And The Walls Came Tumbling Down

In conversation the other night with my wife, I opined that the Americans have to hit rock bottom before having any chance of digging themselves out of the morass they've created by giving Trump his second presidency. She asked, "Well, what is rock bottom?" While I had no real answer, I suggested that perhaps reactions to the destruction of a good part of that historical institution, the White House, might be the start. 

I was perhaps mistaken.

Even I, one with little sympathy for the U.S., am stunned and somewhat sickened by the wanton destruction of the East Wing to make way for a huge (90,000 sq. ft), gold-plated ballroom that will serve the elite. Surely a good portion of Americans would see it as a metaphor of all the terrible and tawdry things their president has wrought since beginning his second term.

Actually, no, if an article in the NYT is any indication. They talked to seven voters, admittedly a small number, about their reactions to the destruction.

Randy Dutton, a retired Navy commander and a Republican, was pleased with Mr. Trump’s efforts to remake the East Wing. It made sense on many levels, he said, because Mr. Trump and future presidents will now have more space to have receptions.

“Almost every president has wished to have more space for entertaining,” he said. “Guest lists for presidents and kings can get pretty big. Diplomatically, if you can get more people in there, you can enhance the prestige of the United States.”

Not everyone shares Dutton's enthusiasm.

Thien Doan, a Democrat, ... feels outraged.

“We’re desecrating a part of history that we should have been celebrating,” Mr. Doan said.

The ballroom doesn’t seem necessary to him. Instead, he sees it as a vanity project.

“They’re molding buildings and the country after his own image,” he said. “It shouldn’t be about him. It should be about the people.”

Those who voted for Trump seem unperturbed by the plans; instead, some turn their guns on those who criticize the destruction.

Brian D. Kozlowski, who voted for Mr. Trump, said he was not especially interested in the White House demolition and construction.

“What is interesting,” he said, is the reaction from Mr. Trump’s critics, whom he called the “far left.”

 “It doesn’t matter what the administration does,” he said. “Criticism is levied extra hard — and provided more media coverage — because it’s President Trump.”

Others are simply conflicted.

 Adria Laboy, who calls herself a political independent, has mixed feelings about the president’s decision to start building a ballroom this year. On the one hand, the multimillion-dollar construction project will create jobs, she said, but on the other hand, the timing seems off, given all the other urgent issues.

“It’s a weird time to see it,” said Ms. Laboy, who does community outreach for a health insurance agency. “We have all these things happening, like crime, him trying to control crime in certain cities.”

“And then they’re building a ballroom. It just doesn’t make sense.”

Even Democrats don't seem all that phased.

Annabelle Collins, who voted for Kamala Harris ...   feels indifferent about the president’s efforts to change it.

“To me, it’s just a building,” she said. 

Yet even while saying this, she adds an acute observation which I thought would be commonly shared.

If anything, for Ms. Collins, the demolition of the East Wing served as a metaphor: “It almost symbolizes what he’s doing to American democracy.”

While it would be good to see how national polls report Americans' reaction to this massive act of vandalism, it is perhaps telling that for the most part, they do not seem especially concerned about Trump's desecration. That, more than anything else, should chill the rest of us.