More Weirdness from Herman Cain

Here is another reason that you don't put someone up for President who has never held elected office. This new Herman Cain ad is just plain weird. Who puts his campaign manager in a testimonial ad? And if you did, why would you let him blow smoke at the camera? And then Cain's creepy grin? What was that supposed to accomplish?



Will the Tea Party do for America what they did for Nevada (nominate the erratic and unelectable Sharron Angle) and Delaware (nominate the utterly incompetent and unelectable Christine O'Donnell), giving us ruinous, far left government?

Mitch Daniels, where are you?

The Donkey Whisperer for Congress

This ad is brilliant. This insertion of poetry into politics is welcome.



Roger Williams is a Republican running to fill Texas’ newly created 33rd Congressional Seat.

This comes via forwarded and forwarded email from The Blaze.

The Lost Art of Going Negative

I think this is a golden age of political civility. But I'm living in the past.



It was a time of great speeches, great letters, and even greater personal invective.

Local Political Rot and Stench

There is no corruption like the corruption of local politicians. It's like the mold in your basement in a damp summer. Uncleanness thrives where sunlight never reaches. And there is little media attention given to the self-service that is rife among the life-long parasites that are local civic leaders.

Antony Niro, a Toronto high school friend with whom I have recently reconnected, has been running an innovative campaign to oust the conspiracy to fleece the public that is the Vaughn City Council. The city of Vaughn is a suburb just north of Toronto. At least one politician is suing him, and so he made this video in response. He would have my vote.



Here is a local news article on the campaign. Notice that the Mayor, Linda Jackson, boasts of having been involved with Vaughn politics since 1974. That's thirty-six years of cultivating cozy relationships for personal nest feathering. Notice also that she complains the ads are "hurtful." Poor, leathery thing. I don't know this woman, but I know human nature and I know politics. Without knowing anything else, I would put her out to pasture.

Look at the TimeForChangeVaughn website.

Here is a story from the Toronto Star. Notice that people are afraid of reprisal from these local politicolords. As Niro says, that's a bad sign.


This article in the Toronto Sun, the city's tabloid, provides a deeper look at the history, the litigation, and Vaughn's reputation for corruption.

Perhaps if federal government would restrict itself to its legitimate business, it would not absorb our attention so completely. Then we could pay attention to matters that are closer to us, and keep the politicians who are closer at hand under closer scrutiny.

*************

October 31 post-election update:
Good news from Vaughn, Ontario! Voters ousted 4 of the 5 councilmen, including the 3 of the worst. Victory for Vaughan, but at a large personal and financial cost to the citizen-combatants. Exercising your democratic liberties should not be this costly. One source who was deeply involved in the struggle reports, "The mood in the city changed overnight."

Made in Obama's Image

In my previous posts on Obama art, I have drawn attention to the blend of religion and politics that the artists express, the religion centering on the political figure himself.

Michael J. Lewis makes the same connection in his essay, "The Art of Obama Worship" in Commentary (September 2009).

What is striking about these paintings is not their quality, about which the less said the better, but their consistent tone. They belong to that class of objects known as “devotional art.” Such objects are not only intended as votive offerings, to serve as the focus of veneration; the actual process of making them is itself an act of piety, a consideration that all but places them outside the realm of aesthetic judgment.

Lewis takes us through a recent history of the intersection of art with politics, from the Vietnam War through the art wars of the 1980s to Bush Baiting most recently. He then discusses Shepard Fairey, Ron English, and Shawn Barber, but dwells at length on the Fairey's career and the powerful effect of his Hope poster, recently acquired by the National Portrait Gallery.

He concludes, saying, "...there is something unsettling about images that offer little more political commentary than an uncomplicated adulation that borders on power worship. By showing the subjects removed from all political context, and in a beatific reverie, such art produces images that are aesthetically indistinguishable from the “dear leader” effigies that delighted the dictators of the 1930s or of our own day."

Harold adds:

Great posts David; this is a hugely important and amazing development to watch unfold, with its undeniable connection with fascist and totalitarian propoganda techinques. The hard left has always leaned that way--they admire everything they know about Lenin, Stalin, Che, Castro, Chavez...all of whom knew (know) and exploit(ed) the power of iconic images in their propoganda.

Bill Whittle at PJTV has this video piece suggesting conservatives had better get with the program in understanding the importance of images...recall that Socrates said political philosophy has need of images, and in fact that he himself was "greedy" for images.

The Art of Politics in the Age of Obama

I continue to be amazed by the way artists took up Barack Obama as a theme for their work. Most artists would position themselves on the political left, and thus would be more inclined to the Democratic Party than to the GOP. But we have never seen a political candidate inspire such artistic productivity as Obama has. Even before he was sworn in as President, there was enough material fill a Barack Obama Museum of Art, or rather a Museum of Barack Obama Art.

Here is an interesting recent display, though it may simply be another Abu Graib atrocity.

Magazine covers could be another post entirely.


The most striking adoration of the Bam has been in political posters, however. Consider the effect of these. This one is a more traditional political poster, but very well done.


These posters, by contrast, are not traditional.


These two seem to me to bring out the candidate's African heritage quite strikingly.




This last one suggests that the candidate is a spiritually exceptional person, a prophet, or perhaps even a divine being.

These do not feature Obama's face, but they are beautiful and at the same time troubling in their Utopian promise.



Senator Obama's unwaveringly leftist voting record together with the fainting hysteria surrounding him personally produced a talented response from the more conservative, or at least more politically skeptical, artists. This one places him on the far left.


This one on the far right. (Of course, the left and right converge at some point. The rightist Adolf Hitler was a National Socialist.)


This one, alluding to a recently popular film, mocks Obama's political inexperience.


The best known poster has been Shepard Fairey's "Hope" poster. The same poster also appears with "Progress" as the caption. Fairey's model was this Mannie Garcia AP photo. The Associated Press is suing Fairey over the use of their image.


And here is The Poster.

Fairey appears to have used a Communist genre of political poster art as his inspiration. Here is the Russian Bolshevik, Vladimir Lenin.


Here is Cuba's iconic Che Guevara.


This socialist/communist connection is becoming increasingly relevant as the Obama administration leads the government in nationalizing, taking charge of, and redesigning most of the country's economy.

It is a tribute to the Fairey poster that it has become the model for a growing number of parodies. There are these, for example, that are critical of Obama himself. "Obey" is likely the best-known of the parodies.



There are many other variations. Some are racist, some are just in bad taste, and some just aren't funny, as far as I can tell. These are a few of the wittier ones. They go in various directions, all playing on the word "Hope," but the last two using the "Change" mantra as a take off point.




Finally, as President Obama stumbles and wrecks his way to what he tells us will be a just society and a vibrant economy, the Reagan variation stands as a continuing reminder that there are principles of political and economic liberty that are also principles of political and economic flourishing, and they are...


You can go to Rene Wanner's page to find her collection of 149 Fairey themed posters that she assembled the day after the 2008 election, including the Soup Nazi, Jeremiah Wright, and More Cowbell. Of course, the number has grown since then.

Laying fun aside, this artistic aspect to the 2008 Obama campaign should put every lover of republican liberty on guard. Up to this point, it has only been in totalitarian countries that we have seen a political leader's face celebrated so artistically and plastered so ubiquitously. It is the sort of personality cult that is incompatible with a modern republic structured around a constitutional separation of powers. If he is the One, if he is the Dawn, if he is both the exemplar and the source of moral and political progress, then the separation of powers, which is premised on the recognition of human moral frailty and political epistemological skepticism, becomes inherently unjust. Start researching "the Hugo Chavez political model."

Wendell Phillips said that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." This artistic expression of what is arguably the first "personality cult" in American politics does not constitute President Obama as a totalitarian, but it does prompt the wise to view his every attempt at concentrating political and economic power in Washington with a heightened and aggressive scrutiny.

The Unaborted Obama

Today, President Obama lifted the ban on providing federal funds to groups, at home and abroad, that provide abortions or information about abortions.

The BBC reports, "A spokesman for the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) earlier told the BBC that under the Bush administration, the organisation had lost more than $100m (£73m) in funding, affecting its services across 176 countries."

Fox News tells us, "The so-called Mexico City policy requires any non-governmental organization to agree before receiving U.S. funds that they will 'neither perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations.' It is also known as the "global gag rule," because it prohibits taxpayer funding for groups that even talk about abortion if there is an unplanned pregnancy. The policy was first instituted by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 and continued by President George H.W. Bush. The policy was reversed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, and re-instated by President George W. Bush in 2001."

Next up, the Freedom of Choice Act. According to David Freddoso in The Case Against Barack Obama (Regnery, 2008), "This bill would effectively cancel every state, federal, and local regulation of abortion, no matter how modest or reasonable. It would even, according to the National Organization of Women, abolish all state restrictions on government funding for abortions. If Obama becomes president and lives up to this promise, then everyone who pays income tax will be paying an abortionist to perform an abortion."

But as of January 23, 2009, this is still the land of liberty, and so the opponents of abortion have initiated a more vigorous public discussion on this subject, as we see in this video.



Perhaps abortion advocates, in their overreach, will find themselves hoist on their own petard.

For an account of Barack Obama's advocacy of even the most monstrous abortion liberties, see my post, "Obama and Abortion: Radical Again."

To McCain, Americans Are History Makers

Here is a stirring bit of political video rhetoric. McCain's point is that he is a guy who understands that Americans are history makers because of innovation and enterprise (and that because of our system and culture of liberty), and our world leadership that is founded on those qualities. Obama is the sort to retreat from history and apologize to the world for our having been there in the first place.



I found it on The Patriot Room. McCain should be splurging on things like this in the final days.

Pass it along.

Flash! MoveOn.org Cracks a Joke

This MoveOn.org Obama video looks like the one's I posted in "McCain's Political Eloquence Deficit," and it's really funny. Who would have thought that MoveOn.org has a sense of humor. It just doesn't extend to self-deprecation or humility of any sort whatsoever.



I am actually a member of MoveOn.org by virtue of having signed up for a free Obama campaign button and bumper sticker. (I collect political items.) So if they boast of having tens of millions of members, you'll know that those numbers are inflated with people like me. It may also have scooped up people who joined thinking it was an organization to incorporate Ontario (ON) into the United States. I was a click away from that one not long ago, but they finally got me with the button.

McCain's Political Eloquence Deficit

These are some polished ads that a group called Let Freedom Ring is releasing as part of a $5 million campaign. Of course, Barack Obama raised $150 million in September alone.

"Part of the Problem"

"Income Tax"

"Middle Class"

"Punished With A Baby"

"Trust"

"Nice Try, Senator"

You can view others at neverfindout.org.

If John McCain had been able to explain these matters with this simple clarity, he would be five points ahead in the polls instead of ten points behind. But McCain's tragic failure seems to be the failure of every senator who has run for president in my lifetime. (JFK ran just before I was born. LBJ doesn't count because he ran against Sen. Barry Goldwater.) They can't talk. Or they talk too much. They've had no need to talk to ordinary people because they have generally had no serious opposition in their re-election campaigns which themselves are infrequent--every six years. Governors, on the other hand, face more serious challenges and more frequently have to defend themselves before the people.

It is painful to watch John McCain in debates. When criticizing his opponent, he begins a point but does not finish it. He assumes we all know what he is talking about and will make the necessary connections on our own. For example, in one debate he poked Obama with a reference to Herbert Hoover. Who is Herbert Hoover? Most people have never heard of him. He did not go on to complete the point by saying that like Hoover in 1930-32, Obama will lead us into a depression.

Gov. Reagan never made that mistake in 1980. These ads do not make that mistake.

How does Senator Obama fit into this thesis? Perhaps his experience in training ordinary people in Chicago to be political radicals as well as his experience as a law school professor were more formative than the few weeks he spent in the U.S. Senate before running for president.

So in 2008, both George W. Bush and John McCain serve as examples of how necessary it is to master the art of rhetoric if you hope to lead people in a free republic.

Campaign Videos and Humor

When I was a kid, like in the Clinton years when I was in my thirties, campaign ads ran on television. Where else would they run? And only the candidates, the parties, and well funded organizations like the NRA and AFL-CIO could afford to make them.

Today, anyone can make a campaign ad and run it on YouTube or some other Internet website. Those who see it have viewed it voluntarily. As the good ones get passed around, the size of the viewership is in some way a measure of the message. Also, the ad is not limited to 30 seconds, so you can develop an argument and say more.

Here are two exceptional videos running on YouTube. (I still have not figured out how to make a video screen image appear in my blog post like everyone else can do.)

"Dear Mr. Obama" runs 1:56, has had over 5 million viewers (that's a lot) and features a young veteran respectfully defending our military commitment to Iraq. It features a moving and unexpected twist at the end.

"Dear Mr. Obama II: Economics 101" is an imaginative, economically well-informed, and eloquent explanation of why Sen. Obama's policy proposals would bankrupt the country, or at least would revive the use of the "misery index" that we used under Jimmy Carter's disastrous presidency. That one is 4:20 and has had over 45,000 viewers.


Finally...well, this is not an ad, but a Saturday Night Live sketch that is purportedly "A Non-partisan Message from Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton." Tina Fey has you wondering for a second if it is really Palin up there. Amy Poehler does Hillary. Palin: "Tonight we are crossing party lines to address the now very ugly role that sexism is playing in the campaign." Clinton: "...an issue which I am frankly surprised to hear people suddenly care about!" They portray Palin as a beautiful ditz, but otherwise sincere and free of partisan animosity. They portray Hillary as an embittered, power hungry shrew. If that isn't a formula for great late night comedy, WHAT IS?

Finally, as if McCain-Palin weren't doing well enough on their own, the Obama-Biden camp seems to be doing everything they can to boost their opponents toward victory in November. In this ad, called "Still," the Obama campaign tries to depict John McCain as "out of touch" with ordinary Americans because he can't email. This recalls George Bush's surprise when he discovered supermarket checkout scanners during the 1992 campaign and how the Clinton campaign used it for the same purpose. But Jonah Goldberg tells us that McCain cannot use a keyboard without great pain on account of the disfigurement he suffered at the hands of his North Vietnamese prison wardens. Perhaps next they'll go after his patriotism for not being able to salute, and paint him as un-American for not being able to throw a baseball.

McCain Cutting the Republican Gordian Knot

Groucho Marx once said that he would never join a club that would have him as a member. John McCain is in a similar situation. He is running against the Repoublicans while serving as their chief standard bearer in this election. Watch McCain and Palin run against their own party in this TV ad, "Original Mavericks." Not a bad idea.

Up until last week, many Republicans have been tempted to stay home in November, and send their corrupted party out into the cold for sobering up until 2012. But wouldn’t it be nice to stay in power, especially given that the Democrats want to declare defeat overseas and fundamentally restructure the American economy at home?

In his acceptance speech on Thursday, however, John McCain offered a way to cut the Gordian knot. Electing the maverick Senator allows disaffected Republicans to deal a chastening blow to the Republican bums in office while retaining control of the White House at the same time.

That may be the ideal situation.

Hal Riney, 1932-2008. Good job.

Hal Riney, one of the greatest American admen, has died of cancer at age 75. Read about him in the NYT obituary.

Politically, he gave us "It's Morning Again in America" for Ronald Reagan's re-election in 1984 as well as "A Bear in the Woods." Watch several fine political ads from Reagan-Bush '84 on Creativity-online.com.

Adult Advice for Obamamaniacs

If you are a Barack Obama supporter, do you find yourself expecting not only a new kind of politics after he is elected President, but a new form of democracy as we know it, even a new kind of humanity, not only here but around the world!?

If so, please take this in the non-partisan spirit in which it is intended. You need a bucket of cold water. You need to snap out of it. When you come back to reality, you may fall with such a crash that you end up irrecoverably bitter and cynical for the rest of your life, perhaps even Republican.

So heed these warnings from sober friends. David Brooks has written sympathetically about Sen. Obama, and he is always winsome and reasonable. Here is what he says in his column, "Questions for Dr. Retail" (New York Times, February 8, 2008).

Obama offers to defeat cynicism with hope. Apparently he’s going to turn politics into a form of sharing. Have you noticed that he’s actually carried into his rallies by a flock of cherubs while the heavens open up with the Hallelujah Chorus? I wonder how he does that. ...
Obama’s people are so taken with their messiah that soon they’ll be selling flowers at airports and arranging mass weddings. There’s a “Yes We Can” video floating around YouTube in which a bunch of celebrities like Scarlett Johansson and the guy from the Black Eyed Peas are singing the words to an Obama speech in escalating states of righteousness and ecstasy. If that video doesn’t creep out normal working-class voters, then nothing will.

Actually, I don't find the video creepy at all. But I do find both the candidate and his hip celebrity boosters extremely naive. O course, you can expect to find this quality in pop singers and their young fans, but it's inexcusable in a 46-year-old United States Senator who could be our next President.
He says, "Yes we can heal this nation," and "We are not as divided as our politics suggests." But does he have a record of efforts to "heal" the nation and close the "divide" in his time as Senator from Illinois? Has he even co-sponsored a bill with John McCain? Not at all. In fact, he has an extremely liberal voting record. That doesn't heal anything with me, and I'm temperamentally predisposed to like people if I can. During the campaign he has spoken very disparagingly of the sitting President and of Republicans in general. Where's the love? Where's the healing? Where's the change in that? I don't see a bi-partisan cross section of America singing in the video. I see lots of young lefties whom I don't want to see anywhere near the White House.
He goes as far as to say not only that we can "heal this nation," but that "Yes we can repair the world." What does that mean? Peace is going to blanket not only this nation but the whole world? Is the world in conflict only because the United States cannot be trusted, i.e. because American governments have been cynical, exploitative and imperialistic? Once they see a Man of Hope in the White House, a man of genuinely good intentions, we will be able to disband the C.I.A. and reduce the armed forces to search and rescue proportions?

He offers moving appeals for "hope" in the possibility of "change" if we would only believe that "we can." But when you look at his actual policy proposals for how we get from here to the change, they are little different from those of his comparably far left liberal opponent. He warns his audience against the "chorus of cynics" who call his intoxicated followers to a "reality check." But isn't that the sort of reasonable counsel that you expect from a sober adult?
What I see in this speech is high schooler idealism of the sort based solely on inexperience and adolescent passions. He should be better than that. So I conclude that he is either a fool or a charlatan. Which one is the more charitable judgment? Remember, he's a successful politician. Joe Klein, in "Inspiration vs. Substance" (TIME, February 7, 2008), also uses the word "creepy" as well as "disingenuous."

...there was something just a wee bit creepy about the mass messianism — "We are the ones we've been waiting for" — of the Super Tuesday speech and the recent turn of the Obama campaign. "This time can be different because this campaign for the presidency of the United States of America is different. It's different not because of me. It's different because of you." That is not just maddeningly vague but also disingenuous: the campaign is entirely about Obama and his ability to inspire.

The electorate seems strangely open to charlatans this elections season. See "Are We Doomed to an Idiot Election?"