A sinkhole has appeared in the White House lawn in recent days, and idiocy sprightly frivolity from humans seems to be the main by-product.
A VOA reporter tweeted early on Tuesday that he’s been watching the sinkhole this week. (This isn’t part of the idiocy.)
This week I’ve been observing a sinkhole on the @WhiteHouse North Lawn, just outside the press briefing room, growing larger by the day. pic.twitter.com/BsFUtxFqpB
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) May 22, 2018
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
He later provided a helpful reference to a statement from the National Park Service.
Official update on the @WhiteHouse sinkhole from @NatlParkService: https://t.co/VgHYBeBE1Z
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) May 22, 2018
That may be the extent of it: recent heavy rains, sinkhole. Kudos to Steve Herman of W7VOA for these sensible contributions.
The rest of the, er, social media discussion is mind-bendingly moronic.
I believe this also happened in "Omen III: The Final Conflict."https://t.co/GGb6lxe6Ko
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) May 22, 2018
https://twitter.com/ElcStarGarden/status/999112257958236160
@realDonaldTrump that's not a #sinkhole its the DEMONS coming to collect… pic.twitter.com/Y1LWLCMII9
— Stacey Bridges (@StaceyBridges18) May 23, 2018
So a sinkhole has opened up on the White House lawn. God was asked whether He would stop it from swallowing the whole building, but He responded, “The Trumps are in my thoughts and prayers.”
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) May 22, 2018
https://twitter.com/Memes_the_word_/status/999126111555596288
The lightning strike last week didn't make a big enough impression, so… Sinkhole.
In a horror movie, the occupants would hear a menacing, "Get Out!"#sinkhole #HellMouth pic.twitter.com/D2fR7v3XEA
— Carolyn K ☕????????????????????☕ (@LynCKos) May 23, 2018
When you are so evil the pits of hell just open up at your doorstep… #sinkholehttps://t.co/k5dcJJ9y6P
— Alt Fed Employee (@Alt_FedEmployee) May 22, 2018
Where do these folks find the time?
A #sinkhole also opened up at the "Southern White House."
The Stay-Puft Ambassador was also there at Hell's Gate.#Trump conjures Nixon's Ghost for the "end of days." pic.twitter.com/TnOmM96uT9— GREEN Photoshops (@erikjburch) May 22, 2018
I have SCOURED the Internet for the best #sinkhole joke… and Dave wins.
She’s definitely using a golden spoon. https://t.co/4vv9E95QSL
— Kate Buszka (@katebuszka) May 23, 2018
I wonder if Hillary is trying to tunnel in
— Mike (@longislandmikeo) May 23, 2018
#sinkhole is now trending in Canadahttps://t.co/KTzYOrNwwJ pic.twitter.com/4fqpMnYdnZ
— Trendsmap Canada (@TrendsmapCanada) May 23, 2018
It goes on and on like that. Some clever folks have determined that exactly one year ago, on 22 May 2017, a sinkhole was reported to have formed just outside Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Numerous tweeps have chimed in with that news.
♪ You say #sinkhole. I say hellmouth.
Let's call the whole thing off. ♫ pic.twitter.com/ADqnfHAHGs— HeppCät (@the_heppcat) May 23, 2018
Don’t give up Mother Nature. You can do this. We believe in you! #sinkhole pic.twitter.com/V7r8Zb5ui8
— Viv Heaton (@viv_heaton) May 22, 2018
Imagine, a sinkhole in Florida.
It’s rather interesting, however, that there’s so much dismissive snark about this. There have been reports in recent years of an unusual number of sinkholes in places around the world (also here, here, here, here, here … there’s more, do searches. There’s a lot out there, but little in the way of a readily accessible, comprehensive view of what’s going on). This may or may not be something that has significant meaning, or that we have much of a handle on. But it seems worth noting.
Presumably, if there have been sinkholes on the White House grounds before, or nearby on the National Mall, there are records of that. It would be interesting to know if we do know something useful about this.
Perhaps it fits a pattern we’ve seen in the past. Maybe it doesn’t fit anything we have records of.
For me, it sparked the memory of a story we carried a headline on in January, about groundwater levels in Florida showing a change after the magnitude 7.9 earthquake (on 23 January 2018) in the Gulf of Alaska.
Now Kilauea is undergoing an epic eruption, involving an equally mighty interplay of energy.
Not being a geologist or volcanologist, I must leave further hypothesizing to the experts. That said, I’m not sure how certain we really are about what’s going on under the surface of the earth, and how things are interconnected.
Meanwhile, the rush to joke about occult forces, when the sinkholes are on properties occupied by a particular president, seems to indicate that our mindset as a species hasn’t changed very much from what it was 5,000 or 6,000 years ago. All it takes is Trump being a factor, and presto: the urge to un-science conquers all.