December 22, 2018

"You couldn’t create a creepier Yuletide scene if you tried" — says The Guardian about Trump and Melania's Christmas portrait.

Here's the photograph:

This, from Jonathan Jones seems ludicrously subjective. He just hates Trump. I get that.
Multiple Christmas trees are currently a status symbol for the wealthy, but this picture shows the risks. Instead of a homely symbol of midwinter cheer, these disciplined arboreal ranks with their uniform decorations are arrayed like massed soldiers or colossal columns designed by Albert Speer.... Everything here communicates cold, empty magnificence. Tree lights that are as frigid as icicles are mirrored in a cold polished floor.
The reflections of light on the floor are bothering him? Having more than one tree is a Nazi-ish thing? Aren't there always multiple trees in the White House at Christmas?
Equally frosty illuminations are projected on the ceiling. Instead of twinkling fairy magic, this lifeless lighting creates a sterile, inhuman atmosphere.... It suggests the micromanaged, corporate Christmas of a Citizen Kane who has long since lost touch with the ordinary, warm pleasures of real life.

In the centre of this disturbing piece of conceptual art stand Donald and Melania Trump. He’s in a tuxedo, she’s wearing white – and not a woolly hat in sight. Their formal smartness adds to the emotional numbness of the scene.

Trump’s shark-like grin has nothing generous or friendly about it. He seems to want to show off his beautiful wife and his fantastic home rather than any of the cuddly holiday spirit a conventional politician might strive to share at this time....
Are we to believe Jones would be calmed and cheered by Trump as "a conventional politician" in a woolly hat striving for cuddliness and using colored rather than white lights on the trees and projecting "twinkling fairy magic" on the ceiling?

144 comments:

Curious George said...

Needs the TDS tag.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Trump hate is the drug of choice from the insane left.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

When Michelle decorated for Christmas, the left gathered in unified awe and sang praises of hope and change. All glory be to Obama on high.

Lloyd W. Robertson said...

Only recently, with Melania's blood-red trees or whatever, did I start to see the possibilities of comparing the Trumps to Gomez and Morticia Addams. I'm a fan of the Addams family, especially "Addams Family Values." They go against conventional thinking, but somehow they don't go too far, or their charm gets them through.
Charles Addams drew a lot of cartoons, but I believe the first one that established the "family from the dark side theme" related to Halloween: the family on the roof, ready to pour boiling oil from a pot onto the heads of trick-or-treaters. Aren't we all kind of sick of the trick-or-treaters?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The collective hate-filled left see racism and Nazi - even on a Christmas tree.

Anonymous said...

TDS really is a crippling sickness. When it takes this form, or when it makes the hippies bitch and moan about his legalization of hemp yesterday, it is merely laughable. When it induces the likes of Rachel Maddow and Noam Chomsky and Howard Dean to argue for perpetual American warmongering in the Middle East, it is truly malignant.

Every day, as a former Libertarian, I am coming to like Trump more and more.

traditionalguy said...

Give it a rest. That warm smile by our President is the smile of an alert American host eager to make his guests welcome to his home. His only aberration noted is that he is not on a Xmas drunk like the English Aristocracy do it all when they put on noblesse oblige one day a year for their deplorables who are their servants.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

More of a parody of TDS than actual TDS. Distinctly Onion-y.

Anonymous said...

Look how many fucking trees Michelle Obama had them put in the White House.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/12/see-how-the-white-house-decorates-for-the-holidays/447981/

Anonymous said...

More of a parody of TDS than actual TDS. Distinctly Onion-y.

If the Guardian ever did irony or parody, it would be for the first time in its history.

n.n said...

The Guardian is a source of rabid diversity, indulgent of color judgments, and the progress of "white girls next door". Merry Christmas!

traditionalguy said...

As for that hall of red trees, remember that dark haired brunette love being surrounded by red everything.

janetrae said...

I hope the creepiness tag is for the jerk who wrote this.

James Graham said...

This Brit trump-hater doesn't understand that the "fantastic home" (a/k/a The White House) is US Government property. It is not Trump property.

Does he think the WH staff would be happier if they worked in a dump?

Wince said...

The only thing I found disturbing was all the red balls hanging down to the floor, for personal reasons related to aging.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I like the simple use of red only ornaments. They contrast nicely with the green trees and the sparkling white lights.

**I denounce myself as a racist deplorable nazi, Amen.

Anonymous said...

dark haired brunettes love being surrounded by red everything.

I can attest to this. The chestnut-haired Mrs. Skookum is deeply in the grip of an obsession with having things colored scarlet red.

Humperdink said...

"she’s (Melania) wearing white – and not a woolly hat in sight. "

Gee, I wonder what his thoughts were on Mrs. Obama decked out in a combination circus tent/table cloth, complete with backup alarm.

Francisco D said...

To the Left, it is always creepy when a Republican is POTUS.

They will destroy the world. They are literally worse than Hitler - all of them.

YoungHegelian said...

This link has been posted chez Althouse at least twice (once by me...), but it deserves another posting here:

Melania Trump Criticized For Decorating White House With Skulls Of Her Enemies.

I sent this link to my brother, who posted it in FB. FB quickly censored it from his feed.

Chuck said...

Althouse I agree that this is writing from Trump-haters.

But they are talking in terms of cultural observations, and the writing is literate if not also interesting. You don’t find it compelling and that of course is your right as a free-thinking reader.

What I say, is that this is a far more gentle and persuasive version of Presidential hatred, than we saw with a certain individual, acting out of nothing more or less than self-promotion and malevolence, when he claimed in a televised interview that he had dispatched his own team of investigators to Hawaii to look into the matter of Barack Obama’s birth certificate and they were discovering “things they can’t believe.”

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Blckpwk1voQ

mockturtle said...

I love the photo. And love Trumps hate.

Earnest Prole said...

He had a deadline and he needed a piece his readers could slip into like a warm bath.

MayBee said...

Too bad Melania didn't throw on a pair of $4,000.00 sequin boots to add a touch of twinkling fairy magic.

wild chicken said...

Our critic prefers a more down-home, folksy look, like from a tiny home in Wyoming.

Rusty said...

janetrae said...
"I hope the creepiness tag is for the jerk who wrote this."
The undisguised vitriol is what I find disturbing. It defies reason. it is the lack of reason I find chilling. It is the blind unreasoning hatred that filled boxcars with jews and kulaks.

William said...

At this time of the year, we should pause in our busy day and take a few minutes out to reflect on how detestable the Trump family is. It wouldn't hurt to also take a few minutes out to despise the people who voted for him. Let us remember that not everybody on earth is as blessed and morally superior as we are and that it is only fitting at this time of the year to revile and loathe them.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

“If the Guardian ever did irony or parody, it would be for the first time in its history.”

I read Lefty websites everyday because, while I’m too old and dignified for Cracked, I still love a chortle. And hysterical Leftist self-parody is my favorite source of humor.

mockturtle said...

It is the blind unreasoning hatred that filled boxcars with jews and kulaks.

It is, indeed, Rusty. I've often thought this as well. Let us pray they never get organized under a strong leader.

Anonymous said...

...these disciplined arboreal ranks with their uniform decorations are arrayed like massed soldiers or colossal columns designed by Albert Speer....

Is the continuing decline in the quality of propaganda due to dwindling revenues (and thus inability to pay for talent), or is the journalist labor pool just so ignorant and badly educated that this is the best they can do?

William said...

I could create a creepier Yuletide scene without half trying. I would have Donald holding a severed head of Schumer and Melania with the severed head of Pelosi. That would be really creepy, especially if there were little pools of blood under the heads, and Melania's white dress was splattered with blood.

Tank said...

Pretty mich every picture with Melania in it is delightful. Looks like a very nice Christmas picture to me, love that whirte, really white dress. She is an angel.

Tank said...

Hate typing on IPad.

Trumpit said...

They, Schlump and the GOP, will destroy the world. They are literally worse than Hitler - all of them. I object to my tax dollars paying for Schlump to live in the lap of luxury. He doesn't deserve it. He has billions of dollars and is a bad, bad man who needs to go away, far away. Schlump is Scrooge, the Grinch, & Hitler all rolled into one. He's destroying the environment, the economy, the judiciary, etc. You're a mean one, Mr. Schlump!

gilbar said...

let's see how i can tie this in? Oh here's a present for our Readers

AOC says that "Climate change isn’t happening in 10 years. It’s happening now.
she's basing that on a Bloomberg piece that says that Amtrak lines will be underwater be 2100
it isn't happening in 10 years! it's happening NOW! (if, you count 2100 as now)
merry xMass!

n.n said...

#HateLovesAbortion

Temujin said...

No one projects like a lefty projects.

PS- per a few other posts over the last month or so: Had this been a photo of Michelle Obama slogging mud in a pig sty, this same reporter would have been gushing over the bulge in her triceps and her fashion choice while shoveling shit.

I'm not sure if these people will every regain their minds.

tcrosse said...

Blogger Tank said...
Hate typing on IPad.


Got to you-know-who's Amazon portal and get a Bluetooth Keyboard for less than 20 bucks. We should chip in and get one for narciso.

narciso said...

she saw ai as a teenager and thought it was real, and day after tomorrow, which is like the worst corman schlock,

FullMoon said...

Trumpit said... [hush]​[hide comment]

They, Schlump and the GOP, will destroy the world. They are literally worse than Hitler - all of them. I object to my tax dollars paying for Schlump to live in the lap of luxury. He doesn't deserve it. He has billions of dollars and is a bad, bad man who needs to go away, far away. Schlump is Scrooge, the Grinch, & Hitler all rolled into one. He's destroying the environment, the economy, the judiciary, etc. You're a mean one, Mr. Schlump!


Nice parody of Chuck.

tcrosse said...

The Limey bastard could create a creepier Yuletide scene without half trying: Charles and Camilla.

narciso said...

Gosh we don't even have ming's weather machine, from the 1980 flash Gordon, with the hot hail and volcanoes, because why not?

Chuck said...

Blogger FullMoon said...
...

Nice parody of Chuck.


Not really. I would never allege that Trump owns “billions.”

But when we see his tax returns, perhaps we’ll know better.

Henry said...

Some White House hospitality experts designed that display. They must love being compared to Albert Speer.

Tom T. said...

At least Trump isn't disappearing back into the leaves, like some people in some recent portraits I might name.

FullMoon said...

Chuck said... [hush]​[hide comment]


But when we see his tax returns, perhaps we’ll know better.


Let's make everybodys tax returns public. Any reason not to?

Rusty said...

Trumpit said...

Proving my point admirably.

robother said...

The Grauniad somehow overlooks the tweet literally wishing people a "Merry Christmas," sending the Julia Iofes into terminal depression.

chickelit said...

I have a coworker who thinks and talks like the writer writes. She's always slipping anti-Trump knife jabs into her conversation. It's like working with Inga.

chickelit said...

I strenuously object to to Trumpit using her Social Security dollars to feed cheeseburgers to seagulls.

Darrell said...

They're really ramping up the Trump hate in Britain--if that's even possible. You get Trump digs in almost every TV show I've seen recently. "Trump is going to destroy the world" is the usual meme. But they were showing the Trump's 2017 Christmas card with all the white trees this year as one of the all-time Christmas Fails--implying outright racism in that message. Of course, they call Christmas "Crimbo." If they even use the name at all.

Ken B said...

Aside from everything else, she’s not in white.

FullMoon said...

"...he had dispatched his own team of investigators to Hawaii to look into the matter of Barack Obama’s birth certificate and they were discovering “things they can’t believe.”\

Right. Invertigators found he was born in Hawaii, when they previously believed he was not.
Hard for some to understand, I guess.

Lucid-Ideas said...

Insert .gif meme of Robert Downey Jr. Rollings eyes saying "Do these people ever frickin' chill..."

Drago said...

Temujin: "No one projects like a lefty projects."

No one projects like a lefty or LLR projects.

FIFY

After all, LLR Chuck toils tirelessly to advance the leftist cause. Not effectively of course, nonetheless the effort deserves recognition.

Sebastian said...

The TDSer completely misses the real symbolism in the picture: the subtle shout-out to red America.

We deporables appreciate it. Thank you, Donald.

P.S.: even if all First Ladies are beautiful, as our hostess claimed, some First Ladies are more beautiful than others.

Drago said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

Chuck is still having some difficulty adjusting to the reality that all of his fake TruCon heroes have been completely exposed as paid lefty agitators.

That sort of thing can throw even an experienced self-described smear merchant like Chuck off his game.

Drago said...

It has already been shown that the obambi, hen he wasnt weaponizing the federal govt against conservatives (to George Soros' and LLR Chuck's delight) also had many trees in the White House during the holidays.

There can be no question that LLR Chuck found them to be "magnificent".

As with all things obama, unexpectedly.

Jim at said...

I'll say it again, leftists are the most miserable people on the planet.

The only good thing about it is they deserve their misery.

Darrell said...

They crank up the misery until regular people get sick of the daily grind and vote them back into power. They do it worldwide. Because they can.

William said...

I'm thinking of Samantha Powers hogtied beneath the Christmas tree. Standing over her is Melania who's holding a chainsaw and smiling demonically. "Here at the White House we wish to again restate our commitment to the separation of Powers". I think the mordant wit would far outweigh the somewhat creepy vibe of using a chainsaw murder to celebrate Christmas, but tastes vary. At any rate, it would be definitely creepier than this current card, so the writer doesn't know what he's talking about.

Bilwick said...

I understand not liking Trump, and by extension Mrs. Trump, but the creep factor I don't see. Unless the "liberal" Hive is re-defining "creepy" to mean "Kept Queen Cacklepants from becoming president and thereby made it harder for our Gang to pick more American pockets and steal their guns.

policraticus said...

Trumps super power is that he drives his enemies insane.

Static Ping said...

Meh, looks pretty to me.

chuck said...

The Guardian has always been hilariously wrong about the US and everything American. In this it differs little from left wing publications everywhere.

rhhardin said...

"Melania decorates the White House with the skulls of her enemies."

tim in vermont said...

Is it just me, or is Trumpit one of our better commenters?

rhhardin said...

Individual train sets under each tree would be wealth-flaunting.

mezzrow said...

Tell us how much you hate him. Why else would we buy the paper any more?

rhhardin said...

One large train set going around and among all the trees would be okay.

Freeman Hunt said...

People are always saying that the media sounds insane when writing about Trump.

This is a great example of that.

rhhardin said...

Make christmas great again.

mockturtle said...

chickenlittle reports: I have a coworker who thinks and talks like the writer writes. She's always slipping anti-Trump knife jabs into her conversation. It's like working with Inga.

Slip a whoopee cushion into her chair just before she sits down.

Drago said...

Jim at: "I'll say it again, leftists are the most miserable people on the planet."

Leftists and their LLR allies.

Darrell said...

Slip a whoopee cushion into her chair just before she sits down.

Slip a pressure mine onto her chair just before she sits down.

Fernandinande said...

Albert Speer is the "go-to guy" when it comes to Christmas trees, and the arrangements thereof.

Not Sure said...

"You couldn't create a creepier Yuletide scene if you tried."

Too easy.

Greg Hlatky said...


Foreigners are so cute when they complain about the United States.

Maillard Reactionary said...

He could probably relate to something involving fairies.

Ice Nine said...

>>"He seems to want to show off his beautiful wife and his fantastic home..."<<

That's amusing - Trump has said, in effect, that the White House is a worn down dump (presumably relative to his actual truly fantastic home.)

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Pretty, but why the huge volume of red balls at the bottom?

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Pretty, but why the huge volume of red balls at the bottom?

To fill in the empty spaces between the bottom limbs and the floor.

So the cats have someplace to hide and spring out and attack as Trump walks down the hallway.

To create a cohesive color palette all the way through instead of a mishmash of multi colored balls.

To make it look like a wandering pathway instead of a rigid hallway.

Because if they had a lot of packages under the trees people would bitch about the ostentatious flaunting of wealth.

The Dollar Store ran out of white batting with silver glitter stuck all over it


FullMoon said...

Pretty, but why the huge volume of red balls at the bottom?

Why not?

rcocean said...

What a beautiful setting and a beautiful first lady. I keep forgetting how tall she is.

Its a well decorated scene.Its amazing the gibberish lefties come up.

P.S. Its too bad Trump dislikes pets, because the Barney-cam videos were the highlight of the Bush Administration.

chickelit said...

Pretty, but why the huge volume of red balls at the bottom?

They symbolize Republican fecundity.

rcocean said...

Nazis, will they ever stop being topical?

73 years and counting.

chickelit said...

Where's Barron?

Chuck might know...he keeps tabs.

rcocean said...

The red balls represent the bloody cut-off testicles of Trump's enemies.

The tiny, small ones on the far left are from Jeff Flake.

n.n said...

They symbolize Republican fecundity.

The couples of our eye. That said, the prime, [American] conservative directive: be fruitful and multiply. Alternatively: evolutionary fitness. Also: Duck Dynasties.

tcrosse said...

The tiny, small ones on the far left are from Jeff Flake.

Which are Michelle's?

rcocean said...

The Left-wing British are the worse. Take the sneering, limp-wristed, anti-western, mindless PC arrogance of your typical American liberal and times it by 5 and you get the British Lefty.

I want to puke every time I see them on TV. The gap between their smug,self-regard and reality puts the Grand Canyon to shame. Look at the creep that heads the labour party!

n.n said...

'Tis the season of faith, religion, tradition, and celebration.

rcocean said...

"Which are Michelle's?"

Cheap shot. Compared to Hillary - Michelle was a class act as FLOTUS.

tcrosse said...

Cheap shot. Compared to Hillary - Michelle was a class act as FLOTUS.

Lowest possible bar.

RK said...

There are no bounds for the wanking spazzes that write for the Guardian.

fivewheels said...

"disciplined arboreal ranks with their uniform decorations"

It's called design. And taste. Most Christmas trees, let's face it, are hodge-podge disasters of clashing multicolored nonsense. Lovingly decorated, but not thought-out.

The most beautiful trees I ever saw were a pair of 20-footers in a Greek cathedral in Detroit, with only one kind of green metallic ornament, and tinsel. No lights. Classy and majestic.

BJM said...

Who knew, eh?

I'd hate to hear what this twerp would have to say about the falling snowflakes projected by laser onto the exterior walls of our house.

Let it rest for a couple of days people. Sheesh!

BJM said...

rcocean said...
The red balls represent the bloody cut-off testicles of Trump's enemies.

The tiny, small ones on the far left are from Jeff Flake.


...and the big blue ones are Schumer's.

BJM said...

The Guardian: You couldn’t create a creepier Yuletide scene if you tried"
Michelle: "Hold my beer"

tim in vermont said...

I like colored lights, but I admit to a little trailer trash in the pedigree.

tim in vermont said...

Lol BJM

Hagar said...

The Guardian combines the worst in the British labour and academic lefts.

Wince said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Wince said...

rcocean said...
Cheap shot. Compared to Hillary - Michelle was a class act as FLOTUS.

Not when you see the lengths to which Michelle Obama has gone to hypocritically "other" Melania.

Aside from "Bye, Felicia", a big part of Michelle Obama's book tour has been to rehash and over dramatize "the box", the Tiffany box gift given to Michelle by Melania when the Trumps arrived at the White House. That awkward violation of protocol she had to endure!

Now, watch this video I've linked to before.

Laura Bush handled it with aplomb.

It tells me two things about Michelle Obama: she has a huge blindspot about herself, and she knows the press is completely in the tank and will never confront Obama with her own hypocrisy.

stevew said...

This article is a perfect example of TDS. The writer, and those that see this the same way, are mentally ill.

Rabel said...

Dear Jonathan Jones,

Merry Christmas and Fuck You.

Rabel

stevew said...

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

BUMBLE BEE said...

The Obama white house Christmas decor was easily as garish as Amy Sedaris' home. There were better looking second hand trees at the Salvation Army store. BTW don't forget to tip the bell ringers.

chillblaine said...

OK, on the real, I have feelings about this. I'll just let this video speak for me.

I discuss the way my tribe uses the Holocaust as their religion, how secular Jews like this shit on the culture that freed them, ultimately, from the Nazis and the Soviets. ok, here, holy shite, my process. Ella Dawson Social Media Wizard of Oz at TEDTAlks I.m not dropping this shit.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

it's pretty, but why did they put things there for me to disparage?

'tis the season of giving.

Leland said...

Michelle: "Hold my beer"

Picture 9 looks like a dungeon.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

How great it is that a writer as banal as Althouse wasn't around to blog 80 or 60 years ago. If she had been, we might have had to contend with such stupid labels as "Hitler Derangement Syndrome," or "Stalin Derangement Syndrome" -- passed off, as she does with her own tag for this post, as witticisms.

Trump is an abomination to the American way. The only things stopping him from becoming one of his idols above are his incompetence, his narrowness of vision and the resilience of the American system. If Althouse and her peanut gallery in the comments section want to pass that off as something to celebrate - how different Trump is from HItler or Stalin, how much better he is than they - then it just goes to show how low the bar what counts as leadership in their pathetic excuse for a national party.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The Grauniad somehow overlooks the tweet literally wishing people a "Merry Christmas," sending the Julia Iofes into terminal depression.

Of course!

If only she'd convert and/or bow down to the dominance of her masters' faith then obviously these more, um, passionate Christians might be placated.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

You can blog about the unnatural conformity of the trees and their completely unimaginative decorations, or you could talk about how constipated Trump's face looks. Seriously. It looks like his face is going to expel a fart and he's doing all he can to constrain it and hold it in.

There's something wrong with that face. Just look at how unnaturally he has to twist it to make it look anything like an actual smile. It reflects something pathological about him, deep down inside whatever pulls the strings to that psychotically strained face.

MayBee said...

If he would have written something similar about the Obamas, he would have been called racist. While I hated criticism of the Obamas almost always being called racist, it really did make people think twice about criticizing them. Which saved people from really spiraling -- wallowing-- in public displays of destestation such as this. (I made that word up and I like it)
I don't think it's healthy for people to indulge themselves quite so much. When you start seeing Christmas trees as Hitler's army, how do you pull yourself back from the brink?

rehajm said...

There are multiple trees in the rehajm household.

chuck said...

Give Jonathan Jones his due, it takes a thoroughly educated man to write garbage like that.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Creepy is hiring to paint your official portrait an artist who paints black women beheading white women. It's also sick, racist, and despicable. Know what else is creepy? Honoring and respecting anyone who would do that.

David Duffy said...

Look at the ring finger on Trump's right hand. Zoom in and look at it. It's just dangling there without purpose, with nothing really American or multicultural about it. That fringin' finger is just so unnatural, hideous, and racist. It's a finger that couldn't pull a trigger on pistol. It's not even manly enough to flip off the Russians. That poor pathetic finger couldn't even open a beer can. That finger is all I need to see to prove this guy is a Nazi.

Seeing Red said...

If I had the space, I’d have more than 1 tree.

Freeman Hunt said...

"Albert Speer is the "go-to guy" when it comes to Christmas trees, and the arrangements thereof."

Heh.

bagoh20 said...

Some people just don't get what Christmas is about. Throw in a little TDS and you do get creepy and ugly, but we love you anyway.

Bunkypotatohead said...

Kathy Griffin's severed head would have made a fine tree ornament.

Ambrose said...

I read stuff like this and am so glad Trump is president.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Christmas is about loving Nazis and their Nazi ways. Just let them do their Nazi things. That's how you bring peace on earth and goodwill toward men.

Drumpf and Schicklgruber were just trying to do what they thought was right. Why do people have to be so hard on them?

David Duffy said...

Look at the red ball Christmas ornaments. Those look to me like the cannon balls fired on Fort Sumter. Not only do we have a Nazi as a president, we also have a Confederate rebel plantation owner with the nuclear codes. Thanks Obama!

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

And we have an asshole as a typical Republican commenter in Dave Duffy. Thanks Drumpf!

If you thought the "backlash" against Obama was fun, you ain't seen nuthin yet.

For the holiday season, why not pick out something colorful that you can get your fanboy prez that will go well with his orange or striped jumpsuits? He'd be happy to have you foot the bill, I'm sure. He's cheap! (But not when it comes to how he spends the American people's budget).

maskirovka77 said...

speaking as a photographer but not a portrait specialist, I don't particularly like the photograph. But the "critique" of the photograph oozes with hatred of Trump. I'm not a huge fan of POTUS but I think some people would be angry if Trump started performing miracles like walking on water and raising the dead and would give those actions "reviews" like the one given to this Christmas photo.

AllenS said...

stevew said...
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Unless BJ Clinton is holding it.

Laslo Spatula said...

If this is what life under Hitler was like, then evidently Hitler wasn't as bad as I have been led to believe.

Our moral betters are normalizing the Nazi Germany regime 75 years later. Which is nice.

I am Laslo.

Tina Trent said...

When Amy Sedaris gets done sewing yellow satin parachute dresses for Michelle, maybe she can help make the White House look less like the interior designer glitter bombing that seems to transcend recent presidencies. That Vogue series on the Obama Xmas decor doesn't look any different from this stuff.

Carter had a nice tree one year decorated by mentally handicapped people. But then he had to go write six or seven books about how good he was at celebrating Christmas compared with other people. And there was the unfortunate year of bicentennial decor.

Humperdink said...

I long for the days when Bill Clinton and his lovely wife Bruno decorated the White House for Christmas. Portraits of young interns hung by the tree with glee. Cigars as dangling ornaments, glistening under the lights. Presidential pardon certificates floating through air like glitter with price tags attached. It makes for a beautiful seen. Oh, for the good old days.

JHapp said...

Government health care and a government education system is Nazi-ish

Jack Klompus said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Stille Nacht, Kristallnacht

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
wie treu sind deine Blätter!
Du grünst nicht nur zur Sommerzeit,
Nein auch im Winter, wenn es schneit.
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
wie treu sind deine Blätter!

The Germans have the best words for EVERYTHING!

Bilwick said...

Pee Pee, how is the shelter on whose communal computers you post those incredibly clever comments decorated this year?

Ken_L said...

Jonathan Jones writes on art for the Guardian and was on the jury for the 2009 Turner prize

Obviously a powerful voice in American liberal circles whose opinion deserves this kind of attention.

I swear there's an entire industry devoted to trawling the most obscure corners of the internet to find trivial nonsense, which can be used as evidence of 'the way liberals think'.

Cactiki said...

Oh yes, how well I remember the wool hat Obama wore....
This guy is just upset because there is no Mao ornament on any of these trees.
Or maybe it's because he's jealous that we can say "Merry Christmas" in America without being beheaded, machete'd, or ran over.

Ken_L said...

You're right. It's a mystery that these store windows are still intact and the cars haven't been burned.

https://readingthebooktravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/London-Christmas-Lights-4.jpeg

show me one socialist success in world history said...

It is the blind unreasoning hatred that filled boxcars with jews and kulaks.

It is, indeed, Rusty. I've often thought this as well. Let us pray they never get organized under a strong leader.

...But you know, we know, that leader's coming. It is why human history runs in periodic cycles.

docweasel said...

"not a wooly hat in sight"- I think this racist is calling obama 'nappy-headed'.

docweasel said...

"not a wooly hat in sight" - I think this racist is calling obama 'nappy-headed' and lamenting the lack of such.