The White House as Used Car Show Room

Elon Musk and His Customer Donald Trump Selling Tesla’s at The White House

Photo courtesy of Wired

Professor Joe Goldblatt

The non – ending crass and in poor taste spectacles emerging from what was formerly known as “the people’s house” and also known as The White House achieved a new low this week when the President of the USA promoted sales of Tesla automobiles in the driveway.

It must first be noted this is not the first time nor will it be the last time that corporations have promoted their products and / or services at this major media magnet address. For many years I watched American candy companies promote chocolate at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll and Broadway producers promote ticket sales by showcasing their musicals upon the White House lawn.

However, to my knowledge. other than the US President’s annual pardoning of the Official Whote House Thanksgiving Turkey in order to promote sales within this fowl (pardon the pun) industry, I do not know of another time, certainly in 72 years, when a billionaire US President agreed to enthusiastically promote his trillionaire special advisor’s products so blatently. Sadly, I fear this act of relentless greed shall open the door to a new norm of completely erasing the increasingly not so fine line between statesmanship and commercial exploitation taking place in the once hallowed grounds of the former home of Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt and other previous caretakers of this once globally revered destination.

As I witness this tasteless exploitation unfurl as if it is a giant For Sale banner, I am reminded of the tender lyrics from the song by Leonard Bernstein and Alan Jay Lerner in their unsuccessful 1976 musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The actress portraying the First Lady of the United States turns to the audience at the end and pleads with them to “take care of this house.”

Take care of this house

Keep it from harm

If bandits break in,

sound the alarm

Care for this house

Shine it by hand

And keep it so clean

The glow can be seen

All over the land.

Be careful at night,

Check all the doors,

If someone makes off with a dream

That dream will be yours.

Take care of this house

Be always on call

For this house is the home of us all.

Music by Leonard Bernstein and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner

This musical was produced during the year of the USA bi – centennial celebration and Bernstein was a liberal who had previously supported and composed the memorial tribute for former US President John F Kennedy. He and his lyricist collaborator Lerner chose their words carefully after visiting the White House many times. He and Lerner also saw this house as indeed an iconic emblem of the nation’s values, ideals, and ambitions that required the vigilence of citizens to honour its storied past and protect its fragile future.

We are reminded over and over again through the lyrics of this song that this building is indeed the people’s house and therefore represents all of us. Its occupants are temporary, however, the values, ideals, and history that is made there are enshrined forever in our national and even global consciousness. Therefore, as citizens we must decide at the ballot box what future behaviour we expect from future occupants of this house and how we wish them to represent us in terms of the symbolism that takes place within its hallowed halls.

I have also had the privilege of visiting the White House many times as a guest and also as a producer of events. Each time I stepped through the historic doorway, I felt proud to be a US citizen who was a small part of a great story stretching back nearly 250 years. However, this week, regrettably, I was for the first time truly embarassed by the behaviour of its temporary occupants.

Perhaps there are a few others like me who will watch from a distance and keep our eyes upon the dream, as Bernstein and Lerner wrote, before someone makes off with our shared dream that has been cared for so respectfully and tenderly for a long, long time. If we keep our eyes focused upon this dream it may once again become our collective dream and help us remember that it is indeed once more, the house of us all.

Professor Joe Goldblatt is Emeritus Professor of Planned Events at Queen Margaret University. His views are his own. For more information about his views visit www.joegoldblatt.scot.