Posted on 02/07/2004 10:59:46 PM PST by Pokey78
I think Sam nails it. So call conservatives are acting like that clinton supporter who started to complain about a military fly-by at the inaugeration, then said, "Wait a minute! Those are OUR jets now!"
Some support this funding because, to use Cincinatus' Wife's words: "He is the leader of the United States and is shepherding us through a very dangerous period of our history. If he has to fund programs (which I might add are nicely tweaked to seed conservative goals) then that is what he must do to continue the leadership role he has assumed to protect and defend the country." How funding tribal dances helps shepherd us through a dangerous period is not defined...But any criticism is seen as a betrayel. However, I didn't donate money to GWB's campaign so the NEA & Ed Department would get bigger. I think I can point out his betrayel of conservative principles without endangering the war on terror - which, as a military officer, I consider myself a part of.
Others, as Sam noted, defend this funding because, "At least the art isn't as liberal as it used to be". In their world, funding liberal art = bad. Funding conservative art = good. They entirely miss the possibility that funding 'art' is always a bad idea. It is bad because government funded art is usually awful, and it is bad because our constitution gives no role to the government in funding art projects.
It is stunning to see how many conservatives do not understand limited government!
At our school, parents run a program called Art Vistas.
It seems like a good program and it's cheap.
I agree that throwing money at the problem won't fix it.
Forgot to add, that art is one area that I think would be great for local govts to handle. If they want to take tax payer money to build a museum or fund school programs, then they can.
This should not be a federal govt issue.
Art?
How much does it cost for a box of macaroni, cardboard, glue and gold paint?
I absolutely agree. Let the rich support the arts with all their money. Start charging for entry to the museums, etc.
In Michigan, last year when the budget crunch was so bad, they wanted to fund the arts and increase fees to pay for police. WHERE ARE THE PRIORITIES??
I believe the reason you are so unappealing and flat in your writing is you are lacking in artistic training.
I support the arts, and I do want some taxpayer dollars going in that direction. Mrs. Bush is quite conservative and wise. Music, Art, Drama are all worthwhile endeavors, a use of God given talent.
Secondly, the taxpayer dollars going to science and psychology grants which serve no purpose are also a waste, and do not support anything I want to see achieved. For example the grants awarded for the research into the behavior genes. Some things exist only in mind of person claiming it and doing research to prove it.
The NEA has not changed and never will change and even if it could change, it deserves not a cent of public funding.
Art has it's place, but it's place isn't in the wallet of tax-payers.
Any Art that complements culture, will survive. It can no more be denied than the wind and the rain, and like they, the arts have and will flourish without endowments confiscated under Governmental duress from protesting citizens and handed to questionable artists by the extremly generous with other people's mony, NEA.
My heart bleeds for those poor children. Let the rent the video or look at pictures of paintings in books. NEA, like many other parts of the federal government have absolutely no charter from the constitution. I'll throw the education department, HUD, and any welfare program into the same category. Eliminate all of these programs, and kick the lazy ass government employees into the streets to learn what it is like in the real world. I'm sick of my tax dollars going to Washington to be wasted on socialist programs. Thanks, I needed to get the off my chest.
I don't think she should take it personally-- conservatives have been fighting government boondoggles like the NEA since it seems like FOREVER. Bush is starting to really aggravate the base with some of this stupid stuff. He needs to get back to basics and get with some spending restraint. The WOT is essential, Iraq is essential, and making the tax cuts permanent is essential. Beyond that I would vote for privatizing social security and cutting back on pretty much every other function of government. It's really gotten out of control. Not everything is the job of the federal government.
Go find somebody who cares. Your rant,on a 5+ month old thread is irrelevant.
I believe the reason you are so unappealing and illogical in your writing is your lack of scientific training.
In any case, you hold my personal record for a late response - it has only been close to 6 months!
Of course, artistic types sometimes operate in an imprecise mode...
In my son's 4th grade class, the parent who ran the program really got into it. They learned all about different painting technigues and the masters that did them.
He made an impressionistic picture and learned about Monet and other artists.
He made a Picasso style picture and learned about Picasso.
His regular teacher also had the kids to a biography on an artist. My son did Toulouse LeTrec (sp?).
At the end of the year, the kids were given folders with pictures of the masterpieces and biographies of the great artists.
My 9 year old son knows more about art than I do.
This is not snubbing Laura it is standing up for what you believe. In civilized society disagreements happen every day and the world doesn't fall apart and people who disagree remain friends.
Don't you mean the aristocracy that ran the country?
"His good relations with the towns aristocracy soon led to a secured income. In 1809, with the sole condition that he stayed in Vienna, Prince Kinsky, Prince Lobkowitz and Archduke Rudolp even guaranteed Beethoven a yearly income. But going back to the years around 1800, which is traditionally called the early period, he was still trying to master the high classical style. This strive culminated in the second symphony from 1801-1802."
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