Originally published at: Town attempts to define art | Boing Boing
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Live free or pie. You have to choose.
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Small town division of Morale Suppression Initiative Code Enforcement
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A councilman was heard to mutter, “When I hear the word culture …, I release the safety on my Browning!”
(As Johst was an actual fucking Nazi, I doubt he got the unintentional pun between the gun and poet; though I’m sure Robert Browning would have had a great laugh at his expense.)
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I swear to half this country, “freedom” is just a synonym for 'Murica. They don’t actually know what the word means.
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(Plops down about text books stacking up to about 3" about the modern art movement on to desk.)
Good luck with that! We had the whole Modern Art movement struggling to define that, and it continues to today! The consensus shook out that anything could be art, more or less.
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Even if the mural was a sign, it doesn’t seem excessively large. What kind of anti-sign law does the town have?
It’s too bad that they’re teamed up with Institute for Justice. While they do “shiny dimes” PR cases like this, they’re also a Koch/DeVos-backed member of the State Policy Network.
https://trashpanda-x.github.io/darklantern/#Institute%20for%20Justice
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“Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose,” wrote (and sang) a West Point (military academy) grad and US Army captain.
“Without freedom of speech, I might be in a swamp,” wrote (and sang) a Nobel literature laureate.
"Your freedom to swing your fist ends at my nose,: said some old Supe, I think.
And how many 'Muricans go to Mexico to sin because they find more freedom there?
Yeah, ‘freedom’ is tricky. How to balance too much vs too little? Isn’t ‘liberty’ (and its partner ‘responsibility’) more rational than ‘freedom’?
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Kris Kristofferson didn’t go to West Point. He went to Pomona College and Oxford. He joined the military after that and did attain the rank of Captain, but he never went to West Point.
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Oops – sorry for my misinformation.
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Apparently he almost took a teaching position at West Point before he decided to give music his full attention. That’s probably where that came from.
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They’re complaining about the image above the porch? Why the fuck do they care?
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Yeah, not happy with amplifying the institute for justice. The engage in a lot of very shady things
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Easy Rider had a great bit of dialogue about that:
“Oh, they’re not scared of you. They’re scared of what you represent to ‘em.”
“Hey man. All we represent to them, man, is somebody needs a haircut.”
“Oh no. What you represent to them is freedom.”
“What the hell’s wrong with freedom, man? That’s what it’s all about.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right, that’s what it’s all about, all right. But talkin’ about it and bein’ it – that’s two different things. I mean, it’s real hard to be free when you are bought and sold in the marketplace. ‘Course, don’t ever tell anybody that they’re not free ‘cause then they’re gonna get real busy killin’ and maimin’ to prove to you that they are. Oh yeah, they’re gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it’s gonna scare ‘em.”
“Mmmm, well, that don’t make ‘em runnin’ scared.”
“No, it makes ‘em dangerous.”
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A point made all too clear later and at that character’s expense while attempting to innocently exercise a bit of freedom.
Blurred for those who have yet to watch Easy Rider. (Note: Jack Nicholson’s character’s reaction to a shot of whisky (?) is a sight to behold.)
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Just as Cage proved that any staged sounds could be called ‘music’, so did modernists show that anything packaged and labeled as ‘art’ could be sold for a good price. Abstraction strangles realism IMHO… but then, I have worked as a documenting photographer, so I am prejudiced. 
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Once upon a time, it had a more positive connotation.
Freedom is just another word for nothin’ left to lose
Nothin’, don’t mean nothin’ hon’ if it ain’t free, no-no
And feelin’ good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues
You know feelin’ good was good enough for me
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee
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Owning the Libs? It is normally about owning the Libs. 
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Ah, right. Baked goods store with pretty images above the porch MUST be run by Libs. Of course. Makes sense. Silly me. 
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Town council wouldn’t know art if it hit them in the face like thrown donut.
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