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Take a good look at the familiar front of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, because it's about to go under wraps.
Starting next week, workmen will begin putting up scaffolding along the entire West front of the building, the side that faces the U.S. Capitol, according to a court official. After the scaffolding is completed, a huge fabric covering will be stretched over the framework, concealing both the scaffolding and the building.
Joshua Roberts / Reuters
A dentil molding from the facade of the Supreme Court is damaged after a piece of the marble detail fell from the building in Washington, D.C., November 28, 2005. The marble chunk, above the allegorical figure representing "Order," fell about an hour before the court opened without causing any injuries.
However, the fabric will be imprinted with an image of the court building, so it will be like looking at a huge sketch or photo, reminding passersby of the splendid building hidden beneath.
The reason for this extensive work goes back to one morning in November 2005, when a chunk of marble about the size of a loaf of bread came loose from the building and crashed onto the steps below. No one was hurt.
The piece came from a section just above the figures carved into marble in the triangular pediment over the steps. A short time later, a wire mesh surrounding that area was installed as a temporary measure to prevent any further pieces from falling. But conservators decided the building needed more extensive work to avoid any similar disasters.
During the roughly two years that the covering will be in place, mortar in the 80-year-old building will be examined and replaced, and carved elements on the marble facade will be strengthened as needed.
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Let the moonbat bashing of the Supreme Court begin !
How dare a co-equal branch of the Government dare to cross the mighty Dear Leader Obama!
How prophetic! Maybe it's like the end of the movie, where the House at the center of Corruption implodes & falls in on itself:
To be followed by a brand new Chapter, where folks truly have equal rights, have decent health care, all have an equal voice and a vote, elections are not skewed to the wealthy and corporations, and they get a place around the Workers' table;
Everyone plays by the same rules and all get a fair shot and a fair shake. And where they all gets an equal chance at an affordable Education.
"carved elements on the marble facade will be strengthened as needed."
facade (noun). 1. The face of a building.
2. An artificial or deceptive outward appearance.
If only the facade INSIDE the Court could be fixed as easily.....
It's a cute caption, but very deceiving.
I got totally excited to find out what the "cover up" was about.
All I can say is, Good One Pete Williams!
Obama / Biden 2012
Bob, you sound like a freaking idiot whats wrong with you.
For Christ sake man get help you get worse everyday
i don't think he even read the article at all or he wouldn't have posted anything
In the immortal words of Sgt. Hulka...
"LIGHTEN UP, FRANCIS."
Cute headline for a non-story.
How about something on, say, this
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/02/chen-guangcheng-left-embassy-threats-wife
Oh. Now I remember. Bad for Obama.
NoJoe, you didn't have to go all the way to th UK, it was already covered by MSNBC - over 12 hours ago:
http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/02/11497242-blind-activist-chen-guangcheng-chinese-officials-threatened-my-wife?ocid=ansmsnbc
Can't seem to find the "Bad for Obama" part in either one, though. Then again, if there was a headline tomorrow that said that the sun came up, that would be "Bad for Obama" in your world, right?
NoJo, more importantly, don't they eat dogs in China?
...you seem to have missed that...
Dear Lord, woman, did you even read that article before you posted it???
I read it. Read where Chen's lawyer said our Embassy officials relayed threats to his wife- and our Embassy officials denied it.
I've been following the story- have not seen ONE statement from Obama on the situation- which is this-
A human rights activist escaped house arrest, and sought refuge in our Embassy. He is now back in the hands of his persecutors- and Obama? Has not one word to say on the subject.
Not one.
Hey, since it's already Thursday over in London, let's go to NoJoe's favorite source for an update on this story:
"Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, arrived in China on Wednesday for
the top-level talks that risk being upstaged by the Chen case.
On Wednesday, Mrs Clinton released a statement saying: "I am pleased that we
were able to facilitate Chen Guangcheng’s stay and departure from the US embassy in a way that reflected his choices and our values. I was glad to have the chance to speak with him today and to congratulate him on being reunited with his wife and children.
Mr Chen has a number of understandings with the Chinese government about his future, including the opportunity to pursue higher education in a safe
environment. Making these commitments a reality is the next crucial task. The
United States government and the American people are committed to remaining
engaged with Mr Chen and his family in the days, weeks, and years ahead."
Mr Chen earlier reportedly told Mrs Clinton "I want to kiss you" after the US arranged a deal for his safety."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/9240463/Blind-Chinese-lawyer-Chen-Guangcheng-leaves-US-embassy.html
Yeah, that sounds REALLY bad for President Obama.....
JoAnne, did Chen have his dog with him? Cause, see...that would be the reason NoJo is so "collared" by this story.
Woof...
Mickey, you know how No Joe just "laps up" stories about dogs.
The marble chunk, above the allegorical figure representing "Order," fell about an hour before the court opened without causing any injuries.
Maybe they crossed God's "order", not Obama's. Very symbolic occurrence for the superstitious amongst us, huh? Maybe God be trying to tell us something about the court. Hmmmmm.....
.
Let the Moonbat Moonbattin' of the Moonbattin' Moonbats begin! Moonbattin' Bastiches, anyhow.
(hey- it makes as much sense as the vag-a-ka-bob's)
It sounds like your drunk drive-by.
Cheers!
Obama / Biden 2012
We definatley need to get Obama out of office before he has a chance to appoint any more Justices. The scourge of Obama's time in office will be with us long enough as it is...
Yeah and then you woke up.You don't even have a candidate for christ sake
God forbid the court would be fair and balanced.Your a fuc,king idiot
Obama isn't cool. He is cold.
It took them almost seven years to get around to fixing this?!?
Relax, Chris:
"Emergency repair work has been performed on the West Portico over several years during summer recess of the Court, but now full restoration work is ready to begin.
This spring scaffolding will be installed across the entire west elevation of the building as the AOC removes bird deterrent systems and safety netting and replaces the mortar and sealants in all of the joints between the stones. Additionally, the stone will be cleaned to remove general soiling, black gypsum crusts and disfiguring copper staining. The stone cleaning will use a low-pressure water washing method using mild detergents. The column capitols, carved portions of the cornice and the pediment statuary will be cleaned with a laser technology similar that which is used cosmetically for skin. The laser removes soiling without touching the very deteriorated and fragile stone. The carved stone of the portico column capitals and cornice and the sculpture of the portico pediment will also receive a special conservation treatment, called consolidation, to slow the deterioration of the stone and loss of detail. The bronze grilles at the portico will be cleaned of paint, coatings and corrosion and will be restored to the original brown statuary bronze finish to match the new windows that were installed as part of the interior rehabilitation."
http://www.aoc.gov/aoc/press-room/Supreme-Court-West-Facade-Restoration.cfm
Thanks, JoAnne!
You did an awesome job of pointing out just how imcomplete Pete's article is. There is no mention of emergency repairs being performed in this article, only of the wire mesh to catch any more falling debris. By reading only this article, it could be easily assumed, as I did, that no repair work had been done at all.
Kind of makes you wonder what else First Read leaves out of their articles, doesn't it?
Chris, it took me all of about 30 seconds to find out "the rest of the story" - which was a fluff piece to begin with. If you suspect that First Read is leaving anything out of their stories, you're free to follow up yourself on any of them any time.
Or, you could just continue to jump to more assumptions. Whatever works for you.
JoAnne, honey, IT'S THEIR @!$%#ING JOB AS "JOURNALISTS" TO TELL THE WHOLE STORY!!!
That's what they get paid to do and I'm pretty sure they get paid a pretty good amount of money for it.
Or, you could stop sucking First Read's collective dick and realize that they lie to you as much as FOX News does. Wake up, ya @!$%#ing tool.
Perhaps the court can go about its sworn business without all the intrusion of popular media and rampaging politicians campaigning......truly sequestered.
November 2005? So, no sooner was John Roberts appointed Chief Justice than the integrity of the court started crumbling, literally.
I don't believe in signs, but that's pretty amazing.
The lack of integrity of the Court showed in the December 2000 case of Gore vs. Bush, with the appointment of George Bush to be president.
I didn't see anything mentioningthat that Scalia, Alito, Roberts, and Thomas also need to be replaced!! The Supreme Court started crumbling when Thomas was appointed!!!
During this time of GLOBAL ECONOMIC COLLAPSE, wouldn't it be better to just block off the steps AND STOP WASTING THE 99% American People's tax money in such a dire time?
Kind of like Edgar Allen Poe's "Fall of the House of Usher".
One thing most of you posters fail to realize, is that this puts some people to work. Contractors/Laborers? I say go for it!
REALLY! Folks you are all LOOPY in here...this is a story to try and Downgrade the importance of the supreme court! That is why the word "Coverup" was used...it is a scandal style of word and is intended to damage the courts standing ...currently against OBAMA CARE!
I think the ghosts of Supreme Court Judges past were trying to tear the building down after they read the ruling allowing unlimited donations by Super Pacs. You mean a bunch of wealthy contributors can manipulate the election bombarding the air waves before an important election spreading falsehoods and disinformation to scare voters so that the proposition can benefit the special interest group? Thats sounds really fair and democratic, not! This is an insult to the one man one vote and lends an unfair advantage to special interest. The most any politician should be allowed to accept in $100 from each voter. The rest of the money should come from taxes to arrange debates. Being bombarded with empty campaign promises is ridiculous.
And ? What is the COST TO TAXPAYERS for this GRANDIOSE PROJECT and WHO are the VENDORS that are doing this JOB?
Are any affiliated with ANYONE IN OFFICE or EMPLOYEE ???
Is CONGRESS doing the TAXPAYER any SAVINGS? Is it part of the INFRASTRUCTURE of this COUNTRY ????
I read that CONGRESS does not want to UPGRADE OUR INFRASTRUCTURE TO THE 21st CENTURY and beyond ??
NO MONEY !!! and THIS !
Now that I think about it, I think I did get hit by that chunk of marble back in 2005. I need to get an attorney and sue for $20 million.
I thought for sure this was another nut job conservative christian story to cover a satue's pee pee.