The White House Asked to Borrow a Van Gogh.......Offered a Original Solid Gold Cattelan Instead

Artsy-Fartsy Guggenheimer

The emailed response from the Guggenheim’s chief curator to the White House was polite but firm: The museum could not accommodate a request to borrow a painting by Vincent van Gogh for President and Melania Trump’s private living quarters. Instead, wrote the curator Nancy Spector, another piece was available, one that was nothing like “Landscape With Snow,” the 1888 van Gogh rendering of a man in a black hat walking along a path in Arles France with his dog.

“We are sorry not to be able to accommodate your original request, but remain hopeful that this special offer may be of interest.” 

It is common for presidents and first ladies to borrow major works of art to decorate the Oval Office, the first family’s residence and various rooms at the White House. The Smithsonian loaned the Kennedys a Eugène Delacroix painting, “The Smoker.” The Obamas preferred abstract art, choosing works by Mark Rothko and Jasper Johns.

The Guggenheims curator’s alternative to the WH request: an 18-karat, fully functioning, solid gold toilet — an interactive work titled “America” that critics have described as pointed satire aimed at the excess of wealth in this country. 

Cattelan’s “America” caused something of a sensation after the Guggenheim unveiled it in 2016, drawing more than a few headlines.“WE’RE NO. 1! (And No. 2)” was the New York Post’s front-page offering, the huge lettering over a photograph of the toilet. The tabloid’s coverage included a reporter’s first-person account (“I rode the Guggenheim’s golden throne”) and a photograph of that reporter seated on the toilet (reading the New York Post, naturally).

Cattelan has resisted interpreting his work, telling interviewers he would leave that to his audience. He conceived of the gold toilet before Trump’s candidacy, though he has acknowledged that he might have been influenced by the mogul’s almost unavoidable place in American culture.

When asked if the museums director Richard Armstrong supported the curator’s offer of the toilet to the White House, the Guggenheim’s spokeswoman replied, “We have nothing further to add.” 

Spector, in blog posts and on social media, has made plain her political leanings. “This must be the first day of our revolution to take back our beloved country from hatred, racism, and intolerance,” the curator wrote on Instagram a day after Trump’s election in 2016. Her post was accompanied by a Robert Mapplethorpe photo of a frayed American flag. - Read More

Don’t Answer His Questions, Mr. President

By Ben Stein

"Donald R. Trump is a successful man. He has a jet plane. He’s President. He’s nobody’s idea of Abraham Lincoln or Thomas Jefferson, but he’s a smart guy.  Yet he has just done something foolish.  Let me tell you a few reasons why I say so:

One: There is no such crime as Russia/U.S. “Collusion.” The man who is running for President can talk to anyone he pleases. So can anyone who works for him.  They can talk about anything except to disclose secret defense material. No one is even hinting that such a thing happened.  So, there is no “there there” as my great, great Aunt Gertrude Stein said of Oakland. For heads of state to talk to other heads of state or their deputies is how the business of the world gets done. If you were to say it were illegal, you would have to say that all diplomacy is illegal. That’s a concept too Orwellian even for Trump’s haters.

Two: The Special Prosecutor is not a friend of Mr. Trump. He’s been in bed with Trump haters from the word “go”.  He has no special place in history unless he hurts Trump very badly.  He’s not going to just walk away from this without the trophy of inflicting heavy duty damage on Trump.  That’s just not the way Special Prosecutors operate.  Birds got to fly.  Fish got to swim.  Prosecutors got to prosecute.  It doesn’t have to be the biggest possible fish, but it has to be somebody. 

Mr. Mueller would not have asked to question Trump if he didn’t mean to harm him or someone close to him. Surely Mr. Trump should know this or if he doesn’t, there’s something seriously askew in his head.  There is just no upside in answering Mr. Mueller’s questions. It can only hurt someone close to Trump.

Three: Mr. Trump does not have to answer anyone’s f–king questions. He’s President. He can’t be cited for contempt. He can’t be indicted. He cannot be prosecuted especially for the non-existent crime of “collusion.” If he does not have to answer the questions and if the media will hurt him as much as they possibly can no matter what he does, why should he answer questions — especially under oath? 

We already know that Mr. Mueller is looking way in the past at Mr. Trump’s business dealings years ago. What can this possibly have to do with his acts as President? Every day Mr. Mueller sends out more requests for interrogations. Mr. Trump, sir, this man wants to hurt you. Don’t help him. When you get back to D.C. from Davos, explain that you spoke too hastily, that you had not consulted your counsel. That you will have a look at written interrogatories and consider answering them with the help of your lawyers. 

Mr. Trump, this man, Mr. Mueller, is part of a conspiracy to drive you from office. Take a tip from a man who worked for a President who was FAR too co-operative with the people sworn to kill him. Don’t answer his f–king questions."

 ___________________________________

Collusion is not a crime. At this point, all the testimony from Trump and his associates can amount to is obstruction of justice for what appears to be a non-existent “crime” that isn’t actually a crime and submitting false statements to federal investigators over the non-criminal probe.

Pointy Hat Guy Condemns Fake News' Use of "Snake Tactics"

VATICAN CITY, Jan 24 - Reuters - Pope Francis on Wednesday condemned the "evil" of fake news, saying journalists and social media users should shun and unmask manipulative "snake tactics" that foment division to serve political and economic interests.

"Fake news is a sign of intolerant and hypersensitive attitudes, and leads only to the spread of arrogance and hatred. That is the end result of untruth," Francis said in the first document by a pope on the subject. The document, called "The truth will set you free - Fake news and journalism for peace", was issued in advance of the Catholic Church's World Day of Social Communications on May 13. Francis compared the use of fake news to the Bible story of the devil, who, disguised as a serpent, persuaded Eve to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree.

"We need to unmask what could be called the 'snake-tactics' used by those (purveyors of fake news) who disguise themselves in order to strike at any time and place," he said. "The role of journalists was "not just a job, it is a mission" and they had particular responsibility to stem fake news."

Second Group of Immigrants Rejected by Australia Fly to U.S.

A second group of asylum seekers from Australia's offshore detention centers are en route to their new homes in America as part of the controversial deal. The fifty-eight left Papua New Guinea on a Philippine Airlines flight on Tuesday bound for New York, according to the Refugee Action Coalition.

The men, mostly from Afghanistan and Pakistan, will be resettled in groups and as individuals across the country in locations including North Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Georgia as part of a deal struck in 2016 with then president Barack Obama to resettle 1250 refugees from Manus Island and Nauru detention centers. Donald Trump has described the whole thing as a "dumb deal".

Australia refuses to resettle refugees who arrive by boat, and instead follows a policy of mandatory offshore detention. Some have been held on Manus Island and Nauru for more than four years. Tuesday's flight transported the men from Manus Island, and another group of around 130 on Nauru has been accepted for resettlement in the US and are expected to leave the island in the next few weeks. There’s still no clarity around how many people will come to the US, and how long before they are resettled here. The whole deal has been shrouded in secrecy.

Fake News Aficionado Newsman Dan Scores Gig With Leftist Internet Kool Kids

At 86 years old, the liberal icon and disgraced former CBS anchorman Dan Rather just won't seem to go away. At least in his newest gig as news guy, little or no one will see him. According to CNN, founder and CEO of the the little watched “Young Turds Turks” network, Cenk Uygur, offered Rather the opportunity to do a show on the online network. Rather is said to have jumped at the opportunity. Newsman Dan's  new offering will premiere tonight and I know you're excited.

The "Young Turks"network's primary audience are brain-numb progressives stoners on their Facebook page and YouTube channel, so you can bet most of their viewers have no friggin idea who Dan Rather is. And in case you've never seen it, the Young Turk's election night panel meltdown and descent into near suicidal madness remains one of the great YouTube clips of 2016.

Rather described the new show as being a “no bells and whistles” affair that will be filmed from Rather’s office (a step up from Keith Olbermann reporting from his moms basement) and focus on stories that he believes are not getting enough attention in the media, as well as on original reporting. Rather told CNN that he was motivated to launch the show by Donald Trump’s “attacks” on the press:

“I feel strongly that when you have a president who is continually, relentlessly damning the press, individuals by name, individual institutions and calling the press the enemy of the people — listen, this has to be resisted....”

Since being booted from the anchor chair at CBS for propagating fake news, Rather has been slowly circling the media drain, bouncing  around various liberal cable news network outlets including a multiple-year stint with Mark Cuban’s HDNet that no one has heard of either.

What's the Frequency Kenneth??

A Good Monday Morning

Life Can Be Tough In DC During A Government Shutdown

Looks like the media may have to go to the emergency can goods and 

water from the White House rain gutters.........hang in there guys.  #SchumersShutdown

The Left's Long National Nightmare. It's Only Just Begun

  Weapons at the Ready, the Military Insure Barky and Mooshell Depart Washington - January 20, 2017

One of the great pleasures of the last 12 months has been watching the left, from Ivory Towers of Higher Learning to Major Network Organizations and their Late Night Hacks to Lefty bloggers, gleefully make epic fools of themselves. I particularly have enjoyed some websites falling flat on their faces in pathetic attempts at anti-Trump humor, and their inability (or perhaps just outright refusal) to discern the truth.

One in particular, a known vile little bunch with an extreme case of 'Trump Unacceptance & Resistance Disorder" (TURD) who are an hilariously example of cursing the darkness while stumbling around with an unlit candle.  Their live blogging of the Trump Inaugural read like a slow motion mental breakdown, which seems to have further severely disrupted their already degenerating gray matter. Bless their hearts, they were losing 'Chicago Jesus',  and it was suppose to be Hillary's Big Day. 

"Oh God It’s happening, Oh God it’s really happening.  Nine years since we swore in our first black president who didn’t play the saxophone and now Donald and Melania Trump (who looks gorgeous … her husband looks like his normal thin-skinned, tiny-handed pathetic self) are at the White House doing the tea and coffee summit with Barry and Michelle, like TER-DITION SAYS......Mike Pence and his wife Karen are there meeting with Joe and Jill Biden.....and oh God, Joe Scarborough is on MSNBC saying some f**kin' bullshit about how you can’t root against this president without rooting against the country, to which we reply F**K YOU JOE....."

And as we all know, since that day Squinty Joe has tasted the utter alluring sexiness of Meat Puppet Mika, who now regularly drains the blood from his head and dissipates all sensibility.

But this is now, one year later.  Days as backward and dark as the middle ages in their eyes. Corruption all around. Corruption that is about to bite them in the ass and destroy their chosen Heroes.......

"As of today, it has been approximately 500 billion years since Trump first took the oath of office. We are weary, we have forgotten what it is like to not have agita — and yet somehow we soldier on, scandal after scandal, the odds that we will survive the next three years without coming face to face with a nuclear bomb growing ever less in our favor. 

We’ve lost net neutrality. We saw him condemn millions of suffering people all over the world to die of horrible diseases just because the hospital that gives them their malaria and HIV meds also performs abortions. We saw the ACA get fucked. We saw the rich get their taxes cut, taxes which will eventually have to be made up for by the rest of us. So, so many very bad things happened, and through it all, he just kept freaking tweeting. Tweeting and golfing, golfing and tweeting......."

Those words of twisted truth help prove Trump is on the right track. The left can't recognize good when they see it. And when they do, they lie about it. And just in case there are any snowflakes out there who managed to blocked out all of the horror over the past year, allow us to refresh your memory a bit...... 

Thank You MJA for the Linkage!

Middle Finger Symphony Theater

* No Tuxedos Required * 

Brought To You By BLUESJUNKY: Chair of Music - Middle Finger Symphony Music Director

Little Bitch on Blades Says He Will Shun Meeting With VP Pence

Looking Fabulous Like He Just Raided Nancy Kerrigan's Costume Closet

It's an honor to be a members of the US Olympic Team and represent the country on the biggest sports stage in the world. But one figure skater has decided to use the occasion to throw a gay diva temper tantrum and says he will not under any circumstance meet the Vice President Pence, who is set to lead the U.S. Olympic delegation to South Korea. This uptight little Rump Ranger is taking something that is supposed to be apolitical and about competition and sportsmanship and turning into a bitchy Trump resistance moment.

From USA Today:

Adam Rippon, the 2016 U.S. men’s figure skating champion who is believed to be the first openly gay U.S. Winter Olympian, criticized the White House’s selection of Vice President Mike Pence to lead the 2018 U.S. Olympic delegation to South Korea in a phone interview with USA TODAY Sports. 

Rippon, 28, who was selected to his first Olympic team earlier this month after finishing fourth at the U.S. national championships, said that he would not meet Pence during the traditional meet-and-greet between the official delegation and U.S. athletes in the hours leading to the opening ceremony. 

Rippon didn't hesitate at all to show he regularly has his head up his ass too: 

"I don’t think he has a real concept of reality. To stand by some of the things that Donald Trump has said and for Mike Pence to say he’s a devout Christian man is completely contradictory." 

"I don’t think the current administration represents the values that I was taught growing up. Mike Pence doesn’t stand for anything that I really believe in."

Of what values do you speak? Sodomy and disrespecting your own country? I guess in liberal terms those are values, but to normal people they seem pretty disgusting. Rippon also said he will skip the White House post-Olympic celebration hosted by President Trump. I'm sure The Don will be Okay with that, he prefers to be around winners anyway. 

It will be interesting to see if NBC Sports Olympic skating commentator Tara Lipinski and her embarrassingly clownish effeminate appendage, Johnny Weir choose to fawn a little extra over Rippon and his feminine out-fits. Truth be told, he placed 4th in the US Olympic trials and is 28-years-old, so he could be just an also-ran. And if he doesn't shut his mouth he'll have a good chunk of Americans viewers just waiting to see him spectacularly falls on his ass.

Thank You MJA for the Linkage!

[USA Today]
[DownTrend]
H/T Broadside Betty

That's Not Very Comforting.......

Amid all the actually crazy shit going on in the world, people are now vaping Tide pods.