The shutdown is worth it if only to delight in the spectacle of listening to Schumer and Pelosi decry the "waste of money" that Trump's wall will occasion.  Chuck and Nancy love wasting money.  It is what they do.

President Trump has once again offended the town by using plain words.  He plans to "build" a "wall" and have Mexico "pay" for it.  Nobody in Washington understands this.  He should have said he wants to "invest" in "infrastructure" at the "international confluence of our common neighborhood and have our good friends to the South match funding at some future date."  Tax dollars (or borrowed foreign cash) would flow in the trillions.

As it is, Trump is asking for a paltry $5 billion.  He can get many times that if he changes the semantics.  Some suggestions:

The Wall as Solar Panel – Use the old Obama corrupt Solyndra-deal solar panels to erect an eco-friendly border of electricity-producing barriers to power our grid into the 22nd century.  The environmentalists will love it!

The Wall as High-Speed Rail – A raised extension of California's boondoggle to sweep across the Southwest will make even Governor Jerry Brown drool.

The Wall as Bike Path – Get America's out-of-shape population cruising on a new cross-country bike path, situated on ten-foot-high elevated platform with amenities like Chipotle and Starbucks locations and free WiFi.

The Wall as Art – Ask Christo and Jeanne Claude to "temporarily" build one of their fabulous "Gates" sculptures from sea to sea – then make it permanent as a monument to "Art."

The Wall as Education – Create a gigantic vocational opportunity for our youth as educators teach bricklaying and welding to inner-city youth.  Encourage the LGBTQA activists to get involved and provide "access" and "resources" and "dialogue" to the project.  This is a proven way to get big bucks allocated.

Perhaps it would be more straightforward to build a wall as a barrier to our southern border.  But straightforward is not always possible.  Invest in a better tomorrow!  We owe it to ourselves!