An editorial in this morningâs Seattle Times calls for a âround of boisterous boosâ for an âuber-political artistâ who, on behalf of Washingtonâs 7th Congressional District, fashioned a Christmas ornament for the White House. Itâs a big ball with a little message that says, âImpeach Bush.â
How embarrassing.Everyone involved has a role in our holiday discomfort: the ill-mannered artist and the director of the arts group 4Culture who allowed Lawrence to be selected.
Lawrence is known for her anti-war, anti-torture and feminist views. That should have alerted someone to check in with the artist â or to select someone else who might feel the Christmas spirit a little more acutely. âŚ
Artists from the nation's 435 congressional districts were asked to create an ornamental ball in the theme of red, white and blue to be displayed at the White House. The only ornament rejected was the one by Lawrence. The White House made the right decision.
Our holiday discomfort, indeed. Someone should have known that an artist from Seattle who believes in womenâs rights and opposes torture would be such a feral cat, right, Fairview Fanny? Because weâd hate for Washingtonâs 7th Congressional District to stick out as a district that radically opposes the Bush doctrine. Thatâs what this is about, right? Going to war without good reasonâthatâs the inferred basis of Deborah Lawrenceâs impeachment message. But, now that you mention it, we sort of stuck out already when our Congressional delegate Jim McDermott went to Baghdad on a peace mission and voted against Bushâs war. You called that âtoo liberal for liberal Seattleâ six months before we reelected him with 80.7 percent of the vote. We also went on the record against Bush when we slam dunked votes for Gore, Kerry, and Obama. If youâve been reading your paper, you know our feelings for Bush were not unexpectedly revealed on a Christmas ball.
Why go with an artist so politically motivated? ... The smarter plan was to select an artist willing to represent the 7th District with some degree of taste.
Geeâwhy go with an artist so politically motivated? Perhaps because Lawrence wasnât making decorations for Bellevue Square. Sheâs making an ornament for the White House, currently occupied by the most politically divisive administration in decades. But if Lawrence were making an ornament for Bellevue Square, she might have emblazoned the same message across it because, again, if you read your paper, youâd note itâs the "worst" Christmas economy in decades, thanks to Bushâs economic drunkenness. So perhaps Lawrence âmight feel the Christmas spirit a little more acutelyâ if we werenât having the least spirited Christmas in modern memory, and maybe she'd impart some apolitical Christmas cheer to the White House if "our holiday discomfort" wasn't caused in large part by the White House.
But whatâs flabbergasting about this editorial is that the logic is as absent as Bushâs leadership. Argue the great minds on Fairview Avenue: Lawrenceâs art is embarrassing because itâs in bad taste. Fucking brilliant!! Seriously, what the fuck is the point of printing 100,000 copies of your opinion if you donât explain WHY you reached that conclusion? At least tell us why it is distasteful for an artist to send a message to the highest political office that encapsules our dearest political beliefs. She wasn't breaking from local public sentiment. We donât need to coddle our worst president ever with appropriateness, nor do we need a newspaper to apologize for our civic tenacity for political theater; weâre in Seattle (SEE-AHH-TUL), Seattle Times.