Posted on 02/27/2007 8:01:55 AM PST by SmithL
Technology has made a prank call or untraceable e-mail all but impossible. And threatening a federal official, by word or symbol, is no longer dismissed as idle chatter these days.
Alameda artist Michael McDonald is living proof of that. He has displayed a new piece of political artwork in his yard each month for the past decade and it earned him a visit from Secret Service agents last week.
His creations, McDonald says, are sometimes extreme, but they're always relevant. Over the years, he's created many pieces, including profane responses to Vice President Dick Cheney's verbal assault on Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and the White House response to the homeless. The artworks also have brought city building inspectors, who've made him take some of them down.
There's no denying that his most recent piece was perhaps his most provocative, or threatening, depending on your perspective: A life-size cardboard cutout of President Bush with a knife stuck in its forehead.
"I agreed with (the agents) that it was over the top, but it was not an expression of anger that would be carried out against the president," McDonald said in an interview on Monday. "I might shoot my mouth off sometimes and create controversial artwork, but I have no intention of hurting anyone."
McDonald's attorney and friend, Timothy Rumberger, who was present for part of the 90-minute interview, said he couldn't believe the federal government's response.
"My first reaction was shock," Rumberger said. "I got a call from (McDonald's) wife, and she was frightened. She said, 'I have Homeland Security, the Secret Service, coming to interrogate my husband.' "
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
I guess I'll pass on it, then.....
I wonder how these people would respond to an equivalent "expression of anger toward" one of their icons - Hillary, Tedrunkennedy, Algore, Bill, Kerry...
actually, I DON'T wonder - they'd want someone to "do something about it".
Not much of an attorney if he doesn't see why they'd investigate. As much as I despised Clinton in office (either) or Carter, I know that there are some lines you don't cross.
Liberalism isn't just a political expression anymore, it's a guarantee of certifiable insanity.
You'll have more to fear from your homeowners association.
I doubt it, they're issued B-27 Silouette targets at the range.
http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=11173
It has been 25 years since I discovered a psychiatric syndrome (for the record: ``Secondary Mania,'' Archives of General Psychiatry, November 1978), and in the interim I haven't been looking for new ones. But it's time to don the white coat again. A plague is abroad in the land.
Bush Derangement Syndrome: the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency -- nay -- the very existence of George W. Bush.
As long as you label it "art" (or just call yourself an "artist", you should have every liberal in the country on your side...
Oops! Got that wrong. As long as the image is of a conservative you'll have every liberal in the country on your side. You use the "art" and "artist" dodge if you get investigated for inciting violence.
Is your front yard wide enough to accommodate such a poster?
But a knife in the forehead doesn't seem like a very friendly (or sane) political commentary.
I often wonder how these people would react if I were to put such and artwork in my yard depicting a similar scene with them as the recipient. I am almost positive that they would want someone in law enforcement to investigate it.
The guy is nothing more (or is that less?) than a typical liberal attention whore.
I often wonder how these people would react if I were to put such an artwork in my yard depicting a similar scene with them as the recipient. I am almost positive that they would want someone in law enforcement to investigate it.
a real clymer...
Hmm - A Hillary nude - if you need a good scarecrow for your corn field - that might just do the trick!
"A life-size cardboard cutout of President Bush with a knife stuck in its forehead."
...heck, EVERY body has one of those, don't they....????
Something along the lines of every other house in the neighborhood having a life size paper mache statue of a hit man with a rifle pointed directly at his front door planted in their front yards might get his attention, especially if they had artsy little lasers.
Of course all these "hit men" would have name tags...."Art" to make sure no one would mistake them for being anything but friendly, creative artistic expression.
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