The
GOP's "just build a wall" simpletons don't know what they’re talking
about.
Good fences, wrote Robert Frost,
make good neighbors.
But an 18-foot high, 2,000-mile wall? That’s another story. It
just antagonizes your neighbor — and shows your own fear and weakness.
Yet this is what self-described conservatives running for
president propose to build to stop migrants from coming across our country’s
southern border. Simple, right? Just fence ’em out!
Haven’t we already tried this?
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| Donald Trump's inspiration? |
First, it’s ridiculously expensive — about $10 billion just for
the materials to build from the tip of Texas to the Pacific, not counting labor
costs and maintenance.
Second, there’s the prickly problem of land acquisition: To
erect the first 650 miles of fence, the federal government had to sue hundreds
of property owners to take their land.
Odd, isn’t it, that right-wing politicos
who loudly rail against government overreach now favor using government muscle
to grab private property?
Third, it’s impossible to fence the whole border. Hundreds of
miles of it lie along the Rio Grande’s flood plain, and more miles cross the
steep mountainous terrain of southern Arizona.
Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and the other “just build a wall”
simpletons either don’t know what they’re talking about or are deliberately
trying to dupe voters.
Before you buy a 2,000-mile wall from them, take a peek at the
small part already built. Because of the poor terrain and legal prohibitions,
it’s not one long fence, but a fragment here and another there, with miles of
gaps. Anyone wanting to cross into the United States can just go to one of the
gaps and walk through.
But when they’re just trying to stir up fear of foreigners,
what’s honesty have to do with it?
OtherWords
columnist Jim Hightower is a radio commentator, writer, and public speaker.
He’s also the editor of the populist newsletter, The Hightower Lowdown. OtherWords.org