President Donald Trump has once again caused an unprecedented embarrassment to our national image. His supporters are completely unbothered by such a blatant and disgraceful display of apathy toward the smoldering dignity of our republic. However, a stalwart opposition is bravely speaking their truth and sounding alarms from the airwaves to the digital pulpits of social media against what may be Trump’s most heinous and deplorable transgression yet. Trump is redecorating his house.
The historic East Wing of the White House has been demolished to make room for a 90,000 square foot ballroom at Trump’s request, which is projected to be completed in January of 2029. The ballroom’s estimated cost of $250 million is being funded by private donations, including a $22 million donation from Google, Inc. subsidiary YouTube, as part of a settlement stemming from Trump’s efforts to sue the video hosting platform after suspending his account in the wake of the January 6 riots at the United States Capitol. The East Wing, which was first built in 1902 and expanded upon by former President Franklin Roosevelt in 1942, enjoyed over a century as a fixture of American elegance, only to be torn down in a brazen display of on-brand, ostentatious vanity from a president who violates democratic norms for breakfast.
In other news, members of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is scheduled on Friday, Nov. 7, to decide on whether or not it will revisit Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 landmark case that ensured federal marriage equality rights for members of the LGBTQ+ community. Depending on the decision to revisit the case, LGBTQ+ marriage rights could face the same jeopardy that befell Roe v. Wade in 2022 if the conservative majority of SCOTUS opts to reopen the case, potentially leading to an overrule.
Recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are being left to fend for themselves as the ongoing government shutdown continues to wreak havoc across a social safety net that millions rely on for survival.
I don’t care about Trump’s ballroom. I don’t have the luxury of caring because this is how he keeps getting away with it. Fledgling tyrants have an easier time deflecting accountability when they can trust the public to forget about something within the next few weeks. Say what you will about Trump, but the man has always been a master troll. Every horrendous AI meme posted to the official White House social media page, each outlandish comment, each tacky aesthetic gesture towards a paper-thin image of strength and power that he builds upon his house of sand only helps to re-direct conversations about human rights and the well-being of the American people. The baby is crying, so Trump jingles his keys.
During the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, a common sentiment shared across social media was the importance of “not letting the energy fade.” In February of 2021, months after a groundswell of electric empathy and outrage that seemed to signal a landmark commitment to rejecting a system of racial violence within policing, the city of Minneapolis voted to reject a proposal to redesign their police force in the wake of months of progressive reckonings.
The cultural attention had already dissolved, and the ballot measure was rejected silently, with little resistance.
If you oppose the Trump Administration, I probably do not need to tell you every single existential threat to democracy and human security his second term has been jumpscaring us with on a daily basis. Many people feel as though each day comes with a new socio-political scare to navigate, and it can be hard to stay focused on every atrocity committed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or every inch toward totalitarianism. Death by a thousand cuts makes it hard to distribute each band-aid. I’m not saying that desecrating the East Wing and erecting a vanity project that will dwarf the traditional layout of America’s house is acceptable, and I’m not saying to cut him some slack. We simply need to be mindful of the limitations of our cultural attention span, and not allow our airtime, column inches and algorithms to distract us from the threats we can’t afford to sleep on.
Ryan Pacheco can be contacted at
rpacheco@kscequinox.com
