It’s so on brand for Democrats and the dying news media to insist everyone suddenly pay attention to a thing that has no bearing on ordinary Americans, while at the same time ignoring a very similar thing that actually does.
For anyone who hasn’t heard, it’s apparently a national crisis that President Trump is revamping portions of the White House, most notably an entire reconstruction of the East Wing into an immense ballroom and event area. CNN and MSNBC are practically running 24-7 coverage of the project and are very fond of repeating the word “demolition,” as are The New York Times and Washington Post.
“Trump Is Demolishing the Entire East Wing.” — Times
“Stephen Colbert Tears Into the White House Demolition.” — Times
“Why the demolition of the East Wing is so shocking.” — Post
“Trump defends East Wing demolition, raises ballroom price to $300 million.” — Post
Whether any of these people are seriously distraught over a government building’s renovation is beside the point. More important is that once again, they’re showing how manifestly uninterested they are in problems regular people face every day, while obsessing over an issue when it’s something that directly affects their own decadent lifestyles.
Washington, D.C., where I lived for 15 years, is a place that’s constantly under disruptive construction — the roads, the buildings, the parks, the museums, the monuments, and, most grating of all, the Metro subway system. It’s impossible to pick one side of a walkway to commute anywhere in town, because you will inevitably run into a blocked path, steering you to the other side due to construction. It’s not uncommon to have to switch sides multiple times for that reason.
To ride the Metro is to see constant reminders: “Maintenance scheduled — expect delays.” In the time I lived in D.C., there would be periods of months where entire lines of the system were shut down, obstructing and frustrating the work commutes for thousands of locals.
When have you ever heard a Democrat or cable news anchor or anyone at the Washington Post raise the level of concern over that kind of “demolition” the way they are now over a section of the White House? Nobody outside of the lawn gates will even notice it’s happening without volunteering to go and look.
The irony in this stupid outrage is that beginning a major construction project in D.C. might be the most normal thing Trump has done since the start of his second term. The city is nothing if not a perpetual nightmare of hammering and drilling. I’d take offense if it meant shutting down major roadways through the city or a(nother) reduction in service on the Metro, but it doesn’t.
This is like when Democrat Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen left his constituents behind and flew to El Salvador to re-import a foreign national who admitted he had been in the U.S. illegally. There was evidently not a single American in Van Hollen’s state who was in need of the senator’s help. If there was, Van Hollen was more interested in something else.
Similarly, Democrats are devastated over the demolition of the East Wing. Your little commute problems? Not so much.
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