Indivisible Houston: “John Cornyn’s Wall Position is a Moving Target”
It’s no surprise that someone as spineless as Cornyn would be extra-flexible. Our friends from Indivisible Houston demonstrate Cornyn’s changing positions on the so-called border wall. Here’s a recap:
April 2016: “This idea that all you can do is build some obstacle and people won’t go come over it, or go under it, or go through it is naive.” (ABC News)
February 2017: “There’s parts of our border which it makes absolutely no sense. But what is helpful [is] to have fencing, for example, is places like San Diego, it’s a large urban area.” (The Hill / KSAT)
And now:
“If you want to open the government, you must abandon the wall,” Schumer said on the Senate floor yesterday. I know POTUS said he would own it originally, but now this is looking like Schumer/Pelosi own it by refusing to negotiate in good faith. I think they actually like it.
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) December 23, 2018
So what is their solution to what they call "a 21st century problem?" "Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY), the incoming Democratic caucus chairman, said on ABC that Ds will not help fund an “ineffective, Medieval border wall that is a 5th century solution to a 21st century problem."
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) December 31, 2018
More gamesmanship: Ds Try to Box In Trump Without Wall Funding – The New York Times https://t.co/9EsNdsDWGY
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) January 1, 2019
As Indivisible Houston points out, Cornyn’s position on the wall is intentionally abstract.
What this all amounts to might be called a “flip flop” in positions. It is certainly intentionally abstract, which makes for terrible policy-making and a high probability of untrustworthy advocacy.
Cornyn knows the wall is an expensive, impossible boondoggle—an abstraction to rile folks up on both sides. But he fears Donald Trump and he fears his GOP base. And so, true to form for a feckless hack like John Cornyn, he tries to have it both ways. Don’t let him.