Not Great: We have the national guard, ‘sick and deranged’ pro-algae protesters, and Trump with a full blown reflecting pool crisis
I genuinely don’t know if the protesters at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool are actually pro-algae or if this whole thing is one giant performance art bit that got out of hand, and honestly I don’t care either way because the situation has devolved into such an absurd circus that trying to figure out who is serious and who is trolling is a waste of time that I’d rather spend watching the Phillies or the World Cup or literally anything other than a national debate about pond scum in Washington D.C.
Here’s what I know.
Trump spent $16 million renovating the Reflecting Pool with new “American Flag Blue” sealant on the bottom, the algae came back anyway and turned the water green, the sealant started peeling up off the bottom, someone allegedly cut a 300-foot gash in the pool liner, someone else chemically carved “86 47” into the new grass surrounding the pool, a dead duckling was photographed floating in the algae-infested water, crews were caught dumping hydrogen peroxide into the pool to kill the algae.
The Department of the Interior is deploying something called “nanobubbler technology” that cost $1.7 million, Trump is threatening 10 years in prison for anyone who vandalizes the pool, the National Guard has been deployed to protect a body of water from protesters, and a person in a pink frog costume is standing outside with a sign that reads “First they came for the algae” in reference to the famous post-WWII quote about Germans not speaking out against the Nazis.
A person in a frog costume is comparing algae removal from a reflecting pool to the Holocaust. That’s where we are as a country right now. That’s the discourse in the summer of 2026 while the World Cup is happening and baseball is in full swing and the rest of us are trying to enjoy the season.
Got all that? Okay good. Here’s some video to provide context.
Pro-algae protesters harassing National Guard troops guarding the reflecting pool:
If You’ve Been Reading TLL Then You Know Where I Stand on Protesters
I’ve seen too many of them storm courts during basketball games, light themselves on fire outside of government buildings, block highways during rush hour, throw paint on historic artwork in museums, and chain themselves to whatever object is nearby to generate a viral moment.
The protest industrial complex in this country has completely lost the plot and the pro-algae movement, if that’s what we’re calling it, is just the latest example of people with way too much time on their hands finding the most absurd possible hill to die on and then setting up camp there with costumes and banners.
You don’t have to like Trump. I definitely do not so I can understand why people have strong feelings about the man and his presidency and his policies but messing up a reflecting pool isn’t the act of resistance you think it is and comparing algae removal to the Nazi persecution of Jewish people is so wild and disproportionate that it actually undermines whatever legitimate grievance you might have about the renovation project.
The reflecting pool is a national monument that sits between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument in the heart of the nation’s capital, and slashing the liner and carving political messages into the grass and dumping chemicals in the water to sabotage the renovation doesn’t make you a freedom fighter. It makes you a vandal, even though Trump himself said that it couldn’t be cut not too long ago.
Trump on the reflecting pool: “If you had a knife, you can’t even cut it.”
This is so absurd…lol.
Regardless, I think we should all be on the same page that destroying public property because you don’t like Trump is a waste of time and efforts. You’re just annoying and no one likes you. The reflecting pool was supposed to be beautiful and now it’s a crime scene with National Guard troops standing around it while a person in a frog costume holds a sign about the Holocaust.
Am I making sense? Come on, guys. Nobody wins in that scenario.
The Goldfish Solution Is Right There and Nobody Is Talking About It
I’m going to propose something that the $16 million renovation budget and the $1.7 million nanobubbler technology apparently didn’t consider, which is just putting a bunch of goldfish in the reflecting pool and letting them eat the algae.
Those boys would be feasting on all that green goodness like it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet and the algae problem solves itself through the natural food chain instead of hydrogen peroxide dumps and high-tech ozone machines that cost more than most people’s houses.
Goldfish eat algae, the algae goes away, the water clears up, the tourists get to look at fish while they visit the Lincoln Memorial, and nobody has to deploy the National Guard to protect a pond.
It’s so simple that it would never happen because the government would rather spend $1.7 million on nanobubbler technology than $47 on a bag of feeder goldfish from PetSmart, which is exactly the kind of decision-making that explains how we ended up with pro-algae protesters in frog costumes in the first place.
The Dead Duck Is a Problem Though
A dead duckling was photographed floating in the algae-infested water and the images went viral because nothing generates online outrage faster than a dead baby animal in a body of water that the government is supposedly maintaining.
The Department of the Interior claims the hydrogen peroxide being dumped in the pool has “no harmful side effects to the environment or marine life,” which is a statement that becomes significantly harder to defend when there’s a dead duckling floating in the water you just treated with chemicals.
Whose fault is the dead duck? I honestly don’t know but unfortunately I think the blame falls somewhere between the vandals who sabotaged the pool and created the conditions for the algae to return and whatever chemical treatment protocol the government is using that apparently wasn’t tested for its impact on the wildlife that lives in and around the water.
The frog costume protester with the Nazi comparison sign probably isn’t directly responsible for the dead duckling but the protest movement’s sabotage of the pool created the chain of events that led to the government dumping hydrogen peroxide into water where ducks live, so the connection isn’t as distant as the protesters would like to pretend.
Look, We All Know Trump Brings Some of This on Himself but Also Can’t Catch a Break
On one hand, give the man a break because he spent $16 million renovating a reflecting pool and can’t even get it up and running without it becoming a massive national controversy that requires the National Guard.
Is everything just a money-laundering scheme? The hell you spending $16 million on a pool for. It’s not that cool but it is a nice thing to have. Definitely not work $16 million. Not sure who ran the numbers on that but it seems a bit over the top, right?
I keep falling into “I want to actually write about this” then I realize we are literally talking about a pool of water in front of the Lincoln Memorial that is supposed to sit there quietly and reflect things.
We have a massive green algae problem on the reflecting pool lol
That’s the project that has generated protesters in frog costumes, criminal investigations, National Guard deployments, dead ducklings, and a presidential threat of 10-year prison sentences for vandalism.
On the other hand, Trump absolutely brings some of this on himself because threatening 10 years in prison for damaging a reflecting pool and deploying the National Guard to protect a body of water is the kind of escalation that turns a manageable situation into a national spectacle.
The vandals should be arrested and charged because destroying public property is a crime regardless of your political beliefs, but the response being National Guard troops and presidential Truth Social posts about “sick, deranged” people while a frog costume protester gets more media coverage than the actual renovation is exactly the kind of feedback loop that makes everything worse for everyone.
Side Note: Objectively funny calling someone in a pink frog outfit “sick and deranged” and also probably true.
Can We All Just Have a Normal Summer
I would like a nice reflecting pool with clean water that reflects the Lincoln Memorial the way it’s supposed to. I would like zero pro-algae protesters in frog costumes comparing pond maintenance to the Holocaust.
I would like the National Guard to be doing literally anything other than standing around a reflecting pool in the June heat. I would like the dead ducklings to not be dead. I would like the government to consider the goldfish option. I would like everyone in this country to take a deep breath, acknowledge that a reflecting pool renovation shouldn’t be generating this level of national controversy, and go enjoy the summer.
The World Cup is on. The Phillies are playing great baseball. It’s 90 degrees outside. Go to the beach, go to a bar, go watch a soccer match, go do anything other than dressing up in a frog costume and protesting algae removal at a national monument. Everyone chill out. It’s summer.
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