The D.C. Sewer Catastrophe Is Part of the Deconstructionist Plot

It’s the largest incident of liquid pollution in American history, with reports stating that roughly 250-million gallons of raw sewage has poured from the Washington, D.C., sewer system into the Potomac River over the last month. This biohazard tide infects much of the Chesapeake Bay, and will eventually make its way along the eastern seaboard via the Atlantic Ocean. Astute observers in times past noted how it seems as if the beltway deliberately craps on Americans. As it turns out…

The national media has demonstrated remarkable restraint from reporting on this catastrophe as it continues in the national capitol region. Hundreds of millions of contaminated gallons spilled in highly populated regions, and spreading across essential fisheries, receives sparse mention. Compare that to the global outrage over the Exxon-Valdez in 1989, which spilled a comparatively paltry 11-million gallons of crude oil into a remote region off the coast of Alaska.

More recently, when the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe resulted in the release of an estimated 134-million gallons of crude offshore in the then Gulf of Mexico—roughly one-half of the sewage volume pouring into the Potomac River in a dense population zone—news agencies covered it wall-to-wall, complete with a live spill camera streaming on site 24/7.

We know better than to ask why the media and left-wing elites are always more concerned about the plight of seals thousands of miles away than they are human beings next door. Yet the question still crosses our minds in these moments. The answer is deep, complex, and spiritual—far more so than can be treated appropriately here in a few hundred words. Still, we should reflect on such motivations.

Of course there is the usual partisan politics at play. D.C. local government is a Democrat stronghold. Maryland and Virginia are likewise governed by Democrats, a party that practices unparalleled loyalty in its ranks. Add to that, DC Water is managed by unqualified activists whose focus has been on reducing the percentage of white employees rather than maintaining infrastructure.

Those factors are too obvious, so let us momentarily set them aside to reflect on the moment’s philosophical underpinning. The gross incompetence on grand display through this crisis is not because the system is overwhelmed, or for reasons beyond state officials to control. It is instead the inevitable end state of progressive orthodoxy. The D.C. sewer catastrophe of 2026 doesn’t alarm progressives because the dismantling and deconstructing of our nation is central to their vision for America’s future.

During my doctoral studies journey of the last few years, I became thoroughly acquainted with critical theories. It’s an unfortunate and inevitable part of conducting advanced studies in most graduate schools across the West in our age. This nihilistic worldview is rooted in the musings of Karl Marx. It reduces every human being—made in God’s image—into mere units of economic activity, and categorizes us by two classes: oppressor and oppressed. Within that canon, calls to action are not to lift all of humanity toward positions of family and economic stability. Such beneficial conditions are castigated as ‘privileged’ by the revolutionary mindset.

Instead, the call is to tear down all from those who have, in order to give to those who do not. Put simply, the critical worldview is one of envy and reversal. If you have something good, it should be taken from you. If your life is marked by misfortune, especially if that reality comes from tragic lifestyle choices on your part or the part of recent ancestry, you’re ‘marginalized’ and deserve to take from others. Critical theory adherents fight for natural law to be subdued in favor of luciferian rule.

This brings us back to the river. The national capital region is among the wealthiest parts of the nation. The revolutionary mindset asks why its residents then deserve a river less polluted than the Ganges. Trashing the natural environment is a natural step in the continued importation of the Third World into the West. When then-President-elect Barack Obama spoke of the fundamental transformation of America, this is among what he meant. We can’t build new roads across empty spaces in Alaska for lifesaving ambulance access, but progressive rulers can destroy ecology on grand scale, where tens of millions live, with no personal consequence. Wildlife that makes its home across the Chesapeake region seems exempted from environmental considerations, as well as the masses who work and recreate on those waters.

Until Tuesday, there appeared to be no end in sight for the 2026 Potomac Catastrophe, with local officials saying it would take up to nine months for repairs to be completed. As my RedState colleague Ben Smith wrote that day, President Trump ordered federal authorities to immediately take over coordination of the response.

Regardless, were this anyone else’s responsibility, we would be treated to daily press conferences in which currently mute officials would performatively scold the offending agents and promise ‘accountability.’ Numerous lawsuits would be in process. The finger-wagging would be energetic and sustained. But even feigned outrage is hard to come by when a manmade crisis contributes to the tragic, desired end state. As Chair of the DC Water Board Dr. Unique Morris-Hughes stated in a radio interview, her work is intended to be disruptive. I’d say a quarter-billion-gallon sewage spill fits that calling.

Editor's Note: President Trump is leading America into the "Golden Age" as Democrats try desperately to stop it.

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