The Wages of White Nationalist Symbolism
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In order to build his Potemkin wall, Trump might attempt to unilaterally use funds actually being used for important purposes:
President Trump traveled to the border on Thursday to warn of crime and chaos on the frontier, as White House officials considered diverting emergency aid from storm- and fire-ravaged Puerto Rico, Florida, Texas and California to build a border barrier, perhaps under an emergency declaration.
In a sign of growing unease about the partial government shutdown, some Senate Republicans came off the sidelines to hash out a deal that would reopen the government as Congress worked toward a broader agreement tying wall funds to protection for some undocumented immigrants and other migrants.
But before those negotiations could gain momentum, they collapsed. Vice President Mike Pence and other members of Mr. Trump’s team let it be known privately that the president would not back such a deal.
Electing a cross between George Wallace, Calvin Coolidge, Bernie Madoff, and Lloyd Christmas seemed like a great idea, what went wrong?