It’s not Washington anymore — it’s Vegas!

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill

One of the most impressive sights in the entire country used to be just ten minutes away: driving from Virginia, across the 14th street bridge, into downtown Washington. It took my breath away every time. To the right, the stately dome of the U.S. Capitol. Directly ahead, the Jefferson Memorial and the mighty Washington Monument. To the left, a glimpse of the majestic Lincoln Memorial.

But, sadly, that breath-taking sight “ain’t no more.” For it is now dominated by the shocking sight of a giant claw, glaringly lit up in red, white and blue, just to the left of the Washington Monument. It looks like a Six-Flags roller coaster, but it’s actually the “Octagon” fighting ring that President Trump had installed on the South Lawn of the White House to host Sunday’s UFC fight night in celebration of his 80th birthday.

“You know, we’re building something in front of the White House that’s quite attractive to a lot of people,” Trump said in a video posted last week. He actually compared the UFC Octagon to the Eiffel Tower, and suggested: “I’m looking at it, and maybe we’ll never ever take it down.”

God forbid. It’s ugly. It’s gross. And, looming higher than the White House, it is way out of proportion and way out of place. Ironically, the most perceptive reaction to the UFC Octagon may have come from Trump loyalist and right-wing commentator Jack Posobiec, best known for spreading the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory. Touring the site with White House reporters, Posobiec exclaimed in awe: “It’s literally Vegas!” Yes, precisely. It is as crass, cheap, and commercial as anything on the Strip. And Las Vegas is where it belongs, not on the White House lawn.

Seriously, can you think of any worse way to celebrate, not just the president’s birthday, but — as the White House insists this event was also part of — America’s monumental 250th birthday?

How to celebrate the best of America? Other presidents have faced that challenge. President John F. Kennedy invited poet Robert Frost to create and read a new poem for his Inauguration, and later invited the legendary Pablo Casals, Leonard Bernstein, and Isaac Stern to perform at the White House. George W. Bush hosted the great BB King and Eartha Kitt. Barack Obama’s guest performers included Aretha Franklin, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, and Stevie Wonder. The amazing young poet Amanda Gorman stole the show at Joe Biden’s Inauguration.

We’re a great country. We have a lot to be proud of. Any celebration of America’s 250-year history would recognize our great artists, authors, architects, composers, explorers, scientists, businessmen, military leaders, presidents, sports legends, or civil rights icons.

But what is Trump’s vision of the best America has to offer? Mixed martial arts!

We saw it on full display Sunday night. Fourteen men most of us never heard of — six of whom are not even American citizens, climbed into a cage and tried to kick, claw, butt, punch and pummel each other into submission. The more brutal, the better. The more blood, the better. The more violent, the better.

Unless you enjoy seeing a neighbor get mugged on the street, or a homeless person beaten black and blue by teenage ruffians, cage fighting as staged by the UFC is not a sport. It is a sick, ugly, sadistic glorification of human violence. In 1996, the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) condemned cage fighting as “human cock-fighting” and called on all states to ban it. Now, Trump has installed it at the White House.

Of course, he is not the first autocrat to delight in watching men beat up other men for sport. Who says history doesn’t repeat itself? Trump’s only mimicking the practice of Roman emperors who celebrated their birthdays and other special occasions by inviting the public to the Colosseum to watch gladiators get thrown into the arena and mauled to death by wild beasts or other gladiators.

Nobody was worse than Caligula. According to the Roman historian Suetonius, author of “The Twelve Caesars,” his celebrations were notorious for their extravagance and cruelty. On one occasion, because he was bored, he even ordered his guards to throw an entire section of the audience into the arena during the intermission to be eaten by wild beasts.

Fortunately, Trump did not go as far as Caligula on Sunday night. For that, perhaps we will have to wait till his 81st birthday.

Bill Press is host of The Bill Press Pod. He is the author of “From the Left: A Life in the Crossfire.”