Remove the Kennedy Center Tarps and Comply With the Court Order

Support Judge Cooper's order and demand the Kennedy Center remove the scaffolding and tarp immediately. A federal court ruled that the Kennedy Center cannot bear any name other than President Kennedy's — that fight is over. What remains is a tarp that Rep. Beatty's lawyers correctly called a "petty act of defiance" designed to shield the facade from public view and massage broken egos. That is not a renovation strategy. That is contempt dressed up as construction. The Kennedy Center had until June 12 to comply. Workers stalled past midnight, added a tarp at 1 a.m., and only removed the letters at 3 a.m. after appeals court judges shut down last-minute delays. The scaffolding is still up. The tarp is still there. Judge Cooper is right to demand answers by July 31, but the answer shouldn't take that long — take the tarps down now and stop letting a public institution be used as a prop for political grievance.