The Democratic National Convention is already under fire for not feeding enough red meat to its voracious attendees (so say the dweebs on the “Best Political Team” of bloviating CNN commentators). But there are indeed real criticisms to be made. And David Levi Strauss, chair of the MFA Art Criticism and Writing Department at School of VisualArts, shares his critical perspective via daily dispatches from the DNC on Exposures, the Aperture blog. Here’s a sample from the first night:
“Something felt wrong from the beginning; not just the self-consciousmawkishness, but something deeper, lurking under the dead end ofidentity politics. It was as if the worst tendencies of 1980s had comeout to make one last attempt to stifle the future. Race vs. gender. Andthe hall was haunted by other spectres of past failures: Ted Kennedy,John Kerry, Howard Dean. I’m sure we’ll see Al Gore soon. There issomething inside American liberalism that forgives too much and givesup too soon.”
For some, this may sound like self-defeating pessimism, while others will see it as cautionary words to the wise. Whatever the interpretation, Levi Strauss’ commentaries are bound to provoke–and provocation triggers change. Also check out The Electoral College for independent thoughts on the election process and its daily photostream (samples below).