Regarding walls, bridges and Trumpian economics

The current president and his budget are all about walls instead of bridges, both literally and figuratively. Plans are proceeding for the grossly ill-conceived "border wall" with Mexico even as crucial infrastructure like bridges continue to crumble from decades of neglect.
Build bridges, not walls.
Meanwhile, 45 wants to increase funding for the military - an armed human "wall" to protect us from supposed dangers "out there." Meanwhile, 1) home-grown xenophobic militants who greatly need monitoring and re-education apparently are invisible to 45 and 2) targetted groups do not pose the threat 45 thinks they do. He seems to have built a wall for himself impermeable to logic, facts, and intelligence reports. Sad. America already vastly outspends other nations on the military.
Build bridges, not walls.
Trump's budget decimates cultural and scientific programs that enrich our nation's community life far beyond the meager amounts they cost. Programs like the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities artfully construct bridges between cultures. Other federal programs make science understandable and useful in our daily lives, such as breathing (EPA) and weather reports (NOAA/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). Parks and forestry services help preserve and protect our nation's natural heritage and resources. Also under the budget ax are programs which benefit specific at-risk groups like the rural poor, the elderly, and racial minorities.  All these minute expenditures must be protected as they offer a bridge, albeit a shaky one, to a decent life for these vulnerable populations.
Foreign policy under the trump administration seems to focus not just on building new walls instead of bridges but in burning bridges which already exist. Foreign aid funding would be slashed under this budget. Meanwhile the State Department's general budget also faces heavy cuts when its work is more important than ever.
Build bridges, not walls.
Yes, this president seems hell-bent on constructing walls even though the clear road forward would be to build and strengthen bridges. We the people need to speak out and resist. Trump's walls should be met with sledgehammers and artful graffiti. We the people likely will have to build some bridges on our own between ourselves and those under threat of hunger, poverty, isolation. Early America's barn-raising tradition, in which neighbors joined together to help one another may be a useful model for this.
Build bridges, not walls.

Jeff Sessions was warned

Jeff Sessions was warned about perjury, lying under oath to his Senate colleagues during his confirmation.
He was given an explanation.
Nevertheless, he persisted.
Sessions clearly had contact with Russian officials as a trump surrogate during the campaign. He has no business, zero, being this nation's "top cop." He did not have business becoming a federal judge in the 1980s and was rightfully denied that post for his well-documented racism.
That issue came up during confirmation hearing yet voices raising those racism concerns were silenced. We all remember that now infamous Sen. Mitch McConnell statement to Sen. Elizabeth Warren: She was warned; she was given an explanation; nevertheless, she persisted. Jewelry, T-shirts, even tattoos have been made with that phrase.
Now it is time for Sessions to sit down and be quiet. He is clearly part of a much bigger problem of Russian interference with our nation's executive branch. That interference must be thoroughly and independently investigated. All who are tainted must leave or be removed from office. Our national sovereignty is at stake.
Those of us who love our country must warn, explain, and persist in calling out collusion with foreign governments. Those who collude with Russia have no business being public office. Those who collude and lie to Congress under oath about it, need to be gone yesterday.

UPDATE - AG Sessions has recused himself from investigating alleged Russian ties to the trump campaign. That is not enough. He needs to resign. Or be fired. And face perjury charges.

A grownup helped 45 with his (hate) speech

It had sentences and stuff!
Yes, 45 did manage to read complete sentences from his dreaded Teleprompter last night. He even condemned racism and anti-semitism and *seemed* to mean it early in his speech. Don't be fooled, though. His cabinet and his policies attest to bigotry of the highest and most dangerous order. The vast majority of last night's speech followed along with that nationalist theme. It was a bit more subtle. He used his indoor voice but the menace was there, just under the surface.
It was there when he used fear-triggering words to describe immigrants and Muslims and the "need" for a wall on our southern border. It was there when he went on about high crime, though violent crime has been declined for many years. It was there when he used his favorite phrase "radical Islamic terrorism" while ignoring the white supremacists who have killed and maimed so many Americans. And it was there when he spoke of standing by law enforcement without mentioning that such support *must* come with accountability. Numerous police departments have ongoing poor relationships with the African-American communities in their towns due to officers shooting unarmed African-American civilians. No mention was made of *that* racism.
ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) roundups should alarm us all. Contrary to what 45 says, the vast majority of those being rounded up for deportation are not drug dealers and gang leaders. They are working parents trying to support their children. They are business owners who support their communities. They are our neighbors.
It is as if 45 wants us to fear and hate immigrants, Muslims, and people of color. I won't. But I will fear and speak out against an administration that promotes such bigotry through their words, actions, and what they leave unsaid.