WE WILL NOT CONVENIENTLY FORGET during this newest war in which we are involved the years that Donald fought so hard to dump billion after billion into a useless wall with his name on it that did little but inconvenience livestock and wildlife along the Rio Grande. Or the excuses he came up with in turning back fleeing Hispanic refugees from the brutality of Central America. The callous separation of parents and children . . .

Trump promised his supporters an “impenetrable” border wall between the United States and Mexico. Instead, the $15 billion wall reportedly has been breached thousands of times in areas where it was completed, and the smugglers who cut through it were able to do so with cheap power tools available in retail stores.

CUT THROUGH 3,272 TIMES — Unpublished data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection obtained via the Freedom of Information Act showed that Mexican smugglers cut through the wall 3,272 times over three years, according to The Washington Post. In some cases, they replaced the areas they cut with tinted putty, essentially creating secret passages.

The incidents cited by the Post referred only to cases where the wall had been cut. But it was also breached in other ways. One report last year found some smugglers were building effective ladders with about $5 worth of material. In another famous case from 2020, a stiff wind knocked over a segment.

Trump repeatedly promised to build a “big beautiful wall” across the southern border that Mexico would pay for. U.S. taxpayers pad instead.

President Joe Biden has since suspended wall construction and said he would be returning the $2 billion Trump diverted from the Pentagon budget for the project.

Meanwhile, for the benefit of those who do not read prolifically each day, a headline that popped up just recently read: “Donald Trump is furious about the stumbling launch of his social media app Truth Social, report says.” So it’s not like he’s gone away. The story that followed the headline read “Donald Trump asked why the Truth Social app is not dominating the competition, reported the Daily Beast . . . The app’s February rollout was plagued by technical difficulties and currently it is trailing its competitors  . . .  Sources said the former president has been heard swearing and complaining about the app’s apparent lack of success . . .”

Donald was still praising his good friend Vladimir the autocrat as a “genius” and “very savvy” Feb. 23 as the latter secretly deployed troops in Ukraine. On the following day, Feb. 24, the limited Russian incursion broke into all-out war — and Ukrainian women and children have been subjected to the shelling of civilians (including hospitals) ever since. According to the latest report I’ve seen, some 2,500,000 Ukrainians had fled their country (the UN announced Friday, March 11).

Along the way, a Seattle Times headline read “Last Vestiges of Russia’s free press fall.”

I don’t think this is any time to ignore Donald as he continues efforts to gain control of the news and attempts to control, one way or another, the U.S. government.

Our Congress, of course, is to be praised for its current bilateral unity in providing financial and material aid to Ukraine and heading the way in supporting NATO.

As I said in an exchange of comments to a recent blog, it’s been a while since gas hit over $4.00 a gallon. Middle of the George W. Bush presidential regime following hurricane Katrina (2005). Biden has just finished his first year and seems to be doing well on all fronts, including dealing with Russia.

I’m not surprised that Big Oil has responded to the fact that “Russia is the world's largest producer of crude oil (including lease condensate) and the second-largest producer of dry natural gas, after the United States. Hydrocarbons play a large role in the Russian economy, as revenue from oil and natural gas production and exports accounts for more than half of Russia's federal budget revenue.” This quote is a few years old, but you get the idea.

No surprise to me that sanctions on Russian products and its economy in general have left us with this small price to pay in lieu of throwing the lives of our troops into the fray and setting off World War III — escalation to the use of Nukes, etc. The Russian problem should be short-lived if it continues to be properly handled via gas prices, NATO, etc.

Russians could face prison sentences up to 15 years for spreading information that goes against their governmen's positions.