The wall: it ain’t happening

The art of the sucker

…this is pretty funny (it’s funny because people actually thought Trump would build a wall, when he couldn’t even get tax cuts implemented and or Obamacare overturned in a GOP-controlled House).

Due to many factors, the administration is stuck in quicksand, as has been the case since January. Nothing has happened, and likely nothing will (or at least not until 2018). Remember that Carrier factory deal in January? As many, myself included, predicted, it was symbolic gesture, and nothing has happened since. As I wrote before, Trump is a manager (like a baseball or basketball team manager who oversees everything but does not really get involved), not a general who rides into battle. Managers don’t really inspire confidence or greatness like leaders do. But this is also because leadership is anathema to the Managerial State, so we end up with a lot of managing instead of leading.

In terms of the strong stock market and economy, Trump is succeeding by not rocking the boat to much. He knows that if he appeases the protectionists and isolationists too much, the economy may suffer and his reelection may be jeopardized. I continue to be long stocks, with no plans to sell.

Bannon left, and these were his parting words:

“Ethno-nationalism—it’s losers. It’s a fringe element. I think the media plays it up too much, and we gotta help crush it, you know, uh, help crush it more.”

This should give you an idea of the people who are in change, unfortunately, and agrees with an earlier post about neocon infiltration of the administration (assuming it wasn’t neocon to begin with).

Vox writes:

If Trump doesn’t build the wall and maintain a hard line on immigration, he will not win the 2020 election, as he will lose the base that has remained loyal to him throughout. It’s literally the one thing he cannot afford to do, which is why he should immediately fire any adviser, from his daughter on down, who is advising him to throw away his core support in pursuit of a mirage and approval from the Left that will never come.

I disagree here. If the wall does not get built, he can promise to build it if reelected, and he can campaign on the strong economy and stock market. People will vote for Trump for the same reason they voted for him in 2016: because he’s better than the alternative, and if things are not falling apart, that is good enough.