President Midas’ Terrible Touch www.nytimes.com/2025/08/09/o…
— Elizabeth West (@limeylizzie.bsky.social) August 9, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Who else is old enough to remember ‘He trashed the place, and it wasn’t his place’?
Guess Maureen Dowd has decided to claim Sally Quinn’s mantel:
… Real power doesn’t need to shout. In fact, it can whisper.
But Donald Trump was shouting down to reporters on Tuesday as he surveyed his desecration from the White House roof. He looked at his Brutalist Rose Garden renovation, a stone slab with Florida-esque patio furniture and the site of the proposed $200 million ballroom, encroaching on the East Wing and encompassing 90,000 square feet, nearly twice the size of the White House residence.
Trump vowed to pay for the ballroom with private funds, which means, of course, that someone else will curry favor and pay…
Ever since he escaped what he considered a drab existence in Queens, Trump has bedazzled his life — everything from tweezers to seatbelts to TV remotes were gilt. Even as president, he’s selling gold sneakers, gold watches and gold phones.
Now he has tarted up the Oval; it’s the modern version of worshiping the golden calf and just as profane.
Trump’s tacky rococo gold adornments are growing exponentially. He’s piling on more and more garish features — from cherubs to mantelpiece swirls — and sycophants add to the gold rush by bringing offerings to truckle to King Midas….
Trump is making the Justice Department a wholly owned subsidiary of Trump Inc., turning the F.B.I. into his personal, political police force, pursuing his foes with a Javert-like fever. Justice is investigating Letitia James and Adam Schiff, and another agency is investigating Jack Smith. After Democratic legislators left Texas to block Trump’s gerrymandering power grab there, and after Trump said the F.B.I. “may have to” get involved, a Republican senator from Texas said the bureau agreed to help locate the lawmakers. Trump sent his former lawyer, now deputy attorney general, to interview Ghislaine Maxwell, who was then summarily transferred to Club Fed amid whispers of a possible pardon. Brian Driscoll, who briefly served as acting head of the F.B.I., was dismissed because he tried to protect agents from Trump’s purge of anyone involved in investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. This, even as Jared Wise, a rioter who egged on the mob that day to “kill” the police, has been named an adviser to the Justice Department task force seeking vengeance against Trump’s perceived political foes. Trump slapped Brazil with a 50 percent tariff because the government is prosecuting his far-right buddy Jair Bolsonaro, known as “the Trump of the tropics,” for trying to overturn the election he lost.
The president’s unbridled gilt reflects his unbridled greed.
King Midas of legend paid for his vanity. He was horrified that he could not control the golden touch. He turned his daughter, his food and his drink into gold. Aristotle said his “vain prayer” led to starvation.
It is a lesson Trump will never learn: The flashiest is never the truest.
Corrupt, criminal, destructive… hey, leaders are privileged. But tacky?!? Anathema!
As long as Our Very Serious Mainstream Media has [finally] decided to cut Don TACO loose, I won’t quibble about their reasons.
Baud
i finally understand Pitchbot’s parodies of Maureen Dowd.
Shalimar
I won’t quibble either, but seriously, you just figured out he’s tacky now? After 50 years in the golden spotlight?
Chetan Murthy
I am not a fan of MoDo. Not a fan at all. But Sally Quinn? That adventuress? No, MoDo is a thousand times more substantial than Sally Quinn. And I am not a fan of MoDo.
Nukular Biskits
@Baud:
Pitchbot is a national treasure.
bbleh
Ruh-roh! If MoDo has turned, can Dash be far behind??
Are the whispers on Wall Street turning gloomy? If so, Donnie Smallhands could be in a world of hurt..
(ETA: also, too, anybody hear how that Vance-Bondi-Patel meeting about Bongino went? Has he been bought off? Or is he swimmin’ wid’ da fishes? Or … ??? )
Splitting Image
They were okay with Trump wearing make-up, girdles, and high heels, but his obvious love of interior decorating was a bridge too far.
Baud
Just wait till the NYT discovers how old Trump is.
zhena gogolia
A little too late, to say the least.
MagdaInBlack
I think it was the glare of the new rose garden patio that finally shattered (pierced?) her rose colored eye-shield.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
Maybe she finally figured out the right dose of edibles. Everyone’s body processes cannabis differently!
Suzanne
@Splitting Image: The second FFOTUS term doesn’t even afford the levity of mocking Melania’s trash fashion or coming up with more insulting nicknames for Jared Kushner.
Chetan Murthy
@Suzanne: I did enjoy Spitting Image’s portrayal of Jared (as a lifeless motionless barbie doll).
zhena gogolia
@Suzanne: Where is Melania, by the way? Somebody asked me and I had no idea.
WTFGhost
@MagdaInBlack: “If he was going to violate the 4th Amendment with impunity, he should have had the decency to leave the rose garden alone!”
sab
Are there really gilt cherubs?
Suzanne
@zhena gogolia: I read that Melania is spending much of her time in New York. I guess Barron goes to NYU now.
MagdaInBlack
@WTFGhost: LOL. yes, pretty much.
mrmoshpotato
No! Dump has BESHITTED his life.
He looks like shit (pooped out by Pumpkinhead). His “hair” is pissed-colored, cotton candy. And he decorates in a way that would make Liberace puke.
CaseyL
@zhena gogolia: The Guardian has an article about how Melania is Trump’s most important advisor. I didn’t read the article, just the headline.
There have been previous stories about her role in his life. She seems to mostly monitor news coverage to keep him apprised of whether he’s respected or ridiculed.
She may loathe him, but he’s her status and meal ticket, so she is protective of him.
Chetan Murthy
@zhena gogolia: i will not forgive her for her performance in the first Trump term. Nor for her birtherism before that. But if she’ll stay out of the news, keep gettin’ good sex from the head of her personal security detail, at least I won’t hate her any more than I already do. Hell, if she’d stay doin’ that for the rest of Donnie’s life, I might even forgive her a little.
Scout211
You might be surprised. Just today, The Guardian has a feature story that is over-the-top Melania fluffing. Why she’s practically running the administration!
OTOH, it doesn’t really say where she is.
Who are they trying to kid?
mrmoshpotato
@Splitting Image:
And ok with Dump being a pedophile who wants to bang his own daughter.
Anne Laurie
@mrmoshpotato: You don’t remember all the TV ads for the Bedazzler?
bbleh
@mrmoshpotato: hey, hey! That’s ephebophile, and there aren’t ANY about it mentions ANYWHERE (anymore) in the NONEXISTENT Epstein files (that hundreds of FBI agents had NOTHING to do with). Is that clear?!?
MattF
Now you’ve all got me thinking of defending MoDo. Sigh. Yes, the Pitchbot is happy to make fun of her, and she often asks for it. But her genre, such as it is, includes a large dose of self-parody. And saying she’s ‘turned’ on Trump is merely inaccurate. She’s always despised him.
Anne Laurie
@Scout211: Look, the Melania marriage was always purely transactional — he wanted some new young thing who wouldn’t place too many demands on him, she wanted US citizenship & a guaranteed meal ticket, his existing family (& their lawyers) didn’t mind as long as the pre-nup spelled out their priorities.
I’m willing to believe she’s still ‘his most trusted advisor’ in that sense. Neither one particularly wants to share space with the other any longer, but she’s got a far better sense of what People Are Saying, and he’s got his string of blonde Barbie clones & also Laura Loomer for what’s left of his ‘physical urges’.
Going to Britain’s a nice gig, and she can judge first-hand what European ‘people who matter’ are actually saying about the old ball & chain. And maybe check out some nice refuges, once Trump is no longer in the White House, for whatever reason…
MattF
@Scout211: I’ve always wondered about the various clauses in the Donnie-Melania prefucktual agreement. Bearing in mind that Mr. Epstein was the principal intermediary.
lowtechcyclist
If MoDo has turned on Trump, can Mags be far behind?
Suzanne
@Anne Laurie: Agree. She’s probably doing Boring Rich Lady life-of-leisure stuff, traveling between Mar-a-Lago and Trump Tower, buying expensive clothes and going to posh restaurants and very little else. I read that she didn’t attend Tiffany’s baby shower, which seems like she is 100% in it for herself and Barron at this point.
Glory b
@sab: Yes, one of them is above the oval office fireplace.
Geminid
Et tu, Mo Do?
Jay
@MattF:
The Epstein Victims’ Compensation Program, paid out by JP Morgan Chase, amounted to over $290 million dollars to over 150 victims, with more victims not covered by the Program or denied by the Program continuing to sue.
The victims lawyers had established that the bank had enabled sex trafficking by the deceased financier when he was a client.
Steve LaBonne
@Scout211: That piece was… not up to the standards that led me to support the Grauniad.
Chetan Murthy
@Jay: When I wanted to open a brokerage account a few days ago, or when I wanted to open a bank account a few months ago, they asked all sorts of questions; probably conducted somewhat of an investigation into me, to make sure I wasn’t some bad guy.
When a sufficiently rich person wants to open such accounts, they get it pretty much regardless of what they’ve done. They have their lawyers do it for them.
And when a bank conducts trans on behalf of a rich person, facilitating their crimes, that bank doesn’t have to disgorge all the sums from those trans — just whatever settlement they can negotiate with the victims. Yet another way in which the world is biased in favor of rich evildoers.
mr perfect
@Scout211: When Saint Ronnie was in the throes of Alzheimer’s during his second term, it was believed Nancy was the one running the country. Orange Yeller’s brain is complete mush; it wouldn’t be the first time happening of the spouse being in charge. We live in more weird times right now.
Geminid
@MattF: My impression is that Melania Trump renegotiated her pre-nup at the beginning of Trump’s first term. I remember speculation to this effect when she stayed in New York for a couple of months. It was like an NFL hold-out staying away from camp until they got a new contract.
Speaking of which, are the first preseason games being played? Seems like it’s time.
Baud
@Geminid:
Yes, preseason has started.
Glory b
Someone seems to have done an image search of Trump’s gold ornamentation.
They found them on Ali Baba, they are “High Density Polyurethane Appliques Ornament PU Foam Veneer Accessories” from Guangzhou Homemax Decorative Material Limited.
bsky.app/profile/jonkeegan.com/post/3lmuybx7xqc2p
Geminid
@mr perfect: Trump has Chief of Staff Susan Wiles to manage him.
This is not Wiles’ first rodeo. She was Reagan’s chief of staff after he left the White House in January, 1989.
WaterGirl
@mr perfect: Love your nym.
Jay
@mr perfect:
Susan Wiles was.
Melanoma is there for the trips and the photo ops, the rest of the time she is in NYC, Susan Wiles is there, every day.
Funny how a woman “can’t be President”, but one is the Acting President.
John Revolta
@mr perfect: Which is to say, Nancy’s astrologer was essentially running the country.
If anything was ever going to make me think that there might be something to astrology after all, it would be reflecting that it played a key part in Ronald Fucking Reagan getting to be the POTUS.
sab
@Glory b: OMG!
ETA: I just finished Adam Becker’s book
MagdaInBlack
@Jay: I find myself questioning if that is really her with him. She smiles too much, but maybe it’s easier to smile when she doesn’t have to be around him as often.
Geminid
@Baud: Gotta check out the Commanders then. Their star receiver, Terry McLauren is holding out, but I think he’ll play on opening day. After 5 years and a dozen deficient quarterbacks, McLauren wants to play with Jayden Daniels again, I believe.
I might peruse Ragnarok Lobster’s BlueSky feed. He’s a knowledgeble student of the game. Mr. Lobster is a Packers fan even though he is a Chicagoan, born and bred; a contrarian fellow.
Chetan Murthy
@MagdaInBlack: There have been a few times when it’s been -painfully- obvious that there’s a body double there for her. Anytime “she’s” wearing dark glasses, I automatically assume it’s not her.
MagdaInBlack
@Chetan Murthy: Those were also her more cheerful times, so that’s why I question all this smiling from her now.
Ramona
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: I remember what you are referring to here!
Chetan Murthy
@MagdaInBlack: Why can’t she just stick to getting spectacular sex from her security detail? Stuck to fucking men, and stop fucking our country?
NotMax
American political life has devolved into Scream-O-Vision.
//
Nukular Biskits
This weekend, I had no major projects to do so I “puttered around” the house and yard.
It was a nice today, not too hot, kinda muggy but otherwise enjoyable.
For some reason, I’m more tired today from “puttering” than had I did a major building or landscaping project.
Nukular Biskits
@NotMax:
To follow up on something I said this morning, I can only imagine what Youtube’s algorithms think of your Youtube viewing habits …
Chetan Murthy
@NotMax: TBF, screaming is all we have left. Rural Texas is too large to take off and nuke from orbit.
Betty
My impression is that Miller and Vought are running the country. Melania might have a say in foreign affairs. I wouldn’t be surprised if he trusts her more than Marco. Speaking of Miller, the story is that Billy Long was pushed out as IRS Commissioner because he refused to turn over immigrants related data. That is a Stephen Miller move.
NotMax
@Nukular Biskits
Rated E for eclectic.
:)
sab
@sab: Elon Musk, Mark Andreesen, Jeff Bezos are more into science fiction than science. We knew that. Also into very old science fiction that stopped in the 1960s, not the new wave later. So no morality issues.
Billions of dollars invested into what cannot be done while ignoring global warming.
I had no idea how much eugenics was part of their world view.
They thinks human races are breeds like dogs, different races being very different, in capabilities and intelligence. Really, they believe this.
When I hear about white supremacy I think of that standard poodle that won Westminster Dog show a few years ago.
A completely white standard poodle with a very silly haircut. And I thought “This is your idea of the best dog ever?”
Chetan Murthy
@Betty: That’s certainly what the reporting was per this WaPo excerpt I saw over at LG&M: lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2025/08/complying-with-the-law-is-a-fireable-offense-in-the-trump-administr…
Nukular Biskits
@NotMax:
Rated: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Kristine
@Glory b:
After I learned about those decorations, Trump became the Peel n Stick President.
Which I hope means that after he’s gone, that shit can be removed easily? I fear in some cases, it may take some paint with it.
Jay
Isn’t it just wonderful that “Kremlinology” is back in fashion to try to figure out whom is doing what in the US Government,……………………………………..
Chetan Murthy
And when presented with what passes for evidence (no, it’s not evidence) that white people are not in fact the most intelligent, they retreat to other stuff, like dick size.
mayim
I’m just done with these people and their cushy bubbles! No understanding of how most people live.
My life is in the opposite direction. Medical issues, DOGE-related lay-off ~ and now my car is going to need a repair that will likely run $800 to $1000 dollars…. I am NOT going to ask what next, as I don’t want to tempt the universe to send even more my way. So many of you have been generous that I’m not expecting anything ~ but I am the link to my revised GoFundMe as the website linked to my nym if anyone feels inspired.
sab
@Betty: RPThere are laws in place that I think Stephen Miller is violating daily.
Hopefully we can go after him and all the minions some day.
eclare
@Betty:
Huh. Someone took a stand, if true.
Chetan Murthy
@sab: There’s no doubt that he’s violating the Constitution daily. He violated Lord-knows-how-many laws with his family separation shit during Trump I. He never saw consequences. He never will.
ETA; I mean, the children (some of them -documented- as toddlers) were ipso facto innocent of any crimes whatsoever. So their being treated as criminals was itself a crime.
Jay
@sab:
Westminster judges dogs to the AKCA “Breed Standards”, so it’s not “the best dog ever”, it’s just the dog that came closest to meeting the physical “breed standards”.
Us dog owners know that who a dog is, has little to do with ” physical breed standards” or “dominant breed traits”. Sugar was a Lab X that hated water, unless she thought you were drowning. Digger was a Belgian Shepard X, (European Police Dog breed) that hid behind his little sister and would show a burglar where the valuables were for a slice of mango. Tar, a serious mixed breed, mostly Rottie and Lab, was the type of dog criminals feared most. They could get seriously injured tripping over him in the dark.
sab
@sab: I like poodles. Intelligent sensible water dogs.
jimmiraybob
Anybody else thinking that when they get together at their bro summit, it would be a hoot if Putin demanded that Alaska be returned to its rightful owner, Russia?
Jay
@jimmiraybob:
What, is Northern California just chopped liver?
Time Travelin'
@mayim: Just had an alternator replaced for almost $900. This is a mechanic we’ve known for years and has been very generous and legit. We were going to get a new washing machine this weekend, but that’s out now. This particular machine has gone up $200 since June. It’s madness out there, says I.
Gin & Tonic
@jimmiraybob: I think it would be a hoot if Trump executed the ICC arrest warrant and took Putin into custody.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a51709/chris-cillizza-hillary-clinton-donald-trump/
The Slovenian Manikin’s second go-round as Third Lady is probably better than the first because she’s able to keep a non-existent profile whereas the first time, there were expectations of performing the functions of the job. Not anymore. She’s probably happy as a clam, more’s the pity.
sukabi
@sab: yes, they’ve shown up near some ceiling cornices…
NotMax
@jimmiraybob
Perhaps the pilot of AF1 will take a cue from Wiley Post.
//
Jay
@Gin & Tonic:
Never going to happen, criminals protect criminals, until they have to roll over on them to save themselves.
mayim
@jimmiraybob:
Definitely had that thought, given Putin’s dream of restoring Russia to its full glory.
ruckus
@Suzanne:
I agree, although it seems to me she was always in it 100% for herself, it’s just gotten to the point he seemingly has, if higher it’s not much higher than single digits comprehension of the world around him. Some do this as they get near enough to the end. And he’s in such great health (just ask him), that I’d suspect everything being wrong and noticeable from space and not ever getting better. IOW he’s aging out. Most of us do this to some degree when we get old enough. He’s 79 1/2 yrs old and has taken extremely good care of himself for what 5 minutes, 20 years ago. Or was it 30? 40?
Time Travelin'
@Jay: My former hood in SF, Russian Hill, is obviously stolen Putin property.
RevRick
@mr perfect: Before that, after Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke, his wife was considered to be the acting President. But Wilson certainly was still in charge of his pet projects and got Senate Democrats to reject compromises with the GOP that would have allowed the ratification of the US joining the League of Nations. On the other hand, Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer may have gone rogue when he ordered the infamous Palmer Raids.
NotMax
@ruckus
This year’s WH Xmas decorations gonna be even more vomitous than the first term’s.
Jay
Chetan Murthy
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: One presumes that even with all the $$ he’s been accumulating, Melanoma’s hourly rates are still too high for him. I can sympathize: when I had “enough”, it really reduced my willingness to Work For The Man for less-than-stratospheric rates on any project other than ones I at least believed in, or liked, or found interesting. No more “I’m doing this solely for the money.”
“In the ass is $50m now, Donald, not $130k like Stormy”
Melancholy Jaques
Of course it’s something as stupid as the decor. Dowd only does stupid.
sab
@sukabi: MAGAs are okay with plump little gilded boys on the woodwork? Decadent yes, but not very manly.
RevRick
@ruckus: It’s not just the awful diet and lack of exercise doing him in. It’s got to be the constant flow of cortisol in his bloodstream due to his rage and hair-trigger defensive reactions that is literally wreaking havoc on every cell of that meat vessel.
RevRick
@sab: It’s the Saddam Hussein aesthetic.
ruckus
@MagdaInBlack:
She has shown serious distaste for him rather frequently, any time she gets close enough for him to touch her, that she is smiling because she’s put up with him long enough and is finally seeing that end to the process of him getting to the end of complete and utter oldfartitus.
Omnes Omnibus
@RevRick: Peter York had a good article on this during Trump’s first term. (Politico link)
WTFGhost
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: Oh, that’s right – I think she took an 80mg candy bar. Now, me, I can throw back 100mg in 1.5oz of liquid like… well, like it was 100proof bourbon, okay, but, it hits me like a hammer – time passes and *BAM*, I’m OMFG stoned. I’ve learned to live and operate in that state, to some degree, but, me, who vapes to the tune of hundreds of mgs in a day, I would treat an 80 mg bar with respect, and I imagine you’d either be totally giggled out, and unable to remember anything (except, maybe, that the sex was OMG good, and you might be a bit clitorally raw, if you have a clit,
unlike MoDo), or you might find it terrifying – going to sleep is the best thing a person could do (and, likely what most people would do), but, if you have severe insomnia, whooo, daddy, wouldn’t wish that trip on a bad enemy.ETA: just had to strike it out, but I didn’t have the heart to delete it.
sab
@Jay: That is my dog history. My German Shepherd spent her life recruiting more dogs. My current pitbull is afraid to bark until the postal worker has left the premises but she loves all the cats. My lab was shy and ran away from home and spent two weeks in winter hiding in the creekbed, then came home and acted like he had never left. My boxer/husky liked to run away from home and be chased by a car. When the car caught him he jumped right in.
RevRick
@Omnes Omnibus: Having grown up in the NYC metropolitan area, I quickly learned how gauche Trump is, in every sense of the word.
ruckus
@RevRick:
Well yes, him leading such a glorious, humane and productive life is an extremely great example for all of us in how to NOT be HIM, or in any way even close to his example.
Nukular Biskits
@RevRick:
It needs to happen sooner, rather than later.
And, yes, that wasn’t a very nice thing for me to say but I have no regrets.
Omnes Omnibus
@RevRick: I had a subscription to Spy.
RevRick
@Omnes Omnibus: I was a Mad Magazine afficionado myself. On the other hand, I became familiar with Walt Rostow’s stages of capitalism when I was twelve.
sab
@Jay: My family had a bassett hound that was droolingly lovey but not bright, and my husband’s family had an afghan hound that was even less bright.
And every yorkie I ever met has been scrappy.
So I do believe there are breed differences for dogs. But not fo people.
Shalimar
@Jay: As Geminid pointed out, Wiles managed Reagan’s office after he left the White House. She was not Chief of Staff while he was president.
M31
@Glory b:
those gold ornaments are such tacky shit
my kids made way better gold art out of spray-painted elbow macaroni Elmer’s glued onto a piece of felt
Shalimar
@NotMax: I don’t think it is possible to get more ominous than the red murder trees from Christmas 2018.
M31
@Geminid:
best description of preseason games I heard on the radio the other day: “hey, our guys who aren’t going to make the team are better than your guys who aren’t going to make the team!”
Omnes Omnibus
@Geminid: They are. The Packers are playing the Jets right now.
Suzanne
@RevRick:
Fingers crossed.
Was that mean? I can be mean.
Longevity is such a strange thing. My FIL was very health-conscious, are right, and did as much exercise as he could. Not a rageaholic and had many good relationships with friends and family. He still had heart problems, developed cancer, and died of a heart attack before making it to 70. It’s unfair that utter human garbage like the FFOTUS often live so much longer. Look at Kissinger.
Jay
@sab:
Had supposedly “smart breeds” that had to be reminded to breathe, had “water dogs” that hated water, had “scent hunting dogs” that could not find a toasted bagel, lox and cream cheese on a coffee table, had “bird dogs” that loved lying with chicks and ducklings. Had a “dumb dog” that could do math. Knew a Yorkie that was barely willing to walk, but loved cuddles and strangers.
Maybe, it was just me, that’s one thing they all had in common.
IMHO, Dogs are just dogs. Each one is their own personality.
sab
@Jay: I think you are right, but our bassett was really dumb
ETA But sweet and kind and enthusiastic. I suspect he hated living with kids.
geg6
@sab:
Yes. I can’t even speak to how horrific the Oval looks. Just…*shudder
sab
@geg6: Other jackals say there really are multiple gilded cherubs.
geg6
@Scout211:
For real. I call bullshit.
sab
@geg6: Yes. I think she is NYC with her kid.
WTFGhost
@Suzanne: If there is justice, he must retain sufficient mental capacity to assist in his own defense. So I’m kinda hoping the pedo label starts getting thrown around with impunity, otherwise, it might take too long.
eclare
@Suzanne:
Billy Joel had it right.
Suzanne
@sab: I bet he sent some intern down to Hobby Lobby for the gold cherubs. Or Claire’s Boutique.
Jay
@Suzanne:
Timu, before the De Minimus exemptions were retracted.
geg6
@Glory b:
I knew it! Someone argued with me here about that, arguing it was gold leaf, not the plastic appliqués from Temu they looked to me. I’ve seen gold leaf. That too shiny plastic-y look only can mean one thing – shitty, tacky taste. And that is Donny to a T.
Nukular Biskits
@eclare:
I’m missing the Billy Joel connection there, unless you’re referencing Billy Joel – Only the Good Die Young (Official Audio)
sab
@Suzanne: Or ordered them from China, where the rest of his tacky gold came from.
And somewhere in China they laugh when the order comes in.
Gretchen
@Suzanne: Someone found the fireplace appliques at Home Depot – white polyurethane. Spray-painted gold. Like someone decorating the set for a high school play. It’s honestly embarrassing.
RandomMonster
Off designing the next White House Blutfahne Kristallnachtmas display.
Kayla Rudbek
@Kristine: heat gun to melt the adhesive, or some sort of organic solvent. Or maybe even one of those carbide scrapers that I always see on the furniture refinishing videos on Facebook. Heck, they could make the restoration of the White House post-Trump with some of the furniture refinishing experts and museum workers, do it as pay per view and probably make enough money to pay for a good portion of the cost.
eclare
@Nukular Biskits:
That’s it!
prostratedragon
@sab:
Compare to bthe real thing, which at least are competent. (Rococo not my thing, let alone Rokkkokkko.)
Gvg
@sab: poodles were hunting water dogs. The curly fur was not clipped, it was protection from thorns and rough country and repelled water etc. The clipping of the fur was a fad that got out of hand after they became more pets. And honestly, it doesn’t hurt the dog breed as much as breeding for longer or shorter legs or necks or something else that can cause medical problems. Poodles are also very smart and we’re bred as working dogs. They need to be trained to do something or they can turn bored and neurotic. They do well in agility and other training events.
Anne Laurie
Poodles are descended from a breed (Pumi) whose coats don’t shed, unlike most dogs. If left untended, their coats will ‘cord’ like human dreadlocks… and if they aren’t tended like dreadlocks, turn into matted, disgusting, painful messes. Which is why poodles are mostly clipped short, on a regular basis, these days.
As for the frou-frou ‘official AKC’ cut: If you’ve ever lived with a long-haired dog, the bits that get shaved — ears, feet, at the base of the tail & around the genitals, the ‘elbows’ and ‘knees’ at the top of the legs — are the bits that inevitably mat. So ‘working’ water poodles would’ve had those bits kept short, just for convenience. The full shaved-but-for-pompoms look is a Victorian affectation, kept alive by ‘tradition’ (& the fact that it’s easier to shave than to groom / gives judges a better look at the dog’s structure instead of its coat).
Soprano2
@Chetan Murthy: Well-Fed has some scruples? Knock me over with a feather! (That’s a play on his campaign slogan, “Fed Up”.) I read he’s going to be Ambassador to Iceland. That’s probably a pretty cushy gig.
Msb
Took her a decade to notice he epitomizes “tacky”? OK …
and it’s “Sally Quinn’s mantle” (cloak), not mantel (shelf over fireplace).
bjacques
@NotMax: and land in Bugtown instead?
Geminid
@Shalimar: Susan Wiles graduated from the University of Maryland in 1979, so she was a junior member of Reagan’s team. Wiles hired on with Reagan’s first campaign in 1980 and worked on his second one. Wiles worked on advance teams preparing for Reagan’s campaign appearances. She developed a reputation as an organizer who “made the trains run on time.”
As for why Susan Wiles was tapped to head Reagan’s office after he left the White House, my guess is that she got along well with Ronald and Nancy, and she was willing. It wasn’t that demanding a job, but Wiles got some practical experience working with a principal fading into dementia that could stand her in good stead now.
Politico Magazine published a lengthy profile of Wiles in April of 2024:
politico.com/news/magazine/2024/04/26/susie-wiles-trump-desantis-profile-00149654
The article is titled, “How Susan Wiles Became the Most Admired and Most Feared Political Operator No One Has Heard Of.” It has a lot of biographical material, including some on Wiles’ relationship with her father Pat Sumerall, a well-known TV sportscaster who was a high-functioning alcoholic.
Wiles gave the reporter an interview in which she managed to say almost nothing, but in a polite way.
Ella in New Mexico
What will be delicious will be seeing the guests on the white marble patio blinded by reflected sunlight or slip and slide when it rains.