Mr. Trump, "Tear Down Your Imaginary Wall"

Abraham Lincoln, by George Peter Alexander Healy,
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

I'm guessing that Mr. Lincoln might have said something like this following Mr. Trump's TV presentation last night: "Mr. Trump, tear down your imaginary wall." And, then, "O.K. now. Let's get about the nation's business by first making sure our people have their pay checks so they can feed their children."

These observation... about Mr. Lincoln,  a man who knew a thing or two about real crises... (Thanks to my brother, Gary, for the story link.)

The Suicide of a Great Democracy, George Packer, The Atlantic, 8 Jan 2019.
"A shutdown looks like the beginning of the end that Lincoln always knew was possible."

"During the Civil War, the government never shut down—not even when the capital was threatened by Confederate troops. A shutdown would have undermined the foundation of Lincoln’s cause, which was the ability of free people to rule themselves. The paralysis and dysfunction would have told the world that the government he led was no longer fully devoted to the cause for which other Americans had given the last full measure of devotion. A shutdown would have looked like the beginning of the end that Lincoln always knew was possible."

"It makes sense that Donald Trump is indifferent to the paralysis of the government he leads, and that he welcomes a shutdown of months or even years. If shutdowns become routine, if politicians view the government in which they serve as a disposable tool, if we’re no longer capable of governing ourselves, this only reflects Trump’s contemptuous attitude toward democracy itself. Shuttered museums, federal workers who can’t pay their bills, national parks with stinking toilets: This is what Trump thinks of American republicanism. This is what the suicide of a great democracy looks like."

So, here's the real story from last night...

"Mr. President we don't need to create artificial crises. We have enough real crises. Let us end this shutdown and bring the American people together around an agenda that will improve life for all of our people." Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)

The President must end his shutdown now.
Bernie Sanders Responds to Trump's Oval Office Address

TheRealNews
Published on Jan 8, 2019
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) delivers a response to President Donald Trump's address to the nation Tuesday night on the shutdown and the President's demand for funding for a wall

Visit https://therealnews.com for more stories and help support our work by donating at https://therealnews.com/donate.


Oh, about walls... imaginary or otherwise... they have never worked anyway.
Even Ronald Reagan knew that.

Here's Reagan's "Tear down this wall" speech, 1987

CBS
Published on Jun 11, 2012
From the archives of CBS News, Bill Plante reports on President Reagan's historic speech at the Berlin Wall, on June 12, 1987, where he called on Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down" the wall that divided East and West Berlin.