The attempt by this administration to erase the previous one from the history of the government continues like a doomsday mechanism while the putative boss of the administration is gabbling the nation's cultural dialogue back to the late 1850s. The latest example comes from the part of the Tuesday press conference that didn't have anything to do with coddling Nazis. From Reuters:

Trump's latest executive order would speed approvals of permits for highways, bridges, pipelines and other major building efforts. It revokes an Obama-era executive order aimed at reducing exposure to flooding, sea level rise and other consequences of climate change. "It's going to be quick. It's going to be a very streamlined process. And by the way, if it doesn't meet environmental safeguards, we're not going to approve it - very simple," Trump said at a press conference at Trump Tower in New York.

The Trump administration has issued dozens of rules and orders to reverse Obama-era regulations addressing climate change and its consequences such as rising sea levels and more severe storms.The administration proposes $200 billion in government funding over 10 years as part of a goal of getting $1 trillion in public and private infrastructure spending. The Obama-era standard required that builders factor in scientific projections for increased flooding and ensure projects can withstand rising sea levels and stronger downpours. It required all federal agencies apply the standard to public infrastructure projects from housing to highways. Rafael Lemaitre, former director of public affairs at FEMA who worked on the Obama-era order, said Trump is undoing "the most significant action taken in a generation" to safeguard U.S. infrastructure.

Is there a punchline to this, as there is to so many other moments in this tire fire of a presidency? Of course, there is. From The Guardian:

Long before he set his sights on Mexico, Donald Trump had his eyes on a different wall. He wanted to build one on the Irish coast of County Clare – a 13ft high structure erected to protect his luxury golf resort, the Trump International Golf Links and Hotel, from increasingly volatile storms and rising sea levels. While the president-elect announced a climate-change skeptic as the leader of the Environmental Protection Agency transition team, this move to protect his investment suggests Trump recognizes the effects of a changing climate.

Trump International Golf Course pictured from the beach at Doughmore bay, on the west coast of Ireland. Getty Images

And, as the NYT reported, this punchline had a punchline.

Mr. Trump's real estate organization had planned to build a long sea wall off the Irish coast to protect its golf course in County Clare. But the wall faced opposition from environmental groups who said they feared that it would threaten the two-millimeter-long whorl snail, or vertigo angustior, which lives in the area, as well as coastal dunes. Both are protected by European Union rules. Now it appears that the snail has prevailed.

The master of the manor, outmaneuvered by a snail. That sounds like one of the stories my grandmother used to tell me.

Mr. Trump's representatives said at a meeting at the club this week that they would replace the planned sea wall with two much smaller barriers. "The simple reason for these changes is time," Joe Russell, general manager at the resort, said in an interview. "The original proposal was going to take too long to push through. I don't have that time. I have the Atlantic Ocean coming at me."

Yes, you do. And here's a tip: The ocean doesn't care what regulations you shred. It's coming regardless.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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