Okay…, quit beating around the bush, Kennicott…, how do you really feel?
Before we get going, it should be noted that Kennicott is a Pulitzer Prize-winning critic…, which means he’s officially a member of “the club,” and even slimier than your average elitist liberal critic.
Ugh.
But I digress.
Kennicott says, “Former president Donald Trump will have an official portrait in the National Portrait Gallery at some point. And in states where he remains popular, he could have airports, bridges and schools named for him. But Trump must never have an official presidential library, and Congress should move quickly to make sure he never will.”
Uh, excuse me, Phil, but Donald Trump was The President, wasn’t he?
And former presidents get to have presidential libraries, don’t they?
Even impeached Bill Clinton got to have one.
Richard Nixon resigned in shame, and he still got to have one.
So, what’s your problem?
Why this never-ending discrimination wherever and whenever President Trump is concerned?
Are you and your democrat friends still really that frightened by him?
I guess so.
I can understand why you all are…, but that’s your problem, not ours.
“On Jan. 20, the day he left office, the National Archives launched the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library website. Already, there are rumors that the former president is engaged with the idea of creating some kind of presidential center, perhaps run by longtime aide Dan Scavino, with a price tag as high as $2 billion.”
“There are rumors?”
How journalistically liberal of you.
There are also rumors that you are an idiot.
By the end of this blog, we’ll see that these are more than just rumors.
Anyway…, you really have NO idea how much President Trump’s library may cost, Kennicott…, nobody does.
It hasn’t even been designed yet!
Have you seen the price tag for Obama’s proposed mega-complex?
It’s “estimated” to cost at least $500 million.
And who’s going to pay for that library?
Not Barack Obama.
I am sure, however, that President Trump will at least pick-up the lion’s share of the tab for his library.
That’s just how he rolls.
Kennicott continues, “None of this, however, means that Trump could actually create a presidential center similar to the one planned for former president Barack Obama, or those dedicated to former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. As Anthony Clark, author of ‘The Last Campaign: How Presidents Rewrite History, Run for Posterity & Enshrine Their Legacies,’ wrote recently in Politico, it is unlikely that Trump has the focus, administrative savvy and financial resources to execute a presidential center: ‘Presidential libraries are complicated. And if you understand how they work — and how Trump himself works — it’s nearly impossible to imagine him actually pulling it off,’ Clark writes.”
Wait, what?!
You don’t think President Trump “has the focus, administrative savvy and financial resources to execute a presidential center, unlike Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton?!”
Seriously?!
Obviously, Anthony Clark and you, Philip Kennicott, Mr. Pulitzer Prize winner, don’t seem to be aware that Donald Trump built his fortune in construction, constructing mega-buildings and mega-properties!
How in THEE hell can you sit there and say, “it’s nearly impossible to imagine him actually pulling it off?”
It’s actually quite easy to see President Trump “pulling it off.”
And you two idiots actually get paid to write this stuff?
Kennicott continues, “But that doesn’t mean that Trump won’t try and that, in trying, cause further damage to the country.”
What?!
“Cause further damage to the country?”
His library may end up being an eyesore and appoint of contention for you democrat totalitarians, but that’s about it.
Being in Florida, I can envision President Trump’s library being a popular stop right along with Disney World, The Kennedy Space Center, Universal Studios, etc.
“That is why Congress should use this moment to reconsider the legislation that helped create and shape the presidential libraries now administered by the National Archives, not just to prevent Trump from perpetrating one last, giant grift, but to reform the system so it serves the country [meaning the democrat totalitarians] better. This is long overdue, and would need to be done even if Trump weren’t trying to raise $2 billion for a Trump center. But his intention to do so makes this urgent, even an issue of national security.”
“An issue of national security?!”
C’mon, Phil, you’re really getting a little ridiculous with your hyperbole, here.
These democrats really are suffering from stage four Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS).
Phil continues with a little history here, which is actually beneficial. “Before Franklin D. Roosevelt decided to donate his presidential papers to the federal government in 1939, the documents and paperwork generated by a president usually were considered the outgoing leader’s personal property. Roosevelt recognized an interest in giving the public access to this material.”
“The 1955 Presidential Libraries Act formalized the process, encouraging presidents to donate their papers, as well as land and a building to house them, which the National Archives would officially maintain.”
“Over the next decades, these privately created, federally administered libraries became increasingly complex, serving as museums, think tanks and shrines, with presidents allowed considerable — often far too much — control over what records were considered presidential and when the public could access them.”
The only presidents Phil has concerns about are the republican presidents, of course.
“Individual presidents used executive orders to make changes, the law was amended and former presidents were required to donate more and more resources to maintaining the federally operated part of these facilities.”
“Finally, in 2017, faced with the possibility of having to donate 60 percent of the total cost of an Obama presidential center to the federal government to cover running the library part of the project, the 44th president opted out of the system almost entirely.”
You see, if you’re a democrat, you’re allowed to “opt out” of whatever you want.”
“When the Obama center opens in Chicago, no official presidential library will be part of the complex, which will be privately built and operated. Obama’s presidential records, the vast bulk of them digital rather than paper, will have to be accessed elsewhere, although the Archives will loan material to the Obama center for exhibitions.”
So, it will be a shrine to Barack Obama and a liberal propaganda production studio, more than a library, and he will be in complete control of what is there and how he prefers to be remembered. I’m sure our collection of wealthy, elitist, liberals will be tripping over themselves to donate money to this.
“Ordinarily, presidential records can’t be accessed for five, and up to 12, years after a chief executive leaves office. And before leaving office, a president has significant leverage over what the public eventually can see, which documents are delivered to the Archives, which are considered public and which are private, and to weigh in on other matters, including security and the national interest.”
The key word here is “ordinarily.”
“The case of Trump is exceptional by any standard, and he should be afforded no discretion over his records or any privilege to extend the amount of time before the public can see them.”
No discretion whatsoever…, of course not! Not in President Trump’s case.
“Trump’s 2017 requirement that the National Archives withhold access to his materials until 2033 should be abrogated, and Congress should begin an extraordinary effort to recover as much of his communications legacy as possible, even material that wasn’t deemed ‘presidential.’ Trump’s presidency mixed public and private interests in a way that was unprecedented in modern American history, so his decisions on these matters can’t be trusted.”
“He incited an insurrection [an accusation he was acquitted of, by the way], and many of the people who may have participated in that, including members of Congress, are still actively engaged in public life. The need to know who they are and what they did isn’t just a matter for the FBI, the Justice Department and prosecutors.”
It isn’t just “a matter for the FBI, the Justice Department and prosecutors,” it’s a matter for the Democrat Gestapo!
Are you on drugs, Phil…, because it seems like you’re on drugs.
So, let me get this straight…, you want to use the presidential library process to collect all the information about President Trump you can in an effort to perpetuate prosecutorial attacks against former President Trump and any republicans in Congress who supported him?
You and your readership are sick, Phil.
Just sayin’.
“It is imperative to the nation’s future that we know how and why authoritarianism became so deeply and pervasively rooted in the Trump administration.”
Okay…, timeout!
The BS just keeps flowing out of your mouth like water out of a firehose involved in a five-alarm fire!
First of all, you use the word “authoritarianism.”
“Authoritarianism” is defined as, “The enforcement or advocacy of strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom. A lack of concern for the wishes or opinions of others.”
Now I ask you…, who does this better describe…, the censoring, cancelling, COVID shutdown mandating democrats, or former President Donald Trump?
Thank you.
“Historians, journalists and biographers need immediate access to this material (with the minimal oversight necessary by professional, nonpartisan archivists [Which means no conservative archivists will be tolerated.] to help educate the American public on the greatest threat to the republic since the Civil War.”
Here we go again with this 180-degree false hyperbole.
“Even a privately funded and operated Trump presidential library, which would be devoted to whitewashing his record and rewriting history, is a terrible and even dangerous idea.”
No, it’s you and your democrat totalitarian friends who are “dangerous,” Phil.
“Further, given Trump’s alleged misuse of charitable funds, including self-dealing, waste and other illegal activities, at his now dissolved New York-based foundation, any intention to start another public entity can only be considered a crime scene waiting to happen.”
The keyword there was “alleged.” Without that word, old Phil boy would have been looking at lawsuit that he could not afford.
What were your feelings about the Clinton Foundation, Phil?
I think we can all make an educated guess about your concerns there, Phil.
“If it unfortunately does happen, it probably will be in Florida, where state Attorney General Ashley Moody is one of Trump’s top surrogates and a prominent supporter of his false claims of election fraud. So, on this matter, Americans cannot trust the rule of law in Florida, but they can put pressure on corporate and other entities not to donate to any group associated with any effort to build a Trump presidential center. And the FBI can keep a close watch on any national group created to solicit funding for such an endeavor.”
Watch it, Phil, with your false claims about his false claims of election fraud.
And you want the FBI to, “Keep a close watch on any national group created to solicit funding for such an endeavor?”
Honestly, it sounds like another Gestapo type tactic, but now that I think about it more, I’m sure it could be arranged. The FBI is just sooo “swampy” these days.
“Finally [Thank God!], Congress can improve American record-keeping and preservation by forbidding future presidents from raising money for presidential centers while still in office. Access to presidential records is also expensive and time consuming — even digital documents, the quantity of which has grown exponentially since most communications became electronic, need to be sorted, surveyed and labeled, a process that is laborious. Rachel Vagts, president of the Society of American Archivists, points out that the most urgent need, right now, is better funding for the National Archives, and a better culture of compliance with laws governing record-keeping.”
Ahhh, yes…, mo’ money, mo’ money, mo’ money…, and the proper level of compliance with the government, of course.
“Trump reportedly [Oh, really…, reported by who?] flouted those laws on a regular basis, tearing up and discarding even paper documents. [Can you imagine that?! Someone throwing away or tearing up some piece of paper they wrote something on?! For the love of God!!!] The extent to which he and his administration destroyed records and communicated outside of federal systems is unknown [Hillary’s “communications outside of federal systems” is known, and we have all learned it’s no big deal, so…], which is why he and his people should be cut out of the process of preserving those documents. And Americans should shame anyone — including architecture firms, exhibit designers and corporate donors — who helps Trump perpetuate the lies that nearly destroyed our 244-year-old effort to create a democratically governed republic.”
Ok…, that’s enough, Phil…, I think I just threw up in my mouth a little there.
Philip Kennicott seems to have extended his supposed expertise far outside of the realm of an Art and architecture critic, here.
You should really just stay in your lane, Phil…, you kind of embarrassed yourself here, and exposed yourself as one of the true, card carrying, democrat neo-Nazis.
Kennicott has collected a paycheck for over twenty years from The Washington Post. I guess that’s really all you need to know.
Inclosing, for your viewing pleasure, I’d like to suggest a few presidential library designs for some of our distinguished past presidents.
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Mr. Erickson Rules! 