Schadenfreude is the pleasure we feel when witnessing the misfortune of others. While it may seem mean-spirited, and even vindictive; if you feel guilty about the satisfaction you experience when someone else messed-up don't be too hard on yourself. It happens. I admit to feeling a wee bit mirthful over the president's ongoing battle with pond scum.
Anybody who has lived on a farm, had a neglected backyard pool, pond, gone fishing or otherwise been anywhere near a body of water knows that algae happens once the weather warms-up. Where I live excess nutrient runoff can create entire dead zones in Green Bay and close beaches to swimmers. When that happens both us and our dogs stay out of the water until the danger passes. Hey! What about your ponds and creek?
Good question. All three bodies of water on our property support a wealth of diversity including aquatic plant life to animals. There is no excess nutrient runoff in the ponds because we don't apply any. Natural algae growth and protozoans support insects and animals on the low end of the food chain. Which, in-turn, support amphibians and reptiles and birds like cranes, ducks and herons. I can't speak for runoff in the creek because I cannot control agricultural applications upstream or downstream; but it certainly supports bait fish and crawdads. Speaking for myself, we use best management practices (BMPs) for riparian habitat.
Does the water on my ponds and creek look like drinking water? Nope. Would I drink it? Nope. Does it look better than the Reflecting Pool water? Absolutely. The biophilia is in balance. You cannot win a fight against Ma Nature and science.
Algae blooms have long thrived in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool since it opened in 1922. It is filled with stagnant tidal water from the Potomac River further enriched with excess nitrogen and phosphorus runoff which algae loves. Mr. Trump's own Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will tell you that the water in the pool is unsafe for swimming, fishing or supporting aquatic life. It is hazardous.
The president has insisted that his $14 million renovation this spring would forever banish the cloudy, algae-infested water as a consequence of sealing the leaks, filtering the water and painting the bottom American Flag Blue.
Following the renovations it was refilled with the same nutrient-rich tidal water (not treated city water), wildlife defecated in the pool, it is shallow, fetid and foul and warmed-up in the summer sunshine. Summers in D.C. are sweltering and the dark blue bottom exacerbated the problem by absorbing more heat and voilà, the largest algae bloom in recent memory!
Mr. Trump wanted blue and he got green. And lots of it.
He looked at the algae and blamed imaginary enemies, because enemies are easier than learning. In the last five days it seems at least five individuals have been cited, arrested or otherwise detained for poisoning or vandalizing the Reflecting Pool. I don't believe the Reflecting Pool was sabotaged; because I haven't been witness to mug shots or the drama of a Trumpian perp walk. The real cause is usually the obvious; it is simply dirty water, full of food for algae, followed by hot weather and now the bottom is delaminating possibly because of shoddy installation by a no-bid contractor and/or the president's own motorcade driving across it.
The president called it an attack because the real answer is too complicated for him to grasp. Another excuse from the man who shouts at people but cannot shout science out of the water. I guess he missed the class.
The toxic Reflecting Pool is actually a perfect metaphor for Mr. Trump; and he created it himself. He's gonna drain it, repaint it and start over. All the while expecting a different result.
So here we are; the National Guard has been tasked with watching paint peel from behind a newly-installed chain link fence and Donald Trump may go down in history as the only US President to be outwitted by a single celled organism.
You can't make this stuff up if you tried....
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