EDITORIAL: Fence: Still a dumb idea
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If you build it, they won't come.
That's the mantra President Bush followed last week, the same week he threw the inaugural pitch at the Nationals' new stadium.
In an effort to complete the border fence before the end of the year, the Bush administration announced it will waive more than 30 state and federal environmental laws that stand in the way of the wall's timely completion.
Congress approved the waivers, which are the largest the administration has used since the project began. It passed smaller waivers twice before already.
It's no coincidence that the fence's deadline lines up with Bush's last days in office so nicely. The border fence has been controversial since it was proposed, and this sidestep is a way to ensure its completion should the presidency fall into the "wrong hands," as it were.
It's troubling that the Fed's own legislation seems to apply to everyone but themselves. Why even have these environmental laws in place if they can be tossed aside for straggling government projects? If we have to follow city zoning laws to build a shed in our backyards, doesn't it make sense that there be a few provisos that come with building a 670-mile wall separating two countries?
White House representatives told The Washington Post the administration is trying "to comply to the extent possible while meeting the deadline" when it comes to following environmental laws. The Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff told the LA Times the projects would have "insignificant impacts on the environment and cultural resources."
The Post reported that some environmental advocacy organizations have petitioned the Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality of the move. The Times reported that the fence could disrupt the migration of butterflies and two endangered species of wildcats.
In other words, we'll believe it when we see it, Chertoff.
And once the border fence is completed, then what? What has history taught us about the effectiveness of walls?
Take a look at some of the walls of today and the past:
Great Wall of China: Built by slaves to defend the militant dynasties from eastern invaders. Sections now lie in ruin.
Hadrian's Wall: The Romans' last defense in Britain, which they eventually lost.
Berlin Wall: Held thousands back from a life in prospering West Berlin and, even worse, ended with a David Hasselhoff concert.
Pink Floyd's "The Wall": Actually pretty good, but a lot of filler.
The Fences of Iowa State: Still not preventing cow paths.
That's the mantra President Bush followed last week, the same week he threw the inaugural pitch at the Nationals' new stadium.
In an effort to complete the border fence before the end of the year, the Bush administration announced it will waive more than 30 state and federal environmental laws that stand in the way of the wall's timely completion.
Congress approved the waivers, which are the largest the administration has used since the project began. It passed smaller waivers twice before already.
It's no coincidence that the fence's deadline lines up with Bush's last days in office so nicely. The border fence has been controversial since it was proposed, and this sidestep is a way to ensure its completion should the presidency fall into the "wrong hands," as it were.
It's troubling that the Fed's own legislation seems to apply to everyone but themselves. Why even have these environmental laws in place if they can be tossed aside for straggling government projects? If we have to follow city zoning laws to build a shed in our backyards, doesn't it make sense that there be a few provisos that come with building a 670-mile wall separating two countries?
White House representatives told The Washington Post the administration is trying "to comply to the extent possible while meeting the deadline" when it comes to following environmental laws. The Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff told the LA Times the projects would have "insignificant impacts on the environment and cultural resources."
The Post reported that some environmental advocacy organizations have petitioned the Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality of the move. The Times reported that the fence could disrupt the migration of butterflies and two endangered species of wildcats.
In other words, we'll believe it when we see it, Chertoff.
And once the border fence is completed, then what? What has history taught us about the effectiveness of walls?
Take a look at some of the walls of today and the past:
Great Wall of China: Built by slaves to defend the militant dynasties from eastern invaders. Sections now lie in ruin.
Hadrian's Wall: The Romans' last defense in Britain, which they eventually lost.
Berlin Wall: Held thousands back from a life in prospering West Berlin and, even worse, ended with a David Hasselhoff concert.
Pink Floyd's "The Wall": Actually pretty good, but a lot of filler.
The Fences of Iowa State: Still not preventing cow paths.
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