PRESIDENTIAL PORTRAITS ARE THE NEW DIY
May. 3rd, 2010 02:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
defrogYr hot political story of the day [via ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bedsitter23 ]:
Naturally, Orthmann – a Republican – says it was all a big joke and he only put the picture there to make some point about healthcare:
Maybe. And asbedsitter23 points out, it could have been worse.
Still, we’re in interesting territory here. I don’t have the data on this, but I’m pretty sure that any courthouse or other municipal/state govt building that displays a picture of the president does it properly and without some kind of political commentary just as a matter of decorum. Maybe there have always been exceptions and we just didn’t have the Interweb to cover it. But this is a first for me.
I’m sure a number of conservatives will use this to claim that liberals and Democrats don’t have a sense of humor. And I’ll admit that on a general level, it is kind of funny, if not exactly appropriate.
Of course, my response is that if Republicans get to hang up pictures of Smoking Barry as “official” presidential portraits, then Democrats get to use the George Bush Eats Kittens photo as their “official” President Bush pic.
Or, if Sarah Palin wins in 2012, they get to use this as her official portrait.
[Yes, I know the Bush and Palin pics are Photoshopped. So is the Obama Cigarette photo. What’s yr point?]
Anyway, I chalk the whole episode up to the general state of Fear and Loathing that has devolved political debate into the current all-or-nothing zero-tolerance partisan circus presented to us by wingnuts on both sides and the media that loves them. Neutral ground and decorum are meaningless concepts when the opposition is shouting “You lie!” during the SOTU address and/or denouncing the President as a Socialist Nazi bent on destroying America – and they’re not speaking in metaphors.
Say cheese,
This is dF
bedsitter23 ]:Naturally, Orthmann – a Republican – says it was all a big joke and he only put the picture there to make some point about healthcare:
"I didn't do it because I have a lot of dislike for the president," Orthmann said. "It was about the push for health care, smoking and having a little fun. It was just tongue-in-cheek."
Maybe. And as
bedsitter23 points out, it could have been worse.Still, we’re in interesting territory here. I don’t have the data on this, but I’m pretty sure that any courthouse or other municipal/state govt building that displays a picture of the president does it properly and without some kind of political commentary just as a matter of decorum. Maybe there have always been exceptions and we just didn’t have the Interweb to cover it. But this is a first for me.
I’m sure a number of conservatives will use this to claim that liberals and Democrats don’t have a sense of humor. And I’ll admit that on a general level, it is kind of funny, if not exactly appropriate.
Of course, my response is that if Republicans get to hang up pictures of Smoking Barry as “official” presidential portraits, then Democrats get to use the George Bush Eats Kittens photo as their “official” President Bush pic.
Or, if Sarah Palin wins in 2012, they get to use this as her official portrait.
[Yes, I know the Bush and Palin pics are Photoshopped. So is the Obama Cigarette photo. What’s yr point?]
Anyway, I chalk the whole episode up to the general state of Fear and Loathing that has devolved political debate into the current all-or-nothing zero-tolerance partisan circus presented to us by wingnuts on both sides and the media that loves them. Neutral ground and decorum are meaningless concepts when the opposition is shouting “You lie!” during the SOTU address and/or denouncing the President as a Socialist Nazi bent on destroying America – and they’re not speaking in metaphors.
Say cheese,
This is dF
