Also quoted is Carol Quillen, the president and chief executive of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which is suing over the ballroom. She says: "Even if we are slow and we make mistakes and we fight, that process has meaning to us."
Have you ever paused to contemplate the meaningfulness of red tape? Maybe the deliberation and drawn-out procedure is subtly, secretly the very best part of what we do together, the very heart of democracy.
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103 comments:
Yes, Let's drag things out, and cost the taxpayers money because the process has meaning for us, even if it's useless.
In CA - the burn zone in Los Angeles - how many homes re-built?
"Maybe the deliberation and drawn-out procedure is subtly, secretly the very best part of what we do together"
Getting paid for that bullshit process is the best part.
I invite you to experience the joys of red tape in the context of the Former Soviet Union, where red tape procedures are raised to an even higher art form, absolutely confounding any attempts to make progress. As Trump would say, 'You've never seen anything like it, and it's not even close'. As someone who was had to work with it, I'd say be careful what you wish more of.
Best part for a grifter. Less so for the griftees.
The American left claim to despise Putin - but they want his level of absolute power.
The Democrats who hate the ballroom are probably devotees of the big tent.
Also quoted is Carol Quillen, the president and chief executive of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which is suing over the ballroom. She says: "Even if we are slow and we make mistakes and we fight, that process has meaning to us."
Yeah, the "meaning" is "we get paid to waste this time. Screw the American taxpayers, it's all about us!"
He's using private funds to build something useful for generations to come. Other presidents have built, expanded, created OUR US capital complex.
The left is so fueled by rage - they cannot abide any actual progress. The left prefer ankle biting, fraud, weakness, and decay.
If they wish to supervise public architecture then I think they should start with Obama‘s presidential library. I guess it’s too late now.
The World Trade Center was destroyed in 2001. The Freedom Tower built to replace it, didn't break ground until 2006 and didn't open until 2014. Mostly because of the time, money, and effort involved in catering to the whims of the victims' families. The end result is nice, but not as nice as what nearly everyone (including Donald Trump) wanted--the towers rebuilt.
The process is where we find meaning? No, the process is the punishment.
If you look at what architects have wrought (since the 70's brutalism era through to the present), having no architects review the design may be a positive.
Caution is all well and good, however increased grift will be the main result of excessive scrutiny. If those normally on the inside of the circle are not allowed access then they stand to lose a lot of money.
Peachy said...
In CA - the burn zone in Los Angeles - how many homes re-built?
-----------
I actually drove through the Palisades two weeks ago to get a feel of how much reconstruction was actually going on.
Surprisingly... A lot! There was work being done all over the place and I couldn't help feel that the one of things that might be slowing things down is there's not enough trades people.
Also, a lot of empty lots with "For Sale" signs as well.
“The end result is nice, but not as nice as what nearly everyone (including Donald Trump) wanted--the towers rebuilt.”
I still want the towers rebuilt.
You have to get through multiple layers of Karens before you get to the Carol layer. The process has meaning to them.
Peachy got there ahead of me; but I have thought that President Trump missed an important point in the “affordability” dispute. If you want to see the difference between Democrats and Republicans in microcosm, compare the progress in rebuilding the Palisades with the progress in rebuilding the East wing. One comes from a “public interest” lawyer’s worldview, and the other from a builder’s worldview. Trump never got down on bended knee to ask “mother may I”, but committed wanton acts of construction.
Brought to you by the Department of Paralysis by Analysis.
It’s a meaningful DEI process. We must hear from as many people as possible so we don’t miss placing an outlet somewhere critical.
The only reason, THE ONLY REASON, the resistance cares about this is because of TDS.
Red tape:
https://babylonbee.com/news/lego-introduces-california-home-set-where-kids-fill-out-permit-and-wait-2-years-for-approval
Red tape isn't democracy, it's imperial bureaucratic whims that robs human beings of their most precious commodity: time.
The Empire State Building was constructed in 1 year and 45 days - about 410 days of actual construction time.
The World Trade Center was destroyed in 2001. The Freedom Tower built to replace it, didn't break ground until 2006 and didn't open until 2014.
Is this progress, the very best part of what we do together, the very heart of democracy?
I would respectfully suggest that there is a difference between deliberation and red tape.
"Unnecessarily big"
Dear, NYT, that's what your mom said.
From what I've read elsewhere, many of the details they object to have security reasons. An area might seem overly large because it needs to house the Secret Service agents who are working security during events and probably also security for other heads of state. The columns are close together to make it harder to see into the windows from a distance.
I guess the NYT and other complainers just get their kicks thinking about visiting dignitaries having to use portable toilets.
I can understand why many architects take inspiration from natural forms for their designs but I'm not convinced the Fiddler Crab was the best inspiration to select for this project.
The sheer scale of it seems disproportionate -- the architecture of broken and insecure souls.
No, we aren't reviewing the architecture together. This is the reactionary anti-American Trump-hating Democrat Party members in power doing all they can to impede and undermine a Republican. Same as "No Kings" and "anti-ICE" and assaulting Tesla owners, vandalizing cars, and burning dealerships because DOGE was "gonna find out what we up to".
Same as the libtard partisan Democrat Party parasites in the National Archive who try to frame Trump for theft while allowing Biden to walk away with pallets of confidential documents he had no right to.
Same as the Democrat Party bureaucrats in the National Park Service who refuse to abide by the Trump administration's directives or engage in malicious compliance.
Same as Democrat Party district and state judges who knowingly exceed their authorities and issue nationwide and international injunctions against the President's constitutional authority, and defy federal law and repeatedly release convicted murderers, rapists, and thieves into our communities because they are in our country illegally.
It's always Democrat Party members trying their damnedest to make life worse for America and American citizens.
Have you ever paused to contemplate the meaningfulness of red tape?
Yes
Maybe the deliberation and drawn-out procedure is subtly, secretly the very best part of what we do together, the very heart of democracy.
@Althouse, can I reacquaint you with the experience of George McGovern trying to reopen 150-room Stratford Inn in Connecticut. He underestimated how darned hard the hospitality industry is, but it’s also true that he complained very much about the difficulty of negotiating the red tape of the deep blue state of Connecticut and city of Stratford.
After you’re through contemplating what George McGovern wrote you might consider the Pacific Palisades fire of 15 months ago:
One year after the January 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles, which destroyed approximately 13,000 to 16,000 homes and structures, fewer than 30 homes had been fully rebuilt. While debris removal was fast, by early 2026, only about 2,600 to 3,100 residential or rebuilding permits had been issued across the affected areas, representing less than 20% of the total losses.
Note that the post-Palisades fire permitting is actually regarded as being three times faster than the permitting process following earlier large wildfires.
And all that ignores the rampant opportunities graft and solicitation of bribes.
So we, the people, deserve and should certainly expect better.
I quit donating to NTHP (after decades of support) when they approved removing Confederate monuments in connection with the George Floyd riots. Their "historic preservation" became a bit more selective, nicely aligned with lefty causes du jour.
Wednesday, if things work out; you'll see what red tape buys when NASA finally launches Artemis II. NBC News:
“This rocket was originally supposed to launch in 2016 and cost $5 billion,” said Casey Dreier, chief of space policy for The Planetary Society, a nonprofit organization that conducts research and advocacy to promote space exploration. “It costs something like $20 billion now, 10 years after that.”
Combined, NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft have cost more than $44 billion to develop. The upcoming launch will be the first time they carry people.
Red Tape or a protection racket to make sure everyone gets some money out of it?
I just finished reading The Pentagon by Steve Vogel. Most of the book covers the history of building it, which was simply an amazing feat of construction.
The book also covered how the busybody preservation groups of the era tried to stop the Pentagon for a variety of reasons. They eventually yielded because the need of the building was there. They did get some of there points of design implemented, but because they operated from a place of cooperation, not from being completely adversarial.
FDR also thought of himself as an amateur architect and he basically got his way in many ways on building design. He basically told these boards, one of which was headed by an uncle, to pound sand.
"Maybe the deliberation and drawn-out procedure is subtly, secretly the very best part of what we do together, the very heart of democracy."
This all was a major contributor to years of stress and my ruined health. Am I then a human sacrifice to "the very best part of what we do together"?
"Meaningfulness of red tape"?
Althouse is trolling us!
As practiced, red-tape is just parasites bleeding the host dry.
It’s befitting the latter days of the Roman Empire.
It is said that in order to build a first-rate intercontinental railroad, it was first necessary to build a rickety one......Perhaps some of the criticisms of the ballroom are justified. Maybe they can be absorbed into a later design. Nonetheless, a first rate ballroom cannot be constructed until such time as the East Wing is torn down.
Somewhat off topic: Orwell said of the Soviet Union: Where are the omelets. Something like that can be said of the child care programs in Minneapolis. They didn't get anything for their money...... I suppose the Tweed Courthouse in NYC is an omelet. A little pricey but it got built. The Trump Ballroom might turn out to be a mistake, but it will get built.
“President Trump is the best builder and developer in the entire world...."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! The idiot praising Trump as the "greatest builder, etc., etc." shows himself a lackey and fool. Trump's ongoing desecration building-wise is so ostentatious and oversized that it actually well represents Trump's own over-blown compensatory rotten taste, a perfect demonstration of his tiny mind, inflated ego, and nil taste. I'm wondering how many succeeding presidents will come and go before one of them decides to flatten the whole rotten testament to Trump's vanity.
"He's using private funds to build something useful for generations to come."
"Useful to generations"--whom and how? Private funds raised on the basis of what "You wash my ass and I wash your ass," (or "You wash my ass or I'll fuck your ass!")?
Eva Marie said...I still want the towers rebuilt.
You, me, and a lot of people. In a poll about a year later, a few people against the idea had a reasonable point--who would want to rent space in it? But most people who said no to rebuilding wanted a park and a memorial. I have no respect for that opinion.
"Even if we are slow and we make mistakes and we fight, that process has meaning to us."
What is their counterproposal? Put the drawings and the 3D model on the table to show how it can be improved.
Working together to improve the outcome would be democracy. Having skin in the game and an honest desire for an optimized result -- that would be democracy.
Standing in the way of everything without putting your own ideas up for a vote isn't even democratic.
I'm wondering how many succeeding presidents will come and go before one of them decides to flatten the whole rotten testament to Trump's vanity.
Hate to break it to you, Robert, but vanity gets a lot done. You might even make a case for this BLOG we all enjoy.
"....But barring a judge’s intervention, the ballroom is set to move forward this week anyway...." I wasn't aware that work had stopped. Has the work been stopped?
I note that amidst these various critiques there is nothing that could be mistakenly construed as constructive suggestions for improvement. And I find the NYT's format annoying, first scrolling down to read, and then having the text scrolling over a fixed photo. Yuk ! Glad I don't waste money on this fish wrap.
Spoken like someone who doesn't built things, big complex things.
Somebody has a real ass fetish.
Cook would prefer a bullet train to nowhere for $100 billion.
What's the word or phrase where someone's perspective on art is determined by their politics. Because that's happening a lot these days. Maybe it's just called typical human nature from throughout the ages. Seems clear to me that there was need for an actual ball room and it looks like the architecture matches the aesthetic.
One might complain about overblown-compesatory rotten taste, but that sounds like the sort of European prejudice they have used against us for centuries.
Trump stuck a building on the White House grounds and called it macaroni.
I do think the planned 50ft tall gold Trump statue planned to be installed on the roof is a little too much.
Cook would turn down a life-saving kidney if it came from a Trump, and he thinks everyone should.
"Maybe the deliberation and drawn-out procedure is subtly, secretly the very best part of what we do together, the very heart of democracy. "
A clear example of why we can't do things anymore, despite spending many times the money and time it used to take.
90% of that "democracy" is grift spread about in a very undemocratic way.
I think more typical Trump approach would have been to build a huge pyramid with some kind of floating top that has an eye on it. And that can change colors and scenery with digital screens entirely covering the outside.
Annuit coeptis after all.
So in that sense, we can applaud Trump for showing a lot of architectural restraint in building what is essentially a grand gambling hall.
"If the red tape prevents just one architectural tragedy, it is worth it"
The new East Wing and the White House are of a similar high. The White House should be significantly taller than any of its wings.
Stop acting like Democrats won't get their chance to destroy the free gift and replace it with an uglier one made of recycled protest signs and face masks, paid for by taxpayers at triple the cost to be completed on a rapid 60 year schedule.
That bullet train in CA is drowning in democracy, but at least it's slow like quick sand.
Architecture via committee and courts. How wonderfully artistic.
“Maybe the deliberation and drawn-out procedure is subtly, secretly the very best part of what we do together, the very heart of democracy.”
No… I don’t think so. It’s set up to better position bureaucrats for bribes, grift, and most importantly, CONTROL over people’s lives and well-being. Petty, Orwellian bullshit to lord over their subjects.
"The sheer scale of it seems disproportionate -- the architecture of broken and insecure souls."
Now do the Obama presidential library.
"...For starters, the ballroom is set to become the dominant anchor at the end of Pennsylvania Avenue, a link planned by Pierre Charles L’Enfant to connect the Capitol and the White House......"
The southern tip of the ballroom lies across the line of Pennsylvania Ave, connecting the steps of Congress to the White House, y'see. Interestingly enough, mention of this Very Important National Spiritual Meridian caused me to check Google street view, and sure enough, one cannot even see more than about 1/3 of the way down Pennsylvania Ave. from Congress, to the White House. So this imaginary line is a good indicator of the disingenuous bullsh*t being spouted by the naysayers. F*ck'em, and make'em eat fish heads.
The dread butt pirate Robert Cook appears to be a dirty buggerer. (said in my paternal grandmother’s Birmingham, UK accent).
There's nothing intrinsically wrong with the East Wing being replaced by something much larger and grandiose. The WH proper doesn't need to dwarf the structures around it in order to be iconic.
Most Democrats believe it is ethical to perform human rites for social, clinical, criminal, political, and climate progress. It's a secular religion with prehistoric roots.
Carol Quillen isn't an architect, she'a a college president. A professor of humanities. A democrat operative.
Frank Lloyd Wright was an architect, but a suck ass builder.
It remains to be seen if the project can be realized with No Kinks. That said, king me, and my lady, queen, will dance together, and have a gay old time together.
"The White House should be significantly taller than any of its wings."
why? because sez so?
…getting more attention than it deserves. Gift link my ass…
Since Truman had the place gutted in order to rebuild it from the inside out, I'm not bothered by it. Especially because it isn't my money. Or yours. To be honest the whole structure could be made from shipping containers for all I care.
Cook’s diatribe is representative of the sort of thoughtful criticism that could only be offered by someone fatally infected with TDS.
The White House should be significantly taller than any of its wings.
Why?
I can imagine other circumstances where we would be hearing about how it was appropriately symbolic that the space meant to host our guests is larger than the space we have for the man occupying the presidency.
We should replace the term “red tape” with “crime scene tape” because that’s what it is - purposeful delays to impede progress.
The White House should be significantly taller than any of its wings.
So now AMDG is advocating for Trump to tear down the White House and build a bigger one??
This red tape and deliberation are what lead to $100 million wildlife crossings and high speed rail to nowhere. If that's the heart of democracy, then I might need to reconsider my support for democracy.
A guy walks up to the window at the government permit office. Clerk looks at the clock, which says 4:45. Clerk: “I see it’s 4:45, I still have time to give you the preliminary runaround”.
How many committees did it take to build the Parthenon?
If the NYT existed then, would it have been built?
C’mon. It just pisses them off that the ballroom that Trump built will be there as a constant reminder of him long after he is gone. Kind of like Seinfeld always cursing, ‘NEWMAN!’
Breaking News: Bureaucrats LOVE Bureaucracy - film at 11
This is exactly why the founders did not make the heart of democracy part of our government.
The White House is where the president and the family of the president reside, no? It should be low and squatty - and safe.
Maybe the real treasure were the regulations we enacted along the way.
"A guy walks up to the window at the government permit office. Clerk looks at the clock, which says 4:45. Clerk: “I see it’s 4:45, I still have time to give you the preliminary runaround”.
Went to my local post office that closed at noon on Saturday. Arrived at 11:50. Desk was completely shuttered.
Architecture via committee...
The always insightful bagoh20, again, hits nothing but net.
Looking at it through a much wider-angle lens; isn't that what Grok is all about? Pick any subject.
Remember where the answers on "Family Fued" came from - "Survey Says!"... Right...
I'm sticking with Jimmy Buffett's caution in "Manana" - "Don't try to describe the ocean if you've never seen it. Don't ever forget that you just may wind-up being wrong."
Carol Quillen is in the lead for Boomer of the Year.
Forget the ballroom design. Think about the new-and-improved "Bunker" beneath.
That chore should be given to creators of the Vegas Sphere. Trump could be at the center of the whole world. And, totally control it. As it should be :-)
Shovel ready
https://dailysceptic.org/2026/03/29/the-digital-leviathan-how-the-information-state-rose-to-manage-reality-itself/
1:27 Bagoh - for the win
The National Trust For Historic Preservation is a private 501 3(c) organization. It is not a part of the federal government. It chooses its own members and officers and reports only to itself. Their proclamations do not have the weight of law and are not enforceable anywhere. Except maybe at some Junior High student governments.
It operates under a federal charter that lists its goals and objectives, as do the American Kennel Association, The Red Cross, The American Legion, and dozens of others you never heard of. For good reason.
The government ceased giving out Federal Charters decades ago because they were just plain silly.
But their officers and members do get to feel very self important and probably get laid a lot by college educated white liberal women.
"Went to my local post office that closed at noon on Saturday. Arrived at 11:50. Desk was completely shuttered."
When I moved to Arizona, I called the DMV to see how late they were open, they said 5:00. I got there at 4:45 and was told I was too late and would have to come back another day.
…since we’re critiquing Presidential architecture that Obama thing looks like a cross between Eye Of Sauron and WDW’s Disney’s Contemporary Resort Hotel…
"Also quoted is Carol Quillen, the president and chief executive of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which is suing over the ballroom. She says: "Even if we are slow and we make mistakes and we fight, that process has meaning to us."
Althouse adds:
"Have you ever paused to contemplate the meaningfulness of red tape? Maybe the deliberation and drawn-out procedure is subtly, secretly the very best part of what we do together, the very heart of democracy."
Two words: cost overruns.
Also: the process is the punishment.
The result is what matters like safe streets reliable electricity et al
I'm sure all these people bitching will refuse to attend any event ever held at the new ballroom.
I got there at 4:45 and was told I was too late and would have to come back another day.
There is no "Bottom Line" in Bureaucracy. The only time of interest is quitting time.
Tip from Food-and-Beverage-World. If the sign on the door says "Open till..." You better be open till... if you expect people to come back.
Just as bad, is the server who tries to ignore last-minute patrons... make 'em feel guilty and maybe, they'll just leave.
My girl has made a habit (and, a small fortune) treating late arrivals like long-lost BFFs.
They're glad the door was unlocked and usually don't expect the best, but... when shown genuine courtesy, help and good humor, BIG, even HUGE, tips are the norm; not the exception.
No tax on tips. God Bless the Orange Man :-)
"Tip from Food-and-Beverage-World. If the sign on the door says "Open till..." You better be open till... if you expect people to come back."
I had an argument on an internet message board many years ago about this and was told it was rude to come in at the last minute and expect to be served. Your business is cooking and selling food, right? Why would you turn people away who showed up before the time you put on the sign on your door that says when you close? "But the staff wants to go home so we need to shut the kitchen down and clean up." Well then change your closing time sign from 11PM to 10PM.
Mason G - Better yet, if you believe in your business plan, change your staff.
If you expect people to do good work, you have to make it clear to them what is expected to them.
How does the National Trust for Historic Preservation have standing to sue here?
Somebody has to say "we don't want nobody that nobody sent." It's about the value extraction process to benefit the "expert" class before the shovel ever hits the dirt.
There are layers of extraction, each with its own constituency. All must be served.
Jersey Fled at 4:12 gets to the nut of the matter. Thank you.
Trump recently showed a rendering without the big staircase in front of the south portico. Some people say the 4 rows of columns are there to block assassins, but the glass is bulletproof. The portico still too big IMO and will overwhelm any activities on the South Lawn.
If that's the heart of democracy, then I might need to reconsider my support for democracy.
My old man always said the best form of government was a benevolent absolute monarch. As an ardent young Libertarian I always had contempt for this opinion. But this many years down the road, observing the kind of people who are always moaning about "Our Democracy", and seeing the damage they have done to the country, I am coming to see that his opinion had more than a little basis in fact.
If I have to live by the 51% vote of the kind of enemy filth who would vote for an AOC or Mamdani, then as far as I'm concerned democracy is a mistake that should be swept away by force of arms under a Julius Caesar figure just as soon as possible. I have absolutely nothing in common with such people. I consider them enemies, not countrymen. The worst and most dangerous enemies our country has ever faced. I hate them, and wish to see them destroyed and expelled. I'm done sharing a flag and a nation with the scum.
I have absolutely nothing in common with such people. I consider them enemies, not countrymen. The worst and most dangerous enemies our country has ever faced. I hate them, and wish to see them destroyed and expelled. I'm done sharing a flag and a nation with the scum.
And you (and Achilles and several others) are nothing but an an authoritarian, murderous, dickhead who's so called reverence for the Constitution is now exposed as the fraud it always was.
The better red then dead crowd you already hsve made it clear freder
What if. Instead of a large garish building in Washington DC, when and if you are elected president of the United States your family home becomes the locus of the presidency. Need room for a fancy gathering? The Moose Lodge is down the road, or the VFW.
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