If We Can't Rename It, We'll Flatten It. The Justice Department told a court this week that the Kennedy Center is "structurally unsound, fundamentally unsafe, and embarrassing to the Nation's Capital," and that if renovations are blocked the place might have to be "taken down." The replacement pitch is a large outdoor amphitheater on the Potomac. There is no official demolition order. There was a hearing this afternoon. The energy is "if I can't have it, nobody can," except the "it" is a living memorial and the "I" is a nameplate. This started as a two-year shutdown and a board vote to slap "Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump" on a building Judge Christopher Cooper already said only Congress can rename. Lawyers say without those efforts it slides into a "financial and structural death spiral," and that the president is uniquely qualified because he has done real estate. That sentence should have stayed in the draft. Rep. Joyce Beatty asked the court to stop the new plaque-and-plaza plan. Nathaniel Zelinsky told the judge today the move is "outright defiance." Nobody has to invent a cartoon. The filing already did the joke: put the name on the marquee or we will discuss a lawn. Beatty's reply put it as, "What a nice Kennedy Center you have here. What a shame should something happen to it." The administration says it will sit tight until September 8. A memorial that needs a hostage note is not a renovation. It is a tantrum with scaffolding. You can quote an amphitheater. You can wait for September 8. None of that moves a town hall. They hold yours. Pick a party, walk your town, fight, take it back. Capture the hall. Do not just tweet it. politicsgo.app Photo: United States Capitol west front. Architect of the Capitol / US government work (public domain). Photo: Eisenhower Executive Office Building, 1981. White House photo office / US government work (public domain).
