The NEA - What I posted on actually has national relevance!

So, here we are - one week ago I posted about the NEA getting involved in politics, and said that I wasn't surprised, but that I was disappointed. And a couple days ago, my lovely friend Daniel (who tries and tries to get people to read this blog, and I love him for it), sent me a link to Ben Smith at Politico.

Some Background to the blog post that started it all: There was a blog post by a conservative artist (yes, they do exist) on the Blog site Big Hollywood. The main cheese there is a friend of Drudge's. Anyways, not only did the artist blog about how the NEA asked artists to chip in on Obama's legislative agenda, but apparently he also taped the call. And then sent the recording to Glenn Beck, who went apeshit over it. If you're interested in watching youtube clips of the interview, you can check them out at HuffPost, here. As a result, Senator Cornyn sent an e-mail to Obama, which you can read here. In his letter, Cornyn repeats the original blog post but also adds something really important, if ironic and marginally hypocritical:

"But even if no NEA funding was intended for political purposes, one cannot escape the disturbing impression that this Administration - including appointees within the White House and the NEA - believes that it is appropriate for the federal government to enlist the arts community for the purpose of furthering a specific political agenda. I agree with President John F. Kennedy, who said that '[w]e must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.'

I urge you to make clear that your Administration will never allocate taxpayer dollars to artists based on their support for Administration policy initiatives. Further, I respectfully request that you take the necessary steps to ensure that the NEA - and the American arts community it supports - remain independent from political manipulation by the White House."

And I agree. But I find it hard to trust any Republican who says that the NEA should remain independent from political manipulation - by anyone. The NEA was, sadly, one of the main targets of the Conservative Christian revival in the mid Nineties. The NEA's budget still remains below 1995 funding levels. And all of that was a solely political move. Christianists objected to the artistic viewpoints being funded. And if that isn't political manipulation, I don't know what is. But Ryan Grim, who wrote the HuffPost article I linked to above, puts my point pretty darn well - "the arts agency is constantly under fire from extremist activists who see it as propagating a liberal, libertine agenda. The day the culture war is finally declared over, there will still be skirmishes over the NEA."

Anyways, back to my point. The Ben Smith article I wrote about says that the now named NEA organizer who pushed artists re. Obama's legislative agenda has been demoted! Not sacked, but definitely scolded. His name is Yosi Sergant, and he "has a long history with the Obama campaign, having led the media effort for Shepard Fairey, the artist behind the iconic "Hope" portrait that Obama has credited with helping him win."

So, presumably, his record helped him. Here, via Grim at HuffPost, is the official NEA statement, along with some additional commentary: "The NEA has updated their statement to emphasize that Yosi Sargent remains with the agency, but in a different position: 'As regards Yosi Sergant, he has not left the National Endowment for the Arts. He remains with the agency, although not as director of communications.'

Sources familiar with the situation say that the move represents a significant step down and was the result of the controversy. Discussion about his new duties is still ongoing."