Refurbishing the nation should be a collective effort – not the work of a single man with an unmatched taste for the gaudy
W
ho doesn’t love a good home renovation project? Something to take your mind off the humdrum details of life. A fresh start. A dream made reality. I recently repainted my French doors from teal to aquamarine. I felt like a new man, albeit one with all the same problems. Just with a new door color.
The average homeowner will always find something to change, tweak or revise – even in the most beautiful property. Don’t like your kitchen sink? Rip it out. Not a fan of subway tiles? Scrap them. Have you ever considered the sublime serenity of a rainfall shower on your body in the morning? All of these amenities can be yours for the price of materials, labor and the psychic distress of a bunch of burly middle-aged men traipsing around your house with large, thick boots. A small price to pay for a bit of temporary contentment.
The White House demolition, though, is not some minor project. There is likely no more famous house in the world, save for maybe the Playboy Mansion. Significant portions of the East Wing of the White House were ripped out recently, to make way for a ballroom structure. The plan is reportedly to demolish the whole wing by this weekend. The president has claimed he will be paying for some of it personally. Hopefully he’ll also pay for any cost overruns or delays. As of Wednesday, it had not technically even been approved for construction. The Trump administration did say on Tuesday they were going to file plans with the National Capital Planning Commission, but small details like that didn’t stand in the way of getting cracking on the job (officials say they don’t need a permit for demolition, just for vertical construction). This led to all manner of consternation from observers who feel Trump is overstepping his bounds in permanently altering the historic structure.
