As the governmet shutdown stretches on through week 3, pResident tRump sits in the corner he painted himself into and refuses to consider any funding bill which does not include his wall. It is HIS wall, after all - a monument to wasteful spending on something that isn't necessary and won't work as promised. Let's break this down...

Spending Bill: Right before the Congress broke for Christmas, one of the last acts of the Senate was to pass a spending bill unanimously, with no additional funding for a border wall. The House fucked it up by adding funding for the wall and sent it back to the Senate. By then, it was too late. Once the new Congress opened in January, the Democrats (now in charge in the House) passed the original bill the Senate had already passed in the previous congress, and sent it to the Senate.

Suddenly, Mitch McConnell (R-KY) got religion about the wall and refused to bring the bill up for a vote, saying he wouldn't pass any bill the president wouldn't sign, and then blaming the Democrats for being partisan. It was a blatant and disgusting display of projection and partisanship, and an aggravating preview of what to expect from him over the next two years.

Efficacy of the Wall: tRump (and his supporters) have imagined that there are waves of criminals, drug dealers, and terrorists pouring over our southern border. There is no evidence of this, of course, and in fact the evidence proves otherwise. The only people willing to walk through the deserts of northern Mexico and the southern border states are very desperate people. Most drugs come by way of boat, car, or plane (and the occasional tunnel under the wall). Most people here "illegally" came here legally (again - via car, boat, or plane) and then never left. There is much more border along the coastline and Canada. The WALL is a big expensive deterrent to a very small number of poor people escaping violence, who can come here legally seeking asylum if the current administration would just make it a little easier to go through that process.

Criminals and MS-13: tRump uses a handful of anecdotal stories to illustrate his "criminals, rapists" commentary he's maintained since he announced. Statistics say otherwise, that immigrants (both legal and illegal) are committing crimes in a lesser percentage than American citizens. However, people respond much more to personal anecdotal stories than they do statistics (see "white girl stuck in a well" syndrome). The reality, though, is you're more likely to get shot by your white gun-toting American compatriots than you are an immigrant.

And MS-13? That gang originated in Los Angeles - not Mexico - and is comprised of mostly Salvadorans. They recruit vulnerable new immigrants once they're here - they are NOT bringing in gang members from south of the border.

Terrorism: How did the 9/11 terrorists get here? Did they fly to Mexico and walk through the desert? No, of course not. Neither will any terrorist. tRump and Sarah Huckleberry Sanders claim 4000 terrorists have been stopped, but they left out the tiny detail that those people were apprehended at airports - NOT the southern border, and nearly all not even in the United States. There have been 6 - count 'em - 6 people detained at the southern border who were on a "terrorist watch list" in the first half of 2018, and they were detained at points of entry - NOT crossing illegally. This is a problem that doesn't exist.

Jobs: The wall supporters will simultaneously say that illegal immigrants are taking our jobs AND that they are sucking at the welfare teat. It's amazing, really, that they can keep both contrary positions in their heads without exploding. The reality is that the only jobs they are taking are the ones Americans no longer want to do, like picking vegetables and cutting up chickens in slaughterhouses. Typically, a migrant would cross the border at the beginning of harvest season, work through the harvest, and then go back home. What's wrong with that? It helps the farmers, it helps U.S. consumers, and it helps poor families south of the border. With the border crossing being tightened and more treacherous, they are more likely to stay and send money to their families back home. We should be making this easier for them - it would cut down on the number of immigrants staying year-round.

As to welfare - illegal immigrants cannot get welfare, despite all the lying memes you might see claiming otherwise. If a person sees an "immigrant" at the store with food stamps, they are here legally.

So once you look at the truth being obscured by all of the lies in tRumps prime-time address, it's clear that there's no reason for spending $5B on a border wall, other than to give him a lasting legacy long after he's left the office in disgrace and ignominy. We the American People deserve better, and hard-working civil servants deserve to go back to their paying jobs.