Maureen Louis

Fan of kindness, fairness, and learning. Also corgis.

[Vince Mpls @vincempls]

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is legally designated by Congress as the sole national memorial to President John F. Kennedy within Washington DC and its environs. This status was established in Public Law 88‑260 (1964) and codified at 20 U.S.C. § 76q.

[Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum]

The Kennedy Center was financially stable until Trump took over: "In the fiscal year ending in 2024, when the center was led by President Deborah Rutter and a bipartisan board of trustees, it brought in about $40 million more than it spent"
https://t.co/KIkRWcMaWt

[Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum]

Reminder to those who apparently don't know: the Kennedy Center was financially robust, with many private donors, before this administration undermined it, chased out the National Symphony, Washington Opera and others. Trump has forced it into bankruptcy out of sheer vanity.

[Vince Mpls @vincempls]

The Kennedy Center’s Grand Foyer is 630' long and 63' high. The crystal chandeliers were hand-blown by @orrefors and an official gift by the Kingdom of @Sweden in 1971. The huge mirrors at left were a gift the Kingdom of @Belgium on behalf of its people and nation.

[Brad @BraddrofliT]

The Kennedy Memorial is made of irreplaceable marble that was gifted by Italy.

Matisse tapestries found throughout were gifted from France.

The massive starburst chandelier in the Opera Hall, and lights along walkways, were a gift from Sweden.

The record-breaking stage curtains were a gift from Japan. They had to build special looms to weave them because of how big they are.

The grounds are beautiful with displays of art.

This is what Trump is destroying.

[Michael Beschloss @BeschlossDC]

At the White House in October 1963, six weeks before his assassination, JFK and a model of the National Cultural Center, later renamed the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts:

[The Associated Press @AP]

BREAKING: A federal judge blocks the Kennedy Center board from putting President Trump's name on the building or grounds in any way. https://t.co/8JF0qA9twx

[Lisa Rubin @lawofruby]

NEW: Minutes before today's Kennedy Center board meeting, Judge Casey Cooper makes plain in a new opinion that putting Trump's name on the building or renaming the plaza, even as "recognition" for his restoration efforts, "bucks" his prior injunction and the relevant statute. 1/

[TB EGO @TomBradyEgo]

The last time each NFL team made the playoffs

[National Press Club @PressClubDC]

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 31, 2026 – National Press Club President Mark Schoeff Jr. issued the following statement today:

[Jordan @Jordan370462593]

One of Dolly Parton’s most cross cultural collaborations was Peace Train her 1996 recording with South African choir Ladysmith Black Mambazo
The more that I see about this remarkable woman,the more impressed I am
What a huge loss her passing is to the world,she gave so much 🥺🥺

[Marcus. UTFR 🇾🇪🐕⚽🥃✈️🎗️ @Mark1975s]

@JustRockContent

[PBS News @NewsHour]

The FCC voted Thursday to eliminate a cap on the size and reach of TV broadcasting companies.

In a 2-1 vote, the FCC repealed a 22-year-old rule holding that a company cannot own stations that reach more than a combined 39% of the U.S. television audience.

The ownership limit will be replaced by a case-by-case approach.

The move was widely expected, with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr writing an op-ed last month that called the earlier policy "outdated."

But critics say it opens the door to mass consolidation in the industry, giving larger players more say over what viewers see.

[The Daily Show @TheDailyShow]

Attorney Sherrilyn Ifill describes how states amended their constitutions to claw back the voting rights Black people gained after the Civil War

[Psychedelic Jukebox @60sPsychJukebox]

July 22nd 1963 - The Beatles' first US album, "Introducing The Beatles" was pressed by Vee-Jay Records, who thought they had obtained the legal rights from EMI affiliate, Trans-Global Records. When it was finally released in January, 1964, Capitol Records would hit Vee Jay with an injunction against manufacturing, distributing, advertising, or otherwise disposing of records by the Beatles. After a trial, Vee-Jay was allowed to release any Beatles records that they had masters of in any form until October 15th, 1964. After that time, they no longer had the right to issue any Beatles product.

[Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1]

Justice Kagan: "I'm not sure what to call a remnant of a remnant, but that is what the Court has left today. And the result will be what Justice Breyer warned of: a legal regime increasingly unable to stop political corruption, and thus to preserve our institutions' democratic legitimacy."

[Yashar Ali 🐘 @yashar]

BREAKING

A federal judge has ordered the Kennedy Center to remove President Trump's name from the facade, website, letterhead, and official materials.

Congress named the Center by statute in 1964 - and the judge ruled only Congress can change it.

[Amy Siskind @Amy_Siskind]

I.R.S. officials prepared a 25-page memorandum outlining what they saw as flaws in Mr. Trump’s suit and advising the Justice Department to move to dismiss it.
I gifted this so you can read it.

https://t.co/k86bMsEYvQ

[Mike Levin @MikeLevin]

This New York Times piece is worth your time. Here’s what is happening, as simply as I can put it.

Back in January, Trump sued the IRS, an agency he controls, demanding $10 billion over the leak of his tax returns a number of years ago.

IRS lawyers did their jobs. They wrote a memo laying out the defenses that could beat the suit, including the fact that Trump filed too late. His own lawyer was in court when the leaker pleaded guilty in October 2023, more than two years before Trump sued.

The Justice Department never showed up to court. Never argued back. Never used the defenses sitting on their desk.

The judge got suspicious and ordered both sides to explain whether they were actually opposing each other or just colluding. The day before that brief was due, Trump dropped the suit.

Same day, his Justice Department announced a $1.776 billion taxpayer-funded “anti-weaponization fund.” 

Trump gets a formal apology. The IRS agrees to drop any audits of him and his family, even though a 2024 Times report found a loss in an ongoing audit could cost him over $100 million.

The acting Attorney General, Trump’s former criminal defense attorney, picks the five commissioners who decide who gets paid. Trump can fire any of them. Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are not ruled out.

This is the most corrupt thing I’ve ever seen from an American president.

Where in the hell are my Republican colleagues?

https://t.co/La0nlLuz1r

[Maureen Louis @mlouis4]

@StephenKing Thank you for writing that excellent book.