Last Friday evening I attended the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with my wife and two friends to listen to a wonderful performance of Handel's "Messiah."

The Kennedy Center has been among the few places in Washington (sports arenas are another) where one can get through a day or evening without the confrontational and corrosive political language that has infected the city. Not any more.

President Trump, with the approval of a board he appointed, has added his name to the building. Henceforth, or until a future president and board remove it (one can only hope), the place will be labeled, if not called by everyone, the Trump-Kennedy Center.

I recall the first performance in what has become Washington's main cultural attraction. It was on Sept. 8, 1971, and the world premiere of Leonard Bernstein's "Mass," a work commissioned by Jacqueline Kennedy. The........

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