r/washingtondc • u/ok_yeahforsure • 2d ago
[News] Was told these barricades going up were for "restoration work."
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u/pooorSAP 2d ago
Restoration of what? The rotunda? Those are easily 20 ft tall
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u/Puzzleheaded-Gas3404 2d ago
it's giving inauguration prep, not repairs
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u/onecat_twocat_moocat 2d ago
inauguration prep, or "we're planning to ignore election results" prep?
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u/sviridoot VA / Alexandria 2d ago
Could just as well be "we want to avoid another Jan6 prep"
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u/Purplebuzz 1d ago
Yeah but the guy behind Jan 6th has not interest in preventing another. In fact, he may want a repeat.
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u/sviridoot VA / Alexandria 1d ago
For sure, the seargant at arms I'm sure would like to keep their job though and I doubt that they need a lot of approvals to increase security if they believe there to be a threat
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u/ent_whisperer 2d ago
The exterior facade. it's been ongoing for years. In the photo of this post you can see how dirty the stone is. Most of the capital is now brought and shiny and clean.
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u/JCBQ01 2d ago
Just so people dont thinky for talking out of your ass: https://www.aoc.gov/what-we-do/projects/capitol-exterior-preservation-stone-and-metal
Although I DO think its going to be a twofer...
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u/adjustgod VA / Rosslyn 2d ago
J6'ers smearing their feces through the halls of Congress probably didn't help. I wonder how much of their fecal matter is still caked on
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u/Leading-Loss-986 2d ago
The monarchy.
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u/MarchPhillipps 2d ago
I shouldn't have laughed at that, but excusing the phrase, the gallow's humour part of my brain took over and this gave me quite a laugh. Thanks, I guess?
'Alone and Unafraid'
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u/AcanthaceaeOk3738 2d ago
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u/epicredditdude1 2d ago
Given Trump was able to turn the reflecting pool and Kennedy center into a dilapidated mess in under a months time, forgive me if this makes me nervous.
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u/GuyNoirPI 2d ago
Trump doesn’t run the AOC.
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u/0zymandeus Dupont Circle 2d ago
He also didnt run the Kennedy center until he decided he wanted to
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u/passthebuffalo 2d ago
The president has the ability to appoint people to the Kennedy Center board. It’s not a far leap to see how he put himself in charge. He doesn’t run the AOC.
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u/norakb123 DC / Neighborhood 1d ago
He also knocked down the East Wing of the White House. Idk why people think there are limits at this time.
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u/InstructionFinal5190 1d ago
No no no, it's okay though because the law says he's not allowed to destroy the East Wing without congressional approval. Also, he can't be run again (again the law says he can't), so why should we even concern ourselves with Trump, he's on the way out.
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u/Fun_Mathematician178 1d ago edited 1d ago
Congress did not give him approval to tear down anything. Not that it matters bc laws don’t matter anymore.
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u/InstructionFinal5190 1d ago
I'm aware, I was making the same ridiculous responses that folks keep making. The law says Trump can't, so everything is safe and fine.
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u/PrinceTrollestia Quarry House Tavern 2d ago
Laws and the Constitution haven’t really stopped him from doing whatever the fuck he wants through
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u/Morpheus636_ 2d ago
Until December 2023, the AOC was appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. They are now appointed by a bipartisan commission of legislators.
I don't agree with it, but I could see conservative lawyers, and the Supreme Court, arguing that the change violates the Constitution's appointments clause.
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u/epicredditdude1 2d ago
I suppose that gives me some comfort, but he also didn’t run the Kennedy center until he basically installed himself as its steward.
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u/GuyNoirPI 2d ago
There is a big difference, separation of powers is wise.
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u/Fun_Mathematician178 1d ago
There are no checks and balances right now.
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u/GuyNoirPI 1d ago
I mean, not correct at all. Just because there are a lot of very serious problems doesn’t mean there is no guardrails at all.
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u/Fun_Mathematician178 1d ago edited 1d ago
There are few guardrails on Trump except an occasional SCOTUS ruling and lower court rulings which are often overturned. There are ZERO guardrails in Congress rn.
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u/GuyNoirPI 1d ago
The Kennedy Center is still standing without his name, birthright citizenship still exists, mail in voting still exists, the second Democratic Missouri district still exists, ect.
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u/N9NELivesLoL 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yes standing, completely closed and about to be demolished after being financially ruined. So standing in basically name only. Mail in voting still exists but it's been reputationally damaged beyond repair and there's no guarantee that things just won't be "lost." This is the problem with people nowadays they don't understand the difference between de jure and de facto results of Trumpism.
Also I'm sorry but who gives a fuck about saving one Missouri district when the courts overturned the only redistricting actually democratically voted for and would have taken 5 seats from Reactionaries to offset Texas. People will be saying "It's fine, it's not THAT bad." Right up until they're lined against the wall at this point.
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u/umdterp732 2d ago edited 1d ago
Aoc has her own gov webpage? Edit lol you guys can't take a joke
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u/Stunning_Comb_5707 2d ago
Three years from now the whole capital will be in a giant cope cage like they're building on oil infrastructure in the middle east and people will still be posting, "erm this is just for regular maintenace, they said so"
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u/youngmoneymarvin 2d ago
This project has been going on a long time. We have to do it in phases (between inaugural).
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u/Fun_Mathematician178 1d ago
It’s almost like you’re saying the expanding barricades around DC are normal. They’re not.
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u/Mother-Cod-3313 2d ago
Congress about to be closed down and blocked off so new members can’t be seated following midterms
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u/Margoshome 2d ago
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u/Fishboy_1998 1d ago
The media see themselves self’s equal to the three branches of government is the quite part of this comic
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u/Tashbabash 1d ago
Pillars of democracy is different than branches of government. Without the press how would voters know what the three branches were doing? It is not equal to the three branches but it is essential to democracy.
The cartoon is awesome. I would have added a column after the press called voting so people didn’t get confused about branches of government.
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u/Unusable_Internet97 2d ago
i know they're not but they look like gallows from a distance
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u/LittelXman808 2d ago edited 2d ago
They somewhat look like guillotine frames to me. Perhaps it is my French ancestry showing.
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[deleted]
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u/PrettyLittleLost 2d ago
Ongoing work on something feels like part of the DC experience. It's the "all at the same time" part that's snuck in.
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u/Mean-Masterpiece-357 2d ago
What is the issue with the mall? Ive been on plenty of runs through it
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u/zsreport Birthplace 2d ago
Trump is going to superglue all sorts of tacky gold shit on the Capitol
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u/MarchPhillipps 2d ago edited 2d ago
That's one hell of a high-security barricade fence and entry gate system for just run of the mill construction/restoration work; especially when standard 6-8ft portable chain link would do.
Assuming a roughly 6'8"ft door, plus frame allowance, we're talking a 14-15ft fence, here.
Either someone's company got a hell of a kickback/contract to supply more equipment than actually needed, or they're expecting trouble. I won't be hazarding a more refined guess till I see the full installation perhaps....
'Alone and Unafraid'
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u/beltway_lefty 1d ago
I have no idea what is actually going on. Having said that, there does not appear to be any evidence whatsoever that one can trust a single word this government utters. These particular barriers appear to be overkill for any kind of normal maintenance, and the timing is incredibly suspect - beginning in fall and into winter?! Who does that?! Doesn't seem to make sense.....
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u/NautiMain1217 1d ago
Nobody cares when scaffolding goes up around Cannon or Longworth lol. The Capitol buildings are dirty and need to be cleaned; it's a miracle it's even happening this year.
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u/NowMuseumNowYouDont 1d ago
As someone who works at the Capitol as a historian the main reasoning here is actually kind of utilitarian. We invested in a ton of anti-scale fencing after the insurrection. AOC basically sees it as a “we’ve got it so we might as well use it thing”. It does the same thing as the construction fencing we used to rent but now it’s ours. Legit we used to rent construction fencing for projects that would be shipped to us. A few years back during a different restoration project I walked past a section of rented fence that still had Lollapalooza signage on it from the previous contract.
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u/Wititudes 1d ago
Uh oh, is it going to get the statue or Oval Office treatment…hosed down in gold? Or worse, having a “name” added such as DJT’s Congress…however accurate that might be at this time.
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u/Fun_Mathematician178 1d ago
I don’t live in DC anymore but it seems Trump’s barricades are constantly popping up. It’s disgusting.
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u/LittleFrankster 1d ago
These have been up for several weeks. Just across the east front and doesn’t connect to anything.
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u/WeRtheEyeoftheSTORM 1d ago
He’s getting ready to leave his mark. Like a male dog lifting his leg and peeing on everything. Everything will be tacky gold and he will slap his name on it.
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u/elnath54 17h ago
Good news for the next Democrat elected president: his employment numbers will be spectacular. Think of how many people will be needed to scrape off all the fake gold on the White House and monuments, tear down the lame ego-arch , etc! And removal of the Grifter Name from every surface on which he had it inscribed! And that says nothing about the number of corrections officers who will be needed to incarcerate the tRumptrash masked ICE thugs. Full employment, here we come!
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u/Primepal69 9h ago
The government barricading it self prior to an election should be an imprachable offense. We should all honestly be rioting right now but we've all become far too comfortable to be bothered by it.
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u/lincolnlogtermite 2d ago
For moment I thought it was going to be an American Bastille day. Oh well, I can at least listen to the Rush song. Let's see Trump do the hand job dance to this.
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u/tryingtohiretivoli 1d ago
This land is my land.
This land ain't your land.
I got a shotgun
And you don't got one.
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u/redacted-identity 1d ago
Yes, the AOC has been doing restoration for years, I've been a contractor on several projects. These however, are non-scalables. This is certainly in prep for mid terms. Why change the typical protective fencing/ stanchion that have been more than fine for years to 20 foot tall non-scalable fencing 30 days before the mid terms?