The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

The Arts and the Artist

The one irrepressible truth about the Arts is that No One owns the Artist! What makes an artist is that their independent voice is their own. They write, paint, compose in their solitude, and never, never will give this process up to anyone.

As I watched the Oval Office Occupant's name being attached to The Kennedy Center, I caught a sob in my throat, for this vile man's name to be on top of Kennedy's name, was like robbing our collective reverence for a President who gave everything for our Country. Stealing the spotlight by inserting his name   over Kennedy's name on this memorial building of a fallen President, for the Arts, is unforgivable. This person has contributed nothing for the Arts. It is a discernible fact that his idea of aesthetics is plastering gold painted artifacts looking like Walmart whimsy stickers all over the Oval Office.

In many ways, the Artist is as powerful as a king or president. His/Her works are conceived without any input from an outside agency, the process is singular, the making is singular, and the result is a product of original thought. The Movie, The Fountain Head, with Gary Cooper's soliloquy is one of the best description of an Artist's duty him/herself I have heard. Sometimes when a commission structure is involved, the artist still has the option to walk away, or destroy, and sometimes that happens and No One can stop Him/Her.. The original inspiration is solely owned by the Artist. The Artist listens to His/Hers Truth, and it is that truth which makes an effort become a work of Art. 

The Artists of the past and will in the Future give a voice about the world we live in and will, tell truth to power, whatever the price may be. The Arts give us beauty, musical rhythms of our day, challenge our possibilities, thoughts about the what ifs in our world, and ask us to stop, listen, read, and to consider our conditions of life's choices. The Poem, Chicago, by Carl Sandburg makes us aware of what our lives are made of and what we take for granted. I read yesterday that in one of Tyson's butchering plants, they kill 500 cows a day, this is just one plant. If this potential picture was displayed on TV commercial, it would have an impact of horror. Art describe acts of horror, writes stories, sing songs about it, and it also tells about our wondrous world and gives us reason to be hopeful . The Artist can tell these stories and songs, with truth about our real world. 

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was designed for a lasting memorial for President John Kennedy. The dominate element, of the project was to give the building a legacy of strength and integrity for a man who was loved and respected for his courage and his truth of being. To have someone who is the antithesis of this legacy insert his name over Kennedy's name is blasphemy of the highest order.

The Artists who have declined to perform on order of this would be king are in my view, heroes. They are facing a potential threat for their works to be defamed and destroyed. They walk away from this would be king, with their truth of purpose intact and honoring their own purpose of being.

The Cookers walked away...

The Arts belong to everyone, the Artist belongs only to Him/Her self, and will always, always, tell stories of truth for it is,

                        Truth that creates Great Art.

                   Remembering                                                         

I remember 1965 when Charlie Brown's Christmas made its debut. It is so hard to find in on the Internet, but here is a link. We all need to take a rest from the daily grind of our Worldly cares and here is the time of long ago when things seemed simpler. Thank You Charles  Schultz.  

                 

 

A Thousand Words

Pictures are Visual Words

RFK's image of Piety

The Picture on the Cover of the Atlantic Magazine of Robert Kennedy JR is a lie.

Hiding behind his rosary beads trying to look like the Pope, he betrayed his uncle John Kennedy. I remember JFK well. In 1960 I was a young mother and the daughter of a minister who railed against a prospective Catholic President.

I remember his speech on September 12, 1960, to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, where he declared his belief in an "absolute" separation of church and state. He explicitly stated that his religious beliefs would not influence his public policy decisions as President.

"I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am the Democratic Party's candidate for President who happens also to be a Catholic". "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute".

The image of RFK JR on the cover of the Atlantic magazine is one of visual words, words in peoples minds which equate him with religious piety. Many followers of Oval Office Occupier will feel the power of the symbolic image of RFK's hands in a prayerful position holding his rosary and feel that here is a man of truth. In bringing religion into his office of HHS, he has crossed the line in our Constitution for the separation of Church and State.

In our media, public platforms on TV and the forums of Print, there is a “thing” going on. It is called “sane-washing”. This is sometimes intentional and sometimes maybe not. The last line in the article was...

"The trial lawyer was still laboring to connect the dots that led to his preferred verdict, the orphan child of American royalty, back from hell, still fighting to fulfill his birthright".

First of all he is not royalty, we do not have kings or their princely sons. Second he is a lawyer, not a scientist. He will never change his intentions. He is in his court, of his HHS in his mind, and will continue to fight for his client, himself. He has no birthright in this Country. His family gave America a President, John F Kennedy, who was a war hero. John Kennedy's love for America was implicit and inspired greatness in Science and Space, that, does not give his brother a birthright to destroy the National HHS.

RFK's dots do not connect to anything that relates to Science and Truth. His dots will kill children and adults who believe in a man who is in the process of destroying the HHS and the Scientific Truths we used to Trust.

I do Have Hope. Yesterday, Governor Newsom announced that California will lead the way for Science and Truth to be embedded in a new Agency for our State.

The Public Health Network Innovation Exchange (PHNIX), a new California-led initiative to modernize public health infrastructure and maintain trust in science-driven decision-making. To lead this work, the state is engaging some of the nation’s most respected public health voices to consult on this initiative, including Dr. Susan Monarez, former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;Dr. Debra Houry, former CDC Chief Medical Officer; and Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, founder and CEO of Your Local Epidemiologist.

Last August I wrote a post on this blog imploring the Governor to do just this, hiring the scientists that had been fired by RFK and bring them to California. On this post I included a letter that I sent to t he Governor. I don't know if he read it, but the concept came to fruition and that is what will give our Citizens medical advice based on Science and Truth.

My letter;

August 8, 2925

Dear Governor Newsom 

We have a State HHS program here in California. Why don't we hire all of the HHS scientists who have been fired by Kennedy and bring them to California? We could become the leading truth and scientific State which could be a beacon of hope and truth to the rest of America. This could be a revision of the Manhattan project when the U.S. hired many German Scientists to America for building the bomb. I don't liken building vaccines to bombs, although there are similarities. Viruses kill millions and are just deadly as a bomb. When one State cannot bring truth to science, another State should walk through that door, and be the new bearer of truth in Science...Over one million Americans died from Covid...

 

The Chaos of 2025

It is the Holiday Season once again. Does it seem like it? I can't remember last year and what the feeling was at Christmas Time. From the last year's election and to now, it seems like one continuous blur of Trump-ism. And what exactly is that feeling? It's hard to define, except that my sense is one of continuing stress and heartache.

This feeling of stressful anxiety is like a blanket of wet dripping wool covering my mind. The one question that is now unanswerable is, What will this man do in the next three years? He is sowing the seeds of his own Manifest Destiny to remain in the Oval for the rest of his life. This is beyond my imagination, but, that is exactly what he is doing.

When I try to summon a word that defines this man, I can only think of the word Destruction. He has in this one year built an administration built on lies and fear, that in turn has destroyed; truth, trust, alliances, due process, the 14^th amendment, the EPA, USAID, our Health institutions and protocols, and most of all, challenging our first amendment rights giving us a sense of safety.

His gifts to us, Loss of Affordability, Loss of pride in the stature and integrity of what we should have in a President, loss of Integrity and loss of Honor in our Congress, Loss of our National Laws derived from the Constitution, and English common law, Loss of truth from our Supreme Court, and the Loss of American Leadership on the World stage.

My heart sinks when I hear from this man words of hate, piggy, garbage, losers, suckers, describing people that he can't hope to understand or control. This President is the embodiment of a crude, incompetent, egomaniac driven person. The Seeds of a Whirlwind are his, and sadly and will descend upon Americans and the World writ large...

Yesterday was the anniversary of the "Day living in Infamy", the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I published the picture for this blog. The Whirlwind of Trump-ism is strengthening, and will come to fruition unless our Congress, as Madeleine Albright said, does not grow some cajones. 

 

THE FOUNDATION OF TRUTH

Our Constitution does not have the word “truth” in the text within the document. The word “truths” does appear in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence...

“We hold these Truths to be self-eventide, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”.

When leaders do not believe in the concept of Truth, how can the foundation of our Constitution and the laws that bind our Country be served? The foundation is the construction of strength for a building, and without a strong concrete reinforced foundation the structure will not stand. So it is with our Government.

My Father was a building contractor of fine homes and projects to serve people to live in safe dwellings. His truth was in the finding the “good” wood, using the blueline of a snapped string to find the absolute level for the foundation pour, so the concrete structure would be solid and true.

It was understood by our Framers of the Constitution that the concept of truth was inherently understood and was with this understanding that the Rules and Laws of our Constitution would be carried out.

I remember well when the erosion of truth went missing with our current occupant of the oval office, when he came down the golden escalator. One of his first edits was that the “Press is the enemy of the People”. Close behind this, was the announcement of “ Alternate Facts”. These two pronouncements became normalized with the countless repetition by talking heads of some news outlets which catered to a population of discontent.

It is strange is not , that the word Truth is missing from our Constitution. We take oaths when we are in court. It seems that this word is in our legal system, but not in the most basic pronouncement of our being as a Nation. Truth has gone missing from Congress, from the Supreme Court and from the Occupant of the Oval.

Our blue line of Truth should be the most revered word and concept for our Nation. Instead, it hides behind the fear of revenge, and death threats. Mark Kelly and five other leaders in our Congress spoke truth in a video, and the Oval Office Occupant said they should be put to death.

This consequence for the denial of truth is lost of Trust. Could our Constitution have been written based on lies? The Framers were individuals who had the understanding of concepts for truth and trust. The notion that a President has no need to tell the truth and lied for the destruction of the Constitution was beyond their belief awareness.

The lies of our Government today steal away our desire to believe our leaders. The lies of the current oval office occupier will ultimately not stand, for the people will finally understand the wisdom of recognizing that the Emperor does not have any clothes on, and find truth in their own abilities to See.

If we don't rescue Truth , and put it forth as our most basic structural concept of the Constitution, then the foundation is not solid. Trust is built on Truth, and without trust, our Great American experiment stands on a Precipice...”Death to All”... the order of the present Director of Defense.

I will not shut up, I will not let a bully with the ability of a 12 year old tell me, us, what we can say.

 

Two Men Two Speeches

Which of these two men would you have chaperon your Daughter's prom night?

 

MARK KELLY

American Hero

I'm wondering if the American President could have me arrested for writing this blog post. Would my first Amendment Rights protect me from his rants of having me arrested and hanged? I'm just an old artist who feels so very strongly that I should stand up and do SOMTHING! 

I have gone to two protests in downtown Oceanside, but my body parts are not having it. As my time is limited on this daily toil, my delights are my art work, and writing this post. I can only hope that the protests which were huge last weekend in DC will continue and have consequences of enlightenment to the people who put this evil man in our Oval Office. 

When Biden finally decided not to run for President last year, my thoughts turned instantly to Mark Kelly. He is one of the most qualified men in our Country to be President of America. He has fought, gone into space, and has served in the Senate. His credentials are platinum! His integrity to duty is there for all to see. The unqualified Director of Defense is by this standard minus 1000 percent!. By contrast, the President is a tarnished gold plated lump. 

When bullies are in power, they seek to destroy those who are men of great accomplishment. They have others take orders to do the deeds they themselves will not take, for they know that will never have to serve on the front line, and they will always take the illegal path of the mob boss, and have others do the deed. 

My moment of Glory 

I have sat in the space shuttle Captain's chair, and though it was only a full sized mock up, the size, the power, and thrill was inherent and sustained. My imagination was in the stars, and they swirled my small self into infinity. The thought of being in space where everything wants to kill you and be there in a small metal space station for weeks was what this American Hero has done.

I will continue to post my thoughts and stand for the Constitution, and free speech. I honor the pledge, and when the flyovers happen at the ball games, my soul soars with pride and I sing my allegiance... Mark Kelly, I honor You, and I can smile when looking at your picture, knowing that you are here, and not backing down to threats from the Oval Occupant.                                         THANK YOU !