Cupid Stunt
Those of you who are British and of a certain age will fondly remember the comedy skit by Kenny Everett involving Cupid Stunt, the ageing tasteless, actress who always insisted when her clothes fell off in a film scene “It was all done in the best possible taste”.
Which brings us to Donald Trump whose decoration of the Oval Office will have every person of taste open mouthed in shock and horror and who is now knocking down the White House East Wing to build a ballroom.
A ballroom drenched in fake gold, so large it ruins the classic architecture of the White House, is paid for by donors after something in return and for which he hasn’t even got planning permission.
It is a tasteless attempt to leave a permanent mark on the architectural history of the US, but it is also more than that. It is a measure of his crass insensitivity, crudeness and arrogance, this man really thinks he has good taste, which means having everything dripping in gold as a kind of boast of his wealth.
But it is also a sign of his inadequacy and fear. Trump desperately needs to show everyone and especially himself that he is powerful enough to ride roughshod over the rules and leave something behind that can never be erased.
Most politicians would do that by creating a better health system, educational improvements, better foreign policy or other reforms.
Trump is doing it with pathetic, philistine posing.
The next President should knock it down, after all it cost taxpayers nothing and build some new office space to help run the country better.
That would be tasteful and have the added benefit of erasing a small but obvious trace of Trump’s legacy.
From Jonty Bloom Media Ltd
Economics, trade and Brexit, not necessarily in that order but the dog always comes first.
Louis XIV had the good sense to have Mansart and Le Nôtre working for him.
He's probably seen it somewhere in Saudi or a Gulf state, and the glitz has gone to his head.