So I was attending a staff meeting (by phone) this week when a colleague and friend began sharing a particularly outrageous story. In about two minutes flat I found myself pacing the floor flabbergasted, my eyes darting back and forth across the room looking for a remedy to the outrage – my notepad.
Truth is I thought I had become sufficiently immune to the antics of liberal leftists specifically intended to raise the ire of conservatives, especially Christians. I mean, let’s face it – reaction is what most liberal leftists want to spark from conservatives. They find it amusing.
So I decided long ago to stifle any reaction that would satisfy their perverted interests. But this was an exception. I just flipped when I was told unsuspecting taxpayers in Florida were funding a Broward County Art Exhibition honoring a painting of an Arab sodomizing President Bush.
Let’s just analyze this a bit, shall we?
When former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore used personal funds to buy a 5,200-pound monument of the Ten Commandments to display inside the Alabama Judicial Building, there was a nationwide outcry from liberals. The ACLU and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State rushed to federal court demanding that the artistic monument be removed from public view. After all, “it might offend people of differing religions.” As we all remember, a judicial despot ordered Alabama officials to remove the monument from public view, and it was hidden in a closet.
On the other hand, when the government uses taxpayer dollars to fund an Art Guild exhibit featuring a painting of an Arab sodomizing President Bush, it not only draws very little ire from concerned citizens … it actually wins an award!
Specifically, Alfred Phillips, a South Florida gay activist, submitted the painting entitled “Yahoo!” depicting a naked President Bush bending over a barrel of oil while being sodomized by an Arab man. With a background of stars and stripes, the sad excuse for “art” not only demeans the president, it further depicts him crushing Iraqi civilians and U.S. soldiers beneath the barrel of oil.
This no-talent rendering merely impersonates art and relies on mindless shock value for validation. Well, mission accomplished! Chris Yoculan, another gay activist and exhibition judge, gave “Yahoo!” his “Judge’s Recognition” ribbon, saying, “I thought it was good, but I thought Bush should have been [on] top.”
I wish I could say the perverted absurdities of this art exhibit ended there. But no controversial demonstration of liberal expression would be complete without mocking the Christian faith. In the piece, Phillips made sure to include an ichthus tattoo (Christian fish symbol) on the president’s shoulder.
On a positive note: It seems the ACLU has finally found a taxpayer-funded display of a Christian symbol that will not lead to a federal lawsuit. I suppose the ACLU finds nothing wrong with publicly funded religious symbols ? so long as the person bearing such emblems is being sodomized.
So where is the public outrage?
Sadly, local citizens have failed to express any considerable opposition to this assault on public decency and national pride. Moreover, it has received very little national media attention.
Now, I know that our own Supreme Court has attempted to assuage our protests to such displays by claiming “art” in every and any form has “redeeming value.” This was in fact their reason for overturning the federal ban on child pornography.
In 2002, the court concluded that the federal statute was too broad punishing pornographers for “a single graphic depiction of sexual activity involving children … without inquiry into the work’s redeeming value.”[Emphasis mine] If pressed, these same justices could likely find a constitutional “right to child pornography,” along with the elusive “right to abortion and homosexual sodomy.” It is written right next to the clause prescribing the “wall of separation between church and state.”
As public displays of Christianity are being quarantined to closets, the champions of sexual anarchy are marching out of it, passing their depraved hopelessness all over the landscape of America. Unopposed, they will destroy the great masterpiece that was once America.
I can only say, public silence to offenses like these speaks volumes to those who will inevitably seek to push and burn the envelope of common decency and traditional values. I suggest we draw the line at taxpayer-funded mockery of a sitting U.S. president during wartime. It is way beyond the boundaries of decency. It is also demoralizing to proud Americans, especially those sacrificing and fighting for freedom overseas.
According to the Broward County Cultural Affairs Division, their office has received very few complaints. I would like to change that. Nearly 25 percent of the Broward County Art Guild annual budget is provided by taxpayers. I suggest their public funding be revoked. If you agree, contact the Broward County administrator:
Roger Desjarlais
Broward County Administrator
115 S. Andrews Avenue, Room 409
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Phone: 954-357-7362
Fax: 954-357-7360
E-mail: [email protected]
Sam Kastensmidt contributed to this column.
