# A Democratic president and the border wall **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 28, 2019, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766 "2019-07-28T19:31:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/21 "2019-07-29T15:18:58Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > Not tearing it down would be worse; it would be a permanent monument to the ego and racism of a monster. > > Heck, when the photos and evidence of the GOP’s level of inhumanity and duplicitousness are finally able to be presented to the world, I suspect there will be strong support for tearing down the pre-existing barriers. > [@DSeid](#): > > Anyhoo … the op is a hypothetical. IF new wall is being built by the time the, hypothetically, Democratic candidate gets sworn in, how should they handle it? IF. Lean into the “permanent monument to the ego and racism of a monster” part. Make The Wall into The Billboard. Commission immigrant artists to cover every north-facing inch of it with depictions of the inhumane acts that Trump and GOP are inspiring and allowing. Pictures of kids in cages, pictures of ICE goons harassing people on the street, quotes of every stupid, racist thing any of them have ever said. All in letters 10 feet high, and bright colors that can be seen from afar. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/22 "2019-07-29T17:26:14Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > It will decay over time, and I’d rather that the hundreds of millions of dollars that would be required for such a demolition project be used to, I don’t know, give asylum seekers humane treatment. Yeah, just quit maintaining it, and between vandals and natural decay it will soon degrade into a fitting monument for the Trump presidency. For those who feel it needs to be taken down now, they sell crowbars and metal cutting saws at home depot. Feel free to have at it. Far more satisfying for the wall to be [taken down democratically](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul7r5D0PPMg). ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/23 "2019-07-29T19:24:51Z")
Assess the merits of each section of the wall independently. Weigh the benefits & costs of maintenance vs. continued construction vs. abandoning vs. tearing it down. Each of those factors will be different for different parts of the wall. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/24 "2019-07-29T19:34:02Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > [https://barrie360.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Border\_Wall\_at\_Tijuana\_and\_San\_Diego\_Border-400x200.jpg](https://barrie360.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Border_Wall_at_Tijuana_and_San_Diego_Border-400x200.jpg) That’s interesting because according to this thread: [Zero miles of new border wall built since Trump took office](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=879160) So was the section of the wall at the Tijuana border in the picture, built by the Obama administration or an earlier administration? ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/25 "2019-07-29T19:36:16Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > That’s interesting because according to this thread: > > [Zero miles of new border wall built since Trump took office](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=879160) > > So was the section of the wall at the Tijuana border in the picture, built by the Obama administration or an earlier administration? I don’t have an answer to this question, but you didn’t ask for a picture of a wall specifically built during the Trump administration. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/26 "2019-07-29T23:03:22Z")
**ekedolphin** (OP) asks what should be done with the wall that Trump builds. **foolsguinea** says it (_the wall that Trump builds)_ is an eyesore, meaning that he’s seen it. I ask for a picture of it. **CarnalK** posts a picture of a wall near the Tijuana/San Diego border, which was not built by the Trump administration. So, what wall are we talking about? The wall that the Trump administration built? Or any border wall between the US and Mexico that may have been erected by various previous administrations, Democrats and Republicans alike? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/27 "2019-07-29T23:26:24Z")
We’re talking about the one Trump promised Mexico would pay for in order to win the votes of cowards, rubes, and simpletons. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/28 "2019-07-29T23:51:47Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > **ekedolphin** (OP) asks what should be done with the wall that Trump builds. > > **foolsguinea** says it (_the wall that Trump builds)_ is an eyesore, meaning that he’s seen it. > > I ask for a picture of it. > > **CarnalK** posts a picture of a wall near the Tijuana/San Diego border, which was not built by the Trump administration. > > So, what wall are we talking about? The wall that the Trump administration built? Or any border wall between the US and Mexico that may have been erected by various previous administrations, Democrats and Republicans alike? You think Trump’s wall is going to wrapped in gold foil or something? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/29 "2019-07-30T00:05:23Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > I ask for a picture of it. Well, there’s this: > **[The prototypes for Trump's "big, beautiful" wall are nearly finished](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/see-all-8-prototypes-trump-s-big-beautiful-border-wall-n813346)** > > NBC News got a look at the eight nearly-finished prototypes of what President Donald Trump's promised border wall might look like. but apparently those didn’t work out so well, so they’re not going to use them: > **[WATCH: Border Wall Prototypes Destroyed, Making Way For New Fencing](https://www.npr.org/2019/02/27/698620276/watch-border-wall-prototypes-destroyed-making-way-for-new-fencing)** > > Eight steel-and-concrete mock-ups of border wall prototypes were put up near the San Diego-Tijuana border in 2017. They were supposed to represent the "next generation" of border barriers. and from that link: > [@](#): > > Border Patrol officials in South Texas, where 88 miles of new fence construction is currently planned, have been quietly saying they plan to follow the conventional barrier design — 18-foot hollow steel bollards filled with concrete and rebar. So it sounds like a photo of existing wall is likely to be as accurate as any. Personally, I’ve got trouble imagining any version that wouldn’t be an eyesore. But people’s ideas of what’s an eyesore vary. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/30 "2019-07-30T00:13:55Z")
I’m sure Omar knows perfectly well that any border wall will be an eyesore. He just couldn’t pass up a verb tense mistake cause it’s so damn snaekable. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/31 "2019-07-30T00:55:44Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > **foolsguinea** says it (_the wall that Trump builds)_ is an eyesore, meaning that he’s seen it. Fine. The hypothetical Trump-built barrier _will be_ an eyesore. I have seen multiple reports of new sections of palisade that have started construction, despite what you may have been told. But even if all that construction has somehow been halted, certainly the barrier between San Diego & Tijuana is a big ugly fence, and _any_ barrier between Texas and the river is an eyesore by definition. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/32 "2019-07-30T01:01:50Z")
And yes, _all_ the border barriers are eyesores, because they are an insult to this continent and its people. But if you prefer, I can be less coy and just call them all abominations. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/33 "2019-07-30T02:03:47Z")
Why are all border barriers an insult to this continent and its people? The specific additional physical barriers proposed by Trump are a waste of money and an ineffective method to achieve the goals of preventing goods (legal or illegal in nature) or people entering illegally. The current nature of those entries likely doesn’t even justify the lesser expense of more “smart technology” approaches, and the money can be much better spent in a variety of other ways. But the very idea of preventing illegal entry of people and goods, which by definition means a functional barrier even if not a physical one, is something that you think insults the very continent and its people? As one of the people of this continent I am not insulted by that. And the data is pretty clear that most Americans are not. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/34 "2019-07-30T08:17:25Z")
Where do you live? Chicago? I see. Yeah. Imagine someone decided Wisconsin desperately had to be walled off. Imagine someone in\* Texas \*decided you needed a big wall between Illinois & Wisconsin, in order to control the movement of…something, I don’t know, lager or cheese. How insulted would Chicagoland feel? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/35 "2019-07-30T11:46:46Z")
Imagine aardvarks ate rats. How insulted would the Golden Gate Bridge feel? And what dressing goes best with word salad? Enforced borders are not inherently evil or “insulting”. They are even sometimes in everyone’s best interests. Say like the fence that kept my dogs in my yard so they could play safely and not mess up my neighbor’s yards or the one that keeps kids from going into a pool uninvited and unsupervised. You really don’t agree with that? Seriously the only other time I’ve heard that position taken is as false presentation of what liberals think by conservatives. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/36 "2019-07-30T13:49:18Z")
Yeah, but couldn’t it be a nice hedgerow with some flower covered arbors sprinkled around? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/37 "2019-07-30T14:57:55Z")
My round-a-bout questioning is that most of you have no idea what is happening in the real world (ignorance abounds, even here). Someone starts a thread about tearing down the Trump wall after his administration leaves, many posters pile on, even posting pictures of the supposed eyesore Trump wall. There is no Trump wall. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/38 "2019-07-30T15:01:48Z")
I know perfectly well what’s going on in the world and that the pic I posted was from a longstanding section of wall. I just thought your smartass question deserved an obtuse reply. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/39 "2019-07-30T15:10:21Z")
I would like to see volunteers permitted to destroy the wall. I would like to see signs along the border with poetry, including, "“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/40 "2019-07-30T15:47:18Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > My round-a-bout questioning is that most of you have no idea what is happening in the real world (ignorance abounds, even here). > > Someone starts a thread about tearing down the Trump wall after his administration leaves, many posters pile on, even posting pictures of the supposed eyesore Trump wall. > > There is no Trump wall. We thank you for your sacrifice and your service. > [@kayaker](#): > > I would like to see volunteers permitted to destroy the wall. I would like to see signs along the border with poetry, including, "“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” “Mr. Shitgibbon, tear down this wall!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766.md?page=3)