Althouse: Close-up on a "Stop the War" chalking.

August 8, 2005

Close-up on a "Stop the War" chalking.

Here in Madison:

16 comments:

Contributors said...: Notice how they never chalk, "Stop The Terrorism?"; 8/8/05, 3:56 PM
goesh said...: Make cheese, not war - couldn't resist that Wisc. slant; 8/8/05, 5:46 PM
Robert Holmgren said...: Stop the defacing of private property.; 8/8/05, 7:13 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Menlo Bob: The building in question is run by people who approve the graffiti.; 8/8/05, 8:57 PM
Hecla Ma said...: Dear God, it's true...we really ARE back in 1967!!!; 8/8/05, 9:55 PM
hat said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; 8/8/05, 11:16 PM
ploopusgirl said...: Well, aren't you just a wee bit pretentious, Drethelin. Brava! You (and Brendan and dirty harry and goesh and menlo bob) are the reason reasonable discourse is no longer feasable in this culture. Brava, indeed.; 8/8/05, 11:55 PM
Meade said...: Madison could make itself Baghdad 's sister city -- two centers of learning in solidarity for peace and freedom from religious extremist fascism. What do you think, ploopusgirl, can a city have two sisters?; 8/9/05, 12:03 AM
ploopusgirl said...: lmeade: I think it's a lovely idea? Or.. What exactly is that even supposed to mean?; 8/9/05, 12:05 AM
Meade said...: Just testing the feasibility of making reasonable discourse. Do you think Madison would make a good sister city for Baghdad? Seems to have had positive effects on Managua, no?; 8/9/05, 12:15 AM
Sloanasaurus said...: Drethelin said: "....Finally, chalking "stop the terrorism" would be pretty damn moronic considering the terrorists would never read it, whereas it's atleast slightly plausible that the governor or someone could read that, and if not them, voters...."

This seems to me like the reasoning of a conservative who has not yet discovered himself. Conservatives generally don't realize that those on the left really actually do despise America (what they see as white middle class culture). It takes years of experience to finally understand this. In the mean time, it takes a conservative mind to rationalize these thoughts into a pragmatic argument (as drethelin has done above).

Maybe you should read some Hayek so we can find out if I am right.; 8/9/05, 12:32 AM
vbspurs said...: Come on. That's the UGLIEST graffiti I've ever seen...

...although, admittedly, I was born post-Vietnam, and really didn't get the full brunt of the Yippie artistic movement.

Maybe it's my inner Hayek, but I really dislike graffiti in general.

Much better to be like the Germans, who have handy cardboard pillars outside of monuments, so you can affix your stencils, gouaches, and fingerpaint efforts and not harm the aesthestics of the place.

Although, I know I am pushing it when I say aesthetics, and mean that crappy wall thing.

"Cheeseheads are not Patriots --Go FAVRE!"

Cheers,
Victoria; 8/9/05, 2:55 AM
goesh said...: Poopusgirl, you may recall from a previous post that I'm an herbalist of sorts. As such, it is readily apparent that you have been ingesting massive amounts of Stinging Nettle. Be apprised that it will not in any way abate your obvious condition of chronic constipation.; 8/9/05, 6:19 AM
Sloanasaurus said...: I am not pushing any agenda. I am just observing that the previous poster may be in a state of transition.; 8/9/05, 8:46 AM
Contributors said...: Dreth you wrote: "Finally, chalking "stop the terrorism" would be pretty damn moronic considering the terrorists would never read it, whereas it's at least slightly plausible that the governor or someone could read that, and if not them, voters."

Isn't it just as plausible that a local politician not taking the threat of terrorism seriously would read this? And in Madison, there could be quite a few of those. "And if not them, voters?"

"Stop the Terrorism" could be a plea to elected officials not doing enough to stop terrorism just as "Stop the War" could be a plea to elected officials not doing enough to stop the war.

If one's "pretty damn moronic," then both are.; 8/9/05, 9:46 AM
hat said...: I've always viewed graffiti like that as more of a protest than as a plea. If it is meant as a plea, I suppose both could well work.

Decrying "stop the war" for word choice is stupid because everyone knows what is meant is "stop the violent and destructive presence of america in Iraq". I suppose if you're on a campaign for increased accuracy in writing you could complain about word choice, but politically speaking attacking the word choice does nothing for whichever side you are on, does not address the issue in the graffiti, and is basically an ad hominem attack, along the lines of bos0x's repeated rantings about conservatives.

And yes, a badly drawn pictoral piece of graffiti would annoy me just as much. But I see alot more ugly textual graffiti than pictoral.

As far as being pretentious, hey it's the internet. Why not be?; 8/9/05, 3:21 PM