I suppose
this should come as no surprise:
"I have opposed federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts because I believe it is not proper to use tax dollars for what many Americans feel are the obscene and inappropriate projects this organization has supported. I support providing federal block grants to the states for arts education and artistic endeavors pursued by state and local authorities, while assuring that federal tax dollars are not spent on obscene or offensive material."
—John McCain, 1999
Don't you think there is a bit of irony in this sentiment considering the current financial crisis?
ReplyDeleteConsidering that a strong majority of art purchasers or at least the kind of art that makes up contemporary art fair market, are investment bankers, stock brokers and other financial types that are being bailed out in the greatest financial debacle of our time and perhaps our nations history?
I wonder what the executives of Lehman Bros., Bear Sterns, Meryl Lynch, Citigroup, AIG, and other have hanging on their walls or sitting in climate controlled storage in NJ and Brooklyn?
I suppose the only thing you could say for sure is that it was unlikely it was sponsored by the NEA.
And I'm sure he wants to be the one to decide what's obscene and offensive too.
ReplyDelete