# 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:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/41 "2019-07-30T15:52:24Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > “Mr. Shitgibbon, tear down this wall!” Totes stealing. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/42 "2019-07-30T16:19:15Z")
> [@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. The best answer to the OP was that all a future Democrat president has to do about “Trump’s wall” is to simply stop talking about the imaginary wall. Because there isn’t one. \*\* Drum God\*\* nailed it already in post #7: > [@](#): > > The wall is purely a rhetorical device used by Trump to further his “us and them” message. The wall as described by Trump will never be built and has never intended to be built. All a new administration will have to do to stop the wall is to stop talking about it. ---
**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, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/43 "2019-07-30T16:26:56Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > The best answer to the OP was that all a future Democrat president has to do about “Trump’s wall” is to simply stop talking about the imaginary wall. Because there isn’t one. > \*\* > Drum God\*\* nailed it already in post #7: Agree ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/44 "2019-07-30T17:42:12Z")
Part of the wall (although only a tiny bit) [is being built by Steve Bannon using crowdfunding.](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/we-built-the-wall-construction_n_5ced224ae4b0bbe6e332dff5) ---
**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, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/45 "2019-07-30T18:19:10Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I 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. Most places have regulations limiting neighborhood fencing. Would your area let you put one in 30’ tall? How about one of any height that cut across the main road between your neighbors and the grocery store? Your neighbors’ house and their back yard? The local wildlife refuge? Wildlife necessities aside for the moment: there are multiple communities that over the last several hundred years have grown up along that line, with people moving reasonably freely across the line on a day to day basis, and without disaster occuring to the USA because of this; and also many properties entirely within the USA that are currently on both sides of where a wall would have to go, as no wall can be built precisely on the border line in all areas. > [@Omar\_Little](#): > > There is no Trump wall. We know that. We would like that to continue. Trump, at least judging both by his public statements and by his attempts to force us all to spend money on it, would not. Some of those posting in this thread are answering the hypothetical in the OP. It seems quite common on these boards to start threads with a hypothetical that’s contrary to current fact. Others posting in the thread may respond to the hypothetical while fully aware that it’s contrary to fact. ---
**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, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/46 "2019-07-30T18:38:41Z")
Thorny did you read the context? Are ALL border barriers abominations by their very nature? Not just the ones proposed by Trump but ALL. ---
**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, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/47 "2019-07-30T18:49:29Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Part of the wall (although only a tiny bit) [is being built by Steve Bannon using crowdfunding.](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/we-built-the-wall-construction_n_5ced224ae4b0bbe6e332dff5) Sounds good, we’ll do crowdfunding to pay for the catering for all the people that show up to tear it down. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/48 "2019-07-31T14:31:26Z")
Nm ---
**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 31, 2019, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/49 "2019-07-31T15:09:18Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Thorny did you read the context? > > Are ALL border barriers abominations by their very nature? > > Not just the ones proposed by Trump but ALL. Yes, I read the context. The context is this quote and all the rest of this thread: > [@foolsguinea](#): > > 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. and in the context of this thread, “ **the** border barriers” (bolding mine) obviously refers to the ones being proposed by Trump. It could possibly be taken to mean in addition the similarly constructed ones already in place. Taking it to mean “ALL border barriers” in any possible location and of any possible design is what’s taking it out of context. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/50 "2019-07-31T17:22:07Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > and in the context of this thread, “ **the** border barriers” (bolding mine) obviously refers to the ones being proposed by Trump. It could possibly be taken to mean in addition the similarly constructed ones already in place. Taking it to mean “ALL border barriers” in any possible location and of any possible design is what’s taking it out of context. I disagree, this is not obvious by context. Especially because it is hard to understand how Trump’s walls “are an insult to this continent and its people” but walls built before Trump are not insults. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2019, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/51 "2019-08-01T02:02:57Z")
No, I meant every border barrier built by the USA through historical Mexico. I’m not giving any passes here. It’s all Anglo-Saxon imperialism. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2019, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/52 "2019-08-01T14:11:42Z")
So you don’t believe that sovereign nations have the right to control their borders, place restrictions and time limits on how visitors come through their borders? ---
**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:** [August 1, 2019, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/53 "2019-08-01T14:48:25Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > No, I meant every border barrier built by the USA through historical Mexico. I’m not giving any passes here. It’s all Anglo-Saxon imperialism. Yes, that was pretty clear to me at least from context. I guess not to everyone though as at least one poster here did not get that. What I am unclear about is whether you feel that way exclusively about any functional barrier at any location between the USA and Mexico, or if you feel that way about all functional barriers between any countries. Both are equally … unique … perspectives, but in different ways. Can you clarify please? thorny, to clarify to you further - I am NOT defending the specific idiocy of Trump’s proposals. I am questioning the position, as I understand it, that any functional barrier is an insult. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2019, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/54 "2019-08-01T15:09:21Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > 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. I don’t understand why this isn’t the default answer. If the wall is partially or completely built, you do a cost-benefit analysis. If it’s incomplete, would it cost the taxpayer more to finish it or to stop construction? Are there sections of the wall where its existence is causing problems (to the environment, legal crossings, etc)? Do any of the wall sections actually hinder border control? What are the maintenance costs for each section and are they in line with the benefit received, or would it be better to let the wall fall into disrepair and spend the money on, I dunno, drones and personnel? I mean, tearing it down just for petty political reasons seems counterproductive. If it bothers you that much, give a bunch of graffiti artists some spraypaint and they can do rude pictures of Trump along its length, which would be cheaper than taking a wall down. Or we could just do more of [this](https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/30/us/seesaws-border-wall-us-mexico-trnd/index.html). That seems fun. > [@Omar\_Little](#): > > 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. Next you’ll be telling me there is no war in Albania. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2019, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766/55 "2019-08-01T17:25:51Z")
We have had something of a wall there for decades. Let’s call the old style “wall” a fence, since that better describes it. Also there for drug interdiction. So yeah, leave whatever is there in place, it helps with drug interdiction. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-democratic-president-and-the-border-wall/837766.md?page=2)