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CULTURE/NEWS/KENNEDY CENTER
Kennedy Center Renaming Infuriates
This is the hill he will die on
The stunningly beautiful John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is closed. First Trump stamped his name on it and took over the board of directors. He also commandeered scheduling the performances. Ticket sales plummeted. Acts refused to play at the center. The organization suddenly lost money and the building was in disrepair. The battle for the arts is being waged in front of us all.
A dear friend of mine Kris Downey, whose opinion I highly respect, taught me a few life lessons when I was a 30-something adult. “Pick your battles” was one of them, and it was an incredibly important lesson for me as I went forward.
I had always heard the expression about “this is the hill you will die on.” I understood the reference to be one of the experiences of war-as to have the hill in a battle gives a side an advantage. Being on the hill can also prevent escape.
Both of these expressions are in my consciousness right now. Because America has a president, who has never served in the military, who doesn’t seem to understand he is picking the wrong battles and he is dying on the wrong hills.
