Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

“Squeaker” McCarthy

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

People are complicated. Love is not.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

DeSantis transforms Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Thanks for reminding me that Van Jones needs to be slapped.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

A consequence of cucumbers

Consistently wrong since 2002

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Excellent Links / Late Night Open Thread: The Official Trump Presidential Portrait

Late Night Open Thread: The Official Trump Presidential Portrait

by | 72 Comments

This post is in: , ,

In some ways, the problem is not as hard as it sounds. It’s entirely up to the current president which (if any) portraits are to hang in the White House and where. There’s no obligation to hang all the portraits, that’s what the National Portrait Gallery is for. 2/x

In one way, Trump himself made the problem easier. He signed a law in 2018 prohibiting the use of public funds for presidential portraits. The eventual Trump portrait, if ever painted, will be a purely private matter. 3/x

There’s no rule or custom or practice that every single past president must be represented in every single future president’s White House. On the other hand … 4/x

It’s worth taking the few minutes to watch and listen to Obama’s and Bush’s speeches that day. Whether you supported one president or the other, or neither, or both, the video will touch something in you, make you prouder of this country’s deep constitutional continuity. 6/x

But what happens if you have a past president who literally tried to overthrow the Constitution by force and violence? If the Constitution is deeper than politics – then surely there’s something deeper than politics in condemning a violent attempt to destroy the Constitution? 7/x

One of the few republics to last even longer than the United States had to confront this problem. The republic of Venice endured for some 1100 years. Its chief magistrate was called a “doge.” Portraits of most of the doges … 8/x

Portraits of most of the doges hang overhead in the grandest chamber of the ducal palace on St Mark’s Square. The portraits are fictionalized of course, nobody really knows what the early doges looked like. But they are almost all represented.

Except for one … 9/x

In 1354, then-doge Marino Falieri organized a coup d’etat to overthrow the Venetian republic and install himself as some kind of autocrat or monarch. The coup failed. Venetians were faced with the same problem of memory that Americans face with Trump. 10/x

I’m sure we *all* have nominations for the appropriate portrait; I myself feel some version of this would be good:

What’s your favorite(s)?

Reader Interactions

72Comments

  1. 1.

    opiejeanne

    He’ll probably just donate the idealized portrait of himself in tennis clothes.

    I suggest that if he does present a portrait that it should be hung, but facing the wall..

  3. 3.

    opiejeanne

    @Martin: Ha!

    What a petty, vindictive asshole he is. You know that that prohibition on spending government money for an official portrait was because of Obama.

  5. 5.

    Dangerman

    @opiejeanne: hanged (/pedant).

    I’d say hanged and covered with a black cloth* until he’s outta jail or dead.

    * something easily washable so people can sling shit at it without fear

  7. 7.

    Keith P.

    I had a surreal conversation tonight where a friend of mine argued with me that the FBI didn’t find anything at Mar-a-Lago.  I said there is literally a receipt of documents that Trump’s lawyers signed for as well as actual, you know, photos of classified documents with the large borders and initials on them.  All that did was lead into a separate argument that the FBI staged the evidence (in quotes) to make Trump look bad.  All I could say was, “well, I look forward to you arguing your airtight case in front of a judge.”

  8. 8.

    JoyceH

    Open thread – has anyone heard of any differences between the Pfizer and the Moderna bivalent boosters? Both of the pharmacies near me carry the Moderna, and I thought I’d just go ahead and get it.

  10. 10.

    sab

    @JoyceH: I am a Luddite so I can’t link. From what I have read, the Moderna is better for us older folks. It is effective longer. There are some cardio risks for teenage males with Moderna so they are being steered towards Pfizer, but that isn’t an issue for older women.

    The newest booster (omicron effective) has the same issues for young males, so Pfizer is okay for 12years and older and Moderna is okay for 18 years and older. So some of the big chains are going with Pfizer only.

    I just got a Pfizer booster because my grocery store pharmacy wasn’t taking appointments, so I went CVS which only offered Pfizer. Turns out my grocery was taking walk ins for both. The Pfizer was already thawed, but you had to wait for the Moderna to be thawed because they weren’t expecting so much demand.

    If I had known all this I’d have gone Moderna again, but I went with Pfizer at CVS. Slight rash at the shot sight and slightly sore arm with Pfizer. Moderna shots and boosters put me in bed asleep for a day or so.

  11. 11.

    VFX Lurker

    @JoyceH:

    Open thread – has anyone heard of any differences between the Pfizer and the Moderna bivalent boosters? Both of the pharmacies near me carry the Moderna, and I thought I’d just go ahead and get it. 

    Pfizer has 30mcg of vaccine (half original, half Omicron); Moderna has 50mcg (also half-and-half).

    Choose Pfizer if you want a normal dose with minimal side effects; choose Moderna if you want the Costco-sized dose  👍

    I chose Moderna earlier this week because I wanted the biggest dose I could get. 🥳

  15. 15.

    topclimber

    Let me make this simple for the libtards on this blog:

    Only portraits of FORMER Presidents hang in the White House. Herr Trump is still President because of the cheating thing. Ergo, no portrait.

    Now, if the reason behind his stealing secrets is serious enough, there is a non-zero chance he himself will hang in the White House.

  16. 16.

    sab

    @topclimber: Hmm. I would like your reasoning if it didn’t suggest he was entitled to be still in the White House.

    Maybe make bowing out gracefully the standard for portrait hanging.

    Hey Narcissicist: If you lost and want your portrait hung then bow out gracefully. Otherwiise we will pretend you never existed.

  20. 20.

    The Thin Black Duke

    If Trump’s portrait is allowed to hang in the White House, you might as well put Aaron Burr’s up as well.

  21. 21.

    patrick II

    Baud mentioned the other day that he read  someone has been working on the Trump portrait. Is that known? If so, is some MAGA person paying for it? You know Trump isn’t unless he can get a charitable deduction. Will it have bulging Rambo type biceps?

    Is Baud just messing with me?

  26. 26.

    prostratedragon

    I second your first pick AL. In fact was thinking exactly that yesterday when I saw that mug slapped up somewhere.

  27. 27.

    mrmoshpotato

    Americans thankfully don’t go in for beheading. And Trump is of course entitled to due process before any judgment, whatever it is.

    Don’t you tell me what I don’t “go in for.”

    And can someone explain due process to David?

  29. 29.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @Dangerman: At the risk of massive pedantry, the portrait would be hung, not hanged. Things are hung; people (such as traitors such as TFG) are hanged.

  38. 38.

    prostratedragon

    Thinking for a moment about that weird photo with wife and son that looks like a travesty of “Las Meninas” got me to thinking about another Velasquez parody, known as The Screaming Pope by Francis Bacon. Something like that might be apt.

  41. 41.

    Jim Appleton

    @Baud:  Not a painting, an actual death mask, preferably from the actual corpse.

    To be displayed so as to show how pathetically small and vacuous he really was.

  45. 45.

    p.a.

    Hang it in one of the public areas of the WH with a supply of aging produce in front, $1 a throw, money goes to rotating group of local charities.

  46. 46.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    Portrait will be on black felt with him standing next to a naked Russian hooker, just like General Garcia’s famous portrait (photo)​ [NSFW]

  47. 47.

    SFAW

    I’m kind of appalled that none of you libtards has suggested the Trump-as-Rocky (Balboa, not Flying Squirrel) “portrait.” Especially because that’s the one he’d pick.

     

    [Frankly, I’d rather see Rocket J. Squirrel, but to associate him with TFG is probably banned by the Geneva Convention.]

  50. 50.

    lowtechcyclist

    @topclimber: ​
     

    Only portraits of FORMER Presidents hang in the White House. Herr Trump is still President because of the cheating thing. Ergo, no portrait.

    This is also why he can’t be re-elected in 2024: the 22nd Amendment says “No person shall be elected to the office of President more than twice.” Nothing about whether you actually took office, or why you might not have done so. Once you’ve been elected twice, you can’t be elected again. He claims to have been elected twice. By his own admission, he is ineligible to be elected again.

  52. 52.

    Patricia Kayden

    Do to Trump what he did to the Obamas. President Biden owes Trump less than nothing. This isn’t even a discussion that needs to be held.

  57. 57.

    Mousebumples

    Late to the thread, but Mr. Mouse and I got our boosters yesterday. We had both gotten Moderna x3, but went with Pfizer this time.

    1) NIH Study has shown mixing (pre-bivalent booster, granted) is at least as effective as not mixing manufacturers.

    2) There’s theoretical benefit to mixing the two types of mRNA vaccines since both companies have similar but different methods of manufacturing so there may be some added immunogenicity from mixing. (I’m more confident in that for the OG vaccine and boosters since there’s limited data on these to-date, for the record)

    3) If you’re all-Pfizer to this point, I’d definitely try to switch since Moderna seemed to be slightly superior, for the OG vaccine.

    4) If you’re ready to be boosted, I wouldn’t hold things up to find a specific brand. The most effective vaccine is one that’s in your body.

  62. 62.

    Wanderer

    @JoyceH: I took Pfizer because no Moderna was available. I will say side effects with Pfizer were easy to take compared to all my previous vaccinations which were Moderna.  Your experience could be different. I am happy to have gotten boosted in time for the return in doors.

  63. 63.

    Jinchi

    The eventual Trump portrait, if ever painted, will be a purely private matter.

    Oh my god. It’s going to be the one with Trump riding a dinosaur into battle, isn’t it.

  64. 64.

    Carlo Graziani

    Seriously? Nobody has taken “Orange Jumpsuited Trump In The Marion (IL) Penitentiary Exercise Yard” as the portrait theme?

    Then the real contest begins: Write the caption.

  65. 65.

    Ruckus

    @JoyceH:

    I haven’t gotten mine yet but plan to early this week. I’m going with Moderna because I had 3 Pfizer and 1 Moderna so far and the Moderna gave me the least issues/symptoms. That will likely change of course because it’s me, but still, the odds and all that.

  66. 66.

    opiejeanne

    @Dangerman: It’s hanged if he’s suspended by the neck, to be executed. A painting is hung.

    Or were you being a smart-arse, saying you’d like to see him executed by hanging?

  67. 67.

    Halteclere

    Is there a size limit to the official portraits? If not then Trump will want a portrait significantly larger than any one else’s. And you just know the frame will be overdone in gilded gold.

  68. 68.

    J R in WV

    Last night I had my typical couple of hours of awake time, from around 3:30-5 :00 am and just wanted to say thanks to the B-J community for giving me things to read at that time of night.

    The histories of Putin’s rule in Russia will of necessity include lots of losing, and as long as he continues to be invading other nation states and committing war crimes against neighboring peoples and peoples Putin calls Russian. . . there will be much losing.  LOOOOSING!! Bitch.

Comments are closed.