{"id":13668,"date":"2009-10-31T13:31:07","date_gmt":"2009-10-31T17:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.firstthings.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/?p=13668"},"modified":"2017-03-11T01:16:40","modified_gmt":"2017-03-11T01:16:40","slug":"four-amusing-links","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2009\/10\/31\/four-amusing-links\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Amusing Links – UPDATED"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

UPDATE:<\/strong> Okay, call it FIVE amusing links, thanks to Iowahawk<\/a><\/p>\n

First up: Mark Steyn<\/strong> had me guffawing over my cornflakes<\/a> this morning with this one:<\/p>\n

The Senior Advisor [Valerie Jarrett] seems to have forgotten that she is the power. Admittedly, this is a recurring lapse on the part of the administration. There was Barack Obama only the other day blaming everything on the president \u2014 no, no, silly, not him, the other fellow, the Designated Fall Guy who stepped down as head of state in January to accept the new constitutional position of Blame Czar. Musing on problems in Afghanistan, Obama blamed the \u201clong years of drift\u201d under his predecessor. The new president \u2014 okay, newish president \u2014 has been Drifter-in-Chief for almost a year but he\u2019s too busy speaking truth to the former power to get on top of the situation. It could be a while yet. In his more self-regarding moments, such as his speech to the U.N., he gives the strong impression that the \u201clong years of drift\u201d began in 1776.<\/p>\n

Rocco Landesman, head honcho at the National Endowment for the Arts, seems closer to the reality of the situation. In his keynote address to the 2009 \u201cGrantmakers in the Arts\u201d Conference, Landesman hailed Obama as \u201cthe most powerful writer since Julius Caesar.\u201d He didn\u2019t mean a \u201cpowerful writer\u201d as in a compelling voice, gripping narrative, vivid characterization, command of language, etc. He meant a \u201cpowerful writer\u201d as in Caesar was king of the world, and now Obama is. He came; he saw; he stimulated: \u201cIf you accept the premise, and I do, that the United States is the most powerful country in the world, then Barack Obama is the most powerful writer since Julius Caesar. That has to be good for American artists.\u201d<\/p>\n

I suppose so. He could invade somewhere and force the natives to accept degrading roles in NEA-funded performance art. He could take out the Iranian nuclear program by carpet-bombing it with unreadable literary novels. That is, if you \u201caccept the premise\u201d that the United States is the most powerful country in the world. Rocco Landesman may, but it\u2019s not clear, from his actions (or inactions) in Eastern Europe, Iran, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, that the president does. But, even so, it seems an odd pitch to \u201cAmerican artists.\u201d Rocco Landesman, Speaking Goof to Power, isn\u2019t the first Obama groupie to enjoy the kinky frisson of groveling obsequiousness, but he\u2019s set an impressive new standard in public revelation thereof.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It goes on like that; a little gem of intelligent and pointed snark. And if you read into the second page, well, I blush to say, this fellow even mentions yours truly, so read it all<\/a>!
\n
\nSteven Crowder:<\/strong> One of his best take-down\u2019s yet; I laughed myself silly<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Bakerella:<\/strong> Assists in a marriage proposal<\/a>. Who said blogs are not powerful?<\/p>\n

Bookworm:<\/strong> on the heels of the White House\/NEA scandal<\/a> that the press won\u2019t talk about<\/a>, Bookworm gives us a description of public art in San Francisco<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe colorful mural by acclaimed artist Guy Colwell features Speaker Nancy Pelosi lancing a Republican elephant; a Terminator-dressed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger patting the back of a grizzly bear; Senator Dianne Feinstein waving the California State flag; Mayor Gavin Newsom performing a same-sex marriage ceremony; former Mayor Willie Brown brandishing a freshly pressed suit. . . former Supervisor Harvey Milk waving a Castro Rainbow flag with former Mayor George Moscone by his side; actress Marilyn Monroe hugging baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio on the back of a giraffe\u2026\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You can see a picture of the mural, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Writes Bookworm: <\/p>\n

Considering the art world\u2019s Leftism, it can\u2019t be a coincidence that, despite the worst recession in decades, art agencies just got their highest funding in 16 years. After all, if you were on the Left, wouldn\u2019t you want to fund people like the Chief of the National Endowment for the Arts, who is not only someone whose paycheck has a lot to do with American taxpayers, but who also is a man who thinks Obama is the most powerful writer since Julius Caesar. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We are living in very serious times, with very silly people in power. Very silly people who believe you and I are stupid<\/a>. Very stupid<\/a>. And they get away with it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll get away with as much as we let them<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UPDATE: Okay, call it FIVE amusing links, thanks to Iowahawk First up: Mark Steyn had me guffawing over my cornflakes this morning with this one: The Senior Advisor [Valerie Jarrett] seems to have forgotten that she is the power. Admittedly, this is a recurring lapse on the part of the administration. There was Barack Obama […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,152,180,188,215,251,252,253,261,268,270],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-remaking-america","category-leadership","category-nea","category-obama-bad","category-quoting-the-news","category-the-fourth-estate","category-the-pelosi","category-the-perpetual-adolescents","category-tvpop-culturemusic","category-video-faves","category-voter-fraud"],"yoast_head":"\nFour Amusing Links - UPDATED<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UPDATE: Okay, call it FIVE amusing links, thanks to Iowahawk First up: Mark Steyn had me guffawing over my cornflakes this morning with this one: The\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2009\/10\/31\/four-amusing-links\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Four Amusing Links - 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