Trump Wants His Name Everywhere #399
By Hank Silverberg
Commentary
It's not unusual for airports, train stations or buildings to be named after famous people. There's Lincoln Center, Ronald Reagan Airport, and the Washington Monument.
All those names came after the person they were named for was dead, and someone else wanted to honor them.
But our current president, with the ego the size of New York Harbor, seems to think he can put his name on everything. The folks in Palm Beach, Florida obliged by renaming their airport after Donald J. Trump. And Trump is now trying to get Penn Station in New York City named after him.
But there is pushback. Some people don't want to fly into Trump airport, and a United Airlines memo indicated that people could get ticket changes to go to Ft. Lauderdale instead. But that was later clarified after it hit the internet that the name change was not a valid reason.
The President also ran into trouble when he tried to rename The Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts in D.C. by adding on his name. The Kennedy name means a great deal to many people, and the name change was removed after a lawsuit mandated it.
Most presidents in their second term do start thinking about their legacy. What will they leave behind for history? But Trump has gone overboard on this, just like in most of the things he does.
You already know about the big ballroom he is building and about some of his renovations at the White House, including changes to the pillars on the south portico from plain Ionic columns to more imperial Corinthian columns. But you may not have heard about the old bronze statues that Trump has spent $5.8 million of your tax dollars to cover in 23.75 karat gold leaf.
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| (One of the statues courtesy of Judy Taub Squires) |
The bronze statues are called The Arts of War and the Arts of Peace. They are near the D.C. entrance to the Memorial Bridge going toward Arlington National Cemetery, and were installed in 1951. Critics have used the word "tacky" to describe the gold leaf, but it is the cost that has most people annoyed. A Washington Post/IPSOS poll found 65% of Americans disapprove of Trump's D.C. renovations, including the $100 million arch on Memorial Circle, even though it's supposed to be mostly privately funded.
Most of us have been hoping a Democratic take- over of Congress in 2027 after a big showing in the upcoming November elections could stifle Trump on many of his crazy ideas. And once he's gone, in 2029 things could get back to reasonable and constructive debate.
But this kind of legacy, gold statues, big ballrooms and arches will live on, and that is very irritating.
Historically, maybe we can use them as a good example of poor decisions by voters.
News You May Have Missed
Millions of senior citizens could be facing steep increases in what they pay for medication coverage because of a federal subsidy that is set to expire at the end of this year. The Hill is reporting that ending the subsidy could raise premium costs
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Parents Appalled By Son's Antisemitism
You may remember that Cornell University student who declined a job interview at a NYC startup because he said was "not interested in working for a Jew", and then went public about it.
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| (Cornell Univ, courtesy cornel.edu) |
As for Cornell, the Dean has told The New York Post that Franco is not being kicked out of school because the words he used, though "abhorrent", were apparently free speech.
Franco plans to go into politics when he graduates.
Dumbest Quote Of The Week!
This week's dumb quote comes from radio talk show big mouth Joe Rogan. He noted there is not much rap (music) on top of the charts right now. He then said this:
"People are pointing out that right now is like one of the rare times where no rap music is on the charts, and they're saying, 'Well, how does this coincide with USAID [being defunded]?' Was USAID like actively promoting rap music?"
Where does this guy get such misinformation? From conspiracy theorists, of course!
(You suggestions and comments are welcome)
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