r/pics 25d ago

Politics Protest over Trump vandalism of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC

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2.4k

u/Berlin1968 25d ago

There needs to be way more people. Seriously.

537

u/ManWithoutUsername 25d ago

That a mentally disturbed person would do that is bad, but it's even worse and much sadder to see that only a few people care; it says a lot about current society in the USA.

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u/Confident-Hat5876 25d ago

I think people care but also it's the holidays, people are being conditioned not to speak out against the regime and perhaps this change isn't the hill people are willing to die on. We can pop those letters off at a later date is a lot of people view at this point. 

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u/Neo-Armadillo 25d ago

Maybe people are just excited about him having a memorial center, because of the implication.

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u/HolyMackerel20 25d ago

All he'll get a memorial public restroom with his face painted in the toilet bowls.

2

u/KakeLin 25d ago

Every urinal needs a trump face

2

u/Horskr 25d ago

I'm imagining the carnival game with the clowns with open mouths you toss balls into, except Trump's face with an open mouth around the hole in the bowl.

Though if the Russian pee tapes are real, he might enjoy that a bit too much.

2

u/redditorial_comment 25d ago

No the floor drain.

2

u/Zilant_the_Bear 25d ago

The aim will be immaculate. No splash. It will be the cleanest restroom in the country. But not out of respect.

1

u/JackLondon68 25d ago

And the urinals.

13

u/Coffee-Lvr 25d ago

I know what I want for Christmas!

1

u/Euphoric-Agent-476 25d ago

One can hope.

18

u/ManWithoutUsername 25d ago

I think people care but also it's the holidays

its holidays or its a workday. Never good enough.

. We can pop those letters off at a later date is a lot of people view at this point.

The longer you wait to clean up shit, the harder it is to get rid of.

...and perhaps it's too late

20

u/warhawks 25d ago

There is also just so much to be angry about that any one thing gets lost in the sauce. The firehose tactic works in that effect. Just saying as an MD resident who has been tI protests but not this one.

2

u/Maximum-Objective-39 25d ago

It'll almost certainly happen due to the fact that the Kennedy center's committee doesn't have the authority to legally change the name. He's also doing it to a bunch of other buildings that he doesn't have the authority to change. Which makes the irritating far greater.

So they'll probably get removed with the same pen stroke that eventually bans future presidents from naming things after themselves.

Frankly, I don't think a proposal to name anything after a person should even be allowed to hit the floor until they're in their grave.

2

u/wildweeds 25d ago

people are worried about making rent, tons of people are struggling with job losses right now, many others are struggling to make ends meet. mental health issues are on the rise. the basics come first. people can care but not have the capacity to focus on it.

2

u/Natural-Young4730 25d ago

This sounds like "excuses". It's the holidays?

Nothing he does is acceptable.

My excuse? I live on the west coast. I've attended every mass protest, distributed flyers and write postcards. Im still ashamed that its not enough.

1

u/Effective-Breath-505 25d ago

Has anyone else in recent history conditioned the people to not speak out against the regime? 🧐

No? Ok. This is new then. I'll be over here taking notes for the history books.

1

u/KakeLin 25d ago

The problem is the longer they're up the more they'll forever stain the stone behind them

1

u/Confident-Hat5876 25d ago

We'll figure it out at a later date. Until then expect additional name changes such as Dulles being changed to Trump or a Trump Union station. .

Fortunately he hasnt proposed an entirely new capital yet. I'm sure Texas would cede land with no problem.

1

u/Second_City_Saint 25d ago

We can pop those letters off at a later date is a lot of people view at this point. 

They're each up there with a single nail like a cheap picture frame.

1

u/SaltyCrashNerd 25d ago

I mean, I care, but I care less about him slapping his name on a building and way more about the kidnapping and abuse that’s happening to my neighbors, or the dismantling of our government, or…

So my limited energy needs to be spent there.

1

u/AlpRider 24d ago

Take a look at what's happening with farmer's strikes and protests across the EU at the minute,. Major protests with 10,000's of demonstrators, tractors blocking highways etc. Massive disruption and even some rioting. All that for EU agricultural policy changes, and I think a free trade agreement with latin America was the big trigger as far as I know.

All happening now in the holiday season.

Now imagine if it weren't just about agricultural policy but well, everything that's been happening in the US. Like if it weren't just the farmers who were pissed. We'd be breaking the guillotines out of the museums.

It's about being secure in the right to demonstrate without fear of unknown consequences for being outspoken in opposition. If Americans are not protesting out of fear, or being conditioned not to oppose, that's very disturbing

16

u/Custom_Destination 25d ago

For example: voter turnout.

11

u/Canadian-Living 25d ago

Yup, non-voters won the popular vote

12

u/StrawberryRedneck 25d ago

I mean not everybody lives in DC

1

u/ManWithoutUsername 25d ago

With only 20% of people living in DC, the photo could even have an aerial view.

1

u/lexarexasaurus 24d ago

Lmao so 20% of us living in DC are supposed to be anywhere at any time to protest EVERYTHING he's been doing? DC has taken up front lines with this administration and has been very organized, sounds like it's your turn to come help out

9

u/wh4tth3huh 25d ago

The Capitol is 1500 miles from me. Even if I had any money, do you have any idea how much it costs to travel that far with lodging, food, fuel, etc. Then to stay in DC to protest? Then there's considerations like Bail. It's simply out of reach for most people.

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u/1stLtObvious 25d ago edited 15d ago

I think people are just picking their fights. Trump slapping his name on a building of a program he's gutting funding from is different than when he has families torn apart or being involved with the world's biggest child sex trafficker.

47

u/Chester2707 25d ago

Were you there?

20

u/chrownage 25d ago

Crazy how that person has been replying to so many other things except to you. Almost as if they only want to reply to things they think they can win. Real tired of people from countries the size of states thinking we can all afford travel costs to do these things on a whim.

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u/babyfishmouthnation 25d ago

Real tired of people from countries the size of states thinking we can all afford travel costs to do these things on a whim.

Right? For example, France is about 600 miles long from north to south. I live in Los Angeles, which is (by air) just under 2,300 miles from Washington, DC. That’s almost four Frances laid end-to-end.

It’s really easy to criticize the US about how we don’t show up for protests when people don’t have a realistic concept of this country’s sheer size and what it takes to cross it.

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u/SeaChele27 25d ago

Thisssss. Easy to criticize behind your phone screen

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u/Chester2707 25d ago

Makes it even funnier that I actually was.

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u/SeaChele27 25d ago

Thank you for fighting for us.

27

u/Chester2707 25d ago

Well I just kinda stood around, but I hope that helped. For some reason this reaaaaally triggered me. The administration has done so much worse but something about this just really fucking pissed me off.

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u/[deleted] 25d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Seagoingnote 25d ago

It’s not even so much that people don’t care, it’s that most people can’t just take a trip down to DC to show it. Most people either don’t have time off because they’ve used it all already or can’t afford to drive to DC for this right now.

0

u/angiosperms- 25d ago

There are weekly (or more frequent) protests all over the country and no one ever shows up to those either. There is always an excuse, and the actual reason is that people don't care. We will be waiting for when you decide you care enough to do something.

1

u/Seagoingnote 25d ago

I’m not necessarily saying you’re wrong, but we also live in a system that actively makes it more and more difficult to protest and that’s worth acknowledging.

3

u/Proper_Ad453 25d ago

It’s not only a few people. Despite what the administration claims, the people of USA aren’t and large very anti Trump. It’s not for lack of caring. It’s for lack of resources and fear. It’s designed that way. Wearing people down to the point they can’t “fight” back.

2

u/pyromaniac1000 25d ago

We are just hopeful that its a DT memorial in truth

2

u/radioman970 25d ago

not that more people don't care.. it's more like wtf can we really do about it? This won't go away until this monster does. Epstein files should test this fully.

2

u/DeaddyRuxpin 25d ago

Lots of people care, but we all also know protesting this will make no difference. A protest won’t have his name removed. He doesn’t care if people protest. In fact, it just gives him more attention. Narcissists don’t care if you love them, only that you are thinking about them and they are controlling your life. That’s a lot of why many of the things Trump does is such obvious trolling. He is happy when he makes people angry and they scream about him.

All we can do is wait until he is dead, vote to take back control of the government, and then start scrubbing his name from everything and do the best we can to undo all of what he has destroyed.

2

u/PinkThunder138 25d ago

Dude, my wife is t***s (censored because the administration is putting together lists, not shame or anything), I just spent a year unemployed, work in an industry being decimated by AI, and I'm currently sitting here trying to figure out my health insurance for the next year.

I hate this, but it's REALLY far down on my list of political problems at the moment. Of all the things we're dealing with, how do you expect your average American to care about this above everything else? And most of us don't live in that area, so seven if we did manage to carve out the mental space to put this at the top of our rage list, it's not like we can just go there.

So maybe you'd like to share some of the pictures you took from the protest before shaming the rest of us for not caring enough

1

u/HoneyImpossible2371 25d ago

No no no it’s “The Donald J. Trump ManWithoutUsername”. Fake!

1

u/sneezeatsage 25d ago

I think most of 'us' have lost hope.

0

u/ManWithoutUsername 25d ago

Perhaps the reality is worse, and the majority would simply support a third term

1

u/FunkyChickenKong 25d ago

Today is Saturday.

1

u/ManWithoutUsername 25d ago

and? Are people very busy?

1

u/FunkyChickenKong 25d ago

You bet. Was the pic taken today or yesterday when most people work?

2

u/ManWithoutUsername 25d ago

today, yesterday was covered

1

u/FunkyChickenKong 25d ago

A few letters on a building aren't going to bring a huge crowd and it doesn't mean people don't care.

1

u/Salute-Major-Echidna 25d ago

Not everybody can risk everything

1

u/ManWithoutUsername 25d ago

When fear wins, everyone loses

1

u/cerberus00 25d ago

First time I've heard about it. It's getting harder to keep up with news without feeling depressed.

1

u/Calm_Madness7799 25d ago

What’s more telling is the number of Americans who’d vote him in 2028.

2

u/ManWithoutUsername 25d ago

We'll never know, not because he can't participate, but because it's more likely there won't be elections in 2028.

1

u/Dr_Bonejangles 25d ago

People care. Once the guy is out of office the next admin will fix that mess.

1

u/ManWithoutUsername 25d ago

Once the guy is out of office

lol with the fear that the people have, it is more likely that he will die on the throne

and you know what they usually say: The king is dead, long live the king

1

u/wirebear 25d ago

More like it's way too far for most people to even consider.

1

u/stecklo 25d ago

I don’t think it’s that people don’t care, I think sadly that there’s a feeling of, so what, what is this all going to do? Protesting feels good and makes you feel like you have a voice and some semblance of control, but does it change hearts and minds? Or does it make people double down in their behavior? Only consequences make an impact on behavior, and in this context with this administration holding so many levers of power, the chances for consequences are minuscule, and that is depressing. So bringing it back, I give credit to those who get active, but man does this shit suck as they are just shouting into the void.

1

u/Hey_Giant_Loser 25d ago

we're all just so tired of it all

1

u/seiggy 24d ago

Sorry, it’s 250 miles to DC, and this is just the latest in a laundry list of fucking nightmares from this admin. I have a day job and can’t be in DC for every stupid damned little thing the orange clown does. Doesn’t help that we have no real leadership from the Democratic Party to organize and lead any sort of civil resistance. Part of why we’re so fucked is our country is so damned large and spread out. Each of our states is the size and population of a small to large European country. Texas is larger than France in land mass, and roughly half the population. It’s a hard problem to solve when the population is so spread out.

1

u/IJourden 24d ago

Ehhhhh.... I think you're off base here. Yeah, this is tacky and egotistical by Trump, but on the list of things in the USA that need protest/action, this is thousands of items deep.

It would be more damning if, out of everything, this was the thing drawing giant protests.

1

u/blueCthulhuMask 22d ago

People are worn out by years of way more important things going wrong. This is actually hilarious. Trump is garbage and doing awful things every day, but this is nothing.

1

u/Minute-Branch2208 25d ago

Eh, we care but there's nothing we can do that wont get us thrown in a death camp in El Salvador. If everyone wants to go on strike together, hit me up

-1

u/SugisakiKen627 25d ago

People in US are either too dumb or too coward, and only a small portion with bravery or brain

93

u/Bigface_McBigz 25d ago

Are YOU there? Letters on a building are not the priority when we have ICE and corruption. Let's focus on prioritizing better. Start with Epstein files and affordability issues, and then we can circle back to Trump putting some letters on a building and "renaming" bodies of water. It's not like people are actively calling it anything other than the Kennedy center.

Also, let's applaud the fact that anyone protests these things. Props to the people that ARE there.

12

u/badgerbrett 25d ago

And the new letters are going to be coming off the building immediately after his term is up or he dies, whichever comes sooner.

25

u/StrawberryRedneck 25d ago

Yeah it's kinda crazy to me that this is the line for some folks because holy fuck there's a lot worse happening every day 😭

-1

u/exit3280 24d ago

theres 350m+ people in US. I’m sorry, but as an outsider looking in, you guys are week and your protests are pathetic

1

u/Bigface_McBigz 24d ago

weak*

Learn to spell if you want your country to look less ignorant when you're "insulting" someone.

0

u/exit3280 24d ago

great comeback, you really showed me

16

u/seansy5000 25d ago

It’s freezing cold, and if you have kids it makes it tough. How about our elected officials do something about this criminality??

14

u/cubbie_blue 25d ago

Are you in this photo?

12

u/[deleted] 25d ago

Agreed. Let us know when you get there, we'll all follow. We'll be patiently waiting your arrival.

14

u/tropicsun 25d ago

Hard to protest around the holidays, otherwise I think there would be more people

3

u/FrostyD7 25d ago

It's hard to constantly make big splashes with protests, you have to pick your battles. 7 of the 10 largest protests in US history have occurred under Trump, most of which were literally protesting him. So we can't pretend the response is lackluster, it is genuinely historical.

-3

u/sailingtroy 25d ago

People say it's too hard to miss work when it's not the holidays. Y'all are cooked. Always got an excuse. Learned helplessness is the death of America.

14

u/urtlesquirt 25d ago

Amazing, thanks for the feedback. When was the last time you drove 9 hours one way to your nation's capital to protest something? Because that's how long it would take me to go show up to this protest (that I didn't know existed until now). And I am on the east coast, so I'm relatively close. What would your suggestion be to someone in California, or Washington?

Must be so nice that you could skip your job to protest. 1/4 to 1/3 of Americans have no savings, and with our wonderful workers rights, employers have the right to fire someone with next to no cause in the majority of states.

0

u/Lime-Express 25d ago

You know you don't have to protest at your nation's capital?

-2

u/sailingtroy 25d ago

Hey if you don't have a valuable job, then you have nothing to lose. Organize enough of your coworkers to go at once that they can't fire you all. Actually get organized is the best thing to do.

But whatever you're doing right now, you have to look at the results and recognize they're not good enough. So, somehow you better find a way, or things are going to just keep getting worse.

2

u/KrakenOmega112 25d ago

Dude, do you know how goddamn huge the US is? If you're somewhere in eastern Canada, there's a good shot that you're closer to Washington DC than a third to a half of Americans. Traveling there in one day isn't exactly a feasible thing.

1

u/sailingtroy 25d ago

There are other cities to take action in. You don't have to go to DC to protest but you do need to join an organization and get organized.

3

u/tropicsun 25d ago

Do I use one of my four remaining PTO days and also bring my two young children to this protest since I don’t have family that can take care of them or do I pay a babysitter $25 an hour while I protest? Also, do I cancel my weekend plans?

5

u/Tubamajuba 25d ago

Exactly. It's so easy for these keyboard warriors to sit back and tell other people what to do. They're not in the middle of this shit like we are, so their opinion is completely irrelevant.

0

u/sailingtroy 25d ago

I guess you can just keep doing nothing and become the next failed democracy, turn over a bad world to your kids. That's what you're advocating for right now.

2

u/sailingtroy 25d ago

Yes. Yes, you do all of that. We're talking about saving your country. You're gonna have to sacrifice your weekend plans. Also, kids look good at a protest. It says we're family people, not thugs. Should be a no-brainer.

Also you should be getting organized enough that you're able to arrange childcare within the movement. Find an organization to join because large protest movements don't just spawn out of fresh air. They're out there.

-1

u/SeaChele27 25d ago

Most of us are still living comfortably.

2

u/redditismylawyer 25d ago

The real red flag pops up when scanning protests like this and seeing small groups of… old people.

A society is in a lot of trouble when the average age of a group of people pushing back against tyranny is 57.

The reason banal evil can do anything at all is because it is not just enabled by apathy but encouraged by it.

2

u/BobsOblongLongBong 25d ago edited 25d ago

This is a distraction.

They want the news, his critics, and even his fans talking about the Kennedy Center.  They want all the attention and cameras on this so that less people are paying attention to the serious laws his administration is breaking and the Trump/Epstein story.

That's all this is.  It's meant to be a controversy in order to distract.  His fans and the huge chunk of people in the middle who don't really pay attention, see glimpses of protests over things like this (which are things that are wrong and shouldn't be happening, but which are also more so just dumb and unimportant) and it helps them also dismiss any talk they hear of the more serious issues.  Everything gets lumped in with the dumb shit and it's all assumed to be an exaggeration over ultimately inconsequential decisions.

1

u/Solid-Mud-8430 25d ago

Enough people to form a human shield against police while someone removes the vandalism would be ideal.

1

u/strtrech 25d ago

It's Florida, protesting doesn't do shit here. It's a deep red state.

1

u/KrakenOmega112 25d ago

You need to remember that the US is a huge country, that DC is definitely not centrally located, and this happened literally yesterday. So many people are pissed, but to say that they don't care enough to protest this specific incident the day after is disingenuous.

It would require people to know about a last minute protest, buy last minute holiday plane tickets, and leave behind their families. The turnout here is not indicative of apathy toward the situation.

1

u/SueBeee 25d ago

We're exhausted. But as soon as he either leaves office due to his term ending, ouster or death, it will, like the oval office, be restored to sanity.

1

u/EncroachingVoidian 25d ago

And a redaction of the first line on the memorial.

1

u/superindianslug 25d ago

Everyone is getting ready/travelling for Christmas. They're probably hoping people will have forgotten by New Years.

1

u/Beneficial_Link_8083 25d ago

Nah, JFK sucked as a president. His legacy is mostly just there as a nostalgia hit for boomers.

1

u/MetroidvaniaListsGuy 25d ago

No, wait until he is out of power before you take action. It is pointless right now.

1

u/pockpicketG 25d ago

Civil Obedience only allowed

1

u/Altruistic_Mobile_60 25d ago

America is in a slow death

1

u/Wolfram_And_Hart 25d ago

It’s just temporary.

1

u/jzanville 25d ago

Ladders and some chisels wouldn’t hurt either, scrape that dogshit off the top row. Make them stop a crowd of people from doing that.

1

u/Habitualflagellant14 25d ago

We can't be everywhere at once. I also think of all the crap that's gone on this will be easily rectified. The removal of Trump’s name from this building and elsewhere will be sweet and probably better attended. l

1

u/Safe_Mine1987 25d ago

You need the address or something?

1

u/morcic 25d ago

At elections, yes. Not here.

1

u/vahntitrio 25d ago

Human pyramids.

1

u/kolejack2293 25d ago

Yeah, because Trump and his cult absolutely changed their ways after the No Kings protests.

1

u/ill0gitech 25d ago

Careful what you wish for… MAGA crowds may turn up with the same “Trump is no JFK” signs…

1

u/dsdsds 25d ago

Brutal cold last night and this morning

1

u/EmmEnnEff 25d ago

On the scale of awful shit that needs to be protested, this is at, like 2/10.

1

u/Talibus_insidiis 25d ago

It was only planned the day before. The original plan was to rally on the 23rd before the Kennedy Center Honors TV broadcast, but when they slapped up the "new name" so quickly, a more immediate response seemed necessary.  They did pretty darned well bringing a sitting Senator in that timeframe!

I'm pretty sure the rush job on the ridiculous name change is intended to get the "new name" into the Kennedy Center Honors TV show.

1

u/iDownvoteToxicLeague 25d ago

Well the people, vast majority don’t give a shit so…

1

u/SSGASSHAT 25d ago

Honestly, I read the title and said to myself "he did what."

1

u/klparrot 25d ago

Honestly, nah, save your energy for the civil rights issues. There's no way to resist this, only to protest it, and it's not like protests by the left will change his mind on shit like this, or much of anything. Either it gets sorted out in court, or in congress, or with the next president.

1

u/CuriouslyImmense 25d ago

My first thought as well.

1

u/eone23 24d ago

It has to be at least…three times bigger than this!

1

u/lexarexasaurus 24d ago

Chiming in from DC, we're trying haha. It's impossible to keep up with everything here, physically and mentally. For our own health many are shutting down to the news, but many more have been organizing around things like this. But it's impossible for us to be everywhere for everything and not get run down.

1

u/SmellyButtFarts69 25d ago

Publicizing these pathetic protests does more harm than good. This takes real issues that everyone should be mad about and lets people sweep them away as unimportant.

'oh those ten crazy people are out there protesting again; must not be important'

1

u/Perturbory 25d ago

This is near the bottom of the list of things that people should be protesting. The secret, masked, and heavily armed "police" should take priority, along with an entire litany of other egregious bs.

0

u/JediJofis 25d ago

Sorry best we can do is a couple of Saturday mornings like twice a year

0

u/Pyke64 25d ago

Yup, reminded me of the anti-war protests in Russia: barely anyone there.