Heather Cox Richardson’s letter from yesterday nailed it (bolding mine):
“Late this afternoon, Trump praised his remodeling of the Oval Office to include copious gold fixtures, some of which match polyurethane appliqué available from the home improvement store Home Depot. On social media, Trump posted: “Some of the highest quality 24 Karat Gold used in the Oval Office and Cabinet Room of the White House. Foreign Leaders, and everyone else, ‘freak out’ when they see the quality and beauty. Best Oval Office ever, in terms of success and look!!! President DJT”
John: Hey, Bush is now at 37% approval. I feel much less like Kevin McCarthy screaming in traffic. But I wonder what his base is –
Tyrone: 27%.
John: … you said that immmediately, and with some authority.
Tyrone: Obama vs. Alan Keyes. Keyes was from out of state, so you can eliminate any established political base; both candidates were black, so you can factor out racism; and Keyes was plainly, obviously, completely crazy. Batshit crazy. Head-trauma crazy. But 27% of the population of Illinois voted for him. They put party identification, personal prejudice, whatever ahead of rational judgement. Hell, even like 5% of Democrats voted for him. That’s crazy behaviour. I think you have to assume a 27% Crazification Factor in any population.
Sure it does. But the more fake gilded crap he adds, the less it looks like Versailles (which is apparently the look he is going for), and the more it looks like a French whorehouse (as my MIL would put it years ago).
In which case we need to see some receipts for this crap 'cause I got the feeling that someone is billing for 24k gold, buying polyurethane, and pocketing the difference.
I think we’re missing the key point in the Oval Office decorations. The felon more likely than not got real gold and had it tackied up to look exactly like thrift store rubbish because that’s what he thinks fancy looks like.
Nah, his contractors in NY/NJ had it figured out. Tell him it’s 24k gold, give him plastic at 20% of what real gold would cost (an 80% “discount”), and still come out way ahead. He thinks he’s robbed them, they rob him instead. Win-win.
But the more fake gilded crap he adds, the less it looks like Versailles (which is apparently the look he is going for), and the more it looks like a French whorehouse (as my MIL would put it years ago).