I agree on most of what you’ve said, Chris. You are passionate and understandably pissed off about the state of American politics.

These are all important issues you’ve raised, and I’m sure you would agree that the system of democracy has a lot of moving parts that have to be accounted for in order to keep everything running smoothly.

The economy. The monetary system. Law and order. Foreign engagement and trade policy. Issues of immigration, funding and budgeting, tax reforms and mediating differences of opinion — are all pieces of a giant Jenga tower that have to be carefully accounted for, less the whole system collapses.

Regarding what you said about Trump, I agree that superficially he is “responsible” for the government shutdown. Keep in mind, however, that one of his campaign promises was to build a wall between America and Mexico for the purpose of stemming illegal immigration.

He is attempting to fulfill that promise.

And Democrats are not allowing it.

However, this is part of the platform that he was elected upon. I would not describe him as a “rogue” President looking only to appeal to his vanity, as you’ve suggested. At least not on this specific issue of the shutdown.

Do you remember the last shutdown when Republicans opposed President Obama over Obamacare? Same scenario. Same complaints.

Different president.

This does not mean I support Trump in building a wall, but it is a (possible) solution to an ongoing problem that Americans are facing with illegal immigration.

I would ask what you would suggest to do if immigration reform was a campaign promise of yours and how you would look to fulfilling it. Particularly when you are being opposed by a team of senators and congressmen that vote only what their “team” says for them to vote on.

The real issue and cause for this shutdown are the Democrats. Had they agreed with Trump on getting his wall built, business would go on as usual wouldn’t it?

And to make it further clear, the true issue is partisanship and the two -party system that America has.

I’m from Canada, and I elected my prime minister because he said he was going to legalize marijuana. As you know, he did do this, but not without a lot of bellyaching and obstacles put up by his opponents.

I think it’s easy to blame the waiter for the hair we found in our soup — but true blame is on those who work in the kitchen.

You yourself would admit that presidents don’t actually have much power. They are at the mercy of lobbyists, think tanks, the media and the people they “serve” under. They are also at the mercy of the military-industrial complex. You can throw “shadow” government and foreign superpowers into the mix as well.

Lots of moving parts.

Nothing is as black and white as we would like them to be.

Everything is grey.

And like it or not, Trump thinks having a wall up is going to be beneficial. It looks like he’s willing to stand up against those who disagree.

If Congress can approve for trillions of dollars for America to go to war overseas, surely they can approve for the 5 billion or so that Trump is asking for.

5 billion. How much is being spent annually on the military?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_States?wprov=sfla1

So yes. Blame the Democrats for this, not Trump.

“What’s missing is accountability. Whoever leads, must be accountable to the people they serve. And leaders need to be constantly reminded that their job is to serve the people, not rule them.”

Absolutely agreed.

The line between serving and ruling do get blurred, though.