From what I could tell, the Reflecting Pool served its purpose just fine.

I suppose at certain times the water has been drained, the bottom surface polished up and then the water put back in again, all in seamless fashion. But nobody until President Trump thought about painting the bottom blue.

And this is where things went awry in a very green way.

First came the reaction to the pool’s changing color which has generally been comedic. But it also has shed a reflection (pardon the pun) on some concerning issues in Trump’s leadership style.

The President has even brought up a conspiracy of sorts of why the Reflecting Pool came overrun by algae, blaming it on vandals.

At any rate, I’m sure a lot of MAGA is right there with the President but others might look to another scientific explanation: By painting the bottom liner of the pool blue giving it a darker hue, this combined with the arrival of water and warm temperatures altered the nutrient balance. And voila, the water filled with algae, turning the water to a green color.

As far as the paint peeling, the President once again stretched incredulity by saying “vandals cut the bottom with razor blades and/or sharp knives.” Of course, no evidence has been provided and you would think that these vandals would have been noticed by somebody, even with many National Guard still present in the city guarding our monuments and whatever.

Once again, more rational science provided the most likely answer which was a combination of factors including improper surface prep, something called hydrostatic pressure, temperature extremes and the use of hydrogen peroxide and other chemical treatments in an effort to remove the algae. And perhaps the President himself damaged the bottom of the Reflecting Pool when his motorcade with its entourage of cars drove on top of the surface before it was filled back up with water.

Of course, comedians have had a field day making fun of the idea in the first place, Trump’s reaction to it all, and the fact that the company in charge of this project is called “Greenwater Solutions”. Some stuff you just can’t make up.

One of the funniest AI generated memes circulating on social media borrowed the garbage compactor scene from the movie Star Wars where the characters of Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, along with the menacing eye of a swamp creature, are now superimposed in the Reflecting Pool with the caption, “Something just moved past my leg.”

The cost to correct the problem, figuring at some point good old American know-how will come forward, might range from $16 to 30 million. It isn’t a trillion dollars but when Americans are having benefits like Medicaid and SNAP cut, along with trying to deal with inflation from higher gasoline and food prices, the mood becomes a bit more serious about this boondoggle.

But there are also a couple of more pressing issues.

For Trump, who can’t seem to accept any responsibility for anything that goes bad during his presidency, it seemed pretty low-hanging fruit to just say “my bad” and “The Buck Stops Here”.

It’s no secret that many have concerns about our President’s mental and emotional state, the most outspoken critics calling for the 25th Amendment to be used to remove him from office. And much like the criticism thrown at Biden about his mental state and acuity, many worry that our President, who just turned 80, might be “sundowning” right in front of our eyes.

Bottom line, only Trump and those deepest in the MAGAsphere are buying that vandals caused this. And it also seems ludicrous to take into police custody former Olympian David Hearn, along with a handful of others, for touching the water in the Reflecting Pool while pardoning others who wiped feces on the walls of the Capitol and actually assaulted police officers.

The other concerning matter is who Trump chose to take on this project in the first place. John J. Cafaro, the owner of Greenwater Solutions, is a personal friend and donor to the President’s campaign.

It’s not so much the problem that Greenwater Solutions and Cafaro botched the job. It’s the process of how Cafaro’s company got the job in the first place. By the way, Carfaro is best known for being convicted of bribing Ohio Congressman James Traficant in the late 1980s before going into the water purification business.

As a former high school wrestling head coach, if I made any purchase over $500, I had to get at least three bids. The fact that there was no bidding for this project, nor for the ballroom project happening nearby where cost might elevate to a billion dollars, is extremely troubling.

So bottom line, this whole Reflecting Pool debacle has shed light on two important things.

It first legitimizes concerns that many have about both the President’s truthfulness and his own grasp of reality and it also brings out other worries about what looks to be widespread corruption in the administration that includes rampant favoritism to loyalists whether they are qualified for the position or task assigned to them.

Brian E. Preece is a retired social studies educator and coach. As a wrestling coach, he was named as the 2006 Utah Coach of the Year by the National Wrestling Coaches Association. He has also co-authored three books and has been a sports journalist for parts of five decades.