Replies: 43 Comments
on Monday, February 12th, walt said
Blandly,
are you sure that being urbane by necessity means you must also be bland? Is it not possible to be passionately, delightfully, intelligently, intuitively, creatively and an urbane wit as well? I did enjoy your passionate remarks over all or I wouldn't have responded at all.
on Monday, February 12th, walt said
Blandly,
I don't hold much against anyone on here. I just wanted to make sure you knew where I stood. But it is not a good thing to assume too much...as I myself did in my initial comments when I wrote what was a somewhat over the top unresearched knee j e r k response... and yes, full of hubris as you said. I'm usually more careful than that. So I can't hold you anymore guilty than myself on that one. In fact one of the things I hate most about the last 20 years of political dialogue is that it has caused the public to polarize and jump to these sorts of cliched and stereotypical assumptions... like all Republicans are radical religionistas or religious at all, that all liberals are Godless, or believe that they know what is right for all any more than any conservative believes they know what is right for all, that a conservative can't enjoy edgy art (or even sleaze--look at some of the FOX netwrok programing) or that liberals all enjoy the grossest stuff out there and want to foist it on an unexpecting public, or that all republicans are patriotic and all liberals are communists...or that even a communist can't be patriotic for that matter or a believer (remember the early Christian churches often held all things in common...)these are false assumptions. When we stop doing that to each other things get much more interesting and productive.
But it is a cold idea to connect terrorism to art, and yet that is in fact what any guerilla artist does including the two blinker guys...just not on exactly the same terms as the twin towers attack since their intent was not to harm anyone. Both were intended to gain attention for their cause, one radical Islam and the other a cartoon show. So I wasn't suggesting you were wrong or even out of line...just that it does leave one cold to make the comparison.
on Monday, February 12th, Blandly Urbane said
Walter,
I did read your post, but did not say you "did" admire "Mabel Thorpe, (guess I misspelled Mabel)" or "Serrano(thanks for the lesson here, though not sure I needed it).
I said, "Someone that may" as I really had no clue where you would stand on those "works."
That said, my apologies for any offense you may have taken at my comments. I was in quite a "mood" this morning and struck out at the first opportunity. I rarely if ever comment along the lines that I did; as it's pointless. I do try to be "bland" and "urbane," although this certainly wasn't apparent from my comment.
Apologies again. As ugly and "cynical" as my twin towers remark was/is, I still think it was pretty catchy and very nasty, blog, comment appropriate.
on Monday, February 12th, walt said
Andrew,
I also agree that some of the things people are upset about are not things that can be fixed in the normal course of business. Apeaking of business... it is not the savior that it is often cracked up to be by some and should never be allowed the entire roll of leadership. Business is by its nature its own real interest. It is often antagonistic to the needs of a community and even its own labor force. We’ve seen this most recently in the Enron affair. And far from being the bad apple, Enron was only the tip of the ice-berg as we saw for several quarters afterwards companies reducing their projected profits for fear they’d get caught in similar accounting scams.
As to Cheney's plans...being one who believes in democracy one wants to be sympathetic to any country who decides to change itself and become a democracy. But we all know how rare are those countries whose changes are made from without rather than from within. Our own revolution is a great example. No one told us to break with England and set up our own version of democracy. Our fore-fathers made that call and the country had to be encouraged that a fight was worth it.
Ultimately enough of the populace agreed with the landowners that their own lives would be better if Britain was thrown out. Japan amd Germany were truly defeated and humiliated and unable to resist those changes again ultimately finding it within their personal interests to allow us to help rebuild and set them up as democracies.
However this is a different issue. First, we don't have the manpower in the armed forces to do the job. The Iraqi's are too busy fighting amongst themselves at the moment and Dick and friends don't seem to have the political chops to get them to quit. There is a reverse David and Goliath perception in the Islamic world, not without merit, that we are the devil. At least from their religious point of view there is some precident for this. We've been playing them off against each other for some time now so we could keep cheap oil.
Ultimately Israel plays into this. I'm not against Israel. I think they are basically getting a bad hand everytime. But if we don't help make peace there like we helped establish that nation back in the 50's it will continue to be a pimple on the backside of the Middle East. But Israel is also an example of a people who banded together to decide their own fate in the world. The Islamic world should look to them as an example rather than a foe. But that may be asking a lot.
A new world order defined by force of arms is highly questionable. In fact I'm surprized the religious right in the country doesn't distrust such an idea as it smacks of their own definintions of the Anti-Christ and the prophecies that he would use a Christian stance to fool the church. I'm still a Christian but afraid I haven't been able to buy into all the Millemium prophecy interpretations. They change the interpretation each generation while sounding like they know each time. Obviously they are guessing what the scriptures are supposed to mean. But they certainly like to sound authoritative. Christ said simply to watch and wait and prepare...he also said "he who lives by the sword" dies by it.
But I suppose this will continue because even Christopher Columbus was hoping to bring on the favored millenium by finding a trade route to India. The manifest destiny thought balloon has been hanging over our heads in this country since the new world was discovered by the Europeans. We used it in our own little genocide against the native American tribes.
Now I know you are not saying you buy into any of Cheney's ideas en toto or even in part. You were just stating facts.
on Monday, February 12th, walt said
Dear blandly, here part of the problem is that you read your own thoughts into what was said rather than reading what was said. I don't care for Maplethorpe or Serranos Piss Christ. Never said anything about them. Although they are not the epitomy of all that I hate in the arts either. Just don't particularly care for either artist's body of work. Nor have I praised the two who put up the cartoon blinkers. In fact the kind of advertising they were doing is actually a separate issue from the response as it was not intended to achieve a fake bomb alert but raise consciousness for a cartoon show. The bomb alert was an add on compliments of the city.
Had you read a bit of the response and answers you would find I've already trimmed my sails a bit as well.
Now comparing the Trade Towers with performance art...that's pretty cynical. That's cold.
on Monday, February 12th, Mark said
Andrew, I agree if it is written to scare then it might. I do not scare easy and the "New American Century" is not ment to scare but is a plan, a plan concieved by Cheney, Rumsfeld and others long before Bush came into offeice and it is a plan for world domination in the name of democracy using multiple wars taking place at the same time. These people are serious. The fact that it is not ment to scare is the most frieghtening part of all.
on Monday, February 12th, Blandly Urbane said
I "semi-partially-kind-of-in-a-way," apologize in advance for any comments that may offend. I'm in a "car-birdflip-bold-anonymity-kind" of mood.
The Roman Candles that were the twin towers were the ultimate in "performance art," eh? We all, myself included love to second guess after the fact. I'm not, nor have I ever been a fan of Beantown, beautiful city or not. However, when security is finally delegated as the responsibility of the world of art I'll take your comments/post more seriously; until then I'll have to leave it up to people that are accountable to the public whether at times they overreact or not. Some careers actually are responsible for safety and some are not. Security is not my forte, nor from your remarks yours. Sometimes stupid things happen. What if one had actually been more than just a blinky LED prop left by someone other than the cosmetology school drop out asshats?
Sorry, but your hubris kind of ticks me off! Someone that may appreciate "Piss Christ" (religious or not), "Mable Thorpe" (I can never resist) or my steaming stool on your lawn offered as art rather than fertilizer, isn't really someone I will take too seriously. Especially if they come off as being so much more aware of the workings of the universe than the rest of us rubes (at least us really stupid and gullible Right Wing rubes).
on Monday, February 12th, Andrew said
Mark, whatever you read will scare you if that's what it's tailored to do. So beware of thinking propaganda gives you the knowledge you need to have a valid opinion. And Jose, what I wrote was not to cast any anti american light on you or what you wrote at all. You among the grass that blows whichever way the wind does, are an oak tree.
on Monday, February 12th, Mark said
Jose, I think it important that we do listen to those outside the USA. Often one on the outside sees things in a better light then those on the inside. Those who may bet upset by your opinion must think that only Amereicans have freedom of speach. Part of the USA's trouble is we do not listen to others, that is not to say we should do what they think but we should listen.
To regain the respect of the rest of the world, which we are so lacking and for good reason, is that we need to act as partners to the rest of the world and not, as if we and only we, know what is best for the rest of the world. Not only as a country but as individuals as well. The truth is that Bush has made this world a far more dangerous place then it was befor 9/11, yes the terrorist have a bigger hand in it as well, but Bush has made the situation far worse, perhaps, and I hope I am wrong, perhaps beyond repair.
The optimist in me thinks and hopes otherwise as people are a resiliant species and there has been much in history that could have destroyed man in many ways yet man has gone on. But beware I feel Bush has plans we may all in the world regret. Read the "New American Century" it will scare you.
on Monday, February 12th, jose said
You may have misunderstood me Andrew, you make it sound as if I were anti-American. I am not. I lived in your country for three years in different stages of my life, though this could never give me authority to claim that I fully grasp it’s deeply complex nature or even lecture you about it. That was not what I was doing. I was asking myself, where has that America that I held dear gone? The America I knew in the early sixties, then again in the mid seventies in my senior year at high-school. Or had it just been a dream I’d had, twice, and was pulled away from with great sadness?
Goodness knows what a miserable syrupy affair politics in certain European countries has been ever since the war. My country’s politicians have hardly any credibility, at least I don’t give them any. Besides, what governs nations these days is no longer government but Business. But that’s not the point. You get to the point in your opening statement when you say that there is a lack of great leaders… or, I would say, we all [in our respective countries] have had the knack to bet on the most helpless ‘horses’ to be the winner.
Anyway, it’s reading responses like yours, Walt, that still keeps up the hope that the ‘dream’ did happen and is still alive. Thank you.
on Monday, February 12th, Andrew said
Walt, we can never go back. We can just find ourselves, or the Europeans, in a new situation that permits some sympathy from and towards each of us. Terrorism has no 'evil' face, and blame is assigned at will, and as needed for political agandas. While it may have been Al Quaida that placed the bombs in Madrid, for many people, we are to blame for that, or the political party that was ousted as a result. So, get this, an ultra right wing terrorist group places a bomb, and the ultra left doesn't blame them for their action. They blame a moderate government, who sent an insignificant number of rear line soldiers to Iraq.
To get sympathy as in World War Two, we need an enemy with a face, who has created chaos and death in towns and villages that are helpless to defend themselves. We come in, and drive them out. Each individual act of saving someone, or of killing their enemy, becomes the stuff stories are told about. To be perceived as humane, and not arrogant, the 'average' Americans have to be seen in action, not just the arrogant, complaining five star hotel dwellers.
These events are nearly impossible to imagine in our time. When Europeans come to America, they are now impressed with how cheap our clothing is, and how you can eat in a restaurant for less than seventy dollars. That is psychologically comparable to visiting a third world country and does not generate respect. The death penalty does not exist in Europe, which adds to this effect. Individuals who conduct themselves well, ex pats like me, might have some effect, but it's pretty limited. I don't know how to regain what we've lost. I think in the end we have to replace it with something new.
on Sunday, February 11th, walt said
Kathleen,
I understand. My memories of Boston are that is far more art conscious than where I now live. Although, like Boston, Columbus is a work in progress. I haven't been back to Boston for many years although I'm always keeping my eyes open for the chance to exhibit there. I had some watercolors in a gallery in Plymouth a few years ago and was hoping for a good relationship with the gallery so I could have reason to come back. They just disapeared one day with all my work-- about 24 all together. Not that it was much. Mostly just small postcard sized watercolor souvineers from various trips, the saddest of which was my last trip to Boston. Even if they sold them at the prices we'd negotiated I didn't loose much.
Well the solution of course is that putting work up should in fact be regulated. Regulaton is part of the governments job so as to keep the peace. Especially when placed on public or privately owned sites. That has always been the norm. They have to pay barn owners in the south to paint Mail Pouch tobacco signs even out in the country. And as much as I feel there may have been overreaction I never felt much sympathy for the two guys who put the stuff up illegally, if in fact they didn't gain permission properly in the first place.
My son, a few years back when he was an art student, became fascinated with the idea of guerilla installations and made a few in out of the way obscure places, mostly old ruined factory buildings here in the area. He became obsessed with the idea of placing a giant tea bag in the big coffee cup on top of a local Cup-o-Joe's. He made the bag from several burlap bags sewn together with a rope and a piece of ply-wood for a tag. Then filled the bag with straw. He even made a practice run to make sure he was able to climb the building in order to place his tea bag. I admit for a brief moment my sense of humor got the best of me and I kinda thought it was a cool idea...you know--harmless enough. But the night he intended to do it I reminded him that if he was arrested for tresspassing and possibly other infractions I would not bail him out of jail. The tea bag still rots under my pine tree in the back yard.
Public art, whether paid for by the city or by private citizens, whether on public or private property is in fact something more than an artist taking it in his own hands to place that object himself. It is by rights an honor bestowed by the citizenry or the property owners.
While the making of a piece of art should never be censored by anyone but the artist, placing it in a public place is a different story. It is part of our social contract and becomes part of our cultural heritage. What we hang in our homes, a gallery or even a museum, especially if it is funded privately is no ones business however. I have several large sculptural pieces placed in my yard visible from the street and I'll fight if someone wants me to take them down. One is by my friend Chris Mohler who I recently wrote about and one by my daugher-in- law.
The saddest thing is that these two guys, even if they have to do some time in the end, will probably become famous for a while at least...their fifteen minutes. Not because their work was worth anything, but because they made themselves famous by inadvertantly causing this flap. Those are the wrong reasons as neither the work nor the idea has much merit nor is it terribly original. And in fact was part of a commercial work by other artists. They were in fact just marketers.
on Sunday, February 11th, Kathleen said
Walt - Thanks for the additional research. Still unsettling. Your blog made me consider the difference between preventative action and paranoid action. What's OK and why?
I admit it. I am paranoid with one thing. I am paranoid with the thought that this Aqua Teen bomb scare may slow the process of having actual art installed around this city. Can you imagine if that is the impact?
The city is still beautiful, Walt. I love it, too. Art has become more visible but we still are not there yet. Two additions that will interest you is the new ICA building on the waterfront and the somewhat older Zakim Bridge that attaches Boston to the Tobin Bridge. Beautiful changes to the city. Google images of both.
on Sunday, February 11th, walt said
Andrew, we must have posted at the same time and then I stepped out to buy a pack of smokes. You make some good points. While I have some thoughts on whether it is our foriegn policies and business practices or individual citizens that catches the blame overseas, I do want to ask you if, from what you've seen in Italy and perhaps elsewhere, do you feel we've lost that good will we gained after WWII and briefly after 9-11 for good? Or are there things we can do governmentally or as citizens to regain and regenerate it. Certainly there are those in the States who felt we were doing Iraq a favor, even making a grand gesture of good will when we took out Saddam and have been rather stupified when the response world wide was anything but complimentary and approving.
on Sunday, February 11th, walt said
Thanks for your input Jose. I think it is quite important that we in the U.S. understand how we are percieved in other countries by the citizenry rather than their governments. It is rare that we get to hear from you directly on his kind of issue. Mostly we hear from others who tell us what you think from their own political motives. Of course, as we would expect of any government or people whether democratic or otherwise, the opinions of individuals are only that. I have mine, you have yours and Don has his own. It is one of those basic liberties that no government has authority over however much they may try to control its public expression.
While my immediate thoughts on the blinking cartoons and the flap over the bomb scare may have been premature (yes even knee j e r k I suppose) after the fact and certainly not as researched as I would have prefered, the fact that I can write a blog and express my opinion in public without undue fear of repisal is still fairly rare in the world. I have friends from other countries who cannot speak to these issues from personal opinion for fear of reprisal from their own governments. Jose you are as aware of this as anyone who has so far responded. Don and Kathleen both have some important positions which have caused me to do a little self evaluation.
It is of course important that proper care and concern be excercised when a percieved threat to public security has been detected. I honestly don't think I really suggested otherwise. I still think we, and I say we meaning those of us here in the U.S., tend to jump to conclusions as I did to some extent in the opposite direction. We have had a very long period of division in this country between two parties. Some of it is a true division, nearly equally divided, between what has been designated Red and Blue states. I believe that some issues do require conservative solutions and some liberal and progressive solutions. There is wisdom on both sides.
But this natural division, one that can be balanced and healthy has, from my reading of the history, had a purposeful oppurtunistic wedge driven into it. The term wedge issue is not my own. It comes from specific political operatives and managers. The very fact that the Gore/Bush elections were so very close with Gore winning the popular vote and Bush the Electoral College illustrates this.
Because of that split in the opinions of the populace and the vulnerability we feel now after 9/11 it is most important that the people of this country know the facts, enter into very open dialogue and find the most brilliant from every side of the discussion who can help sculpt answers and solutions. I can't say that enough.
The very brief moment we experienced just after 9/11 when we, as a people of this country and even the world, pulled together and were of one heart was an exciting experience. I don't think I've ever felt anything like this since I was a small boy and innocent of the huge differences of opinion in my own country.
My first awakening was the death of JFK and my uncle who was a fighter pilot in the Navy just prior the the Gulf of Tonken. He trained many of the fighter pilots who fought in that battle but died prior to it in an unfortunate crash while trying to land on an air craft carrier north of Viet Nam in the Sea of Japan.
In short order Martin Luther King was assasinated and Bobby Kennedy was assasinated. I began to comprehend at that time the conflict between liberal and conservative in this country, I was in middle school during the heighth of the Civil Rights movement and I was in high school during the internal strife over the Viet Nam war. I have changed my leanings with the knowledge I've gained over the years as I became more educated, found my own religious leanings and my professional career moved forward learning more about how the business world operates.
We are naive in this country. I think Don would agree though possibly for different reasons. As I mentioned before the Oklahoma City bombing from my point of view should have been the wake up call. Our first assumption was that it was accomplished by outside terrorists when in fact it came from within. It was not an act of revolution as claimed by those who set the bomb but one of terrorism against innocent civilians.
In one instant more U.S. citizens were murdered than all the deaths that occured in the course of all the operations of certain radical left groups during the sixties in this country. Few ever consider this. We forget that this was not an act of the left but from the radical right during a time when certain talk radio hosts were suggesting just where to aim a gun at the head of a sitting president. Clnton's impeachment was the result of this public harrangue. However there was no evidence of wrong doing in the original allegations leading to the impeachment proceedings.
Just prior to Oklahoma City I visited Budapest Hungary for an exhibition of my work. I met, not realizing who he was, the head of the NAZI party of Hungary. He was brought to our apartment under the guise of being an intellectual, a writer, interested in our art. But in fact his purpose was to feel us out as possible converts.
I grew up in Oklahoma and had experience with racists and the KKK. This man was brilliant in comparison to those rather deluded bumbling good old boys I knew in Oklahoma. He was quite frightening. I followed Hungarian politics for a while afterwards and was breathless as the democratic movement barely won the elections over Hungary's resurgent radical right. We even saw NAZI protests in Austria that spring at the train station as we traveled to Amsterdam. Later in Dresden Germany I spoke with a friend who told me about the midnight marches by skin heads and neo-NAZI's just after the Berlin wall fell and Germany began its reunification of East and West. They were singing the old anti-semitic songs and accosting people unlucky enough to be on the street at that time. I began doing some research. I found some transcripts from a Congressional hearing on groups like this operating in the United States upon my return. There is a pattern to the way these groups operate within the U.S. and elsewhere. They frequent gun shows, various political rallies, religious rallies and other public events working the outer circle of the crowd looking for marginalized and disgruntled individuals who are vulnerable to their line of thinking...that is that there is something wrong in this country, that the country prefers people of color,immigrants and people on the left over those who believe in their values. Those values favor white, middle lower class, the religiously conservative, etc. These converts are separated from the crowd like a cowboy separates a calf from the herd to be branded.
While in Hungary I saw this same tactic employed on one of the members of our group who was having some personal problems at home. Luckily he was far brighter and more centered than they assumed and was able to see through the ruse as it became apparent how he was being manipulated.
These groups work in cells. It is the same structure as we've seen with Jihadi extremists. After Timothy McVey was prosecuted and executed for his roll in the Oklahoma City bombing many of these groups lost popularity and have subsequently remained more underground and asleep. To the point that no one seems to be paying attention at least in the press these days.
Now I don't want to particpate in conspiracy theories. I want to know the facts. I fear we are far too willing to believe what pleases us, or fits our own point of view. I'm stating these things because I experienced them and want to explain that there is sufficient reason for a well informed, civic minded and patriotic person to feel somewhat paranoid in a population which is growing paranoid for honest reasons.
The tendancy for that split I mentioned above to face the dilemma of who we should fear 'the enemy within or the enemy without' is great. And the stakes are great with huge sums of money and power and personal liberty and security at stake. Artists, writers, historians and other professors-- intellectuals in general-- are often targeted when a country is taken over from within or without or just becomes paranoid about the possibility. So, given the context in which we began with two artists causing an unintentional panic, I think this is an appropriate and needed discussion.
on Sunday, February 11th, Andrew said
Walt what you've done here is open the door to a political discussion. Since I have my views on politics and people, Jose's comment is going to pull me into this perhaps deeper than I'd like to go. Anyway...
In the arts, we have no great leaders. We have no current schools of the level of the Impressionists. We have a lot of posers, but not much in the way of things likely to still be relevent in five hundred years.
In politics, it's the same. Chirac is no DeGaulle, and it's easier for Americans to forget presidents' names of the last forty years than it is those of the previous forty. Blair is not a Churchill, and Putin is no Kruschev. What happened?
I believe things have gotten so much more complicated in these times, that our leaders cannot be as open with us as they once were. This leads them to create the impression that they're not being honest, quite simply, because they aren't. But if we citizens knew the whole truth, perhaps we'd just get in the way. It is our right, but not neccesarily in our best interest.
Think about how the Europeans view things American, and why. I swear to you I know, because I've lived here for twenty five years. Every European view I've ever observed is skewed way off to one side or the other. Like us. Each viewpoint is colored by one, out of context experience that has left the holder with an impression he believes in more than that the sky is blue. I'll give you an example of how this happens.
European companies are no longer offering customer relations, similar to what the American companies did about fifteen years ago. Since it started with us, many perceive this as an 'american' phenomenon, a contamination born in the USA and subsequently exported to Europe.
But it's not, even if it started with us. It is a natural evolution of world business. As companies become worldwide sellers of cheap cell phones, etc., they no longer have enough people working to handle customer complaints. If you sell millions of any given product, you simply can't give personal attention to customers, no matter what their complaint is. We did that before many Europeans did, and thus, we live with the reputation of having created this rather seedy way of doing business.
The perception of most Europeans is, that nearly everything that's wrong in Europe, came from the United States. That is because many things happened ten years before they did in Europe, in America. Add to that that the relatively few Americans that visit Europe are an elite, and behave more arrogantly than the large mass of simple folk that can't afford to go, and you have set an unfair example from which Europeans will judge what Americans as a whole are like. The politics of this group does not represent us accurately, either. But some things, like dissing the Kyoto accord, are really, really bad moves on our part, that are often used as an example to shore up other, weaker, arguments.
Just above, it says, 'much of the world hates us because of our attitude..." Much of the world hates us for the same reason any group of people have ever hated any other group; because of ignorance and bigotry. Not that they don't have really, really, good reasons to hate us...but most of them aren't aware of what those are. Neither are we, as the only news we have to make our decisions from is filtered, innaccurate garbage. A few guys in Spain changed the results of a whole country's election with a couple of bombs. That's my opinion, and I didn't read that somewhere...it's a conclusion I came to watching what happened. I think it was brilliant. I also think the roadside bombs in Iraq may have the same result in our country. We're pretty close to 50/50 raving Republicans and ranting Democrats, wouldn't take much to swing the pendulum either way.
What's the story with Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, Syria, or Iran? I have no idea, as much as I think and read about it, and would like to say I've found something I'm certain of to base my opinions on. I challenge anyone to say they know anything, anything at all, that would help them decide who's right and who's wrong, or why we're in Iraq. We're helpless. We can have our opinions on a barstool, and maybe get into a fight about them. They are after all, just hot air.
on Sunday, February 11th, jose said
Always a good blog, Walt, one that wants to make you speak your heart out. I’ve been listening to this one from a distance because it is, after all, primarily an issue the people of the US have to come to terms with and I know from my own experience that the point of view of outsiders is seldom welcome. I still have a vivid account of the wrath in the woman’s eyes at a private dinner party my wife and I were invited to in Brunei when the subject suddenly veered to the last presidential elections and a few people expressed some concerns and thoughts and wondered whether those concerns were legitimate. All in a very civil manner, trust me.
The woman’s response, sadly, gave us proof that they were, and that there reigned in the US a general atmosphere of paranoia that had become unbridled. The wrath, I remember, was her reaction to my response to her tirade on Bush’s qualities and legitimacy [?] followed by her statement that she felt the topic was politically incorrect. In the silence that followed, I told her that she more than satisfied our curiosity and that there was no such thing as political incorrectness beyond the borders of her country, no matter how hard some sectors in ours tried to import it, and that we were all accustomed to other people discussing certain policies of our respective governments.
I would have liked to say – but I didn’t - that the concept of political incorrectness was borne out of a society that had somehow ‘lost it’s way’ and had come to live in fear [not only of terrorism and acts of violence, or of being sued at a click of a finger for the most insignificant things] but at the root level of being afraid to be criticised or hearing a contrary opinion. And I would have liked to have added this: a society which in its isolation from the world [beyond the pursuit of its commercial and strategic interests] seems increasingly incapable of communicating or engaging the world unless it perceives an interest.]
An overwhelming majority of Europeans are grateful to America for entering the world wars but we do not harbour romantic fantasies about ulterior motives and ultimate benefits. Neither do we hold a grudge for this either, it is the trade unit of all political and military alliances. Always was, always will be. And if you have the upper hand – the military clout – it is a good way to keep the economy in shape.
I always had great admiration for your revolution, for the Declaration of Independence and your Bill of Rights, always admired the effectiveness of your two party system and the system of Checks and Balances. But it all seems suspended in a fog somewhere. It is becoming increasingly difficult to understand where you are heading and to keep up the blind faith and support for certain of America’s recent policies: Iraq and lack of endorsement of the Kyoto Agreement being but two possible examples. [though I can understand the political reasons for not pushing for impeachment and allowing the current vice-president to step up to the plate and run for a third Republican ticket... or am I wrong on this one?]
Obviously, Don’s position here worries me tremendously as a citizen of the world. I am not going to contradict his views because he seems headfast about them and, as he says himself, he is entitled to his views [though somewhere between the lines I hear him saying he knows best]. I really don’t want to argue but I sometimes ask myself if the Germans didn’t feel in their heart of hearts that they were dead-right to do what they were doing, lost as they became in their collective insanity. A common foe was named and it became legitimate to eradicate it from the world. Now this does sounds hauntingly familiar.
The world would have been a different place perhaps, if young Adolf had been accepted in Art School. I have no doubts that the sort of terrorism that we have come to experience since 9/11 could have been spared if that decisive vote in Florida had gone the other way. But perhaps, that too, is an ‘inconvenient truth’.
I’ll spare you my thoughts on the Bush-House of Laden feud you were sadly pulled into. But I can understand your fear Don. You felt you were out of harm’s way and able to control things from a distance and in one tragic morning you were made to see what a great chunk of the world was already accustomed to dealing with: vulnerability.
Safety is an illusion. An illusion that is best kept up through dialogue and understanding rather than force and influence.
Ps. just caught that last post: I couldn't agree with you more, Andrew.
on Saturday, February 10th, Andrew said
Walt, in your ramblings you got one point down; that everyone who calls themselves a Democrat or a Republican ought to move towards the center, because we need brilliant minds from both sides. We who elect them should stop thinking about what party they belong to, and think only about as much of each and every idea they propose as we can. Think about the long term consequences, the costs both human and material, the chance of success that such ideas have, and the time it's going to take to see them realized. No more Knee j e r k. W've had enough of that in recent times, and look where it's led.
on Saturday, February 10th, walt said
Kathleen, did some checking. apparently the pipe bombs were phonies too. But I can see how that would change the context of the situation. I still think the panic was a bit over the top. Not that it shouldn't be properly inspected and dealt with...just that our reactions are...well it almost seems like we need another act of terrorism to keep the spirit alive. Are we feeding the fires ourselves by panicking so readily? I would feel a lot better about National Security if it were handled in a more cool headed way so as not to cause such headlines.
It's all so ironic. It was not the fake pipe bombs but the blinking cartoons that won the day. It was a network marketing ploy that fed into a mainstream media flood. Ratings are the goal. Journalism has been taken captive by advertising dollars which is why I don't think the mainstream media can be called liberal or left leaning. It's all about capitalism which in itself isn't a bad thing. But once out of control our own commercial success is become a monster eating it's own tail.
Wow! I guess I'm still left of center. Phew, I was getting worried there for a moment.
on Saturday, February 10th, walt said
by the say Kathleen I spent two years over the mystic Tobin Bridge in Chelsea. Lovely city. Wish I still lived there. BU was a great school.
on Saturday, February 10th, Walt said
Ok Kathleen, that was never broadcast on national news. I retract what I've said. That makes it different. Blinking cartoons are one thing, real bombs are another.
on Saturday, February 10th, Kathleen said
I live in Boston and was not amused. Did you know that the Boston Police actually found a legitimate pipe bomb that morning? It had nothing to do with the Aqua Teen ad campaign. It was a coincidence that fueled the fire to ensure that all of the "ads" were ads and not bombs. That is why they didn't stop at one.
Those boxes were unprofessional constructed with no mfg. info and electrical tape/wire exposed, and then improperly secured to bridges and train stations as well as other high impact areas like hospitals and expressways. The authorities did their job.
When someone values my life enough to get down on their hands and knees over an object they feel may be a bomb to check it out, I thank them. I don't laugh....and I have a great sense of humor, too.
on Saturday, February 10th, matt said
Right on Walt! Well said.
on Friday, February 9th, walt said
Gee, I didn't realize the word j e r k was a four star word. Do I get extra scrabble points for that?
on Friday, February 9th, walt said
Don, can you tell me why we went into Iraq when we did instead of Iran? After all they really were sponsoring terrorism and everyone knew it. Better yet, why didn't we simply finish the job in Afganistan? We've helped feed this fire. Don't you feel we've fallen into their trap? Does George have a plan of action or is he playing it by the seat of his pants. I am not just venting here. I'm being very careful how I choose my words. I really want to understand this situation we're in.
I was as pained as anyone on 9-11. I was teaching a morning class and as soon as the realization of what happened hit me I was staring at 20 some odd young faces wondering how many of them would be sent to fight somewhere (we didn't yet know where) in the world far from home. I remember saying that this was their Pearl Harbor and that we would end up at war somewhere in the middle east. When we were told that somewhere would be Afganistan I was in favor of going because that's where Al Qaida was operating. My son had just joined the Air Force and I knew he might have to go at some point. I realized I might loose him. Luckilly it didn't turn out that way. But we know a number of kids my sons age and younger who have been and are in either Afganistan or Iraq now.
It is extrememly important that these issues are discussed exhaustively from both points of view. And both sides of the discussion have got to be willing to accept the possibility of being wrong. We can't afford to make decisions based only on knee **** reactions. We'd better know the facts. It turns out that the reasons for going into Iraq were questionable if not downright false. It turns out the UN inspectors were correct in their assessment that Saddam didn't have WMD hidden away and that George Bush shoved them out of the way without regard for their veracity. There was no yellow cake uranium. The aluminum tubes were the wrong size for a reactor. It turns out that there was little if any connection between Saddam and Al Qaeda. The more I come to understand, the more I know about it the more I feel decieved.
The accusation that we blame America first doesn't work because it assumes we've done nothing wrong. This flies in the face of those facts I just mentioned.
Colin Powell suggested to Bush before we went in that if you break it you own it. He said we'd better have a plan for those consequences. We didn't. Rumsfeld wasn't willing to send in enough soldiers to pacify the country. We're having a hard time rebuilding their infrastructure because we didn't send in enough troops at the beginning of the occupation. Now its most likely too late. It must be frustrating to those great soldiers of ours to build a new school only to have insurgents blow it up the next day or week. Rumsfeld wouldn't call it an insurgency. It is. He didn't take the time to learn the cultural issues in the region. This lead to the civil war between Suni's and Shia. He wouldn't call it a civil war. It is.
So now we have a problem. It isn't an issue whether we win or not. It isn't really ours to win. It is for the Iraqis to win. We can't go any further without political dialogue with Iran and Syria. Sure they'll lie to us. We'd better be smart enough to see through the lies and play a good game of chess. They're playing chess. But right now we're just playing checkers. We made the situation what it now is. But the only way it will be won, if you want to speak in terms of winning and loosing, is when the Iraqis step up to the plate. We can't win if we don't play intelligently.
Yes Saddam was a murderer. You could call it a favor that we took him out only if our little nation building endeavor is successful. But we're getting to that place in this affair where we'll have been responsible for the deaths of more innocent Iraqi's than Saddam-- not to mention our own sons and daughters who gallantly stood up to do what they believed was the right thing. We've now sacrificed more of our own sons and daughters than died in the Trade Towers.
And the 5000 lb elephant in the room that few pay attention to is the oil. The primary reason this part of the world is important to us is the oil. Even George is now saying we'd better start using ethanol. But of course its 20 years too late. We should have continued the ethanol program Carter put into place in the 80's. We might have been able to sidestep this whole issue. Brazil is flurishing in part because they are now petroleum independant. But Republicans said it was a stupid idea and killed it. When will they learn that not all liberal ideas are stupid? Some are quite brilliant. This country needs great conservative minds and great liberal minds working together to succeed. That's why I say I've moved much closer to the center in my old age.
It's really easy to sit here in our relatively safe little world and have opinions. I'm as guilty as anyone in that respect as you pointed out. And as Bob Dylan once said "if anybody out there has an origianl idea I could sure use it right now." We need some really brilliant minds to solve this problem and I don't care if they are liberal or conservative Republican, Democrat, Green or Independent. They just damn well better be briliant cause I'm loosing faith in the ones calling the shots.
on Friday, February 9th, Mark said
Actually I have not ignored all aspects of the world condition, be it enviromental or political, in fact I listen and read intently to both side of an argument so as to be able to make a sound and reasonable desision. You make a lot of assumtions Don, and think you are right, maybe you are right about terrorism and global warming (I don't think so but maybe you are) but you can not be right about me as you do not know me. As for my choice for president that I have not decided because I see none that are really up to the task, I only see money raisers. In my opinion the only thing worse then a democrat is a republican. I do not blame America first but equally, there are many who say it can't be us it must be everyone else. To use a word you seem to like, to think we are not to blame in any way is insane. It is safer to close ones eyes and think that none of this can be my fault, that bad things are just happening and I have nothing to do with it, and god will fix it so long as I pray and give all my money to some bible thumping thief. Makes me feel better.
on Friday, February 9th, Don said
I find it interesting that Mark and I are having a civil discussion on an art blog. Mark doest get it and thats fine. Mark youre a classic example of a blame America firster. You also probably believe that man is causing the 1 c raise in earth temperature(global warming). You ignore many other aspects of whats happening... but all that is fine because you have your beliefs and i have mine. Also I must say your choice for president (Hillary) is insane lol. Thank you for the conversation.
on Thursday, February 8th, Mark said
You have only proven my point Don. We are preforming the same actions as before and are getting the same results, we are governed by insanity. Bush does what he thinks, not unlike what you say Hitler did (I agree with you on that). The situation in Iraq we created, a great work of art, as I am sure Bush and Cheney think (defeat there scares me as well but we have set up ourselves for defeat before we even started). The horrible situation in Iraq was created not to protect us in the USA but for personal gain, just read the "New American Century", it will frighten you, and if it does not, well, I can not convince you otherwise.
The world is a dangerous place and we must be on guard. Do we though have to make it even more dangerous by our, no, our leaders reckless actions? Iraq was and is a huge mistake, no again I am wrong, as it was intentional, not a mistake, but does nothing to make us safer, nor was it meant to (yet it has not gone as Bush and Cheney expected). And as one who lost a brother because of Viet Nam, I cry for the brave children we have lost in Iraq. I feel deeply for those who have lost a loved one for a recklass cause. Yet does anyone think that by NOT having a dialog with Iran, China or North Korea, makes us safer?
My point is in all this is that war as we have used it in the past no longer works, war is failure (it is a different world now then in the thirties or forties). We go about the same actions and only get the same results, but we do not learn from it. Yes war happens and at times it can not be prevented, but war must never be the first and only solution.
on Thursday, February 8th, Don said
Mark,
The definition of insanity is performing the the same behavior over and over again and expecting a different result. Kinda an action and reaction thing. In regard to my reference to the thirtys; Hitler told everyone what he thought in mein koff. During the thirtys Hitler did everything he thought. 1939 Poland, prior to to that he holocasted 60 million jews to support the arian race.
Fast forword to 2001
3000 americans at hand of guy(probably dead now) who spelled his own mein koff (that obl) everything on from that point has been war. And you know what I think we totally blew it in many ways but to not achieve VICTORY in Iraq would be be DEFEAT and I'm not prepared for that(it scares me).
on Thursday, February 8th, Mark said
Cheap shot? Just how so Don? Insanity? Please explaine, it is just that I don't see how an opinion, mine or yours, could be concidered a cheap shot or insanity, but then the insane often consider others to be insane, so please explaine what you mean and don't just make statements you can not back up.
You talk about looking to the history of the thirties, I have a close connection to those times, not a book connection but a real life connection, of one who lived in Germany then and during World War two, much that is happening now, here in the USA, in regards to our esteemed leader, happened in germany in the thirties, this from an eye witness.
on Thursday, February 8th, Don said
Mark,
Cheap shot!!
You quote the definition of insanity lol.
on Thursday, February 8th, Mark said
Best to be true to yourself and worry not about who you may sound like. History is very important, but alas we are to repeat it as those who are in power seem ignorant of history or twist history to thier own ends. The world is a dangerous place, always has been and always will be, but if we continue to take the same actions as before and then get the same results as has been happening, then maybe, just maybe we should be changing our actions.
on Thursday, February 8th, Don said
sry
neo-historical
on Thursday, February 8th, Don said
Very true Walter. But I feel the move is too far to the left ie neo histrial revisionism. BTW I use weenie instead of profanity so I wouldn't sound like a Kos or Huffington blogger.
on Thursday, February 8th, walt said
Your welcome and thanks for the civil response. Haven't been called a 'lefty' in a long time. I'm way closer to the center than I once was. But then the center keeps getting ratcheted further and further to the right so that I often find it hard to know if I'm even left of center at all anymore. It is a spectrum you know. Every form of government has some of the left and the right as part of its balancing structure.
on Thursday, February 8th, Mark said
You might be right Don that we are in WWIII, but guess what, if we are we have as much blame for starting it as anyone. As for being insulting, calling us weenies, well grow up, I can only imagine that your maturity level is about 8 years of age. Weenies, get real, but if it makes you feel like a man to call us weenies then so be it, I am a weenie, better to be a weenie then to be like you. Oh, Don, I see you are taking a lesson from the right, that if you say something enough it must be true. It must be true. OH damn, I did too.
on Thursday, February 8th, Don said
Walter,
It is based on your very kind and nice reply I respond as politely as you responded to me.
Plastic explosives come in many varieties, one of the crudest and oldest is C5. C5 is the type of explosive Bill Murray used to try and kill the Gopher (the explositions showed in the movie were small compared to the amount of C5 used. C5 can be molded but it takes hours. Modern plastic explosive can easily be molded and painted with acrylic paint and made to look like batteries or many other objects found in the device. And again please dont forget the placement of some the devices most did not lend themselves to close scutity except by a bomb squad. Thank you for indulging me in my first rant.
on Thursday, February 8th, Raymond said
Seems I remember a story from long ago.
A huge beautiful artsy sculptural wooden horse was found outside the gates. It was huge! It was way cool. Wow, look at it! Lets bring it inside!
Remember? Trojan Horse!
The other cities were slackers! Great work Boston!
on Thursday, February 8th, walt said
Don, I understand that they would want to look over the devices. But once they did I can't imagine that they wouldn't notice how harmless they were. Again, I knew the minute I saw them on television what they were and basically what they were for. Turns out I was right and they were way off base.
So if they can't tell the difference between a bomb and a cartoon character (or who really has the WMD) then how can they protect us. Maybe we need to be protected from our protectors.
on Thursday, February 8th, walt said
Mark,
The idea of cartoon characters terrorizing the city of Boston is just too much. I should be rolling on the floor with laughter but it's become way to scary. And this at a time when Bush is trying once again to cut funding for National Public Radio and PBS. They argue that these are socialist institutions and that we should make them go commercial like, well like the TBS Cartoon Network. Honestly while I think the bomb scare is idiotic the kind of guerilla advertising that these two guys participated in is becoming more and more successful. It's cheaper than buying commercial time on radio or television. It has a whole new impact on how it grabs the publics attention. It is in fact the result of how we've learned from terrorism. PBS has always been a buffer, a balance to the commercial broadcast and cable networks who have to go to extremes to get advertising dollars and keep up their ratings. PBS and NPR doesn't carry the sleeze and boring kinds of programing that the commercial stations resort to. You'd think the conservative right would recommend rather than wreck them.
Anyway we often avoid these more national political issues since this is a site more about art than politics. My feeling is that I'm only gonna write about the political stuff when it is wrapped up in artistic issues like freedom of speech. So I too felt this was such a silly event in Boston that I had to break the taboo. Our national security is terribly important. There are a lot of things going on that don't make sense. It's becoming downright Orwellian. Right now the people of the United States are still held in relatively high esteem. It is our government and it's international policies that are most hated around the world--as much because they are contradictory and schitzophrenic as the are often destructive. Remember we propped Saddam up in the beginning to work against the Iranians.
If things continue this way eventually what our government does will rub off on 'we the people'. We are after all a democracy, at least we pretend to be. We can still cause change via our votes. Unless it has gone so far that Marshall law is enacted. God help us then.
on Thursday, February 8th, donsgames@yahoo.com">Don said
Leave it to a big time lefty to blog such garbage. If you had an ounce of knowledge regarding explosives or IEDs you would know that these devices and their placement would warrent an investigation by the bomb squad.You two keep living in your dreamy art world and not realize that we're in WWIII. Read some history on the thirties weenies.
on Thursday, February 8th, Don said
Leave it to a big time lefty to blog such garbage. If you had an ounce of knowledge regarding explosives or IEDs you would know that these devices and their placement would warrent an investigation by the bomb squad.You two keep living in your dreamy art world and not realize that we're in WWIII. Read some history on the thirties weenies.
on Thursday, February 8th, Mark said
We (the USA) are in a constant state of fear. A fear brought on more by the current administration, then by the true dangers that face us. So much so that we are willing to abdicate much of our own freedoms to have a feeling of safety. A false safety I might add, as what really needs to be done to keep us safer has not been done. The threats of China, North Korea and Iran are far greater, yet our government would rather be silent with them then to have constructive dialog. In fact we, because of the possible future actions of our esteemed president, we, may be the biggest danger to ourselves then others are to us. Be warned that Bush may have plans to attack Iran with nuclear weapons (types of nuclear weapons that are not supposed to exsist). If terrorism is really our greatest threat to us today and we are fighting a different war, then how is we are fighting it as we have fought every war, and are even contiemplating doing what has not been done since World War Two? Maybe we should be as afraid as the blog suggests we are, as much of the world hates us because of our attitude toward everyone else. The USA needs to become a partner with the rest of the world and not its Boss.
Sorry for the tirade but there are times when one needs to speak out.
Is this the face of the new Terrorist?
