Submitted by John Lepore
On a ruined pedestal is written “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing besides remain. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, the lone and level sands stretch far away.” [poem by P.B. Shelley]
By the time you read this, the nightmare of the government shutdown should be over, and a compromise will resolve the situation at least temporally. Even the insanity of government gridlock ends, and our country moves on, hesitantly . . . until the next presidential crisis.
It’s time to give Trump a break. It’s not his fault. After all, he was (and still is) the least prepared person to be president in recent history, with zero experience in politics and numerous bankruptcies to his name. Why should we expect him to run this country well? He is over his head; he’s not the president the country wanted or needed – that was clear when he lost the popular vote in the last election.
It’s time to sympathize with Trump. Who could be comfortable with every newspaper and TV channel, but one, sniping at him on a daily basis, revealing his incompetence in national and international affairs, and the shipwreck of his personal life? Impeachment would be a blessing for him, but he probably won’t even get that break.
Trump is already campaigning to stay in office another term, yet those who elected him are wavering in their resolve to give him four more years of unpredictable leadership. Some don’t want to give him four more days in office!
Trump’s dream is his Wall. He hopes it will be a lasting monument of his presidency. Of course, all agree we have to secure our borders, but how best do it in a feasible manner is debatable. The plan I like best is to give Trump his wall at certain big border cities, but use our advanced technical expertise for surveilling most of the border. We have at our disposal today equipment that can tell us when a jack rabbit hops over the border: pop-up cameras and a vast array of new technology along with drones can pinpoint breaches of security. Perhaps more border reaction stations would render most of Trump’s wall unnecessary and the saving of billions of dollars and lessen our National Debt.
The National Debt under Trump is at an all time high and it is jeopardizing our future. At this point, it will have to be paid off by our grandchildren’s grandchildren! Why and how did we allow this to happen?
If Trump succeeds in getting his five billion dollar wall across the Mexican border, I’m sure the day will dawn when a Mexican president stands up to it and borrowing a line from Ronald Reagan, cry out, ”Mr. President (or Mrs. President) tear down this wall!”
At this point, it looks like Trump’s legacy will be an ineffective wall and a massive national debt. It will be like the sands surrounding the Ozymandias pedestal.
John Lepore
