Topic Of The Day:-“Wall of shame: on Mexico border wall”
The Shutdown Over The Mexico Wall Demand Will Long Define Donald Trump’s Presidency
It began as a populist campaign promise that brought President Donald Trump’s supporters cheering to their feet and paved the way for his election. Now, the border wall with Mexico has become a morass of partisan bickering that has stalemated the U.S. federal government into a three-week-long shutdown, leaving nearly 800,000 public sector workers furloughed without pay. At the heart of this political crisis is the increasingly bitter polarisation of public opinion over immigration. On the one hand, Mr. Trump has steadily contributed to the strident and crude anti-migrant rhetoric, characterising prospective migrants from Latin America as drug-dealers, rapists and violent criminals and shutting down the U.S. border to travellers from certain Muslim-majority countries. On the other, his insistence that he will not sign any appropriations bill to break the funding logjam in Congress and end what could soon become the longest shutdown in U.S. history, unless that bill includes $5.7 billion in financing for a border wall, has gone down badly with Democrats, who control the House. Matters took a darker turn as Mr. Trump doubled down on his refusal to negotiate over funding for the wall and said he may declare a state of national emergency over this uncomfortable status quo.
There are disquieting questions about the veracity of some of Mr. Trump’s claims: migrantborder crossings have been in decline for the best part of two decades; it is through legal ports of entry and not unauthorised crossing points that hard drugs such as heroin enter the U.S.; and even the State Department has admitted that no terror operatives have entered the U.S. through Mexico. Then there is the more blatantly flawed reasoning touted by the President that “Mexico will pay” for the wall. Now it appears that even Mr. Trump is backing down on his claim, arguing that Mexico would only “indirectly” fund it through trade deals. It is well-known that only corporations pay tariffs under these deals, not governments, and hence no such payment will come from Mexico. Even as the acerbic back-and-forth between Mr. Trump and Congressional Democrats continues, the deeper malaise is a profound disagreement among Americans on what their nation’s very soul stands for. Is the U.S. truly a melting pot, a country built on the prowessof entrepreneurship and technology, in large part driven by immigrants seeking the “American dream”? Or is it a declining world power that has squandered too much to other nations and peoples and is readying itself for an uncompromising battle to claw back what it reckons it has lost? If it is the latter, then we could expect Mr. Trump’s vision to succeed, but if not, a course correction is in order.
MEANINGS AND WORDS
1) stratagems
Meaning : a plan or scheme, especially one used to outwit an opponent or achieve an end(n).
Synonyms : ruse
Antonyms : frankness
Example : “a series of devious stratagems”
2) bickering
Meaning : argue about petty and trivial matters.
Synonyms : disagree
Antonyms : agree
Example : “couples who bicker over who gets what from the divorce”
3) stalemated
Meaning : having reached a situation in which further action or progress by opposing or competing parties seems impossible(adj).
Synonyms : impasse
Antonyms : advance
Example : “the currently stalemated peace talks”
4) furloughed
Meaning : grant leave of absence to.
Synonyms : freed
Antonyms : accept
Example : “furloughed workers”
5) contributed
Meaning : give (something, especially money) in order to help achieve or provide something(v).
Synonyms : commit
Antonyms : hold
Example : “taxpayers had contributed £141.8 million towards the cost of local services”
6) strident
Meaning : (of a sound) loud and harsh; grating.
Synonyms : blatant
Antonyms : silent
Example : “his voice had become increasingly strident”
7) prospective
Meaning : expected or expecting to be the specified thing in the future(adj).
Synonyms : eventual
Antonyms : agreed
Example : “she showed a prospective buyer around the house”
8) insistence
Meaning : the fact or quality of insisting that something is the case or should be done.(n)
Synonyms : emphasis
Example : “Alison’s insistence on doing the washing-up straight after the meal”
9) veracity
Meaning : conformity to facts; accuracy.
Synonyms : accuracy
Antonyms : deceit
Example : “officials expressed doubts concerning the veracity of the story”
10) refusal
Meaning : an act of refusing to do something(n).
Synonyms : defiance
Antonyms : acceptance
Example : “he became tired of his friend’s refusal to see him”
11) negotiate
Meaning : obtain or bring about by discussion.
Synonyms : arrange
Antonyms : confuse
Example : “he negotiated a new contract with the sellers”
12) declare
Meaning : say something in a solemn and emphatic manner.(v)
Synonyms : affirm
Antonyms : conceal
Example : “the prime minister declared that the programme of austerity had paid off”
13) disquieting
Meaning : inducing feelings of anxiety or worry.
Synonyms : distressing
Antonyms : calming
Example : “he found Jean’s gaze disquieting”
14) migrant
Meaning : tending to migrate or having migrated.
Synonyms : evacuee
Antonyms : native
Example : “migrant birds”
15) blatantly
Meaning : in an open and unashamed manner(adv).
Synonyms : guilty
Antonyms : privately
Example : “yet another space show that blatantly disregarded scientific fact”
16) prowess
Meaning : skill or expertise in a particular activity or field.
Synonyms : dexterity
Antonyms : failure
Example : “his prowess as a fisherman”
17) touted
Meaning : attempt to sell (something), typically by a direct or persistent approach.
Synonyms : praise
Antonyms : blame
Example : “Sanjay was touting his wares”
18) claw
Meaning : scratch or tear something with the claws or the fingernails(v).
Synonyms : tentacle
Example : “the kitten was clawing at Lowell’s trouser leg”
19) reckons
Meaning : establish by calculation.
Synonyms : calculate
Antonyms : abandon
Example : “his debts were reckoned at £300,000″
