Norman Rockwell, Yippie!

Tom Carson has a piece at Vox about Rockwell becoming politicized in the 1960s, something I didn’t know about.

The first painting Rockwell did for Look magazine, after moving over from Saturday Evening Post, was a vivid statement about race in those tumultuous times. Alas, all the well-meaning actions at the time stalled and ended up meaning more as a symbolic nod than any radical change.

We’re still waiting for that.

It’s All About Negative Partisanship

A fascinating explanation of how modern elections turn not on swing voters choosing candidates, but the base voting against the other guys.

Which is why voters who dislike Trump have to remember to vote for the Democratic candidate, no matter who that is, in November. The Republicans, the Russians, the White Supremacists will try to get Dems and Independents to stay home, or vote for a third party candidate.

Don’t get fooled again!

David Brooks Makes the Case for Bernie

“Only 53 percent of Sanders voters say they will certainly support whomever is the Democratic nominee. This is no idle threat. In 2016, in Pennsylvania, 117,000 Sanders primary voters went for Trump in the general, and Trump won the state by 44,292 ballots. In Michigan, 48,000 Sanders voters went for Trump, and Trump won the state by 10,704. In Wisconsin, 51,300 Sanders voters went for Trump, and Trump won the state by 22,748. In short, Sanders voters helped elect Trump.”

So, who among Democrats siphons votes away from Trump? Bernie seems to be the answer. Brooks says.

You can read his column, which makes a different and not really defensible point, here.

I think the better message is that most people don’t like Trump. Most people are opposed. No matter who the Democratic nominee is, and we may or may not like her or him, we all have to vote for the nominee. That’s the job. None are as bad as the choice of not voting, which is equal to a vote for Trump.

That’s what we all have to remember, even as Republican and Russian and White Supremacist operators pound us with divisive information. There’s better, there’s best, there’s not quite as good. All fine, especially if the alternative is Trump.

Lisa Rubiner, Doodah

Stories about creativity are often tedious. Not uninteresting, at least not always, but often worthless.

So, it’s pleasing to find an old memory turned blog post about a painting that is charming and funny and meaningful. If you think so.

Read this:
http://www.lisarubiner.com/2020/02/02/cultural-appropriation-police-report-1975/?preview=true&fbclid=IwAR2t-4W5I0zrhfet8bwNg_M1WnYSxoOJznvWLVLMIrCzWVIFnDMNC5Fk8to

It’s about this piece.

Gorgeous, and thanks for the backstory!