From "Trump Takes Over the Kennedy Center/The president intends to replace members of the institution’s board as he adopts a more aggressive approach toward the arts" (The Atlantic).
At Truth Social, Trump writes:
"At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., GREAT AGAIN. I have decided to immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture. We will soon announce a new Board, with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP! Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP. The Kennedy Center is an American Jewel, and must reflect the brightest STARS on its stage from all across our Nation. For the Kennedy Center, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!"
And Trump posts this:
Posts
68 comments:
"Ladies and gentlemen, please rise and clap your hands as we play 'YMCA'."
I think this is great. After all these years, Kevin Sorbo will finally be recognized for his greatness.
Too delicious for words. The libs don't "own" the Arts. The Arts shouldn't be political, but the Left has made it so. Time to fix that.
Yes - all corrupt leftists and their a-hole admirers can go f themselves. You are all on the side of leftist corruption.
Kennedy Center Awards coming for: Kid Rock, Lee Greenwood, Village People, Kevin Sorbo & Justine Bateman. so much Winning!
I was just there for a concert on Thursday. I'm interested to see how this plays out. I was surprised to see that the Washington National Opera has nothing on from now to May, which seems like a bad sign for the viability of the Kennedy Center. Partly this may be self inflicted -- the only classic operas they put on were Macbeth and Fidelio, and the rest was modern stuff with doubtful appeal to opera-goers. I understand performers may find it tedious to put on Manon Lescaut or Tosca over and over, but I'm a lot more likely to spend an evening with Puccini or Verdi than something called (R)evolution of Steve Jobs. And partly it may be that the audience is dying off.
If Trump appointing himself chairman can lure in more sponsorships from people/companies trying to curry favour, prompt young people in the administration to attend the symphony or the opera more regularly, and push the WNO to put on more more popular works, I think it could be a good thing. The current trajectory is bad, so at least it's a change.
Just like Trump to politicize the Kennedy Center!
Trump plans to announce the dismissal of multiple members of the Kennedy Center board as soon as today, a group likely to include recent appointees of former President Joe Biden; among those on the current board are the Democratic political strategist Mike Donilon, former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, and Democratic National Committee finance chair Chris Korge.
Donald Trump is the President of the United States. Robert De Niro is a washed up, scenery chewing, ham actor. Trump was too nice four years ago. Time to fix that.
Has Trump ever sat through an opera, or a full symphony concert?
Honest question.
(I strongly suspect, not.)
So. Much. Winning.
I'm undecided as to who should be the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award: Kid Rock or Bill O'Reilly. I think the deciding factor should not be their contribution to the arts but rather how much the award would enrage the media. Kid Rock would piss off many in the music industry, but many in the MSM wouldn't care. I'm leaning towards O'Reilly or Hannity. I suppose Kanye West is out, but maybe Kim Kardashian. She's definitely had a profound effect on American culture.
This is for all the AWFL libtard High Society twats who shat on and cold-shouldered Melania throughout DJT's entire first term. To paraphrase the fascistic utterances of the Democrat Party's latest moronic presidential candidate, President Trump saw it, he wanted it, and he just snatched it away from the bitter, clinging cunts. LOL! Yes he can!
What Big Mike said.
Revenge is a dish best served cold, but petty malice is a delicious appetizer and can be served at room temperature.
@Dave Begley said: “Too delicious for words. The libs don't ‘own’ the Arts. The Arts shouldn't be political, but the Left has made it so. Time to fix that.”
-
Eh, I used to blame the Left for this dynamic, but my opinion has evolved. Now that the Left is entrenched in the arts, I do think they gatekeep out the Right to some extent.
But I think the Right deserves some blame for allowing it to get this way. The Right has always pushed their kids to “get a job” and “do something practical,” emphasizing business and STEM. And this is often good advice!
So the Right majors in finance and engineering while the Left studies humanities or makes art. The Arts was always going to become leftwing under these circumstances.
@I’m undecided as to who should be the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award: Kid Rock or Bill O'Reilly. “
The Village People
I want a a posthumous Johnny Ramone.
Good for him. DeNero saying “fuck” and trannies grooming kids is not art!
What Balfegor said at 10:32. There's plenty of classic music and arts that can be performed to appeal to large swaths of the populace. And I don't care if the National Opera gets tired of performing The Magic Flute. You're in your dream job, certainly that allows some fan service for the audience who makes that possible.
Narr (@10:37) “Has Trump ever sat through an opera, or a full symphony concert? Honest question.” You’ve got to be kidding, right? A billionaire from NYC. “I strongly suspect” Trump has contributed more to the arts than you will earn in your lifetime and was a regular at the Met.
You forgot your Trump is epic tag again
Trump reduces the drag coefficient of the Arts.
@Eva Marie, + 1
Trump needs a Leitmotif
The government involvement in everything is so big, it might take 4 years to discover, decide and discard the decay.
To paraphrase Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, all the Left has done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.
Mel Gibson deserves to be honored by the Kennedy Center.
Was there actually a drag show aimed at children or this just more bullshit made up by Trump?
And for all you "free speech absolutists", I guess this upsetting that the president is now deciding what art is good and which needs to be banned.
What about The National Endowment for the Arts? 🎭
Freder - is he banning art? This is specific about the Kennedy Center.
But you can watch un-cut version of the CBS interview the FCC was forced to release. Like, literally.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuGPuhANqZk
I take it Althouse has a Truth account.
Althouse is an oligarch 🙀
In 2020, Trump tweeted a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote, "If you strike at the king, you must kill him." That was years before Trump was shot, so the payback is going to be worse than they can imagine.
I have to agree with Balfegor. The notion of Kennedy Center Honors has felt like a joke to me for some time, and that's because the quality of content they would show. The classics became classics over centuries, because they've shown themselves to be excellent.
The 2024/25 season of the Kennedy Center had an original production of Schmigadoon!, which is just a satire of Brigadoon. They also had Legally Blond, The Musical, which sounds better than "& Juliet", which is exactly what you think it is: "At Romeo's funeral, Juliet finds out that Romeo had many other relationships, with both men and women...". I will give credit for the productions of "Les Miserables", "Parade", and "Wizard of Oz", the latter I'm sure banking of interest from the "Wicked'' movies. Although all three of those productions are about very political subjects.
No kidding Trump stayed out of the arts center. Pence went to "Hamilton" and got a lecture. Not to mention what happened to Lincoln went he went to see a play.
The Trumps were big patrons of the American Ballet Theatre. At one point, there was a Donald Trump and Melania Trump gala for the ABT. I don't know the details, but it seems like the Troupe took the Trumps' names off the gala when DGT went into politics. Blaine Trump is apparently still on the board of directors.
So much of Washington is ripe for fumigation, Trump is going to make DuPont great again.
More from the internet: “A home or structure is ready for fumigation when it has been prepared to remove all living things and seal off all food, medicine, and other items. The fumigator will also need to be able to access the property without hindrance.”
I know judges read briefings, they don’t read the internet. But somebody ought to submit this bit to the Supremes. Specially the last sentence.
Then again… how can I say anything and not sound like a Nazi. 😬
Kennedy Center tier performances are by and for Dem AWFLs. Close the place and sell it. Robert Fucking DeNiro doesn't need any more "awards" and he and his ilk are well able to afford a venue to present them to each other if they still want to. Why is it that these elite have to have taxpayers funding stuff like this? My town has an opera company which I don't care for, botoh their venue is privately owned & funded. So ok. Carry on! So why are they always trying to get city council to approve a "public arts tax"? Bc that's how they are so eff 'em one and all.
Freder said "And for all you "free speech absolutists", I guess this upsetting that the president is now deciding what art is good and which needs to be banned" Who was deciding what was art before? And why should we believe they were any better at it than Trump will be. Apparently they were all good with Romeo as a pan-sexual. There's no guarantee that that was a piece of crap, but that's the way I'd bet.
Lily, don't forget the great Bruce Campbell and Lucy Lawless too!
Trump is a winner over every enemy of the USA. Amazing man.
Perhaps it was not actually a great idea to turn the Arts into a groveling slave of whoever happens to occupy the White House. The grift was sweet while it lasted, but the taste of pavement is not. The Left has always assumed that we would play by the rules they despised and scoffed at.
No more drag shows at the Kennedy Ceter? Those poor children will be so disappointed! /sarcasm
"Artists" and the hangers on they attract believe they are superior to the peasants in every way. They could have tried to demonstrate this by brilliant plays, acting, singing, dancing or other avenues. Then audiences could have judged for themselves.
But nope, nope, nope... we had to be presented De Niro spit flying as he spewed obscenities and threats. We had to see Kathy G holding the severed head mimicking Trump. We had award shows that did not focus on the work but rather the political views of bubble wrapped bubble heads.
I suspect presentations like classical opera, plays based on human experience outside the lens of politics and fine music will be just fine, thank you very much.
Racism and grooming, not so much.
Shhh, don't tell them, but DOGE was Obama-created. Trump just gave the creature a tweak or two,
https://www.tpr.org/government-politics/2025-02-05/what-is-the-department-of-government-efficiency-or-doge
@hombre (11:01)--
So you don't know for sure?
In my memory, the first time "artists" decided it was their duty to proclaim their political affiliations obnoxiously was when some poets snubbed Laura Bush when she invited a bunch of them to the White House to celebrate poetry. I thought it was terrible at the time, and it has only gotten worse since then. It's so bad, that when I recently saw a Pee Wee's Playhouse rerun I was stunned when the guest star said she was on her way to the White House to see the president, who, I believe, was Reagan or Bush 1. We still had a veneer of civility back then.
Well.... Even if he's a populist, I suspect Trump is as much an enjoyer of the finer things as any rich person might be, and I'm sure he's been tapped often for support. I think this is the right thing to do, democratize the artistic establishment when they start getting snooty about it, as they did last time. I don't think he's in any danger of abasing the Kennedy Center any more than it's already abased itself, in its high-minded self-important way.
Trump reminds me of Huey Long. Huey used to take over the marching bands and suggest arrangements.
Scott Baio for sure, but only for Zapped! and his many appearances on Battle of the Network Stars.
Poor dumb Fredo.
Trump is opera:
https://youtu.be/XZLU8Wn-Mo8?si=RW9mSf7Uefa7eDqh
More KC Honors suggestions:
Dallas Jenkins - showrunner of The Chosen. Almost singlehandedly turned religious entertainment from schlock to rock.
Ronald D Moore - showrunner of BSG and Outlander; started out as a writer for ST:TNG et al.
Bear McCreary - soundtrack composer for BSG, Outlander, Walking Dead, Percy Jackson, ad infinitum.
Erick Avari - a Zoroastrian! who nevertheless plays in The Chosen, and has been the go-to middle-eastern-looking actor for 40 years.
Probably more Americans have enjoyed the works of the above people than the total of your average KC Honors class. Plus all (except Avari) are Gen X. And they are serious, sophisticated practitioners of their arts.
To really make peoples' heads explode, add Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus on The Chosen and is Arab-American.
JSM
It’s been decades since I stopped watching the Kennedy Center stuff. Why waste time watching a show put on by people who hate me so that they can rub in their position of privilege and their political power. The only power I have is the off switch, which I used.
The WNO could get their revenge by programming operas where a tyrant or other big bad man gets his just deserts. Tosca, Gotterdammerung, Don Giovanni (could change the title to Don J!), etc. Classics that bring in hoi polloi, with a wink-wink-nudge-nudge to the 'right' people.
JSM
We should just accept that “the creative ages” have largely passed, and stick with the classics. I forget which sci fi novel made that point. Nihilism makes for lousy art.
At my husband's (nonprofit and very left-leaning despite their belief that they're non-partisan) organization's holiday party, they had a white elephant gift exchange. My husband got a plastic banana duct-taped to a piece of cardstock with a frame printed on it, and a certificate of authenticity printed on novelty paper with a thick gold glitter edging declaring its value at $1,000,000.
So some of 'em at least have a sense of humor about the state of Art These Days.
Poor dumb Fredo.
This typical irrelevant, ad hominem, comment by Yancey did motivate me to check the schedule for Lincoln Center. What exactly do any of you find objectionable?
Ann - After all the garbage you've seen in the Atlantic, you still don't take their articles with a gain of salt?
An award should be created for Willem Dafoe. Not for his acting, but for this story:
In a 2009 interview with The Boston Phoenix, the acclaimed director [Lars von Trier] said the star was ‘so large’ that it ‘left people confused’ - prompting him to bring in another body.
"As for Dafoe… he has an enormous d**k. We had to take those scenes out of the film,” he explained. "We had a stand-in for him because we had to take the scenes out with hi
When asked to elaborate on the decision, Von Trier said: “We had to, because Will’s was too big.
The director was quizzed further by the publication on whether Defoe’s penis had been too big to fit on the screen, which the director denied.
“No, too big because everybody got very confused when they saw it.”
Either I am missing a lot of ironic content in these comments or there are a whole lot of self-fluffing, "arts lovers" reading this blog. Get over yourselves. I love the questions about Trump's artistic bona fides when he took this action because, in his own words, the Center promoted a drag show for children. So I guess all you arts lovers are good with that. Figures.
rhhardin said...
“Trump needs a Leitmotif“
- Key: G Major
- Rhythm: Emphasis on the upbeat, reflecting the punchy, danceable nature of the song.
- Melody: Use a simple, catchy four-note pattern:
- G (do), B (mi), D (sol), G (do) - This mirrors the iconic chant "Y.M.C.A." where each letter corresponds to a note.
-Instrument: Lute
Fredo- you dumbshit- all Trump is doing is appointing a new board- the old board was just doing what you claimed Trump was doing illicitly picking what art is good and which is bad. Trump isn't banning any art at all. So, yes, you are dumb.
Narr (12:57): “So you don't know for sure?” Nor do you. But I do know if attendance could be considered positive, there would be no record in leftmedia.
The WNO could put self-tanner and a wispy toupee on Baron Scarpia, and stuff Tosca's bra and make her wear a cheap blonde wig. (the old-time sopranos wouldn't need stuffing, and the current ones have their own cheap wigs, alas....)
The climactic scene of Don Giovanni could take place in Bergdorf's, with the Commendatore as a mannequin.
JSM
"The climactic scene of Don Giovanni could take place in Bergdorf's, with the Commendatore as a mannequin."
Stop stealing Law and Order plotlines!
JM: "Dallas Jenkins - showrunner of The Chosen. Almost singlehandedly turned religious entertainment from schlock to rock."
This is a great, yet untold, story amongst the major media players, even on the right. The impact as these episodes continue to be translated into hundreds of languages and distributed globally to rave reviews is going to move hearts and minds in numbers and ways that will not be understood for sometime.
I want posthumous honors for Sam Spence (NFL Films) and Chuck Jones (for "What's Opera, Doc").
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