talking about a child’s toy, it would make us admit that only someone with a child-like sensibility would in any way take this project seriously, no matter what form the 'wall' took!

  -30-

NAFTA talks have something about it for just about everyone to hate

When it comes to the North American Free Trade Agreement, it seems we truly have a policy meant to unite us – since there’s something in it that arouses the ire in just about everybody.

The logo that expresses hostile concept to many

The deal that was supposed to bring the United States into a sense of unity with the other two major nations that comprise the North American continent seems to do little more than tick people off.

TO THE POINT where it has President Donald J. Trump finding every excuse he can come up with to say he’s going to kill the trade deal off. While Mexico’s newly-elected president is going about saying he fully intends to keep the deal in place.

Which means we have yet another issue upon which the two nations can’t agree upon.

As things stand, the United States is negotiating these days with Mexico and Canada to supposedly come up with a new trade deal for the North American continent to abide by. Supposedly something that will be more equitable than the current deal – which dates back to the Clinton presidential administration.

Although if you’re old enough to remember back that you, you’ll know that it really wasn’t Bill Clinton who came up with the idea for NAFTA.

THE TRADE DEAL was the goal of former President George Bush (the elder, not his son). Yet his one-term presidency managed to come to an end before he could get Congress to go along with ratification of the deal.

TRUMP: Won't sign off now

In a sense that the Clinton Administration wanted to start off with a sense of bipartisanship, it took over the lead on NAFTA, which ultimately got it passed by U.S. officials – thereby making us a partner in the deal that was meant to keep nationalist concerns from interfering with the ability of goods to be shipped across the three North American nations.

Almost as though we were one with Mexico and Canada.

Which is an ideal I’m sure people who back this Age of Trump we’re now in absolutely despise, and which is the big reason the current U.S. president is so eager to back us out of the deal.

LOPEZ: Wants NAFTA to remain

OR ELSE FIND some sort of terms that will allow U.S. interests to think of themselves as the preeminent power and the other nations as subordinate.

Keep in mind that the original ideal behind NAFTA was to keep our local regulations from interfering with inter-American trade. None of those pesky union contracts meant to protect workers’ powers were allowed to interfere with trade.

All those environmental regulations we have developed to protect our eco-system but which other countries have no equivalent for themselves? They’re also bad, very bad, in terms of thinking of trade.

Which is why organized labor has always hated NAFTA; it was perceived as a way of undermining their influence. While also making them question the sincerity of Clinton’s “liberal” political credentials.

CLINTON: Gets the credit/blame

YET THE IDEOLOGUES amongst us always thought that the idea of trying to promote the North American nations as equals and boosting trade amongst us was somehow a subversive thought. The fact that it came up during the Clinton presidential years was all the more reason to mis-trust it.

Hence, we had Trump say recently that he’s not going to sign off on any renegotiated NAFTA deal until after the Nov. 6 elections – probably hoping that a change in political partisanship will strengthen his hand so he can be even further hard-headed in his negotiations tactics.

BUSH: His administration's idea

Yet Andres Lopez Obrador said Monday he’s going to do everything he can to keep the current NAFTA deal in place – largely because he’s the guy whose campaign’s ideology has been compared to that of failed presidential dreamer Bernie Sanders, and who sees himself as the anti-Trump.

Oddly enough, Trump’s refusal to act soon may play into Mexican interests – because Lopez’ presidential term doesn’t actually begin until December. Which makes it very likely that cheap rhetoric about NAFTA will join all the stupid talk about a border wall that will clutter up the political rants we’ll hear the rest of the year – on both sides of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo del Norte.

  -30-

Is Equipo Mexico in the World Cup really the equivalent of Chicago Cubs?

It’s no secret that when it comes to the world of international soccer, I’m a follower of El Tri, as in the Tri-colors (a.k.a., the national futbol team of Mexico).

Donovan gets paired up … 

It’s also knowledge to anybody who has closely read this weblog throughout the years that I don’t have much use for the Chicago Cubs baseball club.

SO I HAVE to confess to feeling a touch of nausea when I learned of an advertising campaign trying to compare the chances of Team Mexico winning the World Cup to that of the Chicago Cubs winning a World Series.

Which, as Cubs fans will never let the rest of us forget, actually managed to happen two years ago. If that occurred, then perhaps the day is destined for the near future that Mexico’s national football team (also the arch-rival of the U.S. national soccer club) will see themselves as a real “world champion” of soccer.

A happening that, to Mexican fanaticos de futbol is a thought that usually includes a glance skyward – as though the whole affair is truly in the hands of the good lord himself.

Then again, I still recall the parody paper The Onion publishing a story following the Cubs’ World Series victory of 2016, telling of the riotous celebrations that occurred in Heaven following the Cubbies’ victory – with several Cubs fans being banished to Hell for their vandalism and other misbehavior.

SO WHAT’S THE connection between El Tri and the baby blue bears?

It seems that Modelo, a Mexican beer brand available in the United States, has new commercial spots featuring one-time Cubs player David Ross and Landon Donovan, who during his own playing career with the U.S. national team was often an antagonist of Team Mexico and a large part of the rivalry that has developed.

… with Ross in ad playing off alleged curses

But now, he’s saying that U.S. fans ought to root for Mexico (which plays its first World Cup match Sunday against Germany). It even claims that with the Cubs being able to break their “curse” (which really was little more than generations of ineptitude), it’s now time for Mexico to do the same.

Which in the case of the World Cup usually involves Mexican teams qualifying and making it past the first round of matches, but then ultimately losing once things become more competitive.

MEXICAN TEAMS HAVE never made it past el Quinto Partido (a fifth match, with a team ultimately needing to win eight matches during the next month in order to win the whole thing).

Now, the one-time Mexican villain of Donovan is talking in terms of Mexico prevailing. Although it seems some soccer fans in this country are willing to follow suit because of the lack of a U.S. team in the running.

The Morning Consult organization came out with a poll this week showing only 20 percent of people intending to watch the World Cup this year, although 77 percent of those who watched international soccer will tune in their television sets to the activity taking place in Russia.

Who they’re rooting for? It seems there are 11 percent each who will cheer for Mexico or England (could the British become the faves of those of us enamored with this Age of Trump that we’re now in, with the rest of us backing Equipo Mexico), with another 10 percent for Brazil (a perennial futebol powerhouse).

ALL I KNOW is that I’ll be tuning in on Sunday, along with June 23 (against South Korea) and June 27 (against Sweden) to see if Mexico can advance beyond the group play, while playing into the theme of Mexico being a Chicago Cubs equivalent.

Is '18 THE YEAR for losing ways to end?

Who knows? I may even have a few beers – although to be honest, I’m more likely to crack open a Dos Equis or a Tecate (sorry Modelo).

Although I’ll be honest in admitting I’ll take some joy from those people who go out of their way to feel miserable because they can’t enjoy “the beautiful game.”

The ones who want to think they’re the majority, even though that same poll showing only 20 percent will watch the World Cup also showed only 14 percent “very likely” to watch the Daytona 500 auto racing.

  -30-

Cards Against Humanity has right smart-aleck attitude toward border wall

I must confess that until Thursday, I had never heard of Cards Against Humanity – a game put together by a company that seems to have a smart-alecked approach to viewing life.

 

Trump's border wall the target of Chgo co.

Which is also why the company likes to engage in attention-seeking gags to promote itself. Their latest gag is one whose spirit I totally approve of, makes me totally pleased to be able to say this company is based out of our very own home city of Chicago.

WHICH IS PROBABLY all the more reason that President Donald J. Trump will denigrate the Second City’s reputation, but may be the ultimate proof that our president is a poo-head when it comes to so many issues.

Specifically, the company is taking a stance against one of the issues that Trump made a priority during his election cycle. Immigration reform, or the refusal to do anything with it.

More specifically, instead of trying to eradicate the bureaucratic entanglements of our current immigration policy, he’s touting construction of that wall along the more-than-1,900 miles of border that separate the United States from Mexico.

Most of which is fairly uncrossable desert. But hey, Trump wants to say he built something that’s going to keep those friggin’ foreigners out of this country. Even though construction of a wall is likely the most inefficient thing one could do to keep people from entering this country at its southwest border

WHICH IS WHERE Cards Against Humanity comes in. The company says it wants to purchase a plot of land right on the U.S./Mexico border – and will refuse to cooperate with plans to use its land to let the border wall be built.

Admittedly, there are ways the government can seize land if it can argue that a project is of sufficient merit that one’s personal property rights should not be allowed to stand in the way!

But that does involve the courts and having to work one’s way through the legal process. The company, which won’t say where exactly out in the deserts of the southwest it is buying a plot of land, does say it will retain attorneys who are used to fighting such cases.

Trump's border wall bears too much resemblance to Berlin Wall of old

They’re prepared to drag this out in the courts so as to make the entire process a miserable ordeal for all involved.

WHO KNOWS? THEORETICALLY, the case could drag on so long that Trump won’t even be president any longer when it finally is resolved. Which means a future president of significantly more common sense (be honest, ANYBODY who gets elected will have more sense than Trump) will wind up trashing the border wall project.

The company, if it follows through with its threats to become a pain in the behind on this issue, will wind up performing a significant public service.

Since there is no such thing as a physical barricade that cannot be circumvented. This wall is literally a waste of money, and could wind up becoming an even more significant embarrassment than the Berlin Wall ever was!

It will be nice to know that such a project thwarting the embarrassment from becoming reality will have its very own Chicago tie.

Trump more a Frankenstein ...

I ALSO HAVE to admit to enjoying the company’s comment justifying their action, saying, “Donald Trump is a preposterous golem who is afraid of Mexicans.”

Those of us who remember “The Sopranos” will remember that episode where Shlomo Teittleman, owner of the Fly Away Motel, winds up denouncing Tony Soprano as such when Tony extorts him for a large share of the motel’s control.

... or a Gossamer?

For those who don’t remember, a “golem” is a “Frankenstein-type monster.”

Although that brings up the issue of whether Trump, with the puffy hairdo and orange tint his skin has taken on in recent years, is too ridiculous-looking to be a Frankenstein and is more like a Gossamer – the old Looney Toons character.

  -30-