President Trump's America First Foreign Policy Is "Moral Realism"

Dr. Michael Bender, a political analyst and Marshall Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, believes critics of President Trump's "America First" foreign policy fundamentally misconstrue his approach to international relations, which is based upon principles of "Moral Realism."

Read the whole thing at TheLatest.com: https://thelatest.com/tlt/president-trump-america-first-foreign-policy-is-moral-realism-donald-trump-moral-realism-for-1553626557

Trump v. Ocasio-Cortez: Reform or Revolution?

 

With his executive order on Free Speech, President Trump established himself as a true reformer, while his Democratic opponents have embraced revolution. Therefore, America faces a stark choice between reform or revolution in the 2020 elections.

Read the whole thing at TheLatest.com: https://thelatest.com/tlt/trump-ocasio-cortes-reform-revolution-donald-trump-alexandria-ocasio-1553285076

Barbarians Inside the Gates

Pages from Leonardo Da Vinci's "Codex Leicester"

Yesterday, by accident of chance or fate, I found myself seated next to a lawyer for The Hammer Museum on a transcontinental flight from LAX to Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC. 

As a chatty person, I thought an attempt at conversation might pass the time, so discovering my seat mate was in the museum business, I shared some pet obsessions about over-restoration, forgery, looting, de-accessioning, and the sacrifice of great art for contemporary garbage by museums such as the now-suicided Corcoran Gallery of Art.

As The Hammer Museum is operated by UCLA, and I had an MFA from UCLA, and was still involved in the arts, I looked forward to an interesting discussion with an art world insider that could perhaps shed some light on what was going on. I shared my admiration for the Getty Museum and Crystal Bridges in Arkansas, and the fact that I'd published a novel about the art world, Alice Goldfarb Marquis' murder mystery set at the Museum of Modern Art, Brushstroke!

But more I talked, the quieter my seat mate got, until she said that she had work to do, put on her headset, and never spoke again for the duration of the flight.

I thought the reaction a bit strange. Someone I know said I was probably just an annoying gabby seat mate, the person didn't want to talk, and not to read anything into the reaction.

But something about her silence set me to thinking, and so I looked up The Hammer Museum on Wikipedia, once I got home.

What I discovered didn't exactly shock me, but it explained the silent treatment. The attorney apparently represented an institution which was doing the kind of stuff that I had been complaining about.

Most interestingly, The Hammer Museum had auctioned off Leonardo Da Vinci's Codex Leicester in 1994 for some 30 million dollars--although it had been Armand Hammer's favorite item (he renamed it the "Codex Hammer") and among the most valuable and important works in the collection.

Bill Gates bought the Codex and used it for a Microsoft screensaver, among other things. It still tours around different museums today, drawing crowds.

Who better represents the greatness of Western Civ than a universal genius like Da Vinci? 

Curiously, that same year UCLA entered into a 99-year agreement to manage The Hammer Museum. 

I wondered, why would any educational or cultural institutions want to get rid of a material relic of the greatest genius in history, especially when it could inspire students, faculty and members of the public--and symbolize a connection between arts and sciences that might inspire future generations?

Money could certainly be a reason, but then a thought occurred...

Leonardo Da Vinci was obviously a Dead White Man. Could another reason have been "Social Justice?" 


After all, universities in recent years have seemed obsessed with denigrating genius, part of a continuing assault on Western Civilization

So, I took a look at The Hammer Museum website today, and found that while they seem to have not yet sold off their Rembrandts or Impressionists, they have indeed added quite a bit of ghastly contemporary art...and programs on "Social Justice."

The homepage even featured a special section (scroll down) decorated with an ugly picture:

Discussing Social Justice 

Public programs and exhibitions at the Hammer that have engaged art and ideas on issues of social justice.

 

"Show up, dive in, stay at it": Post-Election Community Gathering 

This public forum featured speakers from Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, 

Los Angeles LGBT Center, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, and UCLA. 

The Watts Rebellion: 50 Years Later 

Three historians discuss the past and present of race relations in the United States. 

“Bad” Feminism 

Re-watch one of our most popular programs. In October 2016, Roxane Gay, Andi Zeisler, and the Hammer’s Connie Butler discuss the political, social, and cultural relevance of contemporary feminism.  

Now Dig This!: Art and Black Los Angeles 1960–1980 

This digital archive of the 2011–2012 exhibition examines the legacy of African-American artists in L.A., many of whom were connected to civil rights and Black Power movements. 

Social Justice in Church and State

Watch this 2014 program with Sister Simone Campbell who discussed the resurgence of social justice issues in the Catholic Church. 

Truly, when it comes to The Hammer Museum, the Barbarians are "inside the gates."

Jiří Kolář's "Forms of Visual Poetry" Shows What's Past Is Prologue...

 

Contemplation of Jiří Kolář's original and compelling collages and poetry -- on display at the American University Museum at Katzen Arts Center in Washington, DC until March 17th -- captures the destructive impact of political commissars upon artistic expression under totalitarianism of many stripes.

Read the whole thing at TheLatest.com: https://thelatest.com/tlt/jiri-kolar-forms-visual-poetry-shows-what-past-is-prologue-jiri-kolar-dissident-art-polit-1552426185

President Trump Comes Out Swinging for Free Speech at CPAC

President Trump took a strong public stand on behalf of free speech on campus in his March 2nd speech to the Conservative Political Action Coalition, making it an issue for the upcoming 2020 elections.

Read the whole thing at TheLatest.com: https://thelatest.com/tlt/president-trump-comes-out-swinging-free-speech-cpac-free-speech-hayden-williams-uc-1551652016