NEW: Historians worry a Trump library will be an airbrushed 'MAGA' tribute to a twice-impeached president https://t.co/1MWRjE3WlN by @rbravender & @davelevinthal ($) @Politicsinsider

Historians and presidential-library buffs say they're worried that any sort of Donald Trump presidential library or museum will be used entirely to glorify the ex-commander in chief while promoting lies about his administration and attacking his critics.
Construction could wind up being a major battleground over the legacy of the 2x-impeached president. Historians & DC insiders are speculating about whether Trump's kids might lead the effort, where it would be located, & whether the federal government might withhold its support.
"It will be ostentatious. It will be like Trump Tower. It'll be like everything he does — over the top & not very subtle," said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University.
"I think he'll use it to promote his memory or his understanding of what's happened. Not only the things he accomplished, but the people he doesn't like," Zelizer added.
Sources close to Trump say it hasn't been a central focus for POTUS in the waning days of his administration, partly because of his reluctance to admit he lost. Former WH spox Sean Spicer said he was unaware of any plans that Trump or his associates had for a library.
Political insiders are chattering about whether Trump might look to a conservative college or university to house a presidential center or museum, or if his family might run the effort. Trump himself could design the exhibits to excoriate his enemies.
"I'd assume the kids take charge" of any library planning, a former senior Trump administration official told Insider. "Maybe Ivanka or Don Jr."
Zelizer predicted a whole wing packed with exhibits about Trump's perceived opponents, like the media, Democrats, and "socialists." He said he expected that Trump's friends and donors would happily shell out cash to bolster the effort.
"I actually made a crack when he was first elected he'd probably put his library over a casino," said John Dean, the former White House counsel to President Richard Nixon often seen on cable TV sizing up the latest presidential scandal.
Trump and his backers are entitled to portray his life and administration any way they'd like inside a monument to his legacy. That could be a glitzy "MAGA" museum housed inside a casino in Florida or a glowing Trump exhibit inside a new wing of a conservative university.
But things get a lot more complicated if they want it to be an official presidential library with the logistical support of the National Archives and the legitimacy that comes with it.
Presidents dating back to Hoover have presidential libraries. The latest addition for President Obama is in the works, and it will be run under a new model where there's no on-site research facility — but the Obama Foundation is paying to digitize official White House records.
Such a "virtual presidential library" model, where research-worthy material that is administered in part by the National Archives is stored in a low-profile facility & publicly presented online, could appeal to Trump, said Mark Updegrove, president and CEO of the LBJ Foundation.
That way Trump could erect a privately funded monument "to control his own narrative and not have the federal government having a hand in presenting his narrative to the public," said Updegrove, the former director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum in Austin.
Libraries are treasures for historians & extreme points of pride to outgoing & former presidents, who dedicate a lot of their energy to mapping out how they're perceived by the buses of school children, retirees, & history buffs who will visit their libraries and museums.
The federal government technically owns ex-presidents' documents, & the National Archives usually works in conjunction w/ private foundations. That federal backing is important for the public's perception that the enterprise is providing factual information.
But if Trump wants an official library with guardianship over his White House records, he'll have to follow the federal government's rules. Congress can deny any presidential-library proposal.
So much more in this gem of a story by @rbravender & @davelevinthal - subscribe to @businessinsider and you too can be a presidential library & history nerd like us. Here's how: https://t.co/aC5iwU4Ch6

More from Trump

Enough! Reporters doing it again. Both-sidesing. U enable Trump's propaganda by doing this

Reporter's both-sides question:

"What was your role in what happened at the Capitol?

Proper question:

"Are you going to take responsibility for your role in inciting insurrection?"


The press enabled the storming of the Capitol because they never held GOP accountable for pushing #TheBigLie that election was stolen

I have been yelling about this for months. Starting here where @TerryMoran got it right

But after press returned to form


Not long after Nov 4th press started both-sidesing again. Question Republicans were asked over & over was:

"Do u think Biden won?"

This enabled the coup

The proper question at minimum:

"Why are u enabling this charade? Why are u spreading


After repeatedly yelling that press wasn't demanding answers of GOP for spreading #TheBigLie I hoped this political violence on Dec 10th would finally get press to demand answers. But no. They continued to both-sides


I noted how impotent the American press was acting by treating #TheBigLie as credible. The press is supposed to hold people in power accountable, but beside @TerryMoran on election night, they by and large
Trump: Day 1,407 (THREAD)
-13,454,254 Cases of COVID-19 in US
-US CV-19 Death Toll Rises to 271,026
-Day 20 Since Biden Declared Winner
-Day 424 at a Trump-owned Property
-Touts Assassination of Iran Scientist
-Appointed Judge Rejects PA Lawsuit
-$3M Recount Increases Biden Lead


https://t.co/hOfTV6hRNx


https://t.co/KYBIm6Qohw


https://t.co/Bj5tluZ5dh


https://t.co/Q9YG4btKvH

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🌺कैसे बने गरुड़ भगवान विष्णु के वाहन और क्यों दो भागों में फटी होती है नागों की जिह्वा🌺

महर्षि कश्यप की तेरह पत्नियां थीं।लेकिन विनता व कद्रु नामक अपनी दो पत्नियों से उन्हे विशेष लगाव था।एक दिन महर्षि आनन्दभाव में बैठे थे कि तभी वे दोनों उनके समीप आकर उनके पैर दबाने लगी।


प्रसन्न होकर महर्षि कश्यप बोले,"मुझे तुम दोनों से विशेष लगाव है, इसलिए यदि तुम्हारी कोई विशेष इच्छा हो तो मुझे बताओ। मैं उसे अवश्य पूरा करूंगा ।"

कद्रू बोली,"स्वामी! मेरी इच्छा है कि मैं हज़ार पुत्रों की मां बनूंगी।"
विनता बोली,"स्वामी! मुझे केवल एक पुत्र की मां बनना है जो इतना बलवान हो की कद्रू के हज़ार पुत्रों पर भारी पड़े।"
महर्षि बोले,"शीघ्र ही मैं यज्ञ करूंगा और यज्ञ के उपरांत तुम दोनो की इच्छाएं अवश्य पूर्ण होंगी"।


महर्षि ने यज्ञ किया,विनता व कद्रू को आशीर्वाद देकर तपस्या करने चले गए। कुछ काल पश्चात कद्रू ने हज़ार अंडों से काले सर्पों को जन्म दिया व विनता ने एक अंडे से तेजस्वी बालक को जन्म दिया जिसका नाम गरूड़ रखा।जैसे जैसे समय बीता गरुड़ बलवान होता गया और कद्रू के पुत्रों पर भारी पड़ने लगा


परिणामस्वरूप दिन प्रतिदिन कद्रू व विनता के सम्बंधों में कटुता बढ़ती गयी।एकदिन जब दोनो भ्रमण कर रहीं थी तब कद्रू ने दूर खड़े सफेद घोड़े को देख कर कहा,"बता सकती हो विनता!दूर खड़ा वो घोड़ा किस रंग का है?"
विनता बोली,"सफेद रंग का"।
तो कद्रू बोली,"शर्त लगाती हो? इसकी पूँछ तो काली है"।
I just finished Eric Adler's The Battle of the Classics, and wanted to say something about Joel Christiansen's review linked below. I am not sure what motivates the review (I speculate a bit below), but it gives a very misleading impression of the book. 1/x


The meat of the criticism is that the history Adler gives is insufficiently critical. Adler describes a few figures who had a great influence on how the modern US university was formed. It's certainly critical: it focuses on the social Darwinism of these figures. 2/x

Other insinuations and suggestions in the review seem wildly off the mark, distorted, or inappropriate-- for example, that the book is clickbaity (it is scholarly) or conservative (hardly) or connected to the events at the Capitol (give me a break). 3/x

The core question: in what sense is classics inherently racist? Classics is old. On Adler's account, it begins in ancient Rome and is revived in the Renaissance. Slavery (Christiansen's primary concern) is also very old. Let's say classics is an education for slaveowners. 4/x

It's worth remembering that literacy itself is elite throughout most of this history. Literacy is, then, also the education of slaveowners. We can honor oral and musical traditions without denying that literacy is, generally, good. 5/x