A Moat Full of Snakes

President Trump wanted the border closed. He wanted a snake-filled moat. He fired aides who pushed back. Here's an inside look at his border war. https://t.co/SyC62z64xc

— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 1, 2019

There will be a lot of news today, but I don't think it should escape us that this is a man who hasn't just said out loud in front of people, in all seriousness, that he wanted to build a wall and to make Mexico pay for it (which could just be a cynical campaign gimmick) but has elaborated upon the design of this racist monstrosity with features like electrification, spikes to impale people on, and a moat full of alligators and snakes. In all seriousness. Apparently, a government document exists with a price-estimate of this sort of thing.

This is the bloody-minded imagination of a child who pulls wings off of flies. He fired aides who thought this plan wasn't serious, even if it was elaborate and cruel. People relent, eventually. Maybe not a moat, but the electrification. Maybe not snakes, but spikes. Maybe migrants aren't shot in the knees, but with tear gas....

The compromise one is left with, that mediation between normal and whatever moat full of snakes is in Trump's head? It is still a brand of monstrosity, even if milder and more workable to whoever has the stomach for it.

And he has never pretended that this is not who he is.

UPDATE:

Okay. Sometimes he pretends this is not who he is. Such a stable genius.