A piece of art depicting police officers as pigs with guns terrorizing a black neighborhood is currently displayed proudly inside our nation's Capitol.
The untitled artwork, which supposedly symbolizes the unrest that followed the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, was selected as part of the annual Congressional Art Competition. It currently hangs in a tunnel between the U.S. Capitol building and Longworth House Office Building.
The painting was selected on behalf of Rep. Lacy Clay (D-MO). While it's unclear whether Clay personally selected "Untitled #1" as the winner, he offered heavy praise for the controversial painting in a press release.
In his remarks to the overflow crowd of young artists, parents and teachers who gathered at Webster University's new downtown St. Louis campus in the historic Arcade Building, Congressman Clay said, "Tonight, we are celebrating our sixteenth year of recognizing outstanding young artistic talent. As you can see from the artwork on display here, the level of talent is truly impressive. Your work is inspiring, and I encourage all of you to continue to develop your creative abilities."
The artist, David Pulphus, was previously scheduled to travel to Washington, D.C. to unveil his painting, which "portrays a colorful landscape of symbolic characters representing social injustice, the tragic events in Ferguson, Missouri and the lingering elements of inequality in modern American society," according to Rep. Clay's press release.
Clay also reportedly called the piece of art the "most creative expression that I've witnessed over the last 16 years" during remarks on the House floor.
Another shameful vestige of the embarassing Obama legacy.
I would only add that we saw something similar in the late '60's and early '70's, when public protest was the norm, riots and demonstrations against pretty much everything filled the news, and the police were held in very low regard. The number of officers murdered back then is nearly three times what we have today.
And we can see the same trends happening again, in that those angst-filled days for social reformers had the same "rehabilitate, not incarcerate" memes. The DOJ was out of control, forcing law enforcement agencies to sign consent decrees which changed forever the hiring and promotion of those, perhaps otherwise unsuited or ill-prepared, based solely on personal traits. None of which did anything but allow more crime and violence, which was only halted (finally) with min-man laws which curtailed judges' discretion and actually sought to punish and inhibit those who cannot live peaceably in society.
Of course, this lead to the mystery (for some) over prisons at record populations while crime dropped.
Anyway, just a thought that we seem to be reliving the worst excesses of that time. It's almost like we haven't learned a thing about social re-engineering.
JC
~Here is proof that whilst "Black Lives Matter" take lives,
uncastrated police save black lives, courtesy of CBS & CBS/60 Minutes.
CHICAGO -- One of the most violent years in Chicago history ended with a sobering tally: 762 homicides .. the largest spike in 60 years." The bulk of the deaths and shooting incidents, which jumped from 2,426 in 2015 to 3,550 in 2016,
occurred in .. all poor and predominantly black areas where gangs
are most active.
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson [on Sunday] said anger at police ..
has left criminals “emboldened” to violent crimes.
... ... ...
"In August 2015, cops stopped and questioned 49,257 people.
A year later, those stops dropped to 8,859, down 80%.
At the same time, arrests were off by a third, from just over 10,000,
to 6900. ..
[Reporter:]"You talk to cops every day.
We do.
[Reporter:] What's the morale?
Lowest it's ever been."
~ www.cbsnews.com/news/chicago-murders-shootings-2016-more-than-
new-york-city-los-angeles-combined/ ;
www.cbsnews.com/videos/chicago-police-activity-declines-as-murders-spike-
data-shows/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab0g