Demolition of East Wing – Associated Press photo
I dread thinking of what the county zoning office would have done, if they had found out that I finished the interior of my garage without receiving a building permit. Being good, law-abiding citizens, we received the permit, which included an inspection afterwards. Or, the time we planted new shrubs along the property line with buried electric lines, we needed to have their path marked with little red flags.
It seems that if you are the president these days, apparently you don’t need to do any of that. If you want to destroy a portion of an historic, public property and build some grandiose shrine to your own ego, you don’t need to tell anyone, you just do it and to heck with everyone.
Like many Americans, I felt saddened and betrayed by the East Wing escapade. The White House is managed and maintained by the U.S. Park Service. Of great historic significance, it is viewed by most Americans with pride and patriotism.
Another distraction
According to a poll reported in CNN, a majority of ‘everyone’ is not too happy about it. By nearly two-to-one, Americans disapproved of the East Wing demolition, the ballroom plans, and the manner in which it was done. What happened is like flipping a middle finger to all Americans. Or, as Steve Bannon was quoted to say, “flood the zone with shit,” as a distraction from the cruelty oozing from various administration miscreants.
Expanding this to federal government and entire nation, the project is symbolic of the damage that has occurred to institutions and federal agencies. If democracy survives and a different administration moves into the White House, I still hope that the ‘people’s house’, and the institutions and agencies can be restored.
We had a chance some years ago to go on a tour of the White House. After seeing many of the sites including a tour of the U.S. Capitol, we were about to leave for the flight home when we received a last-minute call from our congressman’s office inviting us to join a tour. Had we joined them, we would have entered through the East Wing.
I now regret not postponing the flight and going on the tour. We had a different president then, and it felt that ordinary visitors were more welcome. My next closest brush with the domestic life of executive power came at the state level. As a newspaper editor I joined a group invited for lunch at the governor’s mansion.
In a pickle
Another question is, assuming the large ballroom materializes, what to do with its 90,000 square feet of space, once it is no longer needed to feed someone’s megalomania? Some who feel deeply offended by the ballroom say, ‘tear it down’. But that seems a bit wasteful.
How about having a basketball court, or 19? President Obama would be all for that. Slice it up into offices? Boring. How about pickle ball? The Presidential Pickle Ball Emporium could fit about 50 courts. Okay, about half in pickle ball courts and the remainder going back to its original use, prior to the wrecking ball.
Can you imagine, with all the pickle ball enthusiasts in the county, how many would travel to Washington, D.C., just to play pickle ball at the White House? I confess that I have never played pickle ball, at least the modern version. As a child at the local park during summer we played what might have been a precursor. We called it paddle ball.
Kidding about pickle ball aside, it’s unfortunate that one purpose of the former East Wing to serve as visitor entrance to the White House is now gone. If the ballroom is built, under the current regime, only billionaires, tech bros, compliant corporate CEOs, right-wing fanatics, congressional lapdogs, ideologue judges, and other privileged people will be able to visit.
Silent servants
I would be curious to hear what current White House staff would say about the current occupants, how they would feel about what is happening. Not likely, as they probably were coerced to sign NDAs, all of them, and not just those whose work puts them near any sensitive business of politics.
The Residence – Inside the Private World of the White House, is a popular 2016 book by Kate Anderson Brower, a former White House correspondent. “No one understands the president of the United States, and his family, like the men and women who make the White House run every day,” states her webpage.
The book “offers a group portrait of the dedicated professionals who coordinate the smooth running of elaborate state dinners; stand ready during meetings with foreign dignitaries; care for the president and first lady’s young children; and cater to every need the first couple may have, however sublime or, on occasion, ridiculous.” Then, something happened in 2016 that likely changed all that, and even more so in 2024.
Today, White House tours have been suspended due to the destruction project. And I would have no interest in having a tour. Gaudy, gold decorations apparently abundant inside would have no appeal, more likely, revulsion. It’s disheartening to see such historic property owned by citizens represented by the federal government being used as if it were personal property.
Note: Wing it – improvise or do something without preparation. According to grammarist.com, the phrase originated in 19th-century theater, referring to an actor who would improvise a performance by learning lines in the “wings” of the stage or by receiving prompts from offstage.
