The Political Work of Covers

1. Cabinet: Issue 31; Special Section: SHAME

What political work is being done by this cover in relation to its theme, shame?

Answers: it represents the fig leaf that covers what we Christians should be ashamed of.

2. It represents that part of the male anatomy that needs to be covered to avoid shame.

3. It represents that part of the female anatomy that needs to be covered to avoid shame.

4. It represents the key-hole that we should be ashamed to look through.

Others:

Cabinet: A Quarterly of Arts and Culture

Doing the Work of Politics: 4) Via Declarations, Constitutions, Addresses

1. American Declaration of Independence

In Continental Congress, July 4, 1776:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the Consent of the Governed..."

2.  The American Constitution.

First signed on September 17, 1787 ... ratified by all states in early 1789.

Preamble: "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

3. Address of Susan B. Anthony

After her arrest on charges of voting illegally in the 1872 election:

"Friends and fellow-citizens:  I stand before you tonight, under indictment for the alleged crime of having voted at the last Presidential election, without having a lawful right to vote.  It shall be my work this evening to prove to you that in thus voting, I not only committed no crime, but, instead, simply exercised my

 citizen's right, guaranteed to me and all US citizens by the National Constitution, beyond the power of any State to deny...."

4. Musings (and "almost-declarations") of this editor.

a. I don't think this blog is a space for the blind follower or partisan of any race, gender, religion, creed, thinker, artist, nationality, country, sexual orientation, bodily ability, political persuasion, etc.

b. I hope it is a space for any "followers" who wish to question and challenge me.

c. I try to remain aware of my own ignorance.

d. I doubt that I am ever fully successful at this.  

e. I think this kind of doubt can be good.

f.  There will be views, expressions, images, youtube videos, film clips, etc from many different viewpoints (in space and across time) on this blog.

g. g is my favorite letter, and this particular kind of "g" is the one I like the most.

h. I contain multitudes.  Sometimes this is a vice, but more often it is a virtue.

i. I see, hear, read, care about and criticize dead people, as well as the living.

j. I think we can have world peace and revolution.

k. I think any great person can lead you to discover new truths about the world and yourself, if you have the courage, faith, charity, generosity, moderation, hope, and wisdom to let them.

l. This is a space for those who are gifted, creative, and aesthetically and politically inclined.  I am pretty sure this includes everyone. 

m. This utterance makes "g" the middle point, and many people think this is an important place to think from.

Doing the Work of Politics: 3) via Dreams/Exhortations/ Visions

1. "I have a dream..."; Martin Luther King (1929-1968)

Watch "I have a dream..."

2. Got Hope?  Harvey Milk (1930-1978)

Got Hope? Harvey Milk

"Those who have the courage to dream, also have the faith to know that others 

will carry on their work after they are gone."

3. Barack Obama, January 09, 2008, New Hamsphire Acceptance Speech

  "Yes We Can"

  Watch "Yes we can" speech

  Watch" Yes we can" music video               

4. Barack Obama, November 4, 2008, Presidential Election Acceptance Speech

     Watch "Yes we can Victory Speech"

   

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our times, who still questions the power of our democracy..... tonight is your answer."

"Because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America."

Doing the Work of Politics: 2) via Protests

This space is in (perpetual) agitation and needs some support:

November 6, 2008

Protesting the passage of Proposition 8 

which eliminated same sex marriage

in the state of California.

"What do we want? Equality!

When do we want it?  Now!"

Doing the Work of Politics: 1) via Invitations

1) to  a "poster session" based on this blog entitled "Aesthetics and the Representation of Politics" staged at MPSA 2009 and then APSA 2009  (Exact Dates to be announced).

Caves and Sunny Skies in Texas

Political Riddles: Between Past and Future

Can you guess the relationship between these canonical works and the documentary film?

1. Tocqueville's Democracy in America <-->  Man on a Wire.  

2. Plato's Republic, Rousseau's Reveries, Nietzsche's Zarathustra <-> The Falling Man.  

Technology and the Work of Democratic Politics

dangling chads

  kleroterion - used for jury selection

When a citizen sought jury duty, he went at dawn to the

kleroteria maintained by his tribe and showed up with other

potential jurors.  He brought with him an identity ticket

 made of 

bronze or wood, and he gave it to the

 presiding tribal officer 

(known as the archon), who then slotted it into on of the kleroterion's

columns according to the jury-section letter stamped on the ticket.

The slots were filled starting at the top row and working down.

Once the candidate's tickets were slotted in, the archon took a quantity

of small bronze balls - some colored white, the rest black ... and poured

them into the funnels at the top of the kleroteria.  The total number of balls

was equal to the number of rows filled with tickets, and the number of white

balls was a function of the number of juries that need to be filled that day.

So: the balls fell down into the tube, at the bottom of which they were 

stopped by a crank-driven device.  The crank was turned, and one ball dropped out.

If the ball was black, the first row of tickets was removed from the kleroterion,

and their owners were dismissed.  If the ball was white, the first row of tickets

remained in place, and their owners were jurors for the day.   Another ball was

released, another row of candidates dismissed or accepted, and so on.  At last the

final ball was dropped and the judicial day began.

ostrakon - a piece of pottery usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware

vessel.  In Ancient Greece, the voting public would write or scratch the name of a 

person in the shard of potter.  When the decision at hand was to banish or exile

a certain member of society, citizen peers would cast their vote by writing the name

of the person on the piece of pottery; the vote was counted and if unfavorable the person

was put out of the city....hence the term ostracism.

Game: Contemporary Paw-litical Types

What is this picture a representation of?:

Who is Isaac the cat a representative for?:

petty tyrant.

not-so petty tyrant.

conservative pundit.

joe the plumber.

soccer mom on a rainy day.

nascar dad on a rainy day.

undecided voter.

radical democrat.

agonistic democrat.

socialist Democrat.

socialist Republican.

conservative Democrat.

Reaganite Democrat.

Republican Democrat.

visionary.

revolutionary.

coalition builder.

we the people.

those who hide in secret bunkers.

suicide bomber.

moderate Islamic ally.

Canadian.

American.

Osama bin Laden.

visionary who really can "see" Russia/Canada/Mexico from his "doorstep" or the U.S. border.

visionary who really can "see" [country of your choosing] from his border/centre/vantagepoint.

an illegal immigrant.

a migrant worker.

a cat in a garbage bag protesting his inability to vote.

animal rights activist.

someone just coming out of their cave and into the sun.

Sub-categories:  1) those who contain combinations of:

1a) all of the above: multiple personality disorder.

1b) some of the above: coalition builder.

1c) none of the above: other: ____________

1d) one of the above: partisan.

1e) two of the above: bi-partisan.