I think it's all about power. Nobody really cares about a wall. But the two party system is quickly imploding.

Unlike England we don't have a moat around us (but we do have the Rio Grande river. There are environmental, property rights issues and of course a huge expense for something that is not really workable. it's purely symbolic and it's a way for this idiot to show who's boss. While we argue about a wall industiries are bringing in lots of immigrants many of whom illegally. Industry wants a controllable and cheap workforce. I'm sure even the British has a history of that.

He also said that Mexico would pay for it, so is there provision for a border tax to recoup the expense? If not then why should he ask for the money?

I don't know for certain but I doubt it. That would require some forethought. Like most things he asks for, he hasn't thought them through very far.

This is not the only wall that exists at the border. There are hundreds of miles of such defences... what is so bad about this one? ...Most counties do not allow unrestricted travel in and out of their county so whats the beef?

The beefs are many fold. 1 the wall was sold as an ideal of protection from gang violence, drugs and illegal immigration. Problem is most illegal immigration in this country is done by affluent immigrants who arrived legally by plane and then overstay their visas. The drug problem is brought in by crooked shills with mob ties just like the trumps and other semi-legal affluent immigrants, in shipping containers, on barges. What little bit of drugs do come across the border come through tunnels, so it doesnt really matter how high of a wall you build.

2 like you already noted, the border wall already exists and asking 5 billion to redo it all is simply a diversion tactic and a grasp at building a monument to racism. It's trumps way of blaming the poorest most destitute immigrants for the sins of the immigrants who are a little too much like him.

3 it is not illegal to seek asylum from a war torn country per the Geneva convention.

4 his promise to build a wall was to make mexico pay for it. Now hes shut down the government as a way of breaking that promise to force us to pay for it. His twitter meltdowns on the topic have been entirely bipolar and have shifted from "I demand 5bil to build the wall, but if I can't get that then Ill secure the border without a wall until we get the wall. Do you see how great a job Im doing securing the border without a wall as a way to prove we need a new wall?" ...the mind boggles. A very stable genius indeed.

Can anyone see an end to the impasse between the two warring factions? possibly very gradually, once trump's treason has been exposed to an extent that most conservatives have to reckon with, and if the Dems succeed in automatic voter registration, and curbing the Republican election fraud. I'm not holding my breath and any progress is going to be slow and difficult in this country for a long time.

You are going on about the wall but not one word about the people who now don't get paid. People who have families to feed, mortgages or rent to pay, and all you can do is talking about the wall.

Kelvin its all racist. Keep the black and brown people out. Deport Vietnam refugees who have been here for 40 years. Change immigration so only whites can come in. That's why the wall is a farce.

My off the cuff, somewhat ignorant, response to the government shutdown over not funding "the wall:"

1. I'm not against the government shutting down
2. For the Republicans, why is "the wall", which really only would be a small segment of a complete wall for $5.5 Billion, so important, when there are so many other things that I thought Republicans were supposed to support, like fiscal responsibility?
3. For the Democrats, why are they so opposed to spending $5.5 Billion in a $4.4 Trillion budget for 2019? It represents about 0.13% of the budget. And as pragmatic as Trump is and as important to him as "the wall" seems to be, why don't the Democrats use this opportunity to make a deal and get something they want?
4. The whole thing is completely stupid.

I can't even get into this...