Congressman Appoints Himself Censor, Removes Painting Critical Of Cops From Congressional Halls
from the I-HEAR-YOU-LOUD-AND-CLEAR,-CERTAIN-CONSTITUENTS dept
I guess it's up to one Congressman to decide what is or isn't (acceptable) art.
A Republican congressman took matters into his own hands Friday and personally removed a painting depicting police officers as pigs that a colleague had allowed to be displayed at the U.S. Capitol complex.
“I was angry,” Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., told FoxNews.com. “I’ve seen the press [reporting] on this for about a week or so. … I’m in the Marine Corps. If you want it done, just call us.”
Hunter said he walked over to the artwork Friday morning with a few colleagues and unscrewed it. He then delivered it to the office of Rep. Lacy Clay, D-Mo., the congressman whose office had allowed the piece to be displayed. The painting, hanging since June, was done by a high school student who had won Clay’s annual Congressional Art competition.
Can't get legislators off their asses to pass a budget in a timely manner or, I don't know, step up to do anything about the DOJ's Rule 41 changes, but you can count on them to apply long-dormant self-motivation to personal agendas.
Rep. Hunter, offended on behalf of an entire nation unions offended on behalf of their members, saw to it that painting, which the police unions bitched at length about, was removed from the public eye. Not that there was any outrage shown by a majority of constituents, who most likely first heard about this painting after it was removed. Here's the most offending part of the painting, as captured by the Independent Journal Review.
Coming to the defense of powerful, armed men and women who possess the power to stop and/or detain people for violating imaginary laws is the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs. In the demand letter posted to its website, the ALADS refers to the painting as a "piece of hate," before going on and on and on about how the nation owes law enforcement its undying support.
Everyone should be alarmed when those whose job it is to fight crime on a daily basis are being depicted as pigs. Why do otherwise reasoned individuals-despite evidence before them to the contrary-become reflexively critical of police? How can a member of Congress jump to the twisted conclusion that it is okay to hang a painting that adds to the divide in our country and attacks law enforcement? Public safety requires a strong two-way partnership. At a time of our country facing rising crime and a shortage of those willing to work the streets as police officers and deputy sheriffs, we need to make it clear that depictions of law enforcement officers as pigs in our Nation's Capital are not acceptable. The dedicated men and women who put on a uniform daily, who serve to protect our communities, deserve all the support the community can possibly provide.
I assume "everyone" is just supposed to remain in their current state of alarm, since police being depicted as pigs went mainstream nearly a half-century ago. The implication of the rest of the paragraph is that anything less than full-fledged support of the law enforcement community divides nations and causes staffing shortages. And presumably ALADS believes any criticism of police is "reflexive," and not at all based on actual law enforcement actions and activities.
The same goes for the other law enforcement unions whose feelings were hurt by a high school student's artwork -- one that was informed by the aftershocks of the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO.
In an earlier statement calling on House Speaker Paul Ryan to remove it, the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the Sergeants Benevolent Association of New York, and the San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose Police Officers Associations said: “This false narrative portrays law enforcement professionals as posing a danger to the very communities we serve. That is untrue and this ‘art’ reinforces this false narrative and is disrespectful on so many levels.”
That's an interesting take -- one that suggests law enforcement officers pose no danger to the people they serve.
So, based on a new set of false narratives, one periodically-attentive Congressional rep has appointed himself censor... not for the good of the public at large, but for the good a certain subset of the public -- and subset of public servants -- who just couldn't accept the idea that some people don't view them as heroes.
Filed Under: art, censorship, congress, duncan hunter, lacy clay, police
