The Politics Desk finds it curious that hopes and prayer is the solution for keeping kids in school safe from gun violence, but only a $5B steel spiked fence can protect us from asylum seekers in Mexico. As General George S. Patton once remarked, "Fixed fortifications are monuments to man's stupidity.  If mountain ranges and oceans can be overcome, anything made by man can be overcome."   

Tomorrow, the Orange Pumpernickel will make his case on national television on why he needs to use Emergency Powers to build the wall.  While on the one hand this should be hilarious, on the other, the fact that the President has shut down the government and is threatening to keep it shut down until he gets what he wants is a hallmark not of a democratically elected president but of an egomaniacal despot.

Meanwhile, the Sports Desk is looking forward to tonight's CFP National Championship Game between Alabama and Clemson.  We hate both of these teams, especially after hearing on NPR this morning that "this is the fourth straight time the two teams will meet in the Championship Game (Georgia played Alabama last year in the Championship Game, but people seem to forget that).  If there were only some way for both teams not only to lose, but to completely disappear off the face of the earth.

That's it! The Geology Desk just reminded us that the game is being played in Santa Clara, California, right next to the Hayward Fault.  An earthquake can open up the ground and swallow up both teams!  We're cheering for plate tectonics in this game!