Creating our own Silvios, Pablitos, and Amaurys
Back on August 10th, the National Endowment for the Arts, the White House, and United We Serve (one of Obama's community organizing organizations), conducted a conference call with several artists, producers, promoters, and others deeply involved in the art world. The purpose of the call was to ask these artists to get more involved in the social issues of the day. Unbeknownst to the organizers of this meeting, however, one of the attendees recorded the conversation where you can clearly hear the representative of the NEA boasting that this was only the beginning. They (the NEA) had big plans to expand the relationship between artists and the government and to bear with them as they found a way to do it legally.
"This is just the beginning. This is the first telephone call of a brand new conversation. We are just now learning how to really bring this community together to speak with the government. What that looks like legally? . . . bear with us as we learn the language so that we can speak to each other safely . . ."
Once the recording became public, news spread quickly and the NEA and the White House ran for cover. In typical Obama administration fashion, they said they did nothing wrong but just in case they were wrong, it was the fault of everyone else but them.
One would think that once that cat got out of the bag, the NEA and the White House would lay low for a while and wait for things to blow over.
One would think...
This is, however, the Obama administration, and the only thing they have proven during their short tenure is that they are not very adept at figuring things out. With this undeniable display of impropriety by the NEA and the White House still fresh in the public's minds, they went ahead and had another conference call.
WHO SET UP GOVERNMENT ‘PROPAGANDA’ CONFERENCE CALL? Newly Revealed White House, NEA Audio Contradict
Another conference call has materialized, revealing a concerted effort by government to use the arts to address political issues.
Lee Rosenbaum, a blogger for Artsjournal.com, posted her experience with a meeting that occurred on August 27th and confessed that she also felt “uneasy” about the government’s arts effort. The meeting invitation (viewable here) went out to all “member local, state, and regional arts agencies, community-based arts organizations, and national partners of Americans for Arts.” Americans for Arts is a non-profit arts organization that has received substantial grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.
As with my conference call, the art group was invited to the meeting to work together to “tackle some of the nation’s toughest issues: education; health; energy and the environment; community renewal; and safety and security.” Also like my call, it included a private citizen moderating the phone call with key White House representatives participating. Kalpen Modi, Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, was to represent the White House and key representatives from the National Endowment for the Arts were also to participate.
Even more disturbing than learning that the White House and NEA are using the arts to address specific issues, is to learn what was discussed on this new conference call. Rosenbaum mentions that there was much talk of “leveraging federal dollars” to get artists and cultural organizations involved in social-service projects.
Leveraging federal dollars? This is the problem with marrying issue specific topics, like health care and energy, with a group that is funded by tax dollars; it increases the potential of taxpayer-funded propaganda.
Of course, these two calls are only the ones we know about. God knows how many more calls, meetings, emails, etc., have gone out to the members of the art community.
One thing for certain though, is that the goal of the Obama administration is to influence and control the arts in this country. If we are not careful, pretty soon we are going to have our own little Silvio Rodriguez and Pablito Milanes serenading the Maximum Leader and praising his greatness.
What is worrysome here (demonstrated by this example) is how many of these cockroaches scurrying under the radar have now infested our goverment since Obama took over.
At least we can see Obama in public (while he's lying his as off), but it's the underhanded infestation of these anti-democratic and communistic socialist forces (ie, Van Jones) that should SCARE the hell out of anyone who leaves what this country was founded on.
'leaves' = should read: "believes in"
This post should be combined with this one in my opinion.
http://babalublog.com/2009/09/commie-love-fest-in-venice/
Together they explain so much of what is rotten in the arts world and the Obama administration.
It's a sick + shameful relationship, but the arts are often friends with oppressive regimes, and the latter manipulate the arts for their own nefarious ends. This backroom schmooze is no surprise at all, the NEA has been a force for subverting the good and kind and even beautiful in our culture, in favor of an amoral political agenda - there is really no other explanation for it. If you look closely at what the NEA funds, much of it is of inferior quality and downright poor taste. Then again, second-class minds turn out second-class work.
If freedom reigns and we get a good result in 2012, whoever takes over in the new administration is going to have to vet every employee who came on board in the entire government since 2008. We will have to purge the Obama crowd out of the workings of every aspect of government that we are able to.
Lascucarachassiguenalabasuradondequieraqueseencuentre.
Honey,
The State Department has been infested with "las cucarachas" since the 1950s. Many of those past Cucarachas were very friendly to fifo and his henchmen. In fact the 4th floor was overflowing with them. I'm certain there is still an infestation.
I recommend shipping the State Dept. along with the U.N. to Cuba or anywhere but here.
K ... We all know Glenn Beck (and others) were right about Van Jones.
This morning on Fox and Friends he said something quite striking near the end of this clip:
“By The End Of The Week People Are Going To Jail …”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=havg6pp0hUY&feature=player_embedded
So then tonight I find AoS blog speculating on just who Beck might be talking about ... Trying to think if you beautiful Babalu boys covered the NEA Obama propaganda art thingy from like 2 weeks ago ... My mind is catching up with school back in cession and summer disappearing here in NEOhio ...:
http://minx.cc/?post=292000
However, comment speculation at Gateway Pundit's site is possibly MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, who on the heels of the Van Jones slink-away late Saturday night ordered his boobs at HuffPo and Kos to dig up whatever dirt they could find on Beck and his producer Stu, Roger Ailes and someone else whose name escapes me and has since called off his rabid dogs (for unstated reasons) ... but Beck has also had some physical threats made against him of late ... and what I am also hearing/reading is that he and his family have a secret service-type body guard(s) around them.
But here's the thing. I have been listening to Beck since the morning after the 2004 POTUS election. While Rush likes to boast he himself is right 99.whatever % of the time ... Just about everything I have heard Beck warn about in the last 4+ yrs has come true, to some degree or another. He also, before I started listening to him (and before it happened), warned about how vulnerable New Orleans was to catastrophe ... which I know is pretty much what wise folks already expected would happen, and did with Katrina.
Anyhow, we are dealing with a people who are in grave desperation. Why? Because the American people are waking up and realizing who they are and what they are doing, and are saying, "Hey! You're pissing us off! Who the hell do you think you are??"
I admit to a nice tingle furrowing up my leg ...
Popcorn, anyone?