Thread by @TexasObserver

1/ President Trump is visiting the Texas-Mexico border to discuss The Wall.

What started as an applause line at Trump’s campaign rallies has morphed into one of the dumbest policy debates in the history of American politics, writes @cd_hooks: texasobserver.org/trumps-border-…

@cd_hooks 2/ Trump promised a beautiful, coast-to-coast wall — maybe as high as 40 feet — and to force Mexico to pay for it, making it double humiliation for the “enemy.”

But it was clear from the beginning that it was a simple expression of racial resentment. texasobserver.org/trumps-border-…

@cd_hooks 3/ Then he won, and forgot about it. Despite all the talk, Trump failed to secure funding for the wall he promised — even with one of the largest GOP congressional majorities in recent history.

Now, with a Democratic House, he’s shut down the government. texasobserver.org/trumps-border-…

@cd_hooks 4/ Trump is doing this because he wants to have a fight; the substance of the thing doesn’t matter. But in the process of having that fight, The Wall has gone from a stupid idea to a vortex of stupidity that’s sucking in everything it touches. texasobserver.org/trumps-border-…

@cd_hooks 5/ Why is the idea of a coast-to-coast wall stupid? No one who has visited Big Bend needs this explained. Support for The Wall is lowest in border communities, where people actually understand what day-to-day life is like there. texasobserver.org/trumps-border-…

@cd_hooks 6/ The “border security” surge has turned South Texas into one of the most heavily policed and surveilled places in the nation. texasobserver.org/the-surge/

@cd_hooks 7/ Because The Wall has to be built on the American shore of the river, space required for it represents a significant taking of the property of private citizens,
texasobserver.org/texas-border-w…

historical sites, texasobserver.org/in-south-texas…

and nature preserves: texasobserver.org/national-butte…

@cd_hooks 8/ The Texas-Mexico border wall comes with a dangerous, costly side effect: flooding. texasobserver.org/the-texas-mexi…

And it could also wipe out these rare species: texasobserver.org/trumps-border-…

@cd_hooks 9/ Trump wants to deliver on a campaign promise, but he’s doing it at the least politically favorable time of his presidency so far. Trump's midterm effort on the migrant caravan resulted in Democrats winning more seats than they have since Watergate. texasobserver.org/trumps-border-…