Wendy Floral: Rose Garden meets Politics and Misinformation on Twitter

First, this post about the redesign of the Rose Garden during the previous administration is not political – I promise. I’ve already supported the Rose Garden upgrade and called the petition to “restore” it “pointless and inaccuracy-laden.” Now I hope we can see the humor in it.

The Tweet

I follow my favorite political thinkers on Twitter and one of them retweeted the post above by someone – an Angela Belcamino, whose bio includes “actor” and “sometimes dance.” The Tweet asks “Who else hopes Dr. Jill Biden restores the Rose Garden to it’s former glory?” To which my favorite of the many, many replies is:

Nobody can restore anything to “it’s” former or any other glory. “It’s” is a contraction for “it is.” I’m very disappointed that I have to explain this.

Which makes me feel less alone in homing right in on the misplaced apostrophe. (Note also it’s HOMING, not honing – another mistake I seem to look for. Think of pigeons homing in, while skills are honed. And now I’m hating myself for being a grammar nag.)

Moving on, the comments can be (somewhat fairly) summarized as:

This Isn’t Important!

MOST replies took this position, sensibly. Fer crissakes, yes! My favorite one was “This is not a hill to die on. I think Jill will take a pass,” while many mentioned her actual responsibilities, starting with teaching full-time.

Agreement with Hints of Misinformation

LOTS of replies piled on the hate for everything ever touched by Melania Trump, with a few commenting on actual plants.

“Yes, it would be nice to have roses again in the Rose Garden.” (They’re not gone!)
“I think a garden of native species would be really nice instead. The Rose Garden chapter is over and it’s time to look ahead.” (I’m sorry; which native plants are you suggesting for that particular formal spot? Generalizations like that make me crazy!)
“I think every state should send their very best rose bush to the White House and children born here from immigrant families should plant them.” (Wut????)

The Unexpected Celebrity

Chrissy Teigen says she’ll volunteer to help Dr. Biden restore the rose garden.

Pointing out the Sexism

“Why is the garden a job for the ‘Wife’? She’s a bad-ass. Let’s hope she has bigger things to attend to.”
“Why her? Don’t they have curators, horticulturists, grounds keepers who can restore the historical gardens?” They sure do!
“She’s not some bored housewife. Can’t literally anyone employed at the White House restore the Rose Garden? I’d like to see Joe in there switching out bushes.” I bet we can all agree that we’d rather see the president, any president, tackle bigger issues. But we take their point about gendered roles.

Making me Laugh

“Why hasn’t anyone called Four Seasons Total Landscaping to do it? Bet they would do it for free.”
“Yes, Melanoma ruined it for me. It looks like some weird greyish college commons now. May as well have a bronze lion or a fountain or something. Ugh. It’s drab. Let’s face it…Her taste is in question seeing who her hubby is.” (I’ll admit it – I laughed at “Melanoma.”)
Several GIFs and photos: