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The FIrehose
Trump's culture coup
Editor's Note: The Firehose is a regular column in which Cog contributors provide a high-level recap of what actions the Trump administration has taken in the preceding two weeks, and help us make sense of it.
Since the first Firehose column nearly two weeks ago, the following things have occurred. Consider this your impartial ICYMI (In Case You Missed It).
Danielle Sassoon — Manhattan's top federal prosecutor — resigned rather than comply with an order from the Justice Department to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Sassoon, a member of the Federalist Society who clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia, explained that compliance would “violate her sworn duty to uphold the law.” Several of her colleagues also resigned their posts as U.S. attorneys, as did four New York City deputy mayors.
Robert (the-science-denier) F. Kennedy, Jr. became Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Tulsi Gabbard (suspected of being a Russian asset) was confirmed by the Senate as Director of National Intelligence. Both are in the running for Weirdest Cabinet Appointee.
The Trump administration made a $400 million deal with billionaire and Trump donor Elon Musk for the purchase of Tesla vehicles, but the name "Tesla" disappeared from the contracts once the deal became public. And then, after some bad press, the administration said it was abandoning the contract altogether.
President Trump banned the Associated Press from the Oval Office and Air Force One because the 175-year-old global news service declared that it would refer to the body of water by its original name – the Gulf of Mexico, in use since 1550 – as Trump demanded. Google, the 25-year-old media business, did as it was told and immediately changed the map, but only for U.S. users. (Shhh. Don’t tell the big guy, but the rest of the world still sees “Mexico.”)
Internationally, Vice President Vance declared that the German government should be open to collaboration with the far-right party — Alternative for Germany (AfG) — which is accused of downplaying the Holocaust. Chancellor Olaf Scholz responded by explaining that Germany’s commitment to “‘never again’” is not reconcilable with support for the AfG.”
Meanwhile, Trump has declared himself Vladimir Putin’s best pal. Or puppet. And in a news conference Wednesday, the president called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a dictator and declared that Ukraine started the war with Russia. This is not remotely true.
Musk, head of the newly invented Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is continuing his crusade to abolish the U.S. government’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Once eliminated, according to Musk, life will be restored to the good old days when men were men, women wore girdles and minded the children, and making jokes about handicapped people was harmless fun. Also, it will be illegal to mention slavery, the Trail of Tears, or the fact that women earn 86 cents on the dollar compared to men.
And then there’s the culture coup underway at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. Trump has repeatedly shown as of late that he’s no fan of the Kennedy Center or the honors it bestows. During his first presidency, he skipped the ceremonies honoring several national cultural icons.
Trump exercised his right to dismiss any or all the 36-member Kennedy Center board of directors, whose membership was, until now, balanced between appointees by Democratic and Republican presidents.
All 18 board members appointed by Democrats were fired — though international opera star Renée Fleming and Emmy-winning TV producer Shonda Rhimes, among others, tended their own resignations.
Trump now has an all-Republican (if not all MAGA) board that includes the Second Lady Usha Vance and Lee Greenwood, the singer and songwriter who wrote “God Bless the USA.”
The new board promptly elected Trump, who promised to “Make American Culture Great Again,” as its chairman.
Within hours of Trump’s takeover, artists began to cancel appearances, among them writer, actor and producer Issa Rae, and bestselling mystery author Louise Perry, but maybe that doesn’t count since she’s British? Also, the Alfred Street Baptist Church — one of the oldest Black Baptist churches in America — canceled its annual Christmas performance. And then The Kennedy Center, under its new leadership, canceled an unofficial WorldPride concert featuring the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C.
I am eager to watch the broadcast of the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, which will be presented to Conan O’Brien (the ceremony will take place on March 23, but will air on Netflix at a later date). Typically, the evening is filled with topical humor provided by the honoree and their peers, with some (normally) good-natured but pointed jabs at the commander in chief.
I’m betting Trump will opt out and spend the evening somewhere more comfortable – like Mar-a-Lago. Or Moscow.
Who knows, the Mark Twain Award itself might become a victim of Musk and his minions at DOGE (who the deep state have taken to calling Muskrats).
I am careful to limit my news intake these days. Fifteen minutes of exposure to MSNBC and I can’t fall asleep without chemical assistance. My TV viewing is now limited to BritBox murder mysteries — “Miss Marple” levels of gore only — and episodes of “Welcome to Wrexham.” Even so, the news seeps in, through online bulletins, in every conversation with everyone I encounter. And the front page headlines on the two daily newspapers that land on my doorstep. The drumbeat of anxiety never stops. I’ve never been more grateful to have a dog in the house. And I’ve never been more appreciative of the performing arts.
My husband and I — children of working-class immigrants — don’t travel or spend money on lavish meals. Our splurge is tickets. We make our choices months in advance to get good seats at reasonable prices. We do not, however, always check the calendar, which means we usually end up committed to multiple performances in the space of a few weeks.
This winter our crowded cultural calendar in January and February turned out to be exactly what I needed to weather the cruelty and mendacity of our national politics. It also turned out to be a deep dive into the blessings of our wildly diverse, equal and inclusive community. DEI: there I said it.
It started with the Malpaso Dance Company from Cuba, and two hours of embodied joy set to irresistible Afro-Caribbean rhythms that sent us all out into the chilly night with our coats unbuttoned.
Then, “Ain’t No Mo,’” by Jordan E. Cooper, a fierce satire set in an airport lounge where America’s Black population is boarding a plane back to Africa, free of charge courtesy of the U.S. government. It’s a series of salty, honest, sometimes excruciating, transgressive, often hilarious R-rated vignettes shared by the most diverse audience I’ve ever been part of.
A few weeks later, we saw the second installment in a fascinating nine-part series of plays by Mfoniso Udofia. The series focuses on a Nigerian immigrant family; it’s a layered story of striving, success and intergenerational conflict that enriches and complicates the story of Black life in America.
This abundance of creative riches continued with “The Piano Lesson,” a co-production of Actors’ Shakespeare Company and Front Porch Arts Collective. The fourth in August Wilson’s 10-play series about Black life in America, and a Pulitzer Prize winner, it’s the story of one Black family, two generations removed from slavery, dealing with its legacy of pain and pride.
Musk’s domestic operation is based on the falsehood that there isn’t enough food, shelter, hope, education or work to go around; that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness isn’t a right but a privilege.
His strategy is divide and conquer, and his tool of choice is DEI used as a blunt instrument to keep us from making common cause. Because the more we get to know each other, the harder it is to foment distrust and hatred of one another. The arts celebrate DEI because Diversity Engenders Inspiration.
As for Commissar Musk, he deserves a DEI all his own, as in Dumping Elon Immediately.
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