I got a little backed up on topicality last month, what with posting poems every day. But when the Kleptocrat initiated his hostile takeover of the Kennedy Center, it had a strong whiff of seen-this-before.
Cadet Bonespurs doesn’t give a flying fuck
for the arts; if it ain’t about him, or he can’t profit from it, just move
along. However, during his first time in office, he was snubbed by KC honorees,
so he never went to a performance and he’s been nursing that grievance ever
since. So he replaced board members with toadies, who accordingly named him the
chairman, then appointed a master groveler, Ric Grennell, as president. Since
then, staff and managers have been fired (or quit), ticket sales have plummeted
and performers have cancelled appearances. (Grennell has also nixed any events
that don’t meet his high standards of non-woke.)
But that’s not my dèjá vu point. This is
it:
Photo of frustrated artist Adolf Hitler,
flanked by pet architect Albert Speer and officially approved sculptor Arno
Brecker, admiring the Eiffel Tower on 23 June 1940.
I was struck by how this photo of the Kleptocrat surveying the Kennedy Center with some minions (photo by Jim Watson, AFP/Getty) has the same vibe. The smug, triumphant "take that, you mean people who didn't appreciate me!" vibe.
Personally, I do not rule out the
possibility that, after he tanks the center as a viable arts venue, he’ll buy
it (using goober donations) for development. It is, after all, a waterfront
property. He likes those.
©2025 Bas Bleu
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