WhatFinger

On the hunt for something to be outraged about, this was the best they could come up with

Media aghast because White House is cutting down an old tree no one ever heard of before yesterday

By Dan Calabrese ——--December 27, 2017

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Jackson Magnolia,, White House You know the Jackson Magnolia, that 200-year-old tree on the grounds of the White House? Oh, you don't? You've never heard of it or given it a thought for a single second of your life? Well then you're like . . . everybody. But today you should be filled with indignation! Because the tree you don't know about and don't care about (which is really old!) is being cut down, and not only that, but it's happening at the order of the megalomaniacal First Lady Melania Trump:
The south facade of the White House will be undergoing a historic change this week when the iconic Jackson Magnolia, which has been in place since shortly after Andrew Jackson’s inauguration in 1829 will be coming down. First Lady Melania Trump made the decision to remove the historic magnolia, which extends from the ground floor of the White house past the second-level executive residence, following expert reports that it was too damaged to stay in place, reports CNN.
Specialists at the United States National Arboretum concluded that “the overall architecture and structure of the tree is greatly compromised and the tree is completely dependent on the artificial support.” If it wasn’t for the “extensive cabling system” that props up the tree, it “would have fallen years ago,” according to the document cited by CNN. It wasn’t an easy decision, according to Trump’s staff. “Mrs. Trump personally reviewed the reports from the United States National Arboretum and spoke at length with her staff about exploring every option before making the decision to remove a portion of the Magnolia tree,” Trump’s communications director, Stephanie Grisham, said. “After reviewing the reports, she trusted that every effort had been made to preserve the historic tree and was concerned about the safety of visitors and members of the press who are often standing right in front of the tree during Marine One lifts.” Melania Trump has reportedly requested that the wood from the tree, which is the oldest on the White House grounds, be preserved. The White house groundkeepers have apparently been preparing for this day and have been growing several offshoots of the tree that are “now somewhere around eight to 10 feet tall,” reports CNN. The plan is that one of those offshoots will eventually be planted in its place so another Jackson Magnolia that was taken directly from the original can grow in the same spot.
Now the actual stories reporting this make clear that we're not talking about a case of Mrs. Trump exercising some reckless disregard for history. The tree is structurally compromised and, without artificial support, it would fall down. That's a very big problem when a tree is that old and that big. Most trees don't live 200 years, and this one had an impressive run. But a tree doesn't have to be propped up artificially forever just because it's on the White House lawn.

Melania Trump! Murderer of historic old trees!

Anyone who's ever owned a house with a tree in the yard can relate. Before we sold our house two years ago, we had two trees that we were told would have to come down within a decade or so (and believe me, they were nowhere near as old as this one at the White House). One had roots that were impeding on the sidewalk, and the other one posed a long-term danger of falling on the house. It wasn't something we needed to act on immediately - and since we no longer own the house it's no longer our concern - but I loved those trees and I didn't like the idea that we wouldn't be able to keep them over the long term. It's the nature of trees, though. Roots take up space underground and cause problems you can't always see. Trunks and branches weaken over time. My city is known for its old, stately oak trees (in fact, we're named after a royal oak!), but those trees can also become a hinderance and even a danger if they grow the wrong way or lean the wrong way - or just get too week over time. So there's no big outrage here, but if you scan the headlines to stories about this, you'll catch the clear hint that Mrs. Trump is acting insensitively and without regard to history by having this wonderful old tree chopped down. George Washington couldn't tell a lie about chopping down trees, but the media can and do, even if they're only telling it by implication. I guess ripping on the tax cut didn't work, and no one believes the Russia collusion nonsense anymore, so they have to try something else. Melania Trump! Murderer of historic old trees! It's hard to keep finding new stuff to be outraged about when things are going so well.

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Dan Calabrese——

Dan Calabrese’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain

Follow all of Dan’s work, including his series of Christian spiritual warfare novels, by liking his page on Facebook.

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