Lying and Untrustworthy

As usual, most of the media and most Americans have missed, overlooked, or minimized the most important aspect of the current partial government shutdown, a shutdown ostensibly over the amount of funding for border security, and, in particular because Congress is paralyzed over the amount the Democrats will accept — $1.6 billion—and Trump’s demand for $5 billion, mostly for “his wall.”

Except that’s not the real story, or not the entire story.  The Senate leadership had earlier gone to the President with the $1.6 billion in funding for the remainder of the fiscal year, and according to Congressional parties, the President had agreed to the $1.6 billion number.  When he received the final bill, however, he rejected it and demanded that the Congress send him legislation with $5 billion for border security, despite the fact that the administration hasn’t even spent all the funding it already has for border security.

Now, after having gone back on his word, Trump is demanding a “counter-offer” from Congress for more wall and border security funding.

Needless to say, the Democrats are furious at the President, and the Republicans are blaming the shut-down on the Democrats’ failure to negotiate, willfully ignoring the fact that the Democrats already negotiated in good faith and that the President went back on his word.  And, of course, there’s also the problem that, over time, walls have never worked, and that despite the President’s rhetoric, illegal border crossings from Mexico have dropped 90% since 2000, and that the majority of illegal immigrants today actually arrived legally, as students, tourists, or visitors.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post just published a story noting that the President averaged over 15 verifiable falsehoods a day in 2018, up from 5 per day in 2017 and describing 2018 as a year of “unprecedented deception” by the President.

Exactly why should the Democrats give in to a lying and untrustworthy President?  And why do Republican politicians continue to support him?

2 thoughts on “Lying and Untrustworthy”

  1. Tom says:

    Everyone can describe the problem. None have described (a) rational solution(s). Not even in SF or Fantasy and certainly not in the media. Not even close in the “social” media.

    The extremists are providing known failed solutions in the form of isolationism, communism, nationalism, beliefs, and me-first-ism.

    There are no Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld’s popping up anywhere in the world.

    Ghandi would not have a chance now; because the only sacrifice that is acceptable is within terrorism. Churchill was unsuccessful in changing the direction of an easier societal situation. There are not enough Chinese in our small towns. There are too many Hindi dialects. With apology to Africans, they seem to be too interested in going ‘into Africa’ even though the trees are rapidly disappearing.

    Maybe there will be yet another drug for all of us to try for “recreation” that will result in “re-creation”.

    I am just as dumb. I think the nuclear apocalypse will allow us to restart – we do have about 7.6 billion years to try and try again.

    What a way to start the new year!

  2. John M. says:

    It’s not just the politicians, it’s that an astonishing number of citizens still support Trump, regardless of how low he goes.
    The religious right is behind Trump, never mind the fact that he can’t wake up in the morning without violating nearly ever tenant of their faith.
    It utterly baffles me.

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