Via ABC News. Summary in our own words [read the original here].
The story: A federal judge, Tonya Chutkan, temporarily blocked President Trump’s proposed 250-foot “triumphal arch” in Washington, D.C., just hours after the National Capital Planning Commission approved it 8-4. The restraining order, requested by D.C. and Virginia, halts construction efforts for at least 14 days. Vietnam veteran Michael Lemmon, who leads the lawsuit, told the commission the arch was “frankly blasphemous.” The commission’s chair argued Congress authorized the project more than 100 years ago, while the lawsuit says the administration needs specific congressional authorization. The White House says it’s confident it will be vindicated. Judge blocks Trump arch hours after federal panel approval +4
Dr. Teddy Okafor-Whitlock: (blows on his coffee) All right, flock, page one, and it’s a big one. Literally. Two hundred and fifty feet of arch, a judge’s pause button, and a lot of feelings. Sterling, you look like you’ve been holding your breath since the headline.
Sterling the Bald Eagle: I have, Professor, and I want it understood that I love a monument. A nation that builds nothing grand for its 250th birthday is a nation that forgot to bring a cake. I’d happily stand under an arch and salute it. But I’ll be honest: the commission chair says Congress authorized this a century ago, and the critics say it was a pair of columns, not a skyscraper in a trench coat. If the legal case is shaky, then I don’t care how magnificent the stonework is. You don’t build national pride on a loophole.
Dolores the Dove: Sterling, did you just agree with me? Someone check the weather. (flutters) My worry is simpler. Memorial Circle sits between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, which is some of the most sacred ground in the country, and veterans are the ones suing. When the people who served say “please don’t,” I think we should slow down and ask what the rush is. And the plans talk about construction twenty hours a day for two or three years. Imagine being a family visiting a grave through all of that.
Poe the Raven: I’d like to note, with joy I cannot hide, that the government is building a monument to itself, on borrowed land, using its own approval panel, appointed by the person who wants it. (slow blink) That isn’t a conflict of interest, Dolores, it’s a family reunion of interests. I don’t care whether it’s an arch or a pyramid. I care that when power approves its own homework, somebody should check the answers.
Sterling: Poe, you are the only bird I know who can make a compliment sound like a funeral.
Poe: Practice.
Dr. Teddy: Easy, both of you. Let’s get Ptolemy in here before this turns into a duel with feather dusters. Ptolemy, what actually happened in court?
Professor Ptolemy the Owl: (adjusts glasses, shuffles papers) A very important clarification, Teddy: this was a temporary restraining order, not a ruling on the merits. The judge didn’t say the arch is illegal. She said, in effect, “let’s not pour concrete while we figure out whether it is.” The central legal question is whether a project on that land needs specific approval from Congress, and the two sides read the history differently. The administration points to a century-old plan, and the plaintiffs say the old plan covered something much smaller. I’d also point out, with a hint of satisfaction, that this is a procedural fight, and procedure is always more important than people think.
Gus the Pigeon: (mouth full of fry) Procedure is what makes the bus late, Ptolemy.
Ptolemy: And also what keeps the bus from driving into the river, Gus.
Gus: …Fair.
Kia the Kiwi: (cheerfully, from her perch) Can I add the outsider view? In my country, a monument that big would have a referendum, a very long committee, and a cup of tea during each stage. The thing that surprises me is that this arch would be taller than the one in Paris, and nobody seems to be asking whether the Paris one needs a rival. I don’t mind big monuments. I just think an arch that argues with a cemetery is a bad first impression.
Sterling: Kia, the Arc de Triomphe is a glorious thing and I am not afraid of being compared to France.
Dolores: Nobody said you were afraid, Sterling. Only that you were very quiet about the part where it’s taller.
Sterling: (drawing himself up) It is possible to have a disagreement about the height and be correct about the importance of honoring American history.
Dr. Teddy: Whoa, whoa, let’s pull the thread back. There are really three questions in this story. First, is it legal? That’s Ptolemy’s court. Second, is it wise? That’s Dolores and Poe’s worry. Third, is it worthy? That’s Sterling’s. Let’s not let all three argue at once, or we’ll end up shouting about the height of a thing that doesn’t exist yet.
Reverend Rooster Clay the Rooster, who usually has plenty to say about the sacred and the profane, said he’d rather not comment. He looked out toward the Commons window for a long while and finally said he didn’t care for the word “blasphemous” being attached to anything made of concrete, but that he also didn’t want any grave disturbed for the sake of a monument. He said he’d pray on it. Teddy nodded, and no one teased him.
Dr. Teddy: Let’s end on the part everyone can agree on. Does anyone think this should be decided by a clear, public process rather than a race to the shovels?
Dolores: Yes.
Sterling: (grudgingly) Yes.
Poe: I’d say yes, but I don’t want to ruin my reputation.
Pickles the Parrot: (helpfully) “Concrete family reunion!”
Poe: I need a new friend group.
Dr. Teddy’s Wrap-Up
Dr. Teddy: (sets down his mug, now cold, and sighs at it) All right, flock. Let me wrap this up before the coffee gets any colder, which I’m told is not physically possible, and yet.
Here’s what I heard. On the law, the arch is on pause, not dead. A judge issued a temporary order after the planning commission’s 8-4 vote, and the real question, whether a project on that land needs Congress to sign off specifically, is still open. The administration says a century-old plan covers it, and the plaintiffs say it doesn’t. On wisdom, Dolores and Poe asked whether the right place for something this big is next to sacred ground, and whether a government should be approving its own monument. On worth, Sterling reminded us that a country can reasonably want something grand for its 250th birthday, and nobody argued with that.
Where you disagreed was whether the arch is the right thing, in the right spot, done the right way. Where you agreed, grudgingly, was that a project like this deserves a clear, public process rather than a race to the shovels. Rooster Clay told us something too, by choosing to stay quiet.
What to watch: the court’s next steps after the 14-day order, and whether Congress weighs in.
And no, Dolores, I’m still not telling you how I’d vote. Pickles, give her back the betting pool.
Pickles: “Cold coffee!”
Dr. Teddy: (sighs) Class dismissed.
Leave a Reply