The Left’s paranoid obsession with lurid fantasies of Obamartyrdom continues at the Naomi Gates Gallery in the Chelsea neighborhood of NYC, with an installation by Yazmany Arboleda simply titled, “The Assassination of Barack Obama.”
Before you click, TNR’s Marty Peretz offers an overview:
A few posters, photographs, GAP and Budweiser logos, an image of Bobby Kennedy haunting Obama, nine nooses and an enormous black penis stretched over three of four large walls. Speaking of stereotypes.
Heh. Indeed. But that is just the beginning. Moreover, the exhibit’s treatment of Michelle Obama and “promises” may be subject to interpretation.
Update: Allah-lanche!
Sometimes I get the feeling people want to sound like idiots.
I like the idea, but I think it really stretches the meter of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” Karl.
And then comes the “art.” A few posters, photographs, GAP and Budweiser
logos, an image of Bobby Kennedy haunting Obama, nine nooses and an
enormous black penis stretched over three of four large walls. Speaking of
stereotypes.
Is that a “bad” stereotype? OR, is it because we are supposed to fear the large penis?
You can see why I did poorly in my feminism classes. I never could glean the proper narrative.
so who are the two guys before david koresh and jim jones?
Heh. From comments:
What in THE hell?
I’m going to go over there and offer up some gobbledegoo, too.
Answer to me: Ted Haggard (not dead) and Jim Bakker (dead).
Sirhan Sirhan was a redneck from the exurbs? What?
Hey, maybe that’s Hilly’s plan! See, she has all her operatives pushing this assassination meme, then when Barry goes to give his acceptance speech, WHAM! Lawrence Harvey whacks him from the spotlight booth!
That should bring on a wave of anger that would “carry her into the White House with powers that will make martial law look like anarchy”!
Dennis Kucinich got re-elected. That means the UFOs are still pulling the strings here on earth. If the aliens want Obama dead it’ll be Kucinich as trigger man.
And to think I once doubted the veracity of Obamartydom. My bad, Karl. Btw, the brief look I took at those big black weenies in that shock-art piece stirred no movement in my loins. Still not gay, woohoo!
Drama queens looking for some new drama. Then they will be able to emote, hold the correct opinions, and condemn ficticious extremist racists.
Like Walter Mitty – but more in tune with the narrative.
Oh, gack!
Is it just me or do all those images appear to be photoshopped? I went to the Naomi Gates Gallery site and they mention the exhibition. But I can’t help but be curious about all this. Does someone live in or near Chelsea that could verify with a look through the windows?
The image of Bobby over Barry’s shoulder has a curious shadow that looks more like one of the photoshop postscript layer effects than it does a natural shadow. Also, the empty “promises” jar seems totally unreal.
Granted, all of this could just be an artifact of the processes employed by the artist. His typically (of supercilious artists) sophomoric worldview as expressed in this exhibition notwithstanding, I found some of the work on his site to be rather compelling and beautiful.
The giant black dick with the label “Once you go Barack”
Absolutely no stereotypes there.
Precious!
Daleyrocks,
Would that label be circumscribed, or uncircumscribed? Coould have some religious overtones, too, ya know.
I’m currently in a ridiculous email exchange with Rick Pearlstein, a Village Voice guy who linked my “9 rejected Obama campaign slogans / candy bar ideas” post with the statement that I’m yet another conservative who can’t get beyond Obama’s race. When I wrote him to tell him that I wasn’t a “conservative” and that it is the Obama campaign and liberals who can’t get beyond race, he accused me of cowardice for running away from my “right-identifying citizenship”-ness, and of racism deserving of derision for “comparing an African-American to chocolate.”
This is going to be one helluva campaign season, folks. We may as well be wearing sheets, is how the narrative is going to play out. So fuck it, I might starch up a few.
Although I’m going to make them rainbow sheets. To really fuck with their minds.
Well, bergerbuilder, if it constitutes a sacrifice, we’re going to need a bigger altar.
Always cool when a Village Voice hack plays a Leftist version of Joe McCarthy.
BJ Texs = Police Chief Brody?
Ah, fageddaboudit, Jeff. O’Barry’s color has nothing to do with why you detest the man, we know that.
Personally, I find his choice of Party (DemocRAT) and home (Cheek-a-go) to be sufficient reason. But I used to live there, so it’s understandable.
If Pearlstein wants to goof, who cares? Somebody reading the Village Voice?
Gosharoonies!
Karl,
Beyond their desire for comptempory dead icon, there may be a twisted logic to the madness.
If they can convince voters that Obama faces* a unique threat of martydom–>then they hope to create a link in the voters’ minds between the reputations of those famous political icons and Obama. Hence, his extraordinary status
among mortal beings and divine right to wear MLK’s and JFK’s mantle–> the movement of revelation will strike the nation and all other presidential contenders will kneel in contrition.
*unique by placing the threat to him at a much higher threshold than normally always exists for our presidents and major presidential candidates. Considering the nasty threats posted by ranting BDS commenters at leftwing sites; if anyone deserves that status today, it would GW. Its a dangerous job for anyone.
Jeff, what do you mean “we might as well be wearing sheets?” As if! It’s not like you sent out a memo saying it was OK to take off our sheets. My sheet has been smelling sort’a gamey all month, how about you guys, any strange smells?
For the record, I didn’t like JFK either, and fuck you if you don’t like that.
Bobby, too, was a Olympic-grade putz.
I suddenly realized something: can’t spell assassination without that double ass right up front.
Yes, I’m channeling alpuccino for some strange reason.
JFK got some trim in his day.
So much for my block-quotiness.
Of course, Ray Nagin can annoint New Orleans chocolate town and he is protected by the mighty melanin shield.
Nuance, it’s what’s for dinner!
If all this assassination porn is to be carried to its logical meta-Messiah conclusion, wouldn’t Barry rise from the dead after three days?
Ha, Karl! Ironically I was actually on Martha’s Vinyard in 1974(?) watching part of the filming. I missed my chance to be a screaming, frantically pointing extra on the beach by 2 days.
Paging Mayor Nagin… Mayor Nagin to the chocolate courtesy phone…
More Pearlstein. Perhaps if I have the time I can turn this into another Caric / Thersites moment.
In answer to Pearlstein’s suggestion that it is cowardice (rather than, say, a difference in political philosophy) that has me calling myself a “classical liberal” rather than a conservative, I wrote: “Do you understand why a classical liberal might find your desire to force your political label upon him both predictable and repellant?”
To which Rick replied: “Sure I understand. You wish to bleach yourself of moral accountability for the failures of conservatism, and are offended at seeing yourself stymied in the attempt.”
Leave aside for the moment that what Rick is suggesting is that, the moment he is able to label you a conservative — and regardless of your political past — you become morally accountable for the “failures of conservatism” (defined, conveniently enough, by Rick and his ilk, who also get to define who is or is not a “conservative”), what is at play here is the kind of rhetorical maneuver so typical of progressives: put your opponent on the defensive and force him to justify his good intentions — prove a negative, in essence — as a way to pretend that there is no reason to debate.
It’s the Mona / Greenwald dodge: these people are clearly subhuman, so there’s no reason to debate them; because to debate them would only be to lend credibility to their subhumanness.
How easy it must be to avoid substance when you can bracket out anything your opponent says on the grounds that the utterer himself is without merit.
At any rate, my response:
I suspect Pearlstein will come back with yet another suggestion that all this is just a lot of verbiage meant to mask my inner lyncher/gaybasher/wymyn hater, but no worries. At some point the tables will turn, and when Rick is no longer seen as being on the side of the angels, he won’t have the skill or wherewithal to marshal an argument in his own defense. Calling those who disagree with you “bigots” and “haters” can only take you so far — though it might just propel Obama into the White House as a matter of strategy.
At which point we’ll have to fight off the purges.
Huh. I never made that connection at all.
Me neither. Just goes to show how deeply embedded our racism truly is. We’re going to have to spend extra time at “camp” because we can’t even acknowledge our racism.
Good thing there are people like Pearlstein around who are such assholes so perceptive.
So “del” tags don’t work, huh? How about strike out “s” tags?
Good stuff, Jeff.
but instead I was at Target, helping destroy little mom and pop shops by searching around for lower prices.
I think he’ll call you on this because all real liberals know that Target doesn’t destroy mom and pop shops, only WalMart does.
Bleach?
Bleach. It’s what makes my rally sheets really really white!
But you need Oxyclean to get the bloodstains out.
The tables never truly turn for folks like Rick, they just change their definitions so that they can always think of themselves on the side of the angels. Reagan didn’t really beat the communists, and if he did they weren’t really a threat to begin with, and if they were it was only because the right made them that way, and in any case the only reason it all turned out all right is because brave warriors like Rick were busy fighting the real good fight. It’s a self defense mechanism for ensuring yourself that all good stems from you and those that agree with you.
The astute observer will note that the 50-foot-long penis is circumcised.
Obviously, Mr. Arboleda is trying to suggest that Barack Obama is a Muslim.
You’re gonna have to puts those brackets around the whole word
striketo get that liberal-fresh deletedness.BECAUSE OF THE PROGRESSIVENESS!
My attorneys will be in touch with Mr. Arboleda for trademark infringement.
Perlstein can be added to an ever expanding list of mendoucheous twatwaffles. Being in the company of caric, timmah, IJS, thirsty, kkkleo, etal is not something to be proud of.
Pearlstein seems to be an updated version of the village yahoos in Monty Python and the Holy Grail who plunked a hat and false nose on a woman so she could be declared a witch and thus burned at the stake.
Poor, poor, Jeff. All tied up with Patriarchal ideas about Logic and Rhetorical Consistency.
When will you finally liberate yourself from your Shackles of Denotation and join the REAL party, where words mean what you say they mean, and consistency is in the eye of the beholder?
Because, after all, once you’ve freed yourself from notions of Truth, all that’s left is Power, and that’s much more fun to wield.
Try it, won’t you?
36, 37, 38: Bah. Bleach is sufficient for the ordinary stuff, followed by ironing, of course.
If you get bloodstains you burn it, like a flag. The rest of the Klavern takes up a collection to help you replace it.
Regards,
Ric
Mocking Obama for being a white Harvard silver-spoon nerd in political blackface who’s afraid of his out-of-control prop Sanford Wife annoys and flusters more interesting people than this Pearlstein cliche.
I heartily recommend it.
Oh, it’s coming.
Wasn’t there a . . . correct me if I’m wrong . . . a black mayor of New Orleans who vowed to rebuild it as a . . . with apologies to Hansel and Gretel . . . a chocolate city?
I don’t know. All’s I know is, when you’re dealing with candy bar analogies and a candidate who is half black, half white — but who has chosen to highlight his blackness — the chocolate thing is almost unavoidable.
Because licorice comes in cherry, is why.
Double-Stuft Oreos…think about it.
Just makes me think of Oliver Willis.
“Sure I understand. You wish to bleach yourself of moral accountability for the failures of conservatism, and are offended at seeing yourself stymied in the attempt.â€Â
This is also blatant Projection. All one might say first in response to an average Troll could be something like: “I know you are talking with absolute authority about someone. I know it isn’t me. So it must be you.”
Because it is the Troll talking about itself, and we know it. It’s amazing how often this senario shows up on Dr.Sanity’s site, of all places.
But he’s a professional political activist. He can’t be anything but good and righteous, or the Establishment would eat us all up!
Sorrysorrysorry, just trying to figure out the
strikeynessof this site.Thanks, dicentra! Now that I’m not just thinking about me, I can give back to my country and his royal Obama-ness.
I don’t know about anybody else, but the sweet confection His Blank Slateyness reminds me of, is that one made from spun sugar that I was about to name until I realized it would undoubtedly become proof of my racism.
You know: polyester candy.
People call me white chocolate. So, you know, fuck Pearlstein.
JeffG
Good friggin grief…why is it white “liberals” (and dweeby ones at that from a look at Pearlstains pic) tie themselves up in knots over preceived racism?
Ask him if he has run the list by some blacks and if they gave him permission to act offended and pissy.
White chocolate is NOT, you know, authentic.
Neither is Pearlstein. But we knew that, even if he doesn’t.
It let’s them feel like they share the pain of oppression, Darleen. I think many blacks secretly giggle. At least the ones I run with.
I call them my posse, by the way. They’re down with that.
Pearlstein responds again!
Well, he’s nothing if not consistent.
My reply:
I know. So what? Of course the guy’s an intentionally obtuse prick. That’s just the life he’s chosen.
Well, here’s the thing: as I noted earlier, he comes from that line of thinkers who demonizes opponents with cheap accusations — all so he can rationalize not having a conversation with them. After all, who wants to talk with a “cancer”? Or a Nazi? Or a subhuman racist homophobe?
Perlstein is, as I guessed, an evasive and intellectually bankrupt lightweight with a progressive bully pulpit from which he pretends to Speak Truth to Power to a fawning gaggle of lemmings.
It would all be very sad if it wasn’t all so very…vanilla.
so I guess we won’t get his opinion on describing imperialist endeavors as notorious pizza toppings?
Did you know there is no proper term of venery for lemmings? I think that’s kind of ironic.
Jeff, that shit frightens me for real. If there’s no possibility for discourse, then what? Not trying to be mysteriously portentous, just posting this from my phone and don’t have the patience to elaborate using this damn on-screen keyboard.
What’s funny about how he says that conservatives have a penchant for running from the conservative label or whatever is that all the liberals what love me always say I’m not nearly as conservative as I think I am. It’s like a pattern. I say no really I am and they laugh. I generally just let it go cause it seems important to them. That’s kind of like discourse.
[…] Mocha chocolata, ya-ya! […]
relax
no need to get all microtine about this.
McCarthy? More like Torquemada. Jeff is GUILTY! Confess! Confess! Confess! (Pearlstein: “I confess!”) Not YOU!!!
Okay, more like Monty Python’s Spanish Inquisition, though with the same vicious zeal of the original, and frustrated because all they really have is the Comfy Chair, Soft Cushions and Oh-So-Pious E-mails of Righteousness.
Zagnut. It’s got coconut, so it’s vaugely tropical, and peanuts, which are southern…but no chocolate…
Zagnut must be the candy bar equivalent of the white plantation owner! The European Imperialist who occupied native lands and remained at the top of the power structure and vending machines while the smooth, strong more fulfilling chocolate bars do all of the work and get eaten one by one, only to be refilled over and over as the Zagnut (B6) looks on and laughs. Hell, even the snack-sized bags of Fritos get eaten before the Zagnut. The fucking racist.
No, what’s funny is how the left constantly runs from their own identity. First they were “progressive”, then they were “liberal”, and now they insist on “progressive” again, because “liberal’s been demonized by the nasty conservatives”.
Of course, said demonization was accomplished by pointing to their own words and acts, but never mind. Pulling the curtain aside is the same as McCarthyism, of course.
Dave:
I’d respond to you but I’m too busy flushing my patriarchical eyes with Drano to excise the picture of the author of that story.
Yeah, that scares the shit out of me, too.
`I don’t know what you mean by “glory,”‘ Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. `Of course you don’t — till I tell you. I meant “there’s a nice knock-down argument for you!”‘
`But “glory” doesn’t mean “a nice knock-down argument,”‘ Alice objected.
`When _I_ use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, `it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’
`The question is,’ said Alice, `whether you CAN make words mean so many different things.’
`The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, `which is to be master – – that’s all.’
Humpty Dumpty was right. Though he risks being misunderstood by going so far afield of conventional usage, and by not providing the kind of context and clues that would allow his signifier to take on his new meaning.
Just sayin’.
They call me MISTER Hershey!
[…] is likely to explode the head of former Village Voice campaign correspondent Rick Perlstein. Then again, Perlstein once called Andrew Sullivan “gauzy,” so perhaps he should lay […]
I expect that Pearlstine’s next response will likely be along the lines of “I know you are but what am I?” You know, one of the classics of rhetoric that he’s clearly mastered.