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Let's check out the latest episode of the Kennedy Center soap opera. Many already know about Trump changing the name of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts—and a court told him he cannot do that.
The 1964 law "makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board's unilateral say-so," wrote Judge Christopher Cooper of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The extra signage has apparently been removed from the building, but it’s hard to say what the face of the building looks like because the signage has since been covered by a tarp. I will leave it to you fine people to make jokes guessing what is going on under that tarp.
Enough recap of the previous episode: let’s get to what’s going on now. In last year’s embarrassingly named One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Congress apportioned over a quarter of a billion dollars to renovate the Kennedy Center. That seems like a lot of moolah to me, but the Trump administration says it isn’t nearly enough. Trump’s Department of Justice has gotten in on the act and claims the building is so decrepit that it can only be saved if President Trump can raise much more money from private donors to complement the cash from U.S. taxpayers. Furthermore, we're told these potential donors will provide this money only if Donald Trump’s name is added to the building.
So that’s Option A: allow Trump to put his name on the building so he can properly refurbish it.
Option B is to raze the building and replace it with an open amphitheater. Given that DC’s summers are hot and muggy, and its winters can be quite cold and slushy, I don’t know that locals and visitors are really clamoring for an outdoor amphitheater. But the bigger question is whether it would really be cheaper to tear down the Kennedy Center and build an amphitheater than to rehab the current structure. I’m very skeptical about that.
I offer an Option C: auction off the Kennedy Center. If the federal government has been putting money into this place since 1964 and ticket sales aren’t enough to pay for ongoing operations and necessary renovations, this is obviously a failed project. Maybe private enterprise can make a go of it. Even if the facility is as dilapidated as the Trump Administration claims, somebody will pay something for it. And, in light of these reports, if we sell it for $99, we will be money ahead. We won’t have to spend the $256 million that Congress recently apportioned for it. I don’t really recall running theaters as among the legitimate functions the Founding Fathers recognized for the federal government, anyway. Hey, maybe the Trump family could be the winning bidder!
Discussion (50)
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Sounds like a solid idea to me.
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As if Congress was sticking to the Constitution. Paper money? "Oh, we're not doing that. We set up a quasi-public corporation to do that."
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Some background...
And for those not on X:
Brianna Lyman on President Trump’s name being added to the Kennedy Center: “I personally don’t care that much, but I do find it funny, Paul, that you care and that the Kennedys care because no one in your party cared in 2020 when you guys were changing names of hospitals, parks, schools, streets, everything in the name of George Floyd.”
“Wikipedia has an entire page called ‘list of name changes due to the George Floyd protests.’ It is the longest Wikipedia page I’ve ever seen. So people who are up in arms about name changes now were mostly silent. The second point I’d make, I think it’s really disingenuous for the Kennedys and for anyone to sit here and pretend like they care so much about the Kennedy Center because I don’t know how many of you guys have been to the Kennedy Center prior to Donald Trump taking office.”
“I was there in 2023. I wasn’t a VIP box. That should be pretty nice. The seats were stained. I literally sat down, I was like, is this wet? Is this fresh? The floors were dirty. This is a place that was decrepit. And all of this on top of people getting exorbitant salaries. So people who were running the Kennedy Center or who claimed to love and care about the Kennedy Center said nothing when it was falling into disrepair, and President Trump comes in, they are renovating, they cut salaries that were needlessly high, they’re bringing people to come and see the arts for once. It was not that lively of an institution under the Biden administration. So don’t pretend like you care about the Kennedy Center now when you were quiet when it was falling into disrepair.”
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I like option C: privatize the dang thing, and whoever buys it can name it . . .
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@BrianWatt If any of the George Floyd re-namings broke the law then please list them.
However, as is his wont, Trump and his adoring minions violated federal law.
govinfo.gov
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