"... siding with military veterans and local government officials who had urged her to stop the project. U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan
blocked work on the arch for two weeks while the court considers challenges to its legality. Three Vietnam War veterans, a historic preservationist, the D.C. government and the Commonwealth of Virginia
sued to halt construction.... Chutkan also criticized the Trump administration’s arguments, writing that officials’
recent assertion that the arch was necessary for national security was 'belated and unsupported.' And she mocked the administration’s central claim that Congress
authorized Trump’s arch a century ago, when lawmakers approved a
somewhat similar project that was never built."
The Washington Post reports in
"Judge halts Trump’s arch after federal panel approves it/U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan blocked the planned 250-foot project, which opponents say is illegal and needs to be approved by the current Congress."
Trump needs to think through what he wants to do on his way out. It's crushingly clear that building the arch should not be one of those things. Finish the ballroom and do it well and in time to throw some dignified events before your term is up, but let the arch go. Leave it as an idea of something that could be done. If it's really worth doing, it will happen later. If it doesn't, it wasn't.
Posts
22 comments:
I could not disagree with you more.
What exactly is Judge Chutkin's legal authority to stop this?
Clever straw man knock down by WaPo and the Judge re: national security. It was a weak argument and easy to deal with.
The fact of the matter is that liberal federal judges are undermining the authority of the President simply because they hate Trump.
If this decision stands, then this "least dangerous branch" becomes super dangerous. Trump has to protect the Executive Branch.
If - as I hope - Trump launches on Iran this week or next, we can expect the Dems to go to federal court and ask that a federal judge to stop Trump. War Powers Act!
TDS is in the federal judiciary and we routinely see these trial court judges getting reversed.
And as an aside, John Thune better act on Sen. Lee's recommendation and get Trump's federal judges confirmed; including the new nominee from NE.
Talk about prejudged. That lady should recuse herself from anything involving Trump.
Trump's not "on his way out". He's got two full years to MAGA and make libs upset. What a ridiculous assertion.
LOL!
Trump should start with the federal “Judges.”
Of course Ann sides with the stupid woman who seized power she doesn’t have.
It is about time for the boomer Karen aristocracy to meet the next generation.
Ann Althouse said:
"Finish the ballroom and do it well and in time to throw some dignified events before your term is up, but let the arch go. Leave it as an idea of something that could be done. If it's really worth doing, it will happen later. If it doesn't, it wasn't. "
AGREE.
Trump lost, in part, because he and the GOP lost focus on the things we care about. No one cares about that Arch.
As far as that horrible judge stopping it? She is a fascist.
"Leave it as an idea of something that could be done. If it's really worth doing, it will happen later. If it doesn't, it wasn't."
Like starting an elective war.
If we had a balanced budget, and no illegals to deal with - I'd be all for it.
Whatever you think of the judge or her legal grounds for blocking the arch, this is a gift to Trump. He can, without admitting he's wrong or has bad judgment, step away from this ambitious project. It's better for all of us. Don't get bogged down in the question whether the judge is biased or arrogant or whatever. Trump should not build the arch and he should take advantage of this opportunity to abandon it.
"And she mocked the administration’s central claim that Congress authorized Trump’s arch a century ago, when lawmakers approved a somewhat similar project that was never built."
So she mocked a claim that was true?
Why would Trump need to be careful about what he does now? What are they going to do, keep impeaching him after he's gone? Probably.
Like most things Trump touches, there’s a remarkable vulgarity that’s uniquely his own. In attempting to emulate the grandeur of Rome and the imperial palaces of Europe and Russia, he seems to have missed the essential ingredients: proportion, restraint and an appreciation for context. The result is often an excess of white stucco, gilded concrete and imposing proportions that seem more concerned with spectacle than architectural integrity.
There’s something revealing about the edifice complex. It’s the impulse to build monuments to greatness rather than achieve something worthy of being remembered. A leader’s need to render his own importance in marble, steel and gold can become an inadvertent confession that his deeds alone might not suffice.
When the builder needs the building more than the building serves any genuine purpose, the edifice complex has done its diagnostic work.
These structures may eventually become interesting cultural artifacts, but perhaps more as cautionary tales than celebrations. They will stand as reminders that legacy cannot be commanded, only earned, and that insecurity rendered in architecture remains remarkably transparent, no matter how much gold leaf obscures the façade.
"Trump should not build the arch and he should take advantage of this opportunity to abandon it."
Why?
I don't know about the legality of what she did nor how that will wash out. And I also know that she did it simply to thwart Trump. But, that aside, I'm glad about it. That stupid arch is unnecessary, unworthy and grotesque.
It is high time that the self-aggrandizing narcissist Trump stopped trying to create monuments to himself and get busy focusing on what the voters on Tuesday punished him for ignoring the last two years.
(BTW, I voted for Trump three times and would again, and I think he's top five presidents in our history. I also can't stand the guy...)
You do know that Trump isn't running again? All he cares about is what he can get done toward his vision of the country while he can. He will just pick something else you don't think is worth what he's obviously willing to sacrifice. That's what he done the whole time, and I don't think he would change many decisions in hindsight. He takes personal risks most can't stomach, because he's concentrates on the goal, and that's no longer getting elected.
IUD - your party is a vulgar evil mob-like crime syndicate.
Trump and the GOP could do themselves some huge favors with voters by getting back to work and using the short time they have before January... to work.
I like the Arch idea - but now is not the time. This is not accepting defeat. It's optics.
"Dems Already Planning to Trample Second Amendment, Steal Jobs for Migrants"
headline.
The young people who think they are clever voting in dems - they just F'ed themselves royally.
I'm like the Donald Trump of my house. I pay for everything, and when you have to do something hard, I tell people to just blame it on me, because I don't care if people think I'm mean. Those who are fair know better, and I don't care what the rest think.
On the flip side - who is paying for the Arch?
If it's private funds - and it's been approved - then go ahead and build it. Tell the judge to pound sand. That's what the corrupt left are going to do now.
They are going to mob-proof everything for the soros One Party rule.
How is it that every single Trump-related litigation ends up in front of one of only two or three judges (who, by the way, consistently get overruled on appeal)?
Althouse offers her readers a perfectly sensible off-ramp, but apparently even pragmatism is too much to ask. Rather than recognize the obvious political gift of a face-saving opportunity for Trump to abandon an ill-conceived vanity project, the MAGA chorus is busy sharpening its pitchforks and doubling down on attacks against the judge and the judiciary. One might have thought the ability to recognize an advantageous retreat would qualify as common sense. But then, for some, grievance is not merely a political reflex; it’s a way of life. Even Ann’s eminently reasonable suggestion can’t compete with the need to keep the outrage machine running.
Ann Althouse said...
Whatever you think of the judge or her legal grounds for blocking the arch, this is a gift to Trump. He can, without admitting he's wrong or has bad judgment, step away from this ambitious project. It's better for all of us. Don't get bogged down in the question whether the judge is biased or arrogant or whatever. Trump should not build the arch and he should take advantage of this opportunity to abandon it.
LOL!
If men like Trump did what Ann suggests the United States would never have happened.
Intellectuals never miss an opportunity to talk down to builders.
IEE: regurgitating AI slop is so banal.
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