I and millions of other Americans recoiled in shock and anger at the first images of the demolition of the East Wing of the White House. Wrecking cranes scavenged through the rubble like raptors in Jurassic Park. From the air, the sacred site looked like it had been bombed.

The White House belongs to the American people: it’s not the private property of our billionaire president. Yet he claims the right to do whatever he wants with it – tear off a wing or burn it to the ground. He is planning to build a massive gold-gilded ballroom reminiscent of the Russian Tsar’s Imperial Palace or Louis XIV’s Versailles. It will dwarf the remaining West Wing, making this symbol of American democracy look puny.

Just weeks ago, the president promised that the East Wing wouldn’t be touched during the construction of his vanity ballroom project. But only hours after more than 6 million No Kings protestors in 2,600 cities and towns headed home, Trump brought a wrecking ball to the White House. Imagine how much larger those protests would have been if demolition had begun just a few days earlier.

Trump claims that he is not a king, but he acts like one – treating the people’s property as if it were his own, persecuting his perceived political enemies, ordering masked men to make arrests without warrants, sending troops into American cities, breaking laws, ignoring court orders, and using threats to rake in billions from companies, universities and taxpayers. Our forefathers would call him a tyrant.

Trump’s demolition of the East Wing of the White House is an image that Americans should hold forever in their memories. It is a perfect metaphor for what he is doing to our country.

HARRY GURAL

Lewisburg

Submitted by Virtual Newsroom