One of the oldest maxims in journalism is the appeal of the “man bites dog” story. The unusual, the absurd and the unexpected invariably attract more attention than the routine and familiar. So it has been in recent weeks with the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and President Donald Trump’s highly publicized $14.7 million renovation of the iconic 2,000-foot landmark.
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As entertaining as the battle over “American flag blue” paint, algae blooms and alleged vandalism has become, we would urge everyone, public officials, political partisans and the media alike, to stand down.
In other words, it is time to end this pool party and focus on matters of greater consequence.
The story is irresistible because it appears to expose one of President Donald Trump’s most recognizable governing traits: an intense focus on highly visible, tangible projects while larger and more complex policy challenges compete for public attention.
It’s a tactic Gov. Ron DeSantis has also employed. Instead of talking about student achievement on standardized tests, Floridians were focused on whether it was a good idea to spend state money to haul immigrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard. Instead of worrying over 1.4 million Floridians dumped from Medicaid rolls, we were debating whether Florida should spend billions on a immigration prison camp in the Everglades. And instead of confronting the state’s growing crisis in home and auto insurance, we got to listen to our governor obsess over drag queens and threaten teachers if they dared to say “gay.”
On a state and federal level, the tactics of mass distraction have escalated to a degree that has us wondering whether Trump picked up DeSantis’ tactics or DeSantis copied Trump. (The real answer: It most resembles a game of toxic leapfrog.)
Trump’s latest chapter has featured his claims that vandals intentionally damaged the pool, creating what he described as a 250-foot gash (which apparently grew to 350 feet over the weekend) in the newly applied coating.
Authorities have arrested individuals accused of vandalizing the site, including one man who told ABC News he merely touched the surface out of curiosity and did not cause damage. Yet public evidence supporting the existence of the dramatic scar described by the president has not been presented. Meanwhile, experts note that algae flourishing in warm, shallow, slow-moving water is hardly a mystery, particularly in a darkened pool that naturally absorbs more heat from the summer sun.
Democrats have understandably seized on the episode as a symbol of misplaced priorities. Americans, after all, are far more concerned about the cost of groceries, housing affordability, Social Security, the national debt and instability in the Middle East than they are about the color or condition of the Reflecting Pool.
But here is where critics of the administration should exercise some self-awareness.
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Those devoting endless hours to mocking a $15 million renovation may be missing the larger picture as well. In Washington, $15 million is hardly a rounding error. At the current pace of federal borrowing, the national debt increases by roughly $94,000 every second. The entire cost of the Reflecting Pool project represents only a few minutes on the nation’s debt clock.
That is the truly alarming story.
The fixation on algae, paint and vandalism illustrates something larger about modern politics. Our public discourse is increasingly consumed by distractions — controversies that generate clicks, outrage and social media engagement — while structural challenges receive comparatively little attention.
Say what you will about Trump’s political instincts, but he has long understood that smaller conflicts can dominate headlines and divert attention from more consequential debates. His critics, often eager to engage those battles, sometimes fall into the same trap.The result is a political ecosystem where everyone spends days arguing about a reflecting pool while the nation’s long-term fiscal challenges continue to worsen. Medicare faces mounting pressures. Social Security confronts financial strain. Federal deficits grow larger. Interest payments on the national debt consume an ever-increasing share of taxpayer dollars.Those are the issues that will shape America’s future.
The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is an iconic national landmark, and it deserves proper maintenance. If repairs are needed, they should be made. If vandalism occurred, those responsible should be held accountable. If algae returns, it should be addressed.
But the longer this debate continues, the clearer it becomes that nobody emerges looking particularly serious.
The Reflecting Pool was designed to reflect the Lincoln Memorial. Perhaps it is now reflecting something else: our tendency to become consumed by political spectacles while the nation’s most pressing challenges remain unresolved.
Let’s get everyone out of the pool and return our attention to the problems that actually matter.
This editorial is adapted from one that originally appeared in the Baltimore Sun. The Sentinel sometimes publishes editorials that agree with our own positions. The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board includes Executive Editor Roger Simmons, Opinion Editor Krys Fluker and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. Send letters to [email protected].
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