Irrational Decisions

Spectator

The irrational decisions now happen with such dizzying frequency that it’s almost impossible to keep track. If it was something we valued, there is a pretty good chance Donald Trump and Elon Musk will destroy it.

Let’s start with the arts, in which the current administration never had much interest until now.

Since it was founded in 1971 as a bipartisan, semi-independent part of the Smithsonian Institution, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has been a beacon for performers in virtually every area from Broadway plays to military bands to poetry readings. It was where we could witness the full spectrum of talent available. Once a year, the board would present the Kennedy Center Honors recognizing lifetime artistic achievements and contributions to American culture in the performing arts. All of that will now likely be referred to as “the good old days.”

Donald Trump has fired the current chair—and largest donor—and installed himself as head of the Kennedy Center. He also replaced seven board members, all the better to satisfy his need for control. In his Executive Order, he said the Kennedy Center was too “woke” and offered up “anti-American propaganda.” He started his tenure by eliminating programming he did not like, including anything featuring LGBTQ+ issues or performers and anything that even hints at being an effort at diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). He even went so far as to remove the portrait of JFK from the boardroom and replace it with pictures of himself, his wife, the vice president, and his wife.

The immediate impact on the Kennedy Center has been a series of canceled performances by artists and groups not pleased with the new direction. Additionally, fundraising has fallen by nearly 20 percent, and since the Center only receives 10 percent of its funding from the government, individuals and organizations turning their backs and closing their wallets is more than a small problem.

And speaking of the Smithsonian, Trump has started taking the ax to its programs, too. He says too much of it has “improper ideology,” and “divisive narratives” and “casts the founding principles” of the U.S. in a “negative light.” He intends to correct the flaws he sees by putting JD Vance in charge.

We’ll start by eliminating the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which first opened in 2006. Too “woke.” While we’re at it, we’ll also eliminate the Women’s History Museum currently being developed, and, what the heck, let’s get rid of the American Art Museum, too.

So, the American story, as told at the Smithsonian, will become mostly a story of white men.

(Trump, in fact, has become so deranged about DEI, he actually told France, and presumably others, any company exporting goods to the U.S. would have to adhere to his hatred of all things DEI. They demurred.)

Another part of the American story will be retold at our military bases and with monuments. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will be restoring the previously removed names of several Confederate generals to military bases at Trump’s direction. We’ll also try to restore some of those monuments/statues we removed. It was all just over-the-top “wokism” according to those now in charge. Even ignoring the slave owner component and that some of those folks helped found and run the Ku Klux Klan, someone should remind the president they were traitors who took up arms against their own country; treason is not usually cause for celebration or recognition.

In a separate but tangentially related outrage, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has decided to whack $1 billion from the program that provides school lunches and helps fund food banks. Fully $660 million of that would have provided free or low cost school lunches. Much of the food was provided by local farmers, so the program helped both provide school kids with nutritious, unprocessed meals and helped local growers find another valuable customer. USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins says the programs are “nonessential.”

Schools will now have to rely on cheap, less nutritious processed food, often canned and rarely fresh, and local farmers will lose a valuable source of income; one decision, two losses. Food banks, already struggling to provide for an ever growing base of families in need, will also lose a source of fresh produce. Folks struggling to feed their families will now struggle a little bit more.

And let’s not forget the big story of the last two weeks: the government Signal group chat. As always, first they lied, calling it all a “hoax” and “witch hunt.” Had they simply acknowledged the error and pledged to make sure it didn’t happen again, there would be no so-called Signalgate. It was neither hoax nor witch hunt, and the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic really was invited to join the chat, a remarkable blunder. Just admit it, correct it, and move along. Give us a break, and stop lying.

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