1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

It’s really hard to walk away from a perfect analogy. The president has repeatedly said vandals are to blame for Reflecting Pool damage that appeared just two weeks after a $14M renovation in June. He has publicly attested time and time again, in ever-increasing extent of vandalism terms, without any proof, as the reason for liner failure. “The slashes were 300 yards long, and the floor of the pool was cut and then pulled upward, with great force, by these thugs,” he wrote Monday on Truth Social. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum made similar claims on Fox News that vandals left gashes totaling 350 feet. “[The lining] didn’t peel off,” he dutifully reported on CNN. Adding that people were “literally trying to destroy part of a monument.” The Pool has been drained to repair the repairs. WaPo reports today that seven locations where the lining had partially or entirely peeled away were identified. The peeling occurred in irregularly shaped patches that stretched alongside the long edges of the pool. The pieces ranged in size from a few inches to as long as six feet. In one case, the concrete was visible underneath. Comparison of the seven locations with satellite imagery, photos and videos taken during the renovation process, analysis found that all of the failures occurred at the seams…lines between areas that were painted at different times. When WaPo shared findings with the WH and the Interior Department, spokespeople disputed that the surface had been improperly applied. “There were no missteps during the initial repairs to the pool,” said WH spokeswoman Taylor Rogers. “Unfortunately, deranged individuals made several gashes in the side of the pool and destroyed over 300 feet of the pool’s siding. Once the necessary repairs to fix the vandalism are complete, the Reflecting Pool will be restored to all its glory.” Federal authorities have charged at least four people with alleged vandalism. Three of them have pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges after allegedly peeling paint off the bottom of the pool and being caught in possession of pieces of liner. One person has been indicted, former Olympian David Hearn, and he has pleaded not guilty to a felony vandalism charge. At a news conference on July 2, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said National Park Service employees witnessed Hearn “forcefully and violently” pulling at the liner with both hands and turning belligerent when told to stop. No one has been accused of making gashes, according to charging documents. The real damage caused in all this is by the people spouting Trump’s crazy as a requirement of the job. That, folks, is the real Trump Derangement Syndrome. All of this ridiculous, damaging, disingenuous, propagandistic kerfuffle because the president of the United States is incapable of acknowledging reality. That mistakes were made. And he has managed to force the government apparatus to support him on it. In the grand scheme of other lies he’s managed to insert in the public bloodstream, this is a fairly innocuous, if not inexpensive, example of a basic inability to acknowledge any reality he disagrees with. A lack of acknowledgement that destroys lives in his quest to be proven right in all things, regardless of the reality the rest of the world can clearly see. This is the kind of pathology that is studied and written about and diagnosed and professionally treated when exhibited in the rest of us. But we get to have it as President. So back to the daily churn…people are getting shot by ICE going to work. For a brief moment it looked like maybe there would be enough concern to take a minute to try and stop, or at the very least modify, behavior that keeps getting people killed. It was a rare moment of acknowledging missteps. But by 6:45 Wednesday morning, Trump insisted—incorrectly—that the people ICE is rounding up are “Criminals, and we have to get them out. In order to do this, we must be strong, tough, and smart, and we CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP! Once we do, we are playing right into the criminal’s hands. The Radical Left Dumocrats would like to see this done, but it won’t happen on my watch. I.C.E., be judicious, fair and smart, and go back and do your very important job. Keep those Crime Stat Records coming! Remember, you are loved and respected in America.” I hope one of the new rooms in the Ballroom is padded.