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The Daily Dose/January 28, 2017
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
MY FELLOW AMERICANS: Friends, we are a week into the Trump Administration and hold on to your hats. It will be a lot of things, but it probably is not going to be dull. The Mexican Wall Episode is illustrating that brilliantly.
Leading Off: First, even the most die-hard Trump supporter has to know the idea is folly. The border is already walled and fenced in places. Where it’s not it’s either because the terrain is not conducive to building a wall or there is not sufficient illegal activity to warrant it or, as likely as not, both.
Batting Second: Second, we can’t afford it. Come on, it’s a government project. Estimates are always low and projects are always over budget and anyone who thinks this will cost less than $25 billion is deluding themselves.
Dry, Technical Matter: Three, if you believe the rhetoric about making Mexico pay for it, you are high. Some headlines blabbed we would “tax” Mexico, but Mexico is a sovereign nation and we can’t tax Mexico any more than we tax the moon. We can charge tariffs on their imports, which is a lousy idea because companies will merely pass this expense off on us consumers, which makes it a tax on us. As a result, Mexican businesses will do less business here in the US, making it more difficult for some there, meaning more people will try to come to our country.
LOL: Later, the White House amended the 20 percent tariff line and said we would be “reimbursed” though, as usual for anything Trump, no specifics were offered.
Back On Message: Four, building a wall it’s not particularly practical. A lot of the land on the border is privately owned. We went through this in the Bush Administration. There will be lawsuits. Even if we could build this for ten bucks, the lawsuits would mean construction wouldn’t begin for years anyway. This whole thing is childish and makes no sense.
The Bottom Line: We’re entitled to specifics. We’re entitled to a cogent, well thought out plan. Trump is offering neither of these things. He gives every impression of governing off the top of his head.
Gaylon For Congress…Vote Early, Vote Often: We’ve said this before, both in this space and on the campaign trail:
America will collapse before this half-century is out if we do not make substantive changes to the way we are governed.
It is not reasonable to expect the Trump Administration to do anything to stem that tide.
More Bottom Line Crap: We are entitled to better government, but we took a pass on that at the ballot box last November. As long as we stay on our toes and pay attention to what our government is doing to us, we might be OK. We might not. But we must pay attention and start holding our leaders accountable.
LONG LIVE THE KING: Henry VIII, King of England, dies on this date in 1547 after a reign of 37 eventful and tumultuous years, especially if you were on of his six wives. He was succeeded by Edward VI, the first of three monarchs he fathered.
Great Moments Is British Motoring: English bloke Walter Arnold enters the history books as the first person to be convicted of speeding on this date 1896. He was fined one shilling, plus the universal court costs, for driving 8 mph in a 2 mph zone.
Always Ready: The United States Coast Guard is organized as such on this date in 1915. Originally formed in 1790 as the Revenue Marine, it would later be known as the US Revenue Cutter Service, which was merged with the United States Life-Saving Service to form the Coast Guard.
FunFact: It remains America’s oldest continuing sea-going service.
Oh Jesus H: The space shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after liftoff on this date in 1986. Seven astronauts died and the space shuttle would not fly again for two-and-a-half years.
A Warm, Personal Remembrance: We were out at sea, underwater on an old diesel submarine the USS Blueback when this happened. A radioman named Scott Brown came into the control room and said he wasn’t entirely sure what happened, but he just heard the tail end of a radio broadcast that said they were still searching the Atlantic for survivors.
Thought For The Day: I wish to make it so broad, and so clear, that no honest man can misunderstand me, and no dishonest one, successfully misrepresent me. – Abraham Lincoln
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: Ice hockey in the Olympics was first contested at the 1920 Summer Games in Antwerp, Belgium. Canada, represented by the Winnipeg Falcons, won the gold medal, the US took the silver and Czechoslovakia took the bronze.
Today’s Stumper: How many members of the Coast Guard have won the Medal of Honor? – Answer next time!
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