Well we’ve moved from contraceptives to the National Endowment for the Arts as a talking about in the great stimulus debate while the Republicans continue to find something to nail their protests on. Here we go again.
I won’t go into the specifics about how the arts do indeed stimulate the economy in areas where there is a vibrant art scene. I also won’t go into the fact that theatres and arts organizations are scaling back programming and indeed shutting down, putting more folks on the unemployment roles. Not necessary. Those are facts beyond talking points.
Here’s what I will go into. The only art the Republican talking heads ever like is an ad banner hanging around a NASCAR race track. I’m not tarring every Republican here because many are avid supporters of the arts. I’m just talking about the folks who are doing the cherry picking. I can certainly question the priorities, but the cherry picking here is getting a little ridiculous. The reason the NEA has come up has nothing to do with the dollars and cents, but more to do with the supposed sensationalist crap we went through two decades ago. We’ve moved from condoms to STDs to the NEA. See the connection. I guess in this battle its more fun to gin up fear about sex and depravity than it is economic failure.
This is a big picture fear for many artists as we see government support dwindle with the economic realities. If the sensationalist” smears come out and catch hold again, it will only make the battle back, assuming better times do show up some day, even tougher.
Here we go again.
