BLINK

Unless I'm hallucinating (and I can never absolutely rule that out), Donald Trump's newest proposal gives us the best hope so far of ending the shutdown.

He offered three years of DACA (and it might have been an extended-population DACA), but more important: All this talk of redefining the "wall" as a fence of some sort has yielded the admission the wall is no longer to be a solid barrier that extends from sea to sea. It's a high-tech fence that beefs up the border in strategic, high traffic areas.

Now all the Democrats have to do is push for infinite extension of expanded DACA and a limited number of strategic areas along the border to be included in the package.

These are things that can be negotiated. It's no longer a "yes/no" issue. It's a "how much" issue.

Trump can declare victory now (you always knew he would, you just have to be prepared for the horror of his twisted logic), he can push for more strategic zones to be added to the beefed-up border later, based on actual, documented traffic.

And the Democrats can play the same game in the future, giving in a little on the expanded border solution in exchange for movement in other areas, like healthcare.

Trump had already laid the groundwork for this deal by solving the "Mexico will pay for it" problem (declaring the new trade agreement does this automatically), and pointing out the border patrol folks always wanted a "see-through" barrier in place, not a solid concrete wall.

We just have to endure Trump's face-saving pronouncements, how he "never said" the wall would be a sold concrete edifice paid for directly by the government of Mexico.

It's the price we have to pay for dealing with a self-aggrandizing egomaniac.