Does Florida need a Trump library or are lawmakers worshipping at the altar again?
Florida lawmakers, bless their hearts, are already angling to bring a future Donald Trump presidential library to the state.
And they don't want any Trump-critical counties like Palm Beach County getting in the way.
I know what you're thinking. What's the rush in planning? It might be prudent to allow Trump's presidential legacy to marinate in a little history before we hastily commit to encouraging something as plainly preposterous as a 'Trump library.'
After all, it's still to be determined whether he uses the military against U.S. citizens, invades a former ally, jails opposition lawmakers or declares himself above the dictates of the U.S. Supreme Court — all outcomes well within the bounds of possibility.
So what's the rush for a presidential library?
It's not like Trump even reads. This can wait. If we rush this, we're just guaranteeing that future generations will marvel at the depths of our collective blindness.
But no, Florida lawmakers appear to have an incurable case of premature adulation, as they push a law that would prevent local governments in the state from having any regulatory authority over a Trump library in their city or county.
'In anticipation of Florida's first presidential library, we should roll out the welcome mat and offer the president maximum flexibility to construct this historic landmark in Florida,' Senate Bill 118's sponsor, state Sen. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, told his colleagues. 'The protections in this bill will prevent any municipality from imposing frivolous obstacles to the establishment of a presidential library within the state."
I think he's talking about us. NBC News has already reported that a presidential team is looking at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton as a potential site for the library.
The idea is that it would be relatively near Trump's winter retreat, Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach.
Although Trump won Florida in the last three general elections, he lost Palm Beach County every time. So, a Trump library in Boca Raton is not going to be as welcomed as it might be in say, Sarasota, Pensacola or Jacksonville.
I guess that's why Republican lawmakers are trying to take local control away from a future site of the library. This means that whatever over-the-top, garish self-tribute Trump designs for himself will be something the people in the area of the library will have to stomach.
Just as his flagpole at Mar-a-Lago had to be the biggest pole in Palm Beach in violation of local zoning regulations, his presidential library will undoubtedly have to be the biggest, most garish display of them all, maybe with the word 'TRUMP' flashing down on the community in nightly drone light shows.
Opinion: Trump doesn't care about 'working from home' when he's doing it at Mar-a-Lago
I envision Boca Raton turning into a kind of America's Pyongyang with a giant golden Trump statue outside a library building — one visible from miles around. And I can see the outside of the library ringed with scores of life-sized stainless steel statues (like the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.) as a representation of an overflow crowd of people who want to get in the library, but can't because it's already full of worshippers.
Under the proposed bill, the city and county selected to house the library will have no say on the building's height, appearance or any tasteless aesthetics that Trump might dream up. It could violate any and all local zoning laws without recourse.
Brodeur predicted that a Trump library 'would be one of the biggest attractions ever built in Florida.'
I don't know about that. I would think it would be a considerable challenge to fill it. What are we talking about here?
A hall of Tweets? A display of paper shredders? A collage of untrustworthy golf scorecards? The Four Pinocchios Cafe?
Maybe a re-creation of the Mar-a-Lago bathroom used to store top-secret government documents?
Opinion: I don't care if they rename Southern Boulevard for Trump. But let locals decide.
Let's keep this in mind: a Trump library is optional. Not every president gets a presidential library. There are currently just 13 presidential libraries. They are overseen by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
That's the organization that tried to recover the government documents Trump kept after losing the 2020 election, so it's not his favorite group.
Trump just fired the head of the National Archives in February, evidence that he is apparently still stewing in contempt over the group's mission to preserve the records of his administration.
So, why not just put the Trump library idea on ice, at least until after we find out whether a nation of willfully blind elected cowards will allow him to complete the takeover of the other two branches of government?
In the meantime, I'm confident that Florida lawmakers can find some other less egregious ways to dream up performative acts of fealty to Trump.
Frank Cerabino is a news columnist with The Palm Beach Post, which is part of the USA Today Network - Florida. He can be reached at fcerabino@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump library coming? Florida lawmakers want us to butt out | Opinion
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