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Bettie

(18,743 posts)
1. Different story, no paywall...
Thu Jun 19, 2025, 08:31 AM
Jun 19
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/eight-foot-tall-dictator-approved-sculpture-appears-on-national-mall/ar-AA1GZaBG

Remember the poop statue? The curly-swirly pile of doo that sat atop a replica of former House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-California) desk? The work of protest art placed on the National Mall last October in mock tribute to the Jan. 6 rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election?

Well, the artists responsible for the political poo plop appear to have struck again. This time with a work called “Dictator Approved,” an 8-foot-tall sculpture showing a gold-painted hand with a distinctive thumbs-up quashing the sea foam green crown of the Statue of Liberty. It sits at the same location on the Mall near Third Street NW as the poop statue did last fall.

The artwork’s creators intended “Dictator Approved” as a rejoinder to the June 14 military parade and authoritarianism, according to a permit issued by the National Park Service. The parade, the creators wrote in the application, “Will feature imagery similar to autocratic, oppressive regime, i.e. N. Korea, Russia, and China, marching through DC.” The purpose of the statue, they continued, is to call attention to “the praising these types of oppressive leaders have given Donald Trump.”

Plaques on the four sides of the artwork’s base include quotes from world leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin (“President Trump is a very bright and talented man.”), Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (“The most respected, the most feared person is Donald Trump.”), former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro (“We do have a great deal of shared values. I admire President Trump.”) and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un (“Your Excellency.” A “special” relationship. “The extraordinary courage of President Trump.”).

Recommendations

9 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

statue in front of the us capitol [View all] moonshinegnomie Jun 19 OP
Different story, no paywall... Bettie Jun 19 #1
A big gold thumb's up trumps liberty. Kid Berwyn Jun 19 #2
KNR niyad Jun 19 #3
It needs a TACO RainCaster Jun 19 #4
Fierce! 👍 electric_blue68 Jun 19 #5
In 1986, I was fortunate enough to be on Governors Island for Liberty Weekend. littlemissmartypants Jun 19 #6
Great story! Thanks! FailureToCommunicate Jun 19 #7
Thank you, FailureToCommunicate. ❤️ littlemissmartypants Jun 19 #8
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