++++++++++++++++++
“If you can feel that staying human is worth while, even when it can’t have any result whatever, you’ve beaten them.”
― George Orwell, 1984
++++++++++++++++++
I hate to say this and it seems hard to believe but I think we, as a nation, have a ways to go before we hit the bottom of wherever the current leader is taking us. But we will hit bottom hard at some point in the near future.
The question is: Will we care?
Or will we even notice? That’s hard to say with so many of us already dull-witted and hypnotized from the administration’s propaganda machine that seems right out of Orwell’s 1984 with their own Newspeak in the form of Fox News and Sinclair Broadcasting and Doublethink in the form of their alternate facts.
The Thought Police are will soon emerge in some form, no doubt.
Something as seemingly innocuous as the leader’s wife wearing a slogan of apathy and dispassion– I Really Don’t Care. Do U?— on her jacket while on the way to visit immigrant children in traumatic situations takes on greater symbolic meaning in this environment. Some try to say it was just an overlooked fashion choice but that is disingenuous at best. These people know that their every word and action makes a statement. If not, then we are dealing with a stupidity and fecklessness that is beyond the pale.
Myself, I think it may have been the most honest expression yet of this administration.
They really don’t care.
They don’t care about immigrants, especially those who happen to be non-white.
They don’t give a damn about coal-miners or autoworkers or farmers or any of the many other group whose asses they pretend to kiss while begging for votes. They don’t about you or me or humanity in general.
They care only about power and all that comes with that power.
Orwell put it chillingly well in 1984:
“Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from the oligarchies of the past in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just around the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now you begin to understand me.”
The answer?
Care. Now more than ever, stand up and be a goddamn human and care.
Redtree Times 
He’s not “the leader.” He’s just the president. He’s elected for four years. I liked your posts better when they were about art.
Me, too, Aletha. But part of being an artist is how you perceive and are affected by the outer world. I generally only write on these subjects when I am most concerned. I would love to never address these matters again and focus only on those things I love, like,art, but sometimes I feel obligated to say something.
If you can connect those things to your paintings, perhaps you have an argument to make. But maybe her coat just means “I’m a human being. My marriage is none of your business. My son is none of your business.” If you want to talk about “humanity” — well, she’s a person and she’s in a spot light that you cannot even imagine. I think your comments are cruel. I’m not talking politics — I’m just talking ordinary human decency. And as an artist you do alienate about half your audience making the comments. And I don’t see any point in that either. I’m an artist too. My art is for whoever enjoys it and gets it. I don’t care what their politics are. So that’s the difference.
I am sorry we disagree on this, Aletha. I re-read my post and couldn’t see the cruelty to which you referred. Believe me, I would never want the spotlight she is in but I am not responsible for putting her or her child there. But her position comes with responsibilities and if her decision to wear that coat with that message on this particular day was calculated, it was a callous and cruel decision. If it was a mere mistake in her choice of wardrobe, then she is simply tone deaf to the situation. That being said, I do tie my emotional responses very much to my work. I have never tried to hide these responses and my collectors come from across the political spectrum.
She doesn’t have a position. She is the president’s wife. That’s all she is. Everything else is just someone’s interpretation of
Amen Gary, like you, I cannot believe she wasn’t aware of the optics of her coat.
Unlike alethakuschan, I think you posts have always been about the intersection of your art and your beliefs. The personal introspection of the feelings brought out by you pieces is a big part of what Redtree Times has always been.
I will admit, I feel sorry for the First Lady, she didn’t ask for the spotlight. But her husband put it on her not us. And it was her choice to put that coat on, on a trip she knew would be photographed. Whatever message she wanted to send, it was going to be controversial.
Thanks, Gary. My question is why there had to be a message at all. Simply by going there and appearing to care would have been a strong message in itself and would have repaired, even if only in a small way, some of the damage done by her husband. The callousness in making a message other than “I Care” at that moment is beyond me. If I am seen as cruel in pointing that out, so be it.
I do believe that I try to be even-handed, fact-based and reasonable in my criticisms. I am sorry if that doesn’t come through for everyone.
She doesn’t have a “position.” She is the president’s wife. That’s all she is.And the notion that any presidential spouse really has some particular role that she’s supposed to play is one that I find completely outmoded.
Everything else is just someone’s interpretation of a private citizen’s gestures, which can as easily mean the very opposite of whatever you think they mean. That you think your interpretation is the correct one is hardly surprising. Most people think their own opinion is somehow the correct one.
I can agree that the idea of a first lady is an outmoded idea. But whether that is true or not, I think you must agree that the first lady has a bully pulpit to champion causes that matter to her and do great good. The first lady is traditionally also a widely recognized influential figure, even if only in a symbolic sense. If not, they would not roll her out for photo ops such as this.
We obviously disagree on if and what the meaning of her jacket was. As you pointed out, we all tend to believe our opinions are correct. I no doubt do that,as do you. So, that will have to do for now. Have a good weekend.
Gary, thank you. I am also an artist, and I will never remain silent about any threat to what matters to me. Since 1915 this has been gun violence. If only our President was as concerned about gun violence in America committed by Americans, as he is about the very small percentage of violence done by immigrants. If only. No need to expound here, I just want to say you have my absolute support to continue to express yourself in anyway that you feel you need to. And thank you for the Orwell quote. Resist. Persist. We MUST!
I came upon your blog by chance and recognized that you were the same person who made pictures I was familiar with at a gallery that represents various remarkably skillful artists whose careers I follow. I was mildly curious what you say about your pictures.
There’s no shortage of political hysteria to be had in the media — especially in Washington DC. I shouldn’t have left any comment at all, but it just gets to me this thing about attacking the wife. So you are unhappy that her jacket tells you she doesn’t care that you hate her? That’s all the jacket says. Good for her.
I’m not into fashion, but I have come to admire the way that Melania, who is a former fashion model, is using fashion to make her point. I think there’s something really brilliant and sassy about it. Indeed I have a lot more respect for her whole industry as a consequence.
She’s not saying she doesn’t care about the poor, or about children, or about immigrants, or about whatever. She’s saying she doesn’t care about your moral preening. If that bugs you, good. The sanctimonious “resisters” can stand to be taken down a notch or two.
“*She’s not saying she doesn’t care about the poor, or about children, or about immigrants, or about whatever. She’s saying she doesn’t care about your moral preening*.”
I don’t think you or I know that is what she is saying, Aletha. It’s your opinion and we both agree that people often mistakenly believe that their own opinion is the only correct one. To be honest, I never had much of an opinion on the first lady, one way or the other. She seems to have little sway with her husband’s actions and I sometimes find myself pitying her. I just felt that her fashion choice at this particular time and place was, at best, unfortunate.
And as for moral preening and being sanctimonious, if you want to label me that way because I am offended by the deliberate cruelty, the sheer totality of the outright lies, the overt self-dealing and corruption taking place in her husband’s administration, so be it. I’m proud to wear it. If you’re bothered by someone who has the gall to point out those things more than the actual acts taking place, you might want to check your own priorities.
Thanks for the conversation. Be well.