There is a coming culture war in the US that is about to take place. It's gonna be huge and ugly. And unavoidable.
Whether Obama is elected or not, the left is closer to moving our country to a socialist state of redistributed wealth, replete with mandated handouts of private property. As Obama himself said:
The Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and of more basic issues such as political and economic justice in society. To that extent, as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn't that radical. It didn't break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution. The Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. Says what the states can't do to you. Says what the Federal government can't do to you, but doesn't say what the Federal government or State government must do on your behalf, and that hasn't shifted and one of the, I think, tragedies of the civil rights movement was, um, because the civil rights movement became so court focused I think there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalition of powers through which you bring about redistributive change.
The fact that an avowed and blatant socialist is currently ahead in the polls is frightening. More frightening, the press covers for this guy. How many people know of this audio transcript? What else that he has said is out there that we have yet to discover? The public is uninformed, and that's scary in this connected age with a media that within 24 hours can learn of a plumber's small tax liens, but can't report on Obama's consistent words in almost 2 years of presidential campaigning.
So yes, there is a culture war brewing. In a minor way, it used to brew here on beatcanvas when Bella still commented. "Economic justice" would have appealed to her, as I'm sure it appeals to others like her. But the majority of Americans don't like the notion of wealth redistribution. They'd rather see more opportunity created. That was the way here in America: earn your keep. Make your own opportunity. But due to a deep desire by the media to propel Obama forward, his agenda and his words were hidden and instead he was given the most flattering and tilted press coverage ever.
And because people are tired of politics, they'll tune this new information out. Which is unfortunate. I don't think ill of people who remain uninformed, but they'll likely be some of the ones whining the loudest when Obama's socialist agenda gets going, whether from the White House or from the Senate. The Left won't stop pushing this. And the media won't give it coverage.
Which leaves the fight to just us citizens.
I used to want to be polite about this. But the veneer of civilization is very thin, as Margaret Thatcher once said. When other people believe that they have a right to the property I've earned, that's theft. And I'll call a thief a thief and use my words and actions appropriately to fight any thief who threatens my family. I want my kids to grow up in an America full of opportunity with no ceiling to inhibit their talents and effort, not an America that mandates wealth management for its people.
Yesterday, someone subtly tried to let me know that he's tired of my politics. Okay - then ignore me, because I'm just getting warmed up and I'm trying to expand my influence. (I have a hunch that he voted for the socialist... which is disappointing, if true.)
So that's the culture war brewing: freedom and opportunity versus redistribution and ceilings. Which side are you on? And what are you going to do about it?
One thing about the video itself: I held my hand above my head to get the video from above the crowd and the signs. Toward the end, my arm gets a bit tired...
Also, she makes a point that I didn't catch at the time about tax credits. Therein lies socialism...
Sarah Palin came to Des Moines, and Tamara and I attended. I'll have video later, but a couple of points:
The biggest applause line was about Joe the Plumber. People are deeply fired up about Joe, and conversely worried about what an Obama presidency would mean to jobs and businesses.
I went around recording people about why they're supporting John McCain. Of the answers I got, two were simply this: I'm not. I'm supporting Sarah Palin. Anyone who tries to say that McCain's choice of Sarah Palin hurt the ticket is blind to the facts that she has strong support and brought a bunch of people to McCain (count me among them).
Senator Brownback reminded us before Sarah spoke that Zogby polls in 2004 showed Bush down five points to John Kerry, and Bush carried the state. This ain't over, which is why McCain / Palin are here in Iowa now. In fact, over the socialism issue, I bet that the right is far more pumped about McCain now than Obama's supporters are pumped about Obama. I saw fierce determination today in the eyes of a lot of people. And fear... Obama is now in people's wallets and purses, and that thief can take a walk.
Sarah made mention of the ACORN scandals, but not of the security loopholes in Obama's campaign web site. I don't think it's on their radar yet. How do we get it there?
Finally, there were over 8,000 people there. I know friends and family of mine who would have attended, but couldn't. 8,000 is a strong number, but support is much bigger than that number.
A few weeks back, I made the decision to start blending my politics with my art, which resulted in guvsux.com. Because, well, government sucks.
I've always doodled, but never really tried cartooning. There's a difference. Doodling has no point... it's just goofing around with a pencil. Cartooning propels a confident point. It has purpose. It seeks to communicate.
My work on faces has strengthened. Where drawing someone's face used to involve a lot of erasing for me, now my lines are strong and I rarely erase. Like the Nancy Pelosi I drew yesterday...
But all of my faces are straight-on, for the most part. Mostly bust shots. Little or no background.
Part of the problem is that I'm not great at turning the head of a person in my mind. And most of the examples I can find on the Internet are facial portraits, and since I'm limited to drawing what I see, I can't manipulate the angle much - yet.
The same with full-body shots. Clothing folds, hands, things like that, they remain tough for me. Just not enough experience and practice.
And then the background. I think I get so tickled that a picture I drew actually looks like the subject that I don't want to mess it up with a background.
But with time, I'll get bolder.
My storytelling... I need to remember that in a few panels, I don't have much room to set the scene and convey the point/punchline. Yesterday's toon with Pelosi and Harry Reid would have been better, for example, if I had opened it as a Pelosi / Reid presser. Or put her into the second panel instead of jumping - without warning - to Reid. (Where'd he come from!) But I got so excited that the sketch of him had strength that I lost track of my need to convey my intent in the most efficient way.
In a nutshell, I'm learning. So forgive my awkward steps.
Thanks for the encouragement from all of you. I'm having fun with it, and I hope you are too...
I haven't painted in, well, over a year. Last night, while waiting for my completed video to compile, I took up the brushes and painted for about 15 minutes.
It was awful. Dreadful, even.
So tonight I gave it another whack. Better...
...but I have a few more practice rounds to go before I'll be back in shape for it.
There's a really critical difference between drawing and painting.
When drawing, the foreground objects need to be drawn first. Then drawing the other objects behind them gives the artwork fullness and depth.
When painting, the background is painted first, to give the painting fullness and depth.
I painted a few things before I should have, which is part of my problem.
