Trump did it! He built the wall all by himself.

The fake media lied and said he was watching TV all the time, but he was secretly building the Wall!

Hurray!

It can be seen by those who are of pure of heart. As a bonus, this means law enforcement officers are all able to watch out for people throwing drugs over.

2: The bad hombres keep running into it. Ouch!

The Trump-approved prototype Wall is clearly in fact fence, right? I think Democrats should hone in on that. There's a whole field of fencing-related humor to work with.

Mexico is paying for the wall.

If there is no wall, this is vacuously true.

If this shutdown lasts long enough, maybe every front page poster will start posting again.

Bob will build a big, beautiful Wall of Text.

And in this case, I'd welcome the lie, just to get people back to work.

It's possible to imagine the shutdown going on long enough that swallowing and wholeheartedly welcoming the lie is preferable to it continuing indefinitely, but I wouldn't say say we're there yet. If this turns out to be the lie that Trump tells himself and the true believers, sure, I'd welcome that - they lie to themselves and everyone else constantly, this particularly lie seems less pernicious than many - as long as it stops there. I'd hope it doesn't become the bipartisan consensus reality, though.

the lie that Trump tells himself and the true believers, sure, I'd welcome that

That's all I mean. The funding measure already-agreed-on passes, and the full government re-opens. Then, Trump declares victory, falsely but who cares since only his core supporters believe him. And then Jane Civil Servant can pay her mortgage again.

It won't work because although his unhinged followers believe anything, the Coulter-types will know better, and will drag him on Fox.

It's not enough for the Fox crowd that Trump's followers feel like they won, they need for Pelosi and her following to feel defeat.

5: Trump locks up the logician swing vote for 2020!

Wait, is the useful lie that the Wall exists or that Mexico is paying for it? Can Mexico be said to pay for it if it doesn't exist?? Maybe *that's* Trump's out: 'Mexico paid for the Wall and we didn't even build it. Suckers!'

It's not about the wall now. It's about keeping his base happy, keeping the Mueller investigation out of the headlines, and delaying the start of the House investigations.

Today he said he'd keep the government shut down for weeks or months. I wonder if he understands that no one who works in the affected areas, including those still working, is getting paid.

Didn't Trump already try that exact strategy before the shutdown, and Fox attacked him for it?

He can use a double negative- Mexico didn't pay for the wall that we didn't build- which therefore means Mexico paid for the wall we built. Done!

I wonder if he understands that no one who works in the affected areas, including those still working, is getting paid.

I don't think he's clear that anyone else on the planet has a fully-formed interior mental life that he doesn't know about.

If he wants to know what's inside you, he'll pay you to pee on something while he watches.