Pooling our thoughts — The Algae pool in popular discourse

[Ken Gray] I do wonder how Trump lives with all his failures. Of course, I know. He simply creates more disasters elsewhere hoping we will forget the present trauma. Well we don’t and we won’t. And with the new mess created by his “restoration” of Washington’s reflecting pool we have a marvellous opportunity for a hell of a good laugh.

First, here is part of Heather Cox Richardson’s summary of recent events posted on June 20 for context.

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has become a metaphor for the Trump presidency. Beginning in early April, Trump boasted he was going to fix the reflecting pool after what he claimed was gross neglect by former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. He claimed the repairs, including sealing the pool and painting it “American flag blue,” would cost about $1.8 million and that it would all be finished by July 4, 2026, in time for the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Repeatedly, he bashed his predecessors over the pool, insisting that his skills would enable him to make it better than ever at minimal cost and that the repairs “could last for 100 years.”

The government declared the pool renovations complete on June 6, and water began flowing back into it. Trump immediately claimed it was a triumph. “Thank you President Trump,” he wrote on social media.

And then, just a day after the reservoir filled with water, algae began to bloom in it. A spokesperson for the Interior Department said the algae were “residual” and a normal part of the process of refilling the pool. “President Donald J. Trump is an expert builder who has fixed the Reflecting Pool for good unlike the failed and extremely costly attempt by Obama and Biden,” she said in a statement.

Experts disagreed, saying that the darker bottom and the sealed seams meant the water would heat up faster than it had before and thus support more algae. By June 16, crews from the National Park Service were pouring hydrogen peroxide into the water to kill the algae that had turned the pool bright green even as Trump insisted the pool was perfect.

By Thursday, June 18, the new blue epoxy at the bottom of the pool was peeling off and floating in the vivid green pool . . .

[Ken Gray] The real story here is found the comments on HCR’s Facebook page, including the following:

A company called Greenwater Pools fixed the Reflecting Pool. You really can’t make this up!

Green is the new blue.

I guess it IS easy being green.

Waiting for RFK Jr to go for a swim.

Operation Epic Fury Algae.

“Drain the swamp” has so many meanings right now.

I’m Lichen it!

“Make Algae Great Again”!

Deflecting Pool it is.

It brings a whole new meaning to “Drain the Swamp.”

As an Irishman, I applaud this bold colour choice.

The pool shall now be known as the Strait of MoreOoze®

[Ken Gray] For myself, I have three additions to this growing list, currently at 8.1K comments:

1) There must be more Epstein files down there somewhere; and

2) Incorporating the arts, specifically jazz, have a listen to the Miles Davis standard (from the album Kind of Blue) called Blue in Green.

And 3), see below

Thanks HCR for getting the ball rolling.

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