Thank you Mr. President

[Kishkumen]

The reflecting pool situation, silly as it seems at first glance, may have some profound implications. Why is it even an issue? At a time of record unaffordability for the average person, who cares if the reflecting pool has algae? Who cares about the beatification of government buildings? A true mark of capitalism is the state always appears a bit rundown and broke. But that's the problem. Securing that next level of power means turning DC into Ashgabat Turkmenistan as the voters cheer it on to the their own demise. Unfortunately, the laws of nature don't care about the feelings of dictators.

Keeping the water still and unobstructed such that it "reflects" properly for stunning photography around the clock is a serious engineering challenge. That "single celled organism" is no joke as anyone who has ever fought it knows. And on top of that, painting it properly to deepen the effect is next-level. It's just enough of a technical challenge to bite the kind of person in the ass who solves every problem by "throwing money" at it. Twenty million for a pool, a few hundred billion for Iran -- the problem is the same. There is nobody steering the ship who has the requisite competency, hunger for results, or the accountability to fix a problem.

Accountability: The only accountability is saying "yes" to the guy in charge.
hunger for results: Most are in it for the LARPing, to promote their own social media brands, if not promoting their own personal power by the path of least resistance.
Competency: Nothing to say that isn't transparently obvious.

When an embassy of distinguished Alexandrian Jews visited Caligula in Rome to seek relief for their fellow Jews from the atrocities visited on them by their neighbors the Greeks, the emperor was very busy rushing around his mansion on the Esquiline Hill, checking in on the ongoing remodeling project. He dismissed the embassy, remarking that they were either fools or lunatics for not believing that he was a god, but at least they were not criminals.

[Philo Sofee]

Reflecting pools do tend to be a roadblock for a certain type of person.


Narcissus, by Jan Cossiers

Absolute genius of a parallel!