The Mark Burnett-produced inauguration of Donald J. Trump (“After the Rose: America’s Happily Ever After”) will take place on January 20, 2017, and in the days surrounding the inauguration, more than 20 groups have protests planned, including the Women’s March on Washington, which aimed to have an iconic backdrop on the National Mall.
But the National Park Service has preempted any protest in front of the Lincoln or Washington memorials by filing a “massive omnibus blocking permit,” reports the Guardian, that would take these spaces out of commission for months. “Inauguration bleachers and viewing stands started being erected on 1 November and it will take until 1 March to completely clear the major public spaces from all of the inauguration works,” said Mike Litterst, spokesman for the NPS.
The Women’s March, which has received 138,000 RSVPs according to its Facebook page, will need to secure another location outside of the Mall and Pennsylvania Avenue. But they will have to wait until the inauguration committee secures its own permits, and if they drag their feet long enough, the protests may be derailed by a classic Trump tactic: obstruction by construction. (“Angry women complaining about not getting to go to the mall! Sad!” Trump will surely tweet later today.) Bureaucracy may turn out to be a friend to the Trump administration after all.