gaybush
Sure, he likes to play dress-up and hug shut-ins and he seems to have a daddy fixation, but we didn't believe he had actually fucked anyone in the ass—besides, you know, the poor.
- "Bush and Brit, Sittin' in a Tree," wonkette march 29, 2004
posted March 30, 2004 in politicsa muddled exhibit of contemporary art to the city that needs it least
The irony of the Whitney Biennial is that it brings a muddled exhibit of contemporary art to the city that needs it least ... New Yorkers may not need the Biennial to have the opportunity to see strong contemporary art, but people in other cities do. One reason that contemporary art is outside America's common cultural conversation is that the best new art is only broadly and regularly accessible to people in four areas: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and in the Washington-to-New York corridor. So after the newly reconfigured exhibit debuts in New York, take the show on the road to four or five American cities that don't see a lot of contemporary art. Send the show to Boise, Idaho; Phoenix; Jackson, Miss.; and Detroit. Or Salt Lake City; San Antonio; and Omaha, Neb. Give it an eight-week run in each city. Combined with the New York installation, the show would have a yearlong shelf-life.
And don't just send the art on the road. Send the show's curator into those communities to talk about the Biennial and contemporary art. Have the show's curator talk at schools, libraries and other non-museum settings. Allow the passionate to share their passion. All too often, curators build shows and then sit back in their ivory-towers-by-Gehry, conversing only with the already converted. This is not completely illogical: Curators are as careerist as anyone else, so they most often talk about art to people who can advance their careers. Let the traveling Biennial change that. Make a curator's desire and ability to spread the gospel of contemporary art a key part of the job description.
Send some artists out on the road, too. As evidenced by the otherwise inexplicable success of magazines like Us Weekly, Americans want to feel like they have personal relationships with celebrities. Send Emily Jacir to Boise to talk about how the plight of Palestinians provides inspiration for her work. Send Julie Mehretu to Detroit to share the personal history from which her energy-filled paintings come.
- TYLER GREEN, "Hit the Road, Whitney," wall street journal March 30, 2004
posted March 30, 2004 in artwitnesses unfavorable to the prosecution were deported (by accident, the government says)
This administration's reliance on smear tactics is unprecedented in modern U.S. politics—even compared with Nixon's. Even more disturbing is its readiness to abuse power—to use its control of the government to intimidate potential critics.
To be fair, Senator Bill Frist's suggestion that Mr. Clarke might be charged with perjury may have been his own idea. But his move reminded everyone of the White House's reaction to revelations by the former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill: an immediate investigation into whether he had revealed classified information. The alacrity with which this investigation was opened was, of course, in sharp contrast with the administration's evident lack of interest in finding out who leaked the identity of the C.I.A. operative Valerie Plame to Bob Novak.
And there are many other cases of apparent abuse of power by the administration and its Congressional allies. A few examples: according to The Hill, Republican lawmakers threatened to cut off funds for the General Accounting Office unless it dropped its lawsuit against Dick Cheney. The Washington Post says Representative Michael Oxley told lobbyists that "a Congressional probe might ease if it replaced its Democratic lobbyist with a Republican." Tom DeLay used the Homeland Security Department to track down Democrats trying to prevent redistricting in Texas. And Medicare is spending millions of dollars on misleading ads for the new drug benefit—ads that look like news reports and also serve as commercials for the Bush campaign.
On the terrorism front, here's one story that deserves special mention. One of the few successful post-9/11 terror prosecutions—a case in Detroit—seems to be unraveling. The government withheld information from the defense, and witnesses unfavorable to the prosecution were deported (by accident, the government says). After the former lead prosecutor complained about the Justice Department's handling of the case, he suddenly found himself facing an internal investigation—and someone leaked the fact that he was under investigation to the press.
Where will it end? In his new book, "Worse Than Watergate," John Dean, of Watergate fame, says, "I've been watching all the elements fall into place for two possible political catastrophes, one that will take the air out of the Bush-Cheney balloon and the other, far more disquieting, that will take the air out of democracy."
- PAUL KRUGMAN, "This Isn't America," new york times March 30, 2004
posted March 30, 2004 in politics, print