Karma is just finished the 12th green and would like to play through.

The Old Post Office was and may again be, one of the most beautiful buildings in a city of beautiful buildings. Moreover, most of the world-class government buildings were designed by or at least influenced by America’s greatest architect, Thomas Jefferson (He had some other hobbies, too). But the Old Post Office wasn’t done in the neoclassical style, borrowing on the best of old Rome and Greece. It has more of a European feel, almost royal, and it looked right at home, a national treasure.

Until.

Everything Trump Touches Dies. He bought the place and turned it into a hotel. Now, a hotel is not the worst use for the building (though close). It would have been wonderful had the government put the building to use as part of the Smithsonian, perhaps as a reception area or residence for visiting dignitaries, or even a place to stay for government employees needing to be in Washington for a month, saving the government the money paid for hotel rooms. We don’t know, it’s not our job to know. We just wish the building still belonged to the people and not him.

But, as with everything else he touched, it is dying and that is a damned shame because that building cannot be allowed to fall into disrepair:

“It used to be the hub of Trump World but I can’t imagine who goes there now,” said Sally Quinn, a local author and journalist. “We don’t even have tourists yet in Washington. I can’t imagine most people staying there when they come. I don’t know anybody who goes there or has gone there.”

And no one will, even when the city opens up. Walking into the lobby would be like wearing the “scarlette ‘T’.” It has become more like the Overlook Hotel than one of Washington’s crown jewels.

For four years its opulent lobby thronged with diplomats, lobbyists and Trump family members. It was one of the few places in the US capital where “Make America great again” hats were bountiful. But one recent afternoon it seemed more reminiscent of the haunted hotel in Stanley Kubrick’s film The Shining.

Yes, a horror film, how appropriate.

But as with most good horror films, there is hope at the end:

Washington is dotted with memorials, monuments and statues of former presidents. Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris are already making themselves visible. For now, however, Trump’s hotel ensures that his name remains spelled out in gold letters on Pennsylvania Avenue, arguably America’s most famous street.

Quinn commented: “I suspect that whoever does buy it will take down all the gilt and all of the trimmings and turn it into something else that’s very un-Trump-like.”

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Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @JasonMiciak