Editors at National Review Online assess the strange reaction to one of President Donald Trump’s least-objectionable actions.
One must wonder whether President Trump’s least discriminating critics have ever read the fable of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” — or at least whether, if they have, they understood that it was not an advertisement in favor of unyielding panic. There are many, many things to criticize about our 45th and 47th president, but it cannot be the case that literally everything the man does is wrong. That even his decision to clear up the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., became an occasion for condemnation, anger, and charges of presidential impropriety suggests that, eleven years into his domination of American life, some among us have yet to internalize this fact.
Before Trump decided to clean it up, the Reflecting Pool was a mess. This was not unique in recent American history. Under President Obama, the federal government spent $30 million renovating the Reflecting Pool and then, almost immediately, spent yet more money to deal with an algae outbreak. Between 2015 and 2016, further repairs were made after the eastern end was damaged during construction. And, in 2017, the pool was completely drained in response to an outbreak of parasites that proved harmful to ducks. Nine years later, when Trump announced his more substantial makeover, the Reflecting Pool needed attention once again. It was full of algae; it had several leaks that needed attention; and, in the estimation of Trump’s advisers, the basin required repainting to enhance the water’s reflective effect.
As part of a broader attempt to beautify Washington, D.C., Trump signaled his intention to take on the project and, in so doing, provoked some wild reactions. A near-endless supply of “preservationists” told the newspapers that Trump’s planned changes to the basin-coating would make the pool look like a residential swimming pool, and thereby deprive us of our “our shared cultural landscape heritage.”
