Who Cares What You Think?

I saw a link headlined "Samuel L. Jackson mocks Trump’s proposal to arm teachers" and immediately wonder why this was news.  Is Sam Jackson a teacher?  Does he have some applicable experience in securing places from attacks?  Does he hold elective office that would allow him to legislate, enforce, or adjudicate laws on this subject?  No on all accounts.  He's an actor!  I think he is a great actor and have loved him in most movies where he has starred, even bad ones.  However, his opinion on this subject is utterly irrelevant.  Moreover, he has never been in a gunfight, so his tweet doesn't hold any water.  This is just virtue signaling that will draw praise from the people with whom he socializes.

It's Not the Guns

The Parkland school shooting in Florida has once again triggered the demands for gun control.  However, the gun is not the problem.  The 2nd Amendment is not the problem.  Semi-automatic weapons have been around for more than a century.  The 2nd Amendment has been around for 230 years.  Where were the school shootings?  When I was in high school in the 80s, there weren't school shootings.  Almost every school shooting has happened in the last 20 years.  The obvious thing is to examine what has changed not blame something that has remained static.

 

Maybe the internet is to blame.  Social media?  The 24/7 news cycle?  Violent and surprisingly realistic video games?  Profanity-laced music?  Changes in parenting?  Kids raised in the last 25 years have had a dramatically different experience than those raised in previous eras.  Some change, maybe a combination of changes, is what has led to these school shootings.  If it was the guns and the 2nd Amendment, there would be school shootings dating back 100 years or more.

Portrait Disaster

The portrait for President Barack Obama has been unveiled and it is a travesty.  Is this supposed to be a picture from the days of the Choom Gang?  Compared to the portraits with which it will be displayed, this is the equivalent of attending a black tie dinner while wearing flip-flops, shorts, and a tank top.  Then there is his pose.  He looks like he might be on the toilet.  The crossed-arms make him defensive.  This isn't a Lincoln pose, it is not at all commanding.  At best, I would call it 'attentive' though he doesn't seem to realize he is about to be consumed by the ivy.  I have never been a fan of Obama but this is a terrible portrait.  Almost any random picture of him would be far better than this - the man is very photogenic.  Here is the picture that is the place holder for his portrait:

Turn that into a painting and it is far superior to what has been produced.

 

Michelle Obama didn't fair much better than her husband.

This is a bland and lifeless painting.  The colors are washed out like it has faded.  If someone had shown this to me without telling me who it was, I would not have guessed Michelle Obama.  Like her husband, the place holder photograph is much better

I recently saw the series The Crown, which deals with the early years of Queen Elizabeth's reign.  At one point, Winston Churchill is given a portrait which he finds objectionable.  He burned it in his yard.  The Obamas might want to follow in his footsteps.  Of course, the painting is now considered a lost masterpiece so perhaps they should hide them in the basement until they reach masterpiece status.