If nothing else, Donald Trump provides a sort of truth in advertising: he’s rude, obnoxious, loud, abrasive. This is reflective of his policies. On the other hand, his vice president running mate Mike Pence deploys a calm Midwestern demeanor to mask his disgusting homophobic and sexist politics. Americans need a law that will force politicians to label themselves in accordance with the content of their beliefs.
Truth in Political Aesthetics
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication, WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "The Stringer."
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This is one of those timely and pertinent points that lends itself to the political cartoon art form just beautifully.
At the end of the day, both aesthetics and “truth” may be relational constructs. I do think people like Obama genuinely feel they do the right thing and perform “the art of the possible” within a system where on-the-whole decent people “serve” out on-the-whole decent management. So the ingenious Hello Kitty imagery may be closer to their self-image then the (still somewhat adorable looking?) purple-hellhound-beholder thingie with the forked tongue.
Ironically, it is the media who are attempting to perform the service of the fictitious agency depicted in the cartoon. They are dead set on making Trump look horrible (they think HRC is fine of course). It cuts both ways, in the UK, they are trying to paint Jeremy Corbyn in as ugly a light as possible, judging from newspaper descriptions he might as well look like the creature in the last panel.
I believe the issue has more to do with those in power being first and foremost connected to the elites (down to the level of personal relationships) so they serve as their social reference framework exclusively. So we end up with policies that addresses the needs of very few people – irrespective of the needs of the great majority of people of the country (let alone the planet). We need to get in touch with our own truths and get our own truths out in the open (as well as those truths as seen by people still lower on the socio-economic chain).
This is entirely OT.
I found myself listening again and again to a punk-rock (Dead Kennedys) inspired “power-klez” fusion piece by Hasidic New Wave. I think they hit on this song back in the day when trying to stay sane during one of Rudy Guiliani’s thankfully failed presidential runs.
Live version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJYCehwKrmU
Studio version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HkjvOyFy5Y
Naturally, police repression in New York City features rather prominently… This is why I wanted to share this beautiful moment of artists dealing with this stuff in their own way here on the Rallblog, may it resonate widely 😉
OR-
What monstrosities would walk the streets if their faces were as unfinished as their minds. Eric Hoffer
I think that’s Gunther Eich. I’m not sure though.
Fie on me! It was Hoffer. I regret the error.
I’d definitely like to see a law for the naming of laws, bills, resolutions, decrees, etc. Some of the more ironic (moronic?) examples are “Clear Skies” and “Healthy Forests” but the all time whopper is “Patriot Act”
Hint to politicians: You aren’t fooling anybody.
Only a few on gocomics defending Obama the vehement way the Clintonbots defend St Hillary when Mr Rall does an anti-Hillary cartoon.
An anti-Trump article said that Obama had succeeded in 70% of his campaign promises. ‘Close Guantanamo’? He freed a few prisoners, counts as a complete success!
It’s so hard work up the hate needed to beat up somebody that looks nice.
Just because somebody looks nice doesn’t mean they are nice, but since most people are not accustomed to looking deeply into and beyond reality as presented in advertising, looking nice has become shorthand for being nice.
People like their villains to look like villains, and for their good guys to look like good guys. Making mean people look nice is the whole basis of the tax deductible marketing business.
Obama was the continuation and amplification of George W. Bush, and Hillary can be expected to tread in the footsteps of Obama, and break new trails for herself into the as yet inconceivably horrendous.
Of course, no one will notice as long as she looks nice.
Obama won the Advertising Age award for his campaign.
Antiwar protests ended after Obama was elected even though the wars kept on coming.
Obama promised to end NAFTA during his first term and now intends to sign the TPP into law before he leaves office.
Trump, on the other hand, will be protested from day one, and those who can respond only to marketed images empty of substance will find themselves magically enlightened and awakened from their passive slumber of the Obama years to recognize a world of bad things they never noticed before.
I want to see Democratic Party voters act like an angered insatiable ungovernable mass movement against crazy right wing Democratic Party policies, but they’ll only act that way against a Republican president.
Lesser evil voting is a race to the bottom.
How low do you want to go?
No disrespect, Glenn – but if Hillary is lookin’ good to you, you need to get out more often…
😀
My decision is strictly by policies, but I’d take Jill over Hill five times on a Sunday.
But beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Since this election so far is nothing more than a beauty contest, and Hills got a small lead, how can I argue with Democrats who think Trump is ugly compared to her?
Perhaps unemployed editorial cartoonists could get gigs doing aesthetically accurate cartoons of candidates for political office – a win-win for all concerned ?…
Henri