As the government shutdown continues: Playing 'gotcha' with Dems on wall votes

The likes of Brie Brie Joy, writing for The Intercept, and Lee Camp, among others, last week played "gotcha" with national Democrats, claiming that then-Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, along with current Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, in 2006, had no problem voting for a wall.

Politifact rates that half-true, and I agree.

Politifact describes several ways in which the Secure Fence Act was different from Trump.

First, it was for sections of the border as a stand-alone item. It was not to fund part of a barrier for the entire border.

Second, as the word "fence" in the bill's name indicates, it was NOT for a wall. And, although Trump, in his semi-dotage, has slipped at times on Twitter, it's clear he wants a wall.

Indeed, Politifact notes that Trump has called what was approved in 2006 too weak.

Politifact has a related piece from Obama's presidency here.

It's not a totally false claim, whether out of the mouth of wingnuts trying to score purity points or from alleged leftists looking for another "gotcha" on Democrats.

Since, at the level of national politics, I long ago did my duopoly exit, I don't normally feel the need for such gotcha.

So far, only the wingers are saying, "But Dems voted for $25 billion for the wall a year ago." They did. But, for Democrats, that was for a 10-year payout, not one year, it was tied to DACA renewal, and even more, to a better process for legal immigration and other issues, and Trump rejected that.

Besides, as Shep Smith said Jan. 18 in owning Chris Wallace, current House Dems campaigned on not giving Trump more wall money. And took back the House.

Again, so far, only wingers are saying that. Stay tuned, as the shutdown continues.

And, per David Bruce Collins, the Dems themselves, after the disastrous Pelosi-Schumer response to Trump (contra Bernie Sanders' much better personal one), need to up their storytelling and narrative game. (That then said, George Lakoff isn't a perfect adviser on such things.)

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That said, as Eoin Higgins notes, on things like reauthorizing federal flood insurance just before the shutdown, there ARE things on which to play gotcha on Dems.