Well, I do not know about you, but this has been a week of too much news for me. To the point that I will keep today’s Hot Take brief. I will likely write more this weekend about other issues.
The demolition work at the White House requires a bit of context but suffice to say, the comparison’s to older work on the White House are not apt and partisanship will not work this time. In fact the MAGA Republicans are making the mistake the Democrats made in 2010 versus the Tea Party. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the US House claimed that the Tea Party was funded by the wealthiest people in the country and and dismissed them as an astroturfed protest movement rather than grassroots.1 MAGA is now doing against the No Kings Protests.
The reasons are cultural. The further along the political spectrum you are toward the American extremes, the harder it is for you to recognize how or why people may disagree with you. So you become convinced that the opposition is not organic and must be directed. Until you are shocked by an election result as happened in 2010.
Dr. Edward Lengel the former White House Historical Association’s chief historian during Donald John Trump’s first term has said the Founders would be aghast at what is happening to the White House. Now people might want to dismiss this as a “lefty” academic being angry but full disclosure that is not Ed, in fact I met Ed at a Bible study about a decade ago. Dr. Lengel does not care to score partisan points, he advocates for the Founders’ vision of the country. He is a George Washington expert, and he takes the Founding Fathers very seriously.2 He is concerned that current planned ballroom may herald alterations, perhaps structural the Executive Mansion itself. At the least it will alter the proportions and view the mansion. It will not look like a structure whose purpose is to serve as the residence of the Chief Magistrate so to speak. You can disagree with Lengel, but again, he is a serious scholar who cannot be dismissed. I think his warnings are legit.
King Pyrrhus of Epirus (reigning, with one interruption, 306–272 BC) was one of the most capable commanders of the Hellenistic world—a cousin of Alexander the Great with the same gifts and ambitions. After Alexander’s death, the Macedonian empire splintered among rival generals. Pyrrhus eventually seized the Macedonian throne and dreamed of a Greek empire of his own.
Yeah, that is not why we remember him.
He is remembered for his costly victories over the Roman Republic. During the Pyrrhic War (280–275 BC), the Greek colonies of southern Italy — which was then part of the Greek world known as Magna Graecia — called on him to defend them from Roman expansion. At the great battles of Heraclea and Asculum, Pyrrhus defeated the Romans but lost so many men that he remarked, “Another such victory and I am undone.” Ever since, a “Pyrrhic victory” has meant a triumph so ruinous it is scarcely a victory at all. And Rome of course conquered the Greeks in the end.
Though never defeated in battle, Pyrrhus was undone by his own ambition. His campaigns in Sicily and Italy drained his strength and shattered his army. He won every fight but lost the war for endurance. He did not know when to stop. Heed the warning: some victories destroy those who win them. That’s where the Republicans are headed. They won a 2 million vote, 1.5% presidential victory in 2024. That can shift far the other direction if they annoy enough voters or the Democrats begin to act less like scolds and more a like a party with a common vision for all Americans.
Some are beginning to break with Trump, the GOP leader. Trump has attack Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky but Massie has used it to raise several hundred thousand dollars for his reelection.3 That may herald bigger shift than first imagined because Trump won Kentucky 64%-34% in the most lopsided win for a Republican since the 1860s. U.S. Senator Rand Paul, also of Kentucky, is breaking with Trump on war powers and tariffs. They are taking big risks. Unless they are not and they can tell the mood is shifting back home. We will have to see.
The point is some decisions can undermine all the other ones. You can misuse a victory like Pyrrhus. And a good politicians knows that somethings provoke visceral reactions from voters, and are best avoided. The GOP appears to relish in the provocations destroying their historic gains among Latino/Hispanic voters. Some polls show they have lost nearly half their support among the demographic.4
In a democracy you have to win and maintain the support of the people for long term change. If you cannot do that, your accomplishments will be illusory. Is that what the Republicans want? If not, they need to rethink what they are doing. The loss of support is real.