Many Americans agree with President Trump that the existence of nearby countries is a cause for national emergency. In You Debate!, Unsubscribed reaches out to its highly valued readers, and also to less valuable readers like you, to debate current affairs.

YES!
By Claudine Horseleap Lempke

Growing up in the heartland of America, I never heard that my great country had borders. But yesterday, I learned for the first time that there are other countries. And some of these other countries are pushing right up against the United States!

It’s like you’re standing on the sidewalk — your sidewalk — and someone in a cheap suit eating a taco is pushing his shoulder up against you. How is that not an emergency?

If we let one country border us, they’ll all want to do it. We’ve got to take the lead of great nations like Madagascar who are winning and thriving because they don’t have any countries next to them. I’m thankful our president is putting a stop to this nonsense. 

NO!
By Pradeshawan Jones

This is absurd. There are dozens of other emergencies threatening the United States, such as, just for example, the disappearing habitat of the Yellow Blotched Map Turtle, aka Graptemys flavimaculata. 

Climate change is another emergency which will clearly stress our declining population of Graptemys flavimaculata.

And just look at our infrastructure issues — Graptemys flavimaculata cannot be expected to flourish under crumbling highways and bridges. 

Our schools are in terrible shape. Indeed, many students graduate having never even heard of many species of animal – such as, off the top of my head, Graptemys flavimaculata.

With all these emergencies affecting Graptemys flavimaculata, you’d think Republicans would come to their senses and address America’s growing Graptemys flavimaculata problem. 

But apparently Republicans are single-issue voters, so I guess not.

By Joe Lichtblau

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