298. The Algae

People gathered at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool this week to demand that the government restore it to its formerly green state.

I want to be precise about what is happening here. The Reflecting Pool was green because it contained algae. The government cleaned the algae. The protesters would like the algae to come back. They are, in the technical sense, a pro-algae movement.

(The protest is being described as an effort to "restore" the pool. This is the word they are using. "Restore" typically means returning something to a better previous condition. The protesters are using it to describe returning the pool to the condition it was in before it was cleaned. These are two different interpretations of the word "restore" and the protesters are committed to one of them.)

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool reflects the Lincoln Memorial. This is its function. Abraham Lincoln is seated at one end. Visitors stand at the other. The pool creates a mirror image in the water. This is why it is called a reflecting pool and not, for example, a standing pond.

When the pool was green, it reflected a green version of the Lincoln Memorial. Abraham Lincoln, in his green reflection, appeared to be presiding over a swamp. There is an argument that this was historically accurate. The protesters have not made this argument, but it is available to them.

The government cleaned the pool. The water is now clear. The Lincoln reflection is now what Lincoln actually looks like. The protesters would like the government to stop improving the accuracy of Abraham Lincoln's reflection and to return to the previous arrangement, in which the water was green and the reflection was less accurate but contained more algae.

The protesters gathered with signs. The signs said things about the algae. The signs were at the Lincoln Memorial. Abraham Lincoln was seated behind them. He did not appear to have an opinion.

The algae has not been reached for comment. Based on available information, it was removed without a hearing.