Coast Guard Families Line Up for Food in San Diego; Trump’s Vortex of Stupidity Gets 7% Support in Poll
So it’s come to this. Only 7 percent of voters say they support constructing a wall along the southern border if it's the only way to reopen the federal government, according to a new Politico–Morning Consult poll.
Meanwhile, the President of the United States continues his quest, oblivious to reality.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1088058134713823233
Feeding San Diego, the leading hunger-relief organization in San Diego County, has set up a special distribution for Coast Guard members and their families. This is in addition to the 250 other locations throughout the County included in their network..
The non-profit group’s distribution centers are open to Federal workers or anyone in need by visiting feedingsandiego.org/need-help for a clickable map of convenient locations, listing hours, contact information, and any special requirements.
“Feeding San Diego is deeply concerned about the devastating impact the federal shutdown is having on families across San Diego County,” said Vince Hall, CEO of Feeding San Diego in a press release. “One in eight San Diegans already face hunger and the shutdown is pushing thousands of additional San Diego families into food insecurity.”
Yesterday, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Karl Schultz went public with a video statement thanking the service members and their families for their dedication, adding “I find it unacceptable that @USCG members must rely on food pantries & donations to get through day-to-day life.”
James Floros, president and CEO of the Jacobs and Cushman San Diego Food Bank told CBS8 of the increased demand from federal workers as the shut down progressed past the one month mark.
There is strain on that network because we need to bring more food in. It is creating some hardship but we are stepping up to the plate to make sure federal employees get the food they need,” said Floros.
Mayor Kevin Faulconer appeared on CNN Wednesday morning ‘to dispute the President’s claim about the urgency of funding a border wall.
“We’ve had border fencing for decades. You just talked about security. Just this past year, we were named the safest big city in America. We’re proud of that,” Faulconer said...
...“This is not a partisan issue, this is about doing the right thing,” the mayor said, about the need to reopen the government. Faulconer also noted that members of the Coast Guard, San Diego’s main line of defense, have gone unpaid for far too long.
The consequences of the partial government closure are felt nationwide.
Hundreds of federal employees staged a rally in the Hart Senate office building today to bring additional pressure on Republicans to immediately reopen the government.
From the Washington Post:
...On Sunday, the number of TSA agents who failed to show up for work hit a record 10 percent, resulting in long wait times. Guards at federal prisons also are calling out at high rates, with union officials at 10 prisons contacted by The Washington Post this month saying the number of employees skipping work has doubled.
As a result, officers who report for duty often are working 16-hour shifts, and prison secretaries and janitors are being forced to patrol the halls and yards.
All I have is pepper spray and a radio to call for help,” said 52-year-old Opal Brown, who works as a secretary at Hazelton Federal Correctional Institution in West Virginia.
The president of a union representing FBI agents on went on CNN Wednesday to call for President Trump and Congress to reach a deal to reopen the government, saying the circumstances leading to FBI agents being forced to use food banks during the furlough "utterly disgusting."
USDA meat inspectors have been calling in sick — in numbers large enough to trigger an agency crackdown. An order by managers at the agency requiring inspectors to bring in a doctor’s note, even if they were ill for a single day, was rescinded after less than a week.
The government shutdown forced the State Department to cancel an international conference on border security.
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What about the “Vortex of Stupidity?”
I thought you’d never ask.
Christopher Hooks at the Texas Observer has this takedown of Trump’s line in the sand:
The Wall started as an applause line at President Donald Trump’s campaign rallies. It was an effective rhetorical tool not because it made any degree of practical sense, but because it was a symbol of Trump’s showy commitment to a hard line on immigration. The wall was emphatically not like the vehicle barriers and fences that already dot the U.S.-Mexico border, which Trump surely did not know existed at the time. The Wall would be built coast to coast, it would be beautiful — maybe as high as 40 feet — and it would be fully paid for by Mexico, making it a double humiliation for the “enemy.” It was clear from the beginning that it was a simple expression of racial resentment.
Then he won, and essentially forgot about it for two years. Of course, he talked a lot about The Wall, but he clearly didn’t care enough to do much about it. With one of the largest GOP congressional majorities in recent history, he failed to secure funding for the kind of wall he had promised in the campaign, because even Republican lawmakers understood that The Wall was a boondoggle. At the end of that two years, with an incoming Democratic majority in the House, Trump has partially shut down the government.
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. In the intersections of these various stupidities, and our ability to watch them bounce off each other in real time, The Wall actually helps clarify some truths about Trump’s first term.
Finally, the so-called ‘compromise’ legislation (DACA, etc for wall funding) before the Senate is actually loaded with poison pills.
The New York Times reported Presidential advisor Stephen Miller privately “intervened” to ensure that the bill dramatically downsizes the number of dreamers getting protections, cutting the number from 1.8 million to 700,000.
Migrants in the US under Temporary Protective Status would be limited to four countries; those people would have to reapply before they could be employed again. TPS recipients who have filed tax returns in prior years would have to pay back any refunds, and would be charged fees for filing another application.
This article from the CATO foundation lays out even more draconian changes.
It's good to see our newest area Congressman is paying attention:
https://twitter.com/MikeLevinCA/status/1087885946962526213
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Cover image via Flickr by Tony Webster
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