"it smells of sulfur still today" (originally posted 09.22.06)
on wednesday (09.20.06), hugo chavez (president of venezuela), speaking from the "lecturn" in front of the united nations' general assembly, stated: "the devil came here yesterday, right here. it smells of sulfur still today, this table that i am now standing in front of." the nyt reported that this remark, referring to president bush (who spoke at the same spot the day before), resulted in "gasps and even giggles."
the comment - coming from outside the us - reminds me of the postcard piece from rigo23's recent show at gallery paule anglim. titled may 31, 2005, the piece is composed of korean characters, painted in three-dimensions, yellow and red on a silver background. ink and acrylic on unstretched canvas. it looks metallic and is huge (42" x 96"). the combination has the feel of propaganda to me. the phrase - attributed to north korean press - translates to "vice president dick cheney is a 'blood-thirsty beast.'"
true enough.
which, in turn, reminds me of travis millard's poignant drawingcomparing dick cheney's soul to the tip of an ant tooth.
true enough.
i do not believe in "the devil" who animates the chavez and bush worlds. i am happy to see that someone who does - a world leader - is willing to publicly assert that our president is evil. the devil reference even seems appropriate given that bush claims moral authority, in part, from his assertion that he directly communicates with "god."
condoleezza rice was reported in the nyt as responding that chávez's comments were "not becoming of a head of state." this "becoming of a head of state" test would fail bush again and again. and, as noam chomsky noted (also in the nyt), in addition to assuring reporters that he was not dead yet: "the bush administration backed a coup to overthrow [chavez's] government. suppose venezuela supported a military coup that overthrew the government of the united states?"
the comment - coming from outside the us - reminds me of the postcard piece from rigo23's recent show at gallery paule anglim. titled may 31, 2005, the piece is composed of korean characters, painted in three-dimensions, yellow and red on a silver background. ink and acrylic on unstretched canvas. it looks metallic and is huge (42" x 96"). the combination has the feel of propaganda to me. the phrase - attributed to north korean press - translates to "vice president dick cheney is a 'blood-thirsty beast.'"
true enough.
which, in turn, reminds me of travis millard's poignant drawingcomparing dick cheney's soul to the tip of an ant tooth.
true enough.
i do not believe in "the devil" who animates the chavez and bush worlds. i am happy to see that someone who does - a world leader - is willing to publicly assert that our president is evil. the devil reference even seems appropriate given that bush claims moral authority, in part, from his assertion that he directly communicates with "god."
condoleezza rice was reported in the nyt as responding that chávez's comments were "not becoming of a head of state." this "becoming of a head of state" test would fail bush again and again. and, as noam chomsky noted (also in the nyt), in addition to assuring reporters that he was not dead yet: "the bush administration backed a coup to overthrow [chavez's] government. suppose venezuela supported a military coup that overthrew the government of the united states?"
posted by billy ocallaghan at 9:55 PM
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