Weekly civic intelligence report · v2.2
The White House East Wing is being demolished to make way for a Trump ballroom construction project. Congressional Republicans defended the renovation while Democrats drew comparisons to past furniture controversies.
A-score: Resource reallocation mechanism with narrow federal scope. Rule_of_law (1) for questionable appropriations process, separation (2) for potential congressional oversight bypass, capture (2) for personal branding of public property, corruption (2) for self-dealing appearance. Mechanism modifier 1.15 for resource_reallocation. Severity: slightly reversible (1.1) as physical demolition can be rebuilt, durability (0.9) as future administrations can reverse. Final A: 13.01. B-score: High Layer 1 (16.0/29.33) - strong outrage bait (personal ballroom in White House), high media friendliness (visual/symbolic), good meme potential. Layer 2 (11.7/26) - strong narrative pivot to Hillary furniture scandal deflection, mismatch between renovation scale and comparison. Intentionality 9/15 from defensive Republican framing and immediate comparative deflection strategy. Final B: 30.28. D-score: -17.27 indicates clear distraction pattern. B>=25 and D<=-10 qualifies as List B.
Monitor for: (1) actual appropriations/funding mechanism used, (2) congressional authorization status, (3) whether physical demolition actually occurs vs. rhetorical threat, (4) comparative scale of renovation to historical precedents. If appropriations process bypassed or emoluments concerns emerge, A-score could increase to 18-22 range.