The tarp covering the entrance to the Kennedy Center remains in place. Man-Baby Trump’s ego is what it is and he can’t abide what for him would be the humiliation of seeing the main entrance restored to it’s proper name. Without HIS name cluttering things up. Alas, Trump refused to give up on the idea of plastering his name on the iconic venue and a plan has been hatched. Worse it’s been set in motion and the only question is whether (as with destruction of the East Wing of the WH) Trump will just go ahead and order the work done instead of waiting for a judge to rule on the matter (a status report is due) later this month.
If anything what his hand-picked Board of Directors approved today is worse than slapping his name up there in steel letters. According to reporting by Forbes the Board has just vote to INSCRIBE his name below Kennedy’s:
The Kennedy Center board voted Thursday to add an inscription that reads, “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump,” below the venue’s main sign, the New York Times reported, a possible test of a judge’s order to remove Trump’s name from the facade.
Ugh! Inscribed means etching Trump’s name into the square blocks of marble. Yes, the can be replaced but it would be a tough task to find new square stone that matches the color of what’s been in place for so many years. It’s pretty much giving the judge who, citing the law (the Congressional Act that established the place) ordered Trump’s name removed back in June. Trumpty-Dumpty whined and cried but in the end gave in. Only to as we know keep the fact he’d backed down hidden from view.
(Personally I don’t think it would count as vandalism if a few brave souls were to climb the scaffolding and cut the ties holding the tarps in place. They’d just fall to the ground and be undamaged. Hell, people could be waiting to quickly and neatly fold them up and put them in a nice container to prevent any damage! The ugly scaffolding would remain but at least everyone could see the place without Trump’s name up there!)
It’s clear Trump wants to challenge judge Cooper’s ruling which I should add included blocking Trump’s plan to close the Center for two years for renovations – as in decorated Trump style. But the Board did what we all know Trump ordered them to do and voted both to slap his name up there again, in a way that will be much more difficult to undo AND to proceed with the closure:
The board’s resolution reportedly says the inscription is to honor Trump for bringing the center back from the “from the brink of disaster.”
Also at Thursday’s meeting, the board voted to proceed with a plan to close the main building for renovations, while keeping a smaller building, called the Reach, open for limited programming and as a memorial to former President John F. Kennedy.
Trump has previously pushed for the center to close for renovations, calling it “tired, broken, and dilapidated,” but a judge blocked the center’s decision to close earlier this year, saying it was made based on a “one-sided presentation of information” without considering its statutory obligations.
That last sentence will be key to what comes next. Only Congress can approve the kinds of changes Trump wants made and there’s a process of review by appropriate (not Trump minions on the Board he installed after firing the old Board) entities. We’ve only gotten general description of changes Trump wants made. However I think it’s safe to say what he wants to do is what he’s done to the WH. Slap tacky assed gold all over the place, rename everything from performance venues to coffee shops for himself etc. I should note here that the judge has ordered a status report by August 20 or within five days of the Board’s August meeting. That means they have to face the music on August 18 – next Tuesday. If you care about the Kennedy Center mark the date because there’s going to be news.
Then again we might not have to wait that long. I worry that it took till now for this Board to make this decision. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say for them to meet and do what Trump had plans ready to order them to ratify. There’s been plenty of time for him to find a contractor with the equipment to get up on that scaffolding and etch his f**cking name into the marble blocks. Don’t be surprised if he just orders it done in the middle of the night this weekend. Hell, he destroyed the historic East Wing for his freaking ballroom. Just ignored laws and procedures and hired a contractor to get it done.
Let’s just hope if I’m right and Trump is going to have his name etched on the entrance late at night this weekend that sane folks who brought the original lawsuit forcing him to take his name down are in court first thing tomorrow morning asking the judge to issue an injunction against any work until after the Aug. 18 status hearing. I’m sure he’ll cite the same law in denying Trump putting his name on the building. But I truly believe that’s what needs to be done. If not Trump will just have that awful inscription put up and once the work is done you won’t believe how fast not just that tarp but the scaffolding comes down!
