We have spoken before about the effect of terrible images on world opinion, and I have to confess that I generally don’t post about these.  These pictures speak for themselves, and really there is nothing left to say that doesn’t seem pale and trite by comparison. On Wednesday, we saw this image of a Turkish police officer cradling the body of drowned migrant child Aylan Kurdi near the Turkish resort of Bodrum. The family was trying to cross to Greece on Tuesday when their boat capsized and the mother and two of her children — Aylan and Ghalib — had perished. The father, Abdullah, survived at least physically.

The news media has repeatedly announced that this single photograph represents a came changer in the refugee tragedy now unfolding in Europe. I really hope so, and I suspect that the photograph will win all sorts of awards. But sadly I doubt that the effect will be long lasting.. In the United States we focus on the idea of building a wall along the Mexican border. The real wall is always in people’s hearts.