NO Surprise here... Thanx California.

[Nagalfar]

A painting depicting a red-white-and-blue map of the U.S. in the toilet that's on display at the state Attorney General's headquarters is creating quite a stir. It was painted by the same Sacramento man who displayed a couple of anti-war effigies on his Land Park home last winter.

The painting is titled "T'anks to Mr. Bush" and was painted in 2003 by Stephen Pearcy. Last February, Pearcy displayed a soldier mannequin hanging from a noose with anti-war, anti-Bush sentiments. The display provoked both ire and support. His painting threatens to do the same. It's part of an exhibit sponsored by "California Laywers for the Arts" that's just been unveiled in the cafeteria of the office building of Attorney General Bill Lockyer. Some Republican critics are taking exception to Lockyer allowing the painting.

"I'm sure that the Attorney General's office has some discretion as to whether or not they would hang artowrk that is obsolutely offensive to the gay and lesbian community or any artwork that would display violence towards women," said Karen Hanretty, a spokesperson for the California Republic Party. "I bet they wouldn't hang that in there. But they will hang artwork that is so blatantly offensive to our military and what we are doing in Iraq to fight a war on terrorism."

A spokesperson for Lockyer said the Attorney General is not in the business of censorship. "Of course, if someone were breaking the law by engaging in art by illegally discriminating against someone or committing a hate crime, well, then that's a crime," said Nathan Barankin. "But expressing your political views is not a crime, at least not yet until Karen Hanretty has her way."

News10 spoke with Pearcy Monday at his Bay Area home where he lives during the week. He told reporter Dan Adams that "T'anks to Mr. Bush" was his way of expressing how the country, with the passage of the Patriot Act, was "going down the toilet."
_______________________________
For those of us who feel motivated to let these arseholes know what we feel based on our freedom of speach rights, here is the contact info on this idiot.

Attorney General's Office
California Department of Justice
Attn: Public Inquiry Unit
P.O. Box 944255
Sacramento, CA 94244-2550ch rights here is the contact info..

VOICE 1-800-952-5225 (Toll-free in CA) or (916) 322-3360

TDY 1-800-952-5548 (Toll-free in CA)
or (916) 324-5564

FAX (916) 323-5341
--------------------------------------------------
California Lawyers for the Arts.

SACRAMENTO OFFICE
926 J Street, Suite 81 1
Sacramento, CA 95814
Tel: (916) 442-6210
Fax: (916) 442-6281
e-mail: clasacto@aol.com


I got mine.. and it felt good!

[eddief]

Kudos to the California Attorney General for supporting freedom of speech. I'll be calling to thank him for being a good constitutionalist.

[Joseph P Carey]

Tongue in cheek comment:

I guess it is OK in the opinion of the Attorney General of California so long as there is nothing there that depicts violence like an artist's rendition of a Company of Marines in Fallujah, or if it does not depict a religious theme like the laws of the 10 Commandments is a marble slab, or even the photograph of a conventional family, Husband, wife and child, that would make the Gay an Lesbian Community feel excluded, or quite possibly a photograph of the President of the United States standing in the rubble of the World Trade Center for fear that it may cause the Muslim Community to feel threatened, but this depiction of the USA down the toilet is OK, because, after all, it is all about President Bush, and not about America is it not?

Nature has a way of correcting its mistakes, it is called its faults. In California it is call the San Andreas Fault. Remove its coast line, and California is a pretty nice place with some very good people.

And, as far as Eddy's comments, consider the source! Even violence and prejudice and patriotism are expressions of free speech Eddy, but he denies them their platform! I guess it is all in the eyes of the Liberal Observer! Their view is "It is our way or the highway!" What fascists these Liberals be that they only allow their point of view of the world as only they want to see it.

[eddief]

Show me where the attorney general denied any pro-USA and pro-military artwork and then you would have had a point. You're ASSuming that he would have denied them.

[Joseph P Carey]

Originally posted by eddief
Show me where the attorney general denied any pro-USA and pro-military artwork and then you would have had a point. You're ASSuming that he would have denied them.

You are ASSuming that none was denied! You are also assuming that the people that would have made such art work were even invited! This was obviously a selected group of artists, on government grounds with a political viewpoint, and off-limits to opposing points of view. You know what I mean, Liberal Rules!

This painting was supposed to be about the Patriot Act! Tell me sport, has anyone from the government knocked on your door because of the Patriot Act as of yet? I think not! But, it is all right for you and your kind to go creating battles that have nothing to do with reality. I state something and you jump down my throat, but you have no idea if there were other views invited to the display at all.

The fact that the Spokesman for the Attorney General did say: "Of course, if someone were breaking the law by engaging in art by illegally discriminating against someone or committing a hate crime, well, then that's a crime," said Nathan Barankin. "But expressing your political views is not a crime, at least not yet until Karen Hanretty has her way." That sounded pretty unilateral politically to me!

According to you, and the other jerk in California, there is no illegal discrimination in art, but the State of California seems to think so, and they seem to think it is committing a hate crime only in certain cases! But, what is your definition of a hate crime? If a Homosexual shoots a Heterosexual because he does not like his life style, that is NOT a hate crime, but visa versa IS a hate crime. It is a discriminatory law, the law of hate crimes! They have made special classes of citizens, and that is wrong.

If I do not like Homosexuals, and I put up a poster using my right of Free Speech stating that exact same premise, my poster would be taken down, because of Hate Laws! But to have Pearcy display a soldier mannequin hanging from a noose with anti-war, anti-Bush sentiments, because of the Actions in Iraq, or the Patriot Act, or because his peter got caught in a door or something, which is just pure hatred, his would not be removed. His artwork is a hate crime as far as I am concerned, and it is also a lie!

[eddief]

The Patriot Act has also been slammed by conservatives (Rep. Ron Paul (Tx.) being one of them), so opposition to the Patriot Act is not just a liberal issue. As for your assertion that pro-Bush and pro-military pieces were denied entry, the burden of proof is on you to prove that. So show me an article in either the media or from a conservative watchdog group that shows it occured. If that in fact did happen I would denounce it.

Now I apologise for calling you an ass when I wrote "ASSumption". Have a good day, devil dog.

[Joseph P Carey]

Originally posted by eddief
The Patriot Act has also been slammed by conservatives (Rep. Ron Paul (Tx.) being one of them), so opposition to the Patriot Act is not just a liberal issue. As for your assertion that pro-Bush and pro-military pieces were denied entry, the burden of proof is on you to prove that. So show me an article in either the media or from a conservative watchdog group that shows it occured. If that in fact did happen I would denounce it.

Now I apologise for calling you an ass when I wrote "ASSumption". Have a good day, devil dog.

You did your level best to avoid answering the question as to whether or not the government has knocked on your door because of the Patriot Act. It is the standard Liberal response to answer a question with another question and to avoid a response that would put you on the record as knowing what it is you are talking about.

The facts of the matter are that the Patriot Act is no different than the RICO Act (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, Law enacted since the very early 1970s), and it has the same law tested powers as the RICO Act has had, the only difference being that RICO is for Organized Crime, and Patriot is for Organized Terrorism. The truth is you or I personally would be more apt to be subject to the RICO Act than we would be the Patriot Act. It is just another Big-Lie by the Liberals that the Patriot Act is taking any rights away from either you or I.

Let us get this thing straight here. I made a statement and you said I ASSumed too much, and you went on with rhetoric stating that I should prove my case, but you never provided anything to contradict me! The rules of the Liberal Forum do not apply here! Your original statement was: "Kudos to the California Attorney General for supporting freedom of speech. I'll be calling to thank him for being a good constitutionalist." Could it be that he only provided a freedom of dissent for the 'California Lawyers for the Arts' The same lawyers that represented main stream Hollywood in the last election against President Bush?

Apology accepted!

[eddief]

You may be right about the Patriot Act, but to say opposition to it is a liberal issue is just plain wrong. Liberal and conservative watchdog groups have come out against it.

You're trying to say that artists have been denied from displaying their works. The burden of proof is on you whether you like it or not. You were the one who brought it up in the first place, so you need to put up or shut up.

And not being invited to display your work is not being denied your freedom of speech. I play basketball, but I've yet to get invited to the Spurs training camp.

[Joseph P Carey]

Originally posted by eddief
You may be right about the Patriot Act, but to say opposition to it is a liberal issue is just plain wrong. Liberal and conservative watchdog groups have come out against it.

You're trying to say that artists have been denied from displaying their works. The burden of proof is on you whether you like it or not. You were the one who brought it up in the first place, so you need to put up or shut up.

And not being invited to display your work is not being denied your freedom of speech. I play basketball, but I've yet to get invited to the Spurs training camp.

In all honesty, if you do not believe that there are right wing terrorists groups, you have not read the newspapers in the last 10 years, starting with the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995. Let us not forget the Atlanta Olympic Bombing and countless Abortion Clinic Bombings. Yes, I am sure there are Ring Wing Organizations that fear the Patriot Act as much as the Left.

As far as the Artist go, yes, I am saying there was a deliberate exclusion of 'Pro-America' Artists, because of the leftist bias of the California Lawyers for the Arts. It was nothing more than an Anti-USA, Anti-President, Anti-War, and Anti-Republican Art Feast held on Tax Payer's Property where equal opportunity is supposed to be the Bell of our Liberty. If the State of California were to hold a Religious meeting on the steps of the State Attorney General's Office it would be no different a situation, but they are forbidden to do so!

Yea, I always wanted to be a Pro Basketball player too, but I could not shoot a basket, I was not tall enough, and I can not dribble a basketball, but according to Liberal Philosophy, I should be allowed one of the 70% berths on the team, because I am a Celtic Person by race, and there is a high proportion of minority player in the NBA, far exceeding the racial mix of the USA, and after all, the NBA is an Interstate Corporation, but you don't hear me complaining, after all, I can read and write, because I went to school without scholarship, and I paid my School debts out of the less than 1 Million Dollar a Year earnings that I had to make on my own. So, don't give me that crap either.

I am not a prejudice man, and the NBA is an equal opportunity employer, and they are not a government organization. But, the State of California Attorney General's Office is Tax Payer based and all points of view deserve to be included in an art exhibit, not just the left.

[eddief]

You still haven't proven that any artists were denied a place in the exhibit. All you're doing is blowing a lot of hot air.

[Joseph P Carey]

Originally posted by eddief
You still haven't proven that any artists were denied a place in the exhibit. All you're doing is blowing a lot of hot air.

Do you really doubt me? It was just the Left Wing Lawyers of California doing their anti-government bit. A notice for the exhibit:

http://www.newsreview.com/issues/sacto/2005-04-21/artpick.asp

California Lawyers for the Arts (CLA). CLA, a nonprofit service organization born in the Bay Area in 1974, has expanded to having four offices statewide.

Last Thursday, A Creative Merger: Lawyers & Artists opened at the Sacramento County Public Law Library. It’s a collaborative exhibition by CLA and the library. Although some of the works are by artists focused on a law theme, most of the 68 pieces tucked into the library’s every nook and cranny were born under lawyers’ hands. As lawyer and artist Jeri Wyrick noted, “There’s nothing like studying for the bar that makes you want to do artwork.”

Displayed until May 21, the exhibit offers a perfect forum for a lawyer who was recently in the spotlight. Like a phoenix, Stephen Pearcy’s soldier wearing the “Bush Lied, I Died” sign has returned. Although the original was removed from his Land Park home by vandals, a solider’s uniform now hangs in the library from a plywood bas relief of his house, reiterating his sentiments.

Actually, the show offers a lot of commentary about the present administration, including D.L. Thomas’ simple “Quamdiu se bene gesserit.” It’s a colorful and wildly brushed portrait of the White House with an almost-invisible plexiglass cutout of an oilcan marking an insidious presence across the building’s front.

[eddief]

Is there a group of conservative lawyers that do artwork? You can't invite a group that doesn't exist.

[Joseph P Carey]

Originally posted by eddief
Is there a group of conservative lawyers that do artwork? You can't invite a group that doesn't exist.

That remark is a bit bigoted isn't it? Are you now of the opinion that only Leftist and Liberals are concerned with Art, and you think Conservatives are not creative? How very stereotypical of you! Even Hitler was an Artist! Winston Churchill was an artist! Dwight David Eisenhower was an artist! Just to name a few.

Jimmy Stewart, for example, whom the public recently voted its second favorite movie star of the 20th century (after John Wayne), was a staunch Republican.

Stewart was a man of the highest patriotism. During WWII, he enlisted as a private and worked his way up to become a colonel, leading a squadron of B-24s over Germany. After the war, Stewart stayed in the Air Force Reserve and rose to the rank of general. He was one of the few rich men to lose a son in Vietnam.

Jack Warner famously remarked, upon hearing that Ronald Reagan was thinking of running for president: "No, that can't be right. Ronald Reagan for best friend. Jimmy Stewart for president."

Among American-born Nobel laureates, the poet T.S. Eliot ("The Waste Land") was an outspoken cultural and political conservative.

There are more you know!

[eddief]

Relax, it was a tongue in cheek comment. But can you tell me if there is a group of conservative lawyers that feel they got snubbed by the attorney general?

[Joseph P Carey]

Originally posted by eddief
Relax, it was a tongue in cheek comment. But can you tell me if there is a group of conservative lawyers that feel they got snubbed by the attorney general?

I can assure you that like at any anti-war demostrations, groups like the Marine Corps League, the American Legion, and the Veterans of Foriegn Wars were most definitely overlooked and uninvited, which is fine for an open public demonstration, but this was in a tax payer supported venue, and all groups should have been invited. They were not!

[OLE SARG]

There is a time and a place for everything. It is not the time to display pieces of s#$5 called art in our public office buildings. It is apparent that the California Attorney General is a pinko fag and probably bought his way into public office. I can't believe our pinko politicians are fighting about a piece of s#%4 called art - it belongs in the garbage can!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND you might know the ACLU in all it's blazing glory is going to be right in the middle of this. Too bad a part of California couldn't fall into the ocean with THAT organization standing on it when it falls. What a group of loser A#%HOLES!!!!!!!!

SEMPER FI,
OLE SARG

[Joseph P Carey]

Damn Ole Sarg, don't hold back! tell them what you really think!

I believe I have said it before, Nature corrects its mistakes with its faults!