A swampy symbol of Trump's denial, deflection, deceit and 'dirty pool'

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

If you’re looking for the perfect metaphor for Trump’s “presidency” – I’m not first to say it – it’s his Reflecting Pool debacle. From start to whatever the finish will be, it has it all: hubris, incompetence, insider graft, lying, blaming. Some things are emblematic enough that they bear repeating; trying, futile as it may be, to bring sight to the unseeing. Yes, it seems trivial compared to his lie-based, ill-conceived, vanity-motivated Iran war; nor has it, like the war, cost America and the world countless billions, jobs, and security. Unlike the war, it hasn’t left the terrorist nation of Iran in a stronger position than it was before his senseless embarkation. What it has done is provide shorthand for the dark, fibrillating heart of Trumpism.

It began, predictable as sunrise does the day, with Trump bragging that he alone had the know-how to “fix” the Reflecting Pool, adding that Presidents Biden and Obama, of whom his jealousy is boundless, are responsible for everything wrong with the pool; as he has with everything wrong in the world he created. Then, as with climate change and vaccines, he ignored the science of adding a dark, heat-absorbing base beneath a primordial soup. Which rejects evolution and climate change, as well. Because of course.

It’s US law that government contracts can only be no-bid when there’s an emergency. But he handed one out, to the tune of millions, when no emergency exists. To a donor. Which demands something that’s lately become rare here: a link. Voters should know who the guy is. Gaze upon him. Read of his Trump-approved background: (tinyurl.com/guy4trump)

Trump promised it’d cost less than two million (for what is Trump if not one who keeps promises?) It’s heading toward fifteen. So far. People who know things, a disqualification for anyone in Trump’s employ, predicted the outcome: water coming raw from the Tidal Basin, heated perfectly to brew algae already contained in that water, would produce blooms in amounts, as Trump likes to say, “never seen.” Then Iranesque damage-control escalation: in this case, teams of workers dumping hydrogen peroxide into the pool to kill the organisms (also, it appears, ducks). Which lifted the blue stuff off the surfaces of the pool.

https://www.heraldnet.com/2026/06/26/schwab-a-swampy-symbol-of-trumps-denial-deflection-deceit-and-dirty-pool/

[ultralite001]

1. Ya Got Trouble... "And that stands for pool!"

of a more fluid kind than that touted by another con man, Professor Harold Hill, who fakes
his musical expertise + plans on skipping town once he has the townfolk's money in hand.

From the film, "The Music Man" (1962)... based on Meredith Willson's 1957 Broadway musical
of the same name. Robert Preston reprised the title role from the stage version + starred
alongside Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett, Hermione Gingold, Ronny Howard + Paul Ford.

[Professor Harole Hill]
Friend, either you're closing your eyes
To a situation you do now wish to acknowledge
Or you are not aware of the caliber of disaster indicated
By the presence of a pool table in your community.

Ya got trouble, my friend, right here.
I say, trouble right here in River City.

Why, sure, I'm a billiard player,
Certainly mighty proud I say
I'm always mighty proud to say it.
I consider that the hours I spend
With a cue in my hand are golden.

Helps you cultivate horse sense
And a cool hеad and a keen eye.
J'evеr take and try to give
An iron-clad leave for yourself
From a three-rail billiard shot?

But just as I say.
It takes judgment, brains, and maturity to score
In a balkline game.
I say that any boob can take
And shove a ball in a pocket.
And they call that sloth.
The first big step on the road
To the depths of deg-gra-DAY--

I say, first, medicinal wine from a teaspoon
Then beer from a bottle!
An' the next thing ya know
Your son is playin' for money
In a pinch-back suit
And list'nin to some big out-a-town jasper
Hearin' him tell about horse-race gamblin'
Not a wholesome trottin' race, no!
But a race where they set down right on the horse!
Like to see some stuck-up jockey boy
Settin' on Dan Patch? Make your blood boil?
Well, I should say.

Now, friends, lemme tell you what I mean.
Ya got one, two, three, four, five, six pockets in a table
Pockets that mark the diff'rence
Between a gentlemen and a bum
With a capital "B,"
And that rhymes with "P" and that stands for pool!

And all week long your River City
Youth'll be fritterin' away
I say your young men'll be fritterin'!
Fritterin' away their noontime, suppertime, choretime, too!
Get the ball in the pocket,
Never mind gettin' dandelions pulled
Or the screen door patched or the beefsteak pounded.
Never mind pumpin' any water
'Til your parents are caught with the cistern empty
On a Saturday night and that's trouble
Yes, you got lots and lots of trouble

I'm thinkin' of the kids in the knickerbockers
Shirt-tail young ones, peekin' in the pool
Hall window after school, ya got trouble, folks!
Right here in River City
Trouble with a capital "T"
And that rhymes with "P" and that stands for pool!

Now, I know all you folks are the right kind of parents
I'm gonna be perfectly frank
Would ya like to know what kinda conversation goes
On while they're loafin' around that Hall?
They be tryin' out Bevo, tryin' out cubebs,
Tryin' out Tailor Mades like cigarette fiends!
And braggin' all about
How they're gonna cover up a tell-tale breath with Sen-Sen
One fine night.

They leave the pool hall
Headin' for the dance at the Armory!
Libertine men and Scarlet women!
And Rag-time, shameless music
That'll grab your son, your daughter
With the arms of a jungle animal instinct!
Mass-staria!
Friends, the idle brain is the devil's playground!
Trouble!

[PEOPLE]
Oh, we got trouble

[HAROLD]
Right here in River City!

[PEOPLE]
Right here in River City!

[HAROLD]
With a capital "T"
And that rhymes with "P"
And that stands for pool

[PEOPLE]
That stands for pool!

[HAROLD]
We've surely got trouble!

[PEOPLE]
We've surely got trouble!

[HAROLD]
Right here in River City

[PEOPLE]
Right here!

[HAROLD]
Gotta figure out a way
To keep the young ones moral after school!

[PEOPLE]
Our children, children's gonna have trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble...

[HAROLD]
Mothers of River City!
Heed this warning before it's too late!
Watch for the tell-tale signs of corruption!
The minute your son leaves the house
Does he re-buckle his knickerbockers -- below the knee?
Is there a nicotine stain on his index finger?
A dime novel hidden in the corn crib?
Is he starting to memorize jokes -- from Cap'n Billy's Whiz Bang?
Are certain words creeping into his conversation?
Words like, like "swell"?

[PEOPLE]
Trouble, trouble, trouble!

[HAROLD]
And "so's your old man"?

[PEOPLE]
Trouble, trouble, trouble!

[HAROLD]
Well, if so, my friends
Ya got trouble

[PEOPLE]
Oh, we got trouble

[HAROLD]
Right here in River City!

[PEOPLE]
Right here in River City!

[HAROLD]
With a capital "T"
And that rhymes with "P"
And that stands for pool!

[PEOPLE]
That stands for pool!

[HAROLD]
We've surely got trouble!

[PEOPLE]
We've surely got trouble!

[HAROLD]
Right here in River City!

[PEOPLE]
Right here!

[HAROLD]
Remember the Maine, Plymouth Rock, and the Golden Rule!
Oh-ho, we got trouble
We're in terrible, terrible trouble
That game with the fifteen numbered balls is the Devil's tool!

[PEOPLE]
Devil's tool!

[HAROLD]
Oh, yes, we got trouble, trouble, trouble!

[PEOPLE]
Oh, yes, we got trouble here! We've got big, big trouble!

[HAROLD]
With a "T"!

[PEOPLE]
With a capital "T"!

[HAROLD]
Gotta rhyme it with "P"!

[PEOPLE]
Gotta rhyme with "P"!

[HAROLD]
And that stands for pool!

[PEOPLE]
That stands for pool