Rising This Week: Draining the swamp
Trump discovered a uniquely farcical and authoritarian way to deliver on his 2016 campaign promise.
Nearly a decade after reluctantly adopting the campaign slogan, Donald Trump finally announced plans to actually drain the swamp, but this time, it’s one of his own making.
On Saturday, Trump pledged to drain the algae-infested reflecting pool. After sinking more than $16 million in taxpayer money into no-bid contracts with two firms, reportedly including a business of his donor and Mar-a-Lago neighbor John Cafaro of Greenwater Services, the landmark is greener than before and peeling.
Experts apparently weren’t surprised by the fiasco: By all accounts, it was a rushed job, expedited to meet a July 4th deadline before the 250th anniversary. Maintenance workers dumped an unknown quantity of hydrogen peroxide that acts as a powerful oxidizer. Weeks after painting officially started, Trump hopped into “The Beast,” a presidential SUV that weighs up to 10 tons, to be “driven across the new coating” of the reflecting pool, according to the Associated Press. The heat-trapping qualities of the “American flag blue” sealant have been blamed for accelerating the algae bloom, and a Washington Post investigation described it as the biggest growth recorded in years. Reasonable minds can debate the extent to which these factors, alone or in combination, exacerbated the problem, which has been intractable since the reflecting pool’s opening more than a century ago.
Glossing over the timeline, chemicals, presidential joyride and other potential culprits, Trump blamed his reflecting pool woes, with characteristically inexplicable capitalization, on “disgraceful Vandalism” by left-wing agitators.
“They took some form of knife or blade, and put a 250 foot long gash into the beautiful facade of what took so much work, competence, and money to build and complete,” Trump lied on his social media platform. “They also poured corrosive and destructive chemicals into the Pool.”
Most news reports dutifully noted that Trump made his vandalism claims “without evidence,” a fact-check that’s laughably mild under the circumstances.
The more than 2,000-foot-long reflecting pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument is one of the most visited and heavily surveilled national landmarks in the United States. To note that there is no evidence that several pedestrians slashed an area roughly a tenth the length of the pool, undetected, before law enforcement could intervene is on par with calling it unproven that the moon is made out of Swiss cheese.
Federal authorities are hot on the trail of Trump’s illusions. At least five people have been arrested so far on suspicion of reflecting pool-related offenses, and former Fox pundit turned D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro vowed that the suspects will be “prosecuted to the fullest extent” of the law.
By press time, none of the indictments have been made public. Responsible journalists don’t speculate, and they wait for all of the facts to come in before commenting. Here, however, a lot of the evidence is already in, and it pits a mountain of plausible explanations against the fever dreams of a pathological liar who happens to be the President of the United States.
What is happening is clear, but it’s a journalistic taboo to state it clearly: Trump is once again using the machinery of the federal government to soothe his ego, prosecute his perceived enemies and advance his political agenda. Since Trump cannot let his supporters witness the bright-green disaster of his pool renovation, federal agents have swooped in to frame people who touched the peeled strips of paint for alleged “vandalism.” Trump has found pliant law enforcement officials to fabricate criminal charges as public relations scaffolding for these lies.
Pirro has plenty of experience in this field. The cases that she is reportedly ginning up are no less transparently political and outrageous than her failed attempt to prosecute Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and five of his Democratic peers for accurately stating that members of the military can refuse illegal orders. Grand juries, trial juries and judges have repeatedly and humiliatingly rebuked her cases against immigration activists, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell and other Trump scapegoats.
The targets of Pirro’s latest reported scheme, who include three-time Olympian David Hearn, will probably be exonerated at the end of her prosecutorial harassment as well. Trump, and the Justice Department under his control, will blame those inevitable failures on liberal D.C. residents and judges rather than their transparently illegitimate actions.
In the end, the Trump Justice Department is not bringing these cases to win. Trump is pushing them to harass and intimidate politically convenient targets and breed distrust of the legal system that prosecuted him. He wins by convincing the public that it’s all the swamp, even if he is the one filling it.
This week, All Rise News provides its weekly preview of court proceedings and opportunities for civic engagement without a paywall. If you have the means, and have not done so already, consider supporting that work by becoming a free or paid subscriber.
In the Courts
The Supreme Court is approaching the end of its term with major opinions yet to be released, including the birthright citizenship case and the challenge of Trump’s power to remove members of the Federal Reserve.
It’s unclear when the major opinions will be released. There is no guarantee that any particular ruling will come down this week, but look out for the next tranches of written opinions expected to be released on Tuesday and Thursday.
On Wednesday, a federal judge in Manhattan will hear oral arguments in the American Civil Liberties Union’s lawsuit seeking to discover the Trump administration’s legal rationale for boat strikes in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean.
Also, look out for developments in litigation over Trump’s $1.776 billion slush fund and the tarp that continues to hang over the facade of the Kennedy Center.
On the Streets
Dropping all pretense of leading an inclusive event for the 250th anniversary of the United States, Trump has announced that the quarter millennial celebration will be a “Trump rally.”
The 50501 Movement has other ideas.
On Saturday, organizers are planning to draw thousands of people into Washington, D.C., calling for marches, cultural gatherings and teach-ins to prepare for more inclusive July 4th programming. There will also be similar events in dozens of other locations from coast to coast under the banner “All of U.S.”
“We are standing up against an administration that wants to erase our history so that they can repeat our history,” Sarah Parker, the national coordinator of the 50501 Movement and executive director of Voices of Florida, said in a statement. “On June 27th, We the People are marching and rallying to protect the work of the civil rights movements that came before us, and to defend our freedoms against fascism. All of U.S. working people must stand together, or we will be divided and conquered by the billionaire class.”
Find an event near you by clicking here.
On the Phones
Trump’s announcement of a memorandum of understanding is not the same as an end to the Iran War.
Thousands of callers are letting their elected representatives know that they understand that.
Last week, the most popular topic on the progressive-leaning civic engagement app 5 Calls was “End the War in Iran,” followed by opposing the abuse of migrants in detention centers, opposition to the confirmation of U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton as Director of National Intelligence, and more. Learn more about concerns about Clayton’s record here.
Note: Since congressional call records aren’t usually publicly available, the app’s internal data offers a rare glimpse into this form of civic engagement. See our previous coverage here for context about how the information 5 Calls collects fits into the bigger picture.
Last week’s Top Five topics on the app were:
“End the War in Iran” (3,466 calls)
“Stop Migrant Abuse at ICE Detention Centers” (3,151 calls)
“Oppose Jay Clayton for Director of National Intelligence” (1,771 calls)
“Block the Paramount/WBD Media Monopoly” (1,758 calls)
“Oppose the Save Our Bacon Act” (1,727 calls)
The group’s weekly dashboard can be found here.
"Uniquely farcical" way, "presidential joyride," "characteristically inexplicable" capitalization, federal authorities "hot on the trail" of "Trump’s illusions" -- Adam, you really know how to turn a phrase! LOL Thanks for the amusement :-)
Excellent summary and plan, Adam.