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1

I don't think your interpretation of the painting is correct. In English speaking countries other than the US red poppies have been used to commemorate war dead since the end of WW I. (See the poem In Flanders Field.) Poppies are worn on lapels around Nov 11 to commemorate Remembrance Day. I think the poppy is meant to remind viewers of the war started while Blair was in office. It has nothing to do with opium.

Posted by Mike | January 28, 2008 11:54 AM
2

The poppy is a long-standing symbol from WW1 of remembrance for fallen troops -- It's commonly worn by citizens in Britain and other Commonwealth countries like Canada around Armistice Day on November 11.

Posted by Mike L | January 28, 2008 11:54 AM
3

The first two posters are right - I work for the British Embassy in DC, and Poppy Day (aka Remembrance Day) has been celebrated in the UK since 1921. Many of my British colleagues wear poppies on their lapel year round, in fact.

Posted by clq76 | January 28, 2008 12:03 PM
4

What the Mikes said.

Oh, and if you actually read the article you link to:

The oil painting by artist Jonathan Yeo shows the former prime minister wearing a commemorative poppy, to represent his leadership role during the Iraq war.
Yeo, son of the Conservative MP and former minister Timothy Yeo, said the poppy featured in the painting was symbolic, but was not meant to be judgemental.

"Of all the things that people remember him for, the war in Iraq is going to be one of the main things that people discuss," he said.

"I was thinking that I had to find some kind of representation of that, but that it shouldn't be trite or too judgemental.

"It was November and of course when he came in he was wearing a poppy. I thought that was perfect."

I mean, if you want to assume it's about poppy fields, go right ahead. But it's going to blow your mind if you cross the border to Canada anywhere near November 11th. Everyone wears one.

Posted by wench | January 28, 2008 12:04 PM
5

I don't think the painter intended to associate Blair with opium, but the big opium news (and Britain's role failing to eradicate it) coincides with the release of this painting. And while the painting can be seen in many ways, I and much of the MSM in Britain has interpret it as a symbol of Blair's unpopular warmongering.

Posted by Dominic Holden | January 28, 2008 12:05 PM
6

I was about to comment about this, but it seems like the first two commenters have already objected to your U.S.-centered fuckwittedness.

And hey... the side effects of British attempts to control the opium trade in Afghanistan pale in comparison to what some in the Bush Administration have been proposing:

http://www.horsesass.org/?p=4190

Posted by bma | January 28, 2008 12:05 PM
7

dom, have you ever heard of rememberance day/poppy day?

Posted by lineout fan | January 28, 2008 12:06 PM
8

Yup, lineout fan, I get it. I got it before I posted this. But I ain't the only one interpreting the poppy painting as a sign of lost blood, not goodwill remembrance.

Posted by Dominic Holden | January 28, 2008 12:20 PM
9

The posted media article on Press TV is misleading about PTSD immunity. Read the actual bill at http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h3256/show

It does not clearly state the soldiers will have "genetic re-engineering" of their minds (Which, from a scientific background, seems pretty difficult and borderline impossible with our current understanding of neurology). As for the efficacy of these "magic pills", I don't doubt the military would administer them to the troops if they did exist, but I'm not aware of a drug that can do such a thing (save for PCP....). If you take away someone's moral inhibitions, you'll have a bunch of monkeys running around without any regard for following commands.

Posted by Dr. Dude | January 28, 2008 12:23 PM
10

Um what everybody else said... this post was completely assinine.

The poppy is a symbol of peace and a recoiling at the horrors of war.

'In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row...'

Posted by John | January 28, 2008 12:28 PM
11

I have to agree w/ @9, there would be a problem eliminating the moral center, but still keep the allegiance to fellow soldiers? Wouldn't they just start shooting? It's scary to contemplate a pill, and I'm sure that the story is more based on that than on any science.

Poppies are worn in Canada too. I believe they are symbolic of the poppies that apparently grew in Flanders Field after WWI.

Posted by left coast | January 28, 2008 12:31 PM
12

Patrick Heally
The New York Times

Rep. Charles Rangel N.Y..
offers his support of Senator Clinton by proclaiming (the President ( Mr. BIll Clinton)...." must pull back."

Taken out of context as my question is, I must ask Rep. Rangel what is back?

Perhaps Mr. Rangel is no-match for the heart attack of political twins stunned at the polls of... " once bitten twice shy".

Posted by daniel bennett kieneker... Low Earth Orbiter | January 28, 2008 12:34 PM
13

Sorry, Dom, but you stepped in it with this one. Big time.

Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty | January 28, 2008 12:34 PM
14

Patrick Heally
The New York Times

Rep. Charles Rangel N.Y..
offers his support of Senator Clinton by proclaiming (the President ( Mr. BIll Clinton)...." must pull back."

Taken out of context as my question is, I must ask Rep. Rangel what is back?

Perhaps Mr. Rangel is no-match for the heart attack of political twins stunned at the polls of... " once bitten twice shy".

Posted by daniel bennett kieneker... Low Earth Orbiter | January 28, 2008 12:34 PM
15

Patrick Heally
The New York Times

Rep. Charles Rangel N.Y..
offers his support of Senator Clinton by proclaiming (the President ( Mr. BIll Clinton)...." must pull back."

Taken out of context as my question is, I must ask Rep. Rangel what is back?

Perhaps Mr. Rangel is no-match for the heart attack of political twins stunned at the polls of... " once bitten twice shy".

Posted by daniel bennett kieneker... Low Earth Orbiter | January 28, 2008 12:34 PM
16

Yes folks, it's an Armistice Day poppy. Everyone gets this. Yes he was wearing one because that's what you do on Armistice Day, out of remembrance for fallen troops. AND, regardless of intent, it is ironic that he's wearing one when he's going to be mostly remembered for going along with Bush the WarMonger and sending thousands of British soldiers to Iraq and Afghanistan. Afghanistan, the country where the economy entirely depends on poppies. Where another record-breaking crop was harvested in '07. Where British soldiers were actively destroying poppy fields as part of their deployment.

So yes it is an innocent Poppy Day poppy, the kind which grows all over Dom's backyard every summer. It's also an ironic reminder of Blair's bloody and misguided foreign policy and the British government's policies which directly create the illicit international opium trade. Oh, and there's also that whole Britain-China Opium War.

Sheesh Sloggers, naive much?

Posted by NaFun | January 28, 2008 12:46 PM
17

And FYI, the reason the red poppy is worn on Armistice Day is because they exploit freshly disturbed soil. The year after the battles in Eurpoe, all the battlefields, which were torn apart by bombs and trenches and whatnot, were covered in these red poppies. Delicate beauty following horrors and destruction of war.

Posted by NaFun | January 28, 2008 12:50 PM
18

Huh. Is it not possible to interpret the poppy both ways (which makes its inclusion all the more brilliant)? Is everyone's world so cut and dried?

Ah, right ... what NaFun said.

Posted by Gloria | January 28, 2008 12:54 PM
19

gotta agree with #9. i read the bill. it's for mental health support and training. there's no mention of drugs, genetic treatment, etc. that "news" article you linked is all hype.

Posted by ironymaiden | January 28, 2008 1:01 PM
20

I've worn a poppy in November more than half of my life, sometimes in uniform on my greatcoat.

Don't diss the poppy.

Posted by Will in Seattle | January 28, 2008 1:33 PM
21

Okay, guys, I understand what the poppy represents. Who doesn't? There are really only a few things it brings to mind: war, drugs, and the Wizard of Oz. The two that are in the news are war and drugs, and, look, Blair's legacy has been marred by both. But I guess I'm an idiot for assuming the memorial poppy reference was taken for granted on Slog (so. now. it's. spelled. out.), or that a painting of a bright red one on a gray portrait of a PM is ripe for social-political commentary.

Posted by Dominic Holden | January 28, 2008 1:38 PM
22

Aw. *hugs*

Posted by Gloria | January 28, 2008 1:41 PM
23

Group Health is the worst - guarantee you, if you're bringing them old pills, they're recycling them to give to new patients.

Posted by Group Death | January 28, 2008 2:46 PM
24

Tony looks as though he's been painted by Red Skelton.

Posted by Jim Demetre | January 28, 2008 8:04 PM
25

I just think you should take the artist's actual statement about it into account. I mean, he _did_ paint the thing, he should know.

Posted by wench | January 29, 2008 3:09 PM

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