UPDATE: WWII MEMORIAL PRIVATELY FUNDED! – Obama sends more barricades to WWII Memorial to keep veterans out

***LATEST UPDATES ARE AT THE BOTTOM***

Yeah, it looks like we’re going to need an open thread for this:

To quote Allahpundit on Twiter, “Never go full A-hole.” And that’s exactly what the administration is doing:

So if they are paying people to set up barricades, couldn’t they pay people to keep the park open? This is so stupid…

UPDATE: Apparently the Park Service workers don’t like being on camera and fled:

UPDATE II: Vets are on the way!

What Twitter is saying:

UPDATE III: One more:

UPDATE IV: You won’t believe the administration’s excuse to barricade the WWII memorial:

Via Jake Tapper:

Why was there a need for barricades in the first place?

“Park Service did not want to barricade these, but unfortunately we have been directed, because of the lack of appropriations, to close all facilities and grounds,” said National Mall and Memorial parks spokeswoman Carol Johnson.

I know that this is an open-air memorial, but we have people on staff who are CPR trained, (and) we want to make sure that we have maintenance crew to take care of any problems. What we’re trying to do is protect this resource for future generations,” said Johnson.

CNN’s Erin McPike reports.

See Legal Insurrection for more about the 1995 shutdown.

UPDATE V: Vets have arrived!

UPDATE VI: More from Charlie Sperling who is on the ground there for the Washington Examiner:

And of course this!

And for the protest sign of the day:

SIDE UPDATE: “Tear down this wall” protester is a Marine vet:

UPDATE VII: VETS ARE JUST MINUTES AWAY!

And a message from the Park Police:

UPDATE VIII: CONFIRMED – White House OMB behind closing of National Park:

UPDATE IX: HERE COME THE VETS!

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UPDATE X: Barricades were breached without incident:

UPDATE XI: Ok this made me laugh:

Here’s a few more:

Even more:

And a hateful one from Claire McCaskill:

UPDATE XII: And for the icing on the cake via Weasel Zippers:

The National World War II Memorial was funded almost entirely by private contributions, as specified in Public Law 103-32. The campaign received more than $197 million in cash and pledges. Support came from hundreds of thousands of individual Americans, hundreds of corporations and foundations, veterans groups, dozens of civic, fraternal and professional organizations, states and one territory, and students in 1,200 schools across the country.

Donated and pledged funds were used to cover the total project costs of approximately $182 million. These costs include site selection and design, construction and sculpture, a National Park Service maintenance fee required by the Commemorative Works Act, groundbreaking and dedication ceremonies, fund raising, and the 11-year administrative costs of the project from its inception in 1993 through completion in 2004.

Remaining funds are held on deposit with the U.S. Treasury in a National WWII Memorial Trust Fund. The funds will be used by the American Battle Monuments Commission solely to benefit the World War II Memorial.

The White House will counter something about staff and CPR and taxpayer money…but it doesn’t require staff and it wasn’t even built with taxpayer money. But this president has it closed anyway. What a wanker.


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