Chicago should landmark sign at Trump Tower

As a rule, I try not to have rules. That’s what makes this column such a draught of delight.

The closest I come to having a rule is this: Never advocate the impossible.

Because the impossible doesn’t happen. Then you look like a fool.

So when impossible ideas strike, I’m smart enough to bat them away.

Usually. But not always.

Like so many, I’ve been chafing under the despicable madness that is the administration of Donald Trump. Brooding over the enormous Trump sign that mars an otherwise beautiful building in the heart of the city, it struck me: We should take that thing down. Now.

Why not? We are a city filled with lawyers and officials. Sure, attempts have been made. Keep trying. I called the mayor’s office and the zoning department, the corporation counsel and Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd), who introduced the bill allowing the sign. I was particularly eager to hear from Reilly — is this not his shot at redemption? Imagine what a great day in Chicago that would be. A genuine riverside celebration, unlike former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Fire Festival squib and failure. Picture the citizens gathered, cheering as one by one the letters fall.

Might the argument not be made that “TRUMP” does not mean in 2019 what it meant when the monstrosity went up in 2014? That it is now the language of hate, chanted by bigots as they attack their cringing victims, a balm to racists worldwide.

Reilly remained mum. But the law department not only got back to me, but with an unexpected ray of hope.

“The City of Chicago evaluated its legal options after this sign was erected in 2014 and determined that steps could be taken in an attempt to force the sign to be removed,” spokesman Bill McCaffrey said in a statement. “Forcing removal of the sign now would likely result only in its replacement with a slightly smaller version as well as litigation that would cost the City in time and resources that are disproportionate to any incremental benefit of a smaller sign.”

Steps could be taken. The sign could be made smaller.

But wouldn’t that only feed the false sense of victimization that Donald Trump relishes? Removing the sign would allow him to stand before some hollering mob, arms spread, Christ on the cross, whining, “Look what Chicago is doing to my beautiful building ...”

Maybe all we need do is wait. In New York, residents of Trump Place voted to take down their sign. Let the free market solve this. Condo owners, as they contemplate their shrinking property values, will spit the name out themselves.

Should we let them? Isn’t forgetting our past what led us into this mess? A marvelous idea bloomed, a step Chicago could easily begin, right now. The city shouldn’t try to take the Trump sign down. We should landmark it. City landmarks must meet two of seven criteria of significance; the sign meets at least four.

Why keep it? So survivors of this shameful era, victims of Trump’s racist and xenophobic policies, can make pilgrimages there, point to the sign forever preserved, and remind their children what can happen when a nation loses sight of its cherished values.

The Trump sign could be our proud scar, our Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. No disrespect to veterans — Chicago’s actual Vietnam Veterans Memorial is across the river. If invoking the Vietnam War seems a stretch, consider scholar John Hellmann’s observation:

“Vietnam is an experience that has severely called into question American myth. Americans entered Vietnam with certain expectations that a story, a distinctly American story, would unfold. When the story of America in Vietnam turned into something unexpected, the true nature of the larger story of America itself became the subject of intense cultural dispute. On the deepest level, the legacy of Vietnam is the disruption of our story, of our explanation of the past and our vision of the future.”

Sound familiar? Something unexpected that makes people question the true nature of America? The Trump era, like Vietnam, tears our country apart, divides us between those who would pursue their illusion of greatness, ignoring human cost, ignoring reality itself, and those who can clearly see what is happening. Begin the atonement process before the crime has even ended. This will never be swept away; it can only be confronted. Landmark the sign.