During the 2016 campaign, Donald Trump’s central promise was that he would build a wall all along our southern border, and told the American people more than 200 times that if we built it, Mexico would pay (he wasn’t whispering, neither).  So far our neighbors to the south seem curiously reluctant consumers where walls are concerned, but in a spirit of bipartisanship we are trying to help The Base’s president out by persuading the Mexican people of the potential benefits of at least agreeing to paint the wall, their side of it anyway.  And especially after our government’s declaration that people wanting to come to our country is a national emergency, send our own message about what we, the real people, still stand for.

Assuming what gets built is a long series of steel slats (what the unenlightened refer to as a “fence”), we think a deep mauve matte could look quite fetching against a desert background, especially as the sun sets, and playful turquoise tips for each slat would add a touch of authenticity to a design that could otherwise look quite out of place, especially in America. Beyond this, as indicated above and below, we have a few preliminary suggestions for iconography and text that could be repeatedly applied at regular intervals.

We were originally only able to come up with five ideas for what to paint, which could get very tedious over the course of more than 2,000 miles.  Thanks to “MarshallM,” “NancyP,” “SteveS,” “JeanneV,” “BobB,” “LynnC,” and “SusanN,” (you’re all too modest, friends) we’ve been able to add eight more, better, of course, than our own.

Our first of many ‘we, the people,’ collaborative art projects–your turn with the brush, Huck…

In service to our nation and better relations with all peoples of the world, we invite you to send us your ideas for what we should add to nuestro pared virtuoso (or post them in the comments section below)–you don’t have to create the art, just the concept, and we’ll take it from there.

Assuming we like what you share, you’ll see it appear on our wall faster than a migrant can travel across thousands of miles of inhospitable country in search of the same liberties and opportunities we all enjoy.  And we’ll be sharing the final product with the Mexican government and all points south to show our brothers and sisters that the America they’ve known and loved is still here, and that the majority of us continue to support the American dream around the world.  Thanks in advance for your help!

Part of our Caretography series

About Us

If this is your first time seeing a Creative Politics post, think of us as kind of a cross between George magagine and the Bipartisan Policy Center, if the former was community-based, project-rich, and had a business model for the times, and the latter if it weren’t so constricted in what it believes can be accomplished in our country today.  If that self-proclaimedly clever bit of prose is as unelevated as it appears to us on second reading (but too elevator for us to actually delete), you can read a better, fuller description/explanation of the CP movement here.

In any case, if you like what you see, hear, and read, here or there, consider signing up for our newsletter.  We promise not to bombard or bore you–we’ve got many years of successful experience in the new media biz, which mainly means we’ve developed a lighter, more symbiotic touch than your average virtual hustlers.  And just to whet your clicker finger a little more, a few of the near-term upcoming pieces we hope you’ll read, contribute to, and work with us to build projects, contests, and campaigns from include:

• MTCGA — What Democrats should do to return the courts to what the founders intended, rather than continue the tit for tat escalation that’s been going on between the parties for the last thirty+ years…
• Americanism — How a nationalism that’s actually based on our values could help usher in a new American century…
• We Can Talk — A kidding/not kidding cheat sheet for liberals to help you identify conservatives you can talk shop with, vs. those who will just make your head hurt, with an open invitation to our conservative friends to help us create the vice versa…
• WWIII — It’s already underway, it’s as different from WWII as II was from I, and it’s just waiting for us to declare and win…
• Creative Juice — The second playlist (we’re as much about creative as we are about politics) we hope to build with you, this one filled with tunes from all genres that help place us collectively in flow, outside the box, in the national interest…
• Debatable — How we’d make presidential and other political debates more relevant and engaging, the State of the Union too…
• Civwareness — Ten simple things we could all do to lower the national temperature below the melting point of rational conversation, plus a venture into the belly of the beast…
• In N Out — The “in” and “out” list has become a staple of every new year. With civilization itself at an inflection point, we’re creating an “out” and “in” list covering the whole of human history, to see how far we’ve come, how far we still need to go, and where we just have to laugh…
• Give Thanks — With tax season hard upon us, the letter every one of us should receive from the IRS, and what it should contain…
• Trump Was Right — You heard us; albeit with an emphasis on was; plus all the ways in which he’s been good for the country, in his own Neitzschean way…
• The New Hygiene — In the 19th century, public health revolutionized health care in the developed world.  In the 21st, a new level of hygiene is required in the public sphere, one that could have a greater impact on the health care cost curve than “Medicare For All” or anything else we’ve heard put on the instrument table.  The first in our Bronze Bullets series (because there are no silver ones)…
• Above The Radar — In an era of insult and grift, some business practices and models still shock and awe. The things we can realistically, collectively do about them that our government won’t, leveraging some of new media’s earliest understandings…
• Karl Marx Forever — Why Karl Marx should be on a stamp, Ayn Rand shouldn’t, and why radical conservatism might be just the right cure for what ails liberalism today….
• Wrecking Endangerment — It’s time for we, the people, to take environmental protection beyond the government (where the odds will always be stacked against it) to the next level–here’s how…
• The 1851 Overture — Long before the Comintern, our nation was infiltrated and overrun by dedicated communists.  This is their story, and more…
• Educa-re, Njange — What we need most in our 2.0 politicians is what was expected of leaders at the dawn of time, updated to the 21st century; what we need in economics and finance dates way back too…
• The Spiricorps Chronicles, vol 1 — Edmund Burke debates Henry David Thoreau over the Affordable Care Act in the high offices of God’s own in-house consulting firm…
• Valley Forge, 2019-20 — What we need to do between now and Election Day 2020 to safeguard our democracy…
• Web 3.0 — Turning disillusionment back into joy and inspiration, by looking at the first two waves of new media development with a Hegelian eye…
• A Tribe Called Blessed — The core American value that most needs exporting in a troubled world, and most needs protecting here at home…
• Rough Justice — How we handle injustice and misfortune in sports says a lot about–and influences–who we are as a people…
• Endless Freedom Summer — Taking a page from the civil rights movement (and doodling on it for a while) to bridge the new divide, before we’re swallowed up by the chasms…
• Willie Sutton, Genius — The case for a new approach to intellectual property in the digital age…
• A View Of Their Own — How a thoroughly frivolous idea first floated in the dot.bomb era could help promote adult creativity and mutual understanding in ways never seen before…
• House of Who? A thought experiment: we cut ties completely with Saudi Arabia and all the worst case scenarios put forward by the desert kingdom’s apologists actually happen. Yep, we’re going to tell you why that could be awesome…
• Disrupting Disruption — “What are you disrupting?” or even “what problem are you solving?” aren’t the right questions to ask today’s entrepreneurs; we explain from behind the wheel of a self-driving car…
• Uncommon Core — The new course all high-schoolers should be required to take and pass, and it’s not civics…
• True Confessions — Our first CP short story, stretching the boundaries of political fiction like (spoiler alert) the boundaries of Americans in post-modern times…
• Ignoring Him — You know you want to, so badly we won’t even say his name.  But what would it mean to really, really do it, like Einstein would, all the way? Potentially the redefining of what it means to be a citizen…
• Changing Nature — How a simple extension of an idea that’s been with us for decades could finally align our time horizons with reality…

Sound intriguing? Well, it’s not half as interesting as it will be if you join us and start writing and creating with us (after you sign up for the newsletter, of course).  Check out this page full of political magic mushrooms to get your creative juices flowing, and let us know when we can expect you to report for duty.  Nuestra casa es su casa, in every possible way…

All Creative Politics blog posts are collaborative, living documents, the way Madison and Hamilton would create them if they were writing The Federalist today.  We welcome, nay urge, your feedback in the comment/discussion section below, and will be using it (with credit) to make what you just read more and more real–thanks much for your time and insights; they will go unpunished!