 Bueller...? Bueller...?
Nixon speechwriter Ben Stein made a brief but memorable appearance in the '80s coming-of-age classic "Ferris Bueller’s Day Off." In his dreary monotone, Stein taught his half-asleep class some basic economics: "In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, in an effort to alleviate the effects of the... Anyone? Anyone?... the Great Depression, passed the... Anyone? Anyone? The tariff bill? The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act? Which, anyone? Raised or lowered?... raised tariffs, in an effort to collect more revenue for the federal government. Did it work? Anyone? Anyone know the effects? It did not work, and the United States sank deeper into the Great Depression. Today we have a similar debate over this." Donald Trump was rather busy in the '80s what with his surefire investments in the USFL and Atlantic City casinos, so perhaps he and Ivanka didn’t make it to the theaters. But the president and his economic advisers might want to pick up a "Ferris Bueller" Blu-ray to learn the lessons even a high schooler will understand.
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 I liked a funny Tide Pod meme my Facebook friend shared from Instagram and posted it on Twitter. It got a lot of retweets.
But a woman from Kentucky emailed that she created it and I should have given her credit. By the time I saw her email, Tide Pods were old newsbecause everyone moved on to funny YouTube videos about Lady Doritos. If you didn’t understand the previous sentence, I envy you.  I’m a transgressive artist. I created a billboard with Obama’s glowering face in the middle, mushroom clouds on either side of it, and ISIS flags on the far ends. Really makes you think.
Sure, my art installation might not sound revolutionary, but check this out: I drew clown faces in the mushroom clouds and replaced the Arabic script of the flags with swastika-looking dollar signs. Because money is bad. The design took less than 20 minutes to slap together in Photoshop, but the purpose of art isn’t to demonstrate skill. It’s to provoke a reaction. It’s been a bit over week since President Donald Trump's inauguration, but it’s still a bit surreal.
Not only did this unorthodox Republican take control of the White House, but the GOP retained the House and the Senate. And considering the vacant seat on the Supreme Court and the advanced age of a few current justices, Republicans will likely take over the judicial branch in the near future. Thus 2017 begins with no ordinary party flip, but a stark about-face from Obama’s progressive era. |
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