As lightning illuminates a darkened landscape, the burning of Notre Dame exposes not a "Clash of Civilizations" but an existential struggle with what French philosophe Bernard Henry-Levi calls Islamo-Leftism, an "anti-American religion" opposed to the existence of Western Civilization itself.
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 Leicesterin 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.
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.
I admired Mike Cernovich for his stand for freedom of speech with Milo and Pam Geller at UC Berkeley in September 2017 (an event Ann Coulter declined to attend). He stood up for freedom of speech then, and he has stood up for freedom of speech once again in this film. HOAXED deserves to be seen by every American who cares about the First Amendment, without regard to political orientation. Read the whole thing at TheLatest.com: https://thelatest.com/tlt/mike-cernovich-hoaxed-a-defense-freedom-speech-donald-trump-covington-catholi-1550345691
President Trump's recent State of the Union address demonstrated his uncanny ability to conduct members of Congress like a well-tuned orchestra to deliver a message of unity and hope for the future, on behalf of his crusade for American civilization's motto: "E Pluribus Unum."
Following the end of the government shutdown, President Trump needs to take a "Listening Tour" of federal agencies to remind government employees he's in charge while giving them a chance to vent face-to-face. It would signal a change of tone in leadership, while disarming the "Resistance" and encouraging good government.
Perhaps Kenny Rogers' 1978 song, "The Gambler" best explains why President Trump ended the Government Shutdown yesterday. He folded because he saw didn't have the cards in his hand to win. He now needs to come up with an alternative to end the stalemate before the February 15th deadline.
The standoff seemed go on for at least 45 minutes, yet no officer appeared to "de-escalate" the conflict, as called for in police guidelines. No one interposed themselves between two hostile camps. No one asked anyone to "move along" or "break it up." Instead, police permitted a tense confrontation between crowds which could have led to a bloody brawl, or worse.
Washington attorney Joseph I. Goldstein suggests President Trump and Congress establisha bipartisan commission to oversee Border Wall construction, to end the Government Shutdown now. This would allow appropriation of $5 billion dollars, as promised by President Trump in his 2016 campaign, while Congress could condition actual expenditures upon expert oversight, thus retaining authority, while permitting both sides to save face.
Read the whole thing at TheLatest.com: https://thelatest.com/tlt/a-bipartisan-commission-could-end-government-shutdown-now-government-shutdown-border-wal-1547827560
The current government shutdown isn't about construction of a wall along the US-Mexican border; rather it's a symbolic struggle over whether President Donald J. Trump is allowed to remain President. This is a fight President Trump can't afford to lose.
Like Ayatollah Khomeni's 1989 fatwa against "The Satanic Verses," Patreon's purge of "Sargon of Akkad" for "hate speech" marks a tipping point for freedom of speech on the internet, revealing the totalitarian objectives of the censors. Dissident YouTubers must be protected by President Trump, just as Margaret Thatcher protected Salman Rushdie. Read the whole thing at TheLatest.com: https://thelatest.com/tlt/patreon-purge-one-most-important-speech-wars-our-time-jordan-peterson-sargon-of-akka-1546986446
After half a century, Mary Poppins returned to movie theaters this Christmas with something for everyone--older viewers who saw the original, younger viewers who met her for the first time, and middle-aged viewers who wanted to share their own childhood experience with a new generation.
