… and we're getting closer to a disturbing "milestone." Hopefully not a milestone for budget purposes.
| Total US COVID-19 deaths as of 21 Feb 2021 (latest official report) | 496,112 |
| Total US deaths recognized and memorialized at the Vietnam Memorial | 58,318 |
| Length of Vietnam Memorial (meters) | 150.5 |
Therefore, I shall require The Orange One to build (496,112/58,318) * 150.5m = 1.28km of that border Wall. With every name inscribed on it. That he must read out loud, which should take just about five weeks at the rate they were read at dedication of the Vietnam Memorial in 1982. That's five weeks that he won't be spouting insanity and fomenting insurrection, especially if it prevents him from speaking before the ConfederateConservative Political Action Conference "convention". (Which is not to say that all conservatives are unreconstructed children of the antebellum South — just that CPAC is.)
Plus, it's cost effective. The Vietnam Memorial was budgeted at $8.4 million in 1978. Allow for a little bit of cost overrun, and estimate $10 million in 1978 dollars, or roughly $45 million today. This is just about 8.5 times as long, so it might cost a hair over $380 million — less than six percent of The Orange One's CDC budget request for 2020 (PDF). Surely, even given some trouble with past tax returns The Orange One can, and should, pay it; if one believes him, he can certainly afford it from pocket change, and my demand has exactly as much moral and legal force as a demand that Mexico pay for a wall at the US-Mexico border. Maybe Deutsche Bank can provide the completion bond?
We're getting closer to the target length for such a wall, too; but at the old/new location: 26.676944, -80.036944. Walling up his kids (and all other relatives like daughters-in-law), too. OK, so parts of it might require some marine engineering, but that will be even more good jobs!