Said Theodore Roosevelt, recounting a conversation he'd had with presidential candidate William Howard Taft, quoted in "Theodore Rex."
I earn a commission if you use that link, which goes to Amazon. I'm just finishing the book this morning. It's the second in a trilogy. Volume 1, "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt," is much more fun to read, and I think that says something about how impoverished we are for staring constantly at the presidency.
Seen from the perspective of a President, we, "the political audience," are stupefyingly shallow, come to see "a poster," not "an etching," looking for garish colors and bright lines.
ODDLY ENOUGH: I've already blogged about a Taft campaign poster, here.
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I took a rather contradictory meaning from it. Instead of being harsh, simplistic, and washed out like an etching, the public is vibrant and full of depth, and the president - or presidential candidate - who looks at them as the former rather than the latter has fallen into a politically fatal hubris.
What year is this? Etchings and posters have political meanings, some similar, some identical. And how would they be produced? Is one more virile than the other?
Or, we're a vibrant lot who prefer clear and direct answers without nuance or subterfuge.
Obviously Trump is the 2024 colorful poster and Biden is the colorless etching.
Trump’s most recognizable feature is his orange hue, while Biden’s is his unnaturally white teeth.
I'm on Vol 1 now, and enjoying it immensely.
The rise—i.e. origin story—of famous people/groups (like the Beatles) is usually more interesting than the achievement, at least in filmed entertainments.
"Seen from the perspective of a President, we, "the political audience," are stupefyingly shallow,..."
Seen from the bottom, we look that way, too. Dumb as rocks and angry as a box of frogs. Now endorsing genocide, too.
"Now endorsing genocide, too."
Speak for yourself.
The AI algorithm that keeps people in a frothing lather of panic anger resentment is the colorful poster of our day.
"What year is this? Etchings and posters have political meanings, some similar, some identical. And how would they be produced?"
An etching if a fine art print, made with an inked metal plate, usually with delicate fine lines and no color. You would frame it and take care of it.
Posters are mass produced and pasted onto walls — posted.
See "1900s: Plakatstil": "By the turn of the twentieth century, young artists began looking beyond the complex forms of Victorian design, Art Nouveau, and Arts and Crafts.... Lucian Bernhard was fifteen years old when he attended an exhibition in Munich of work that moved away from the drab tones and clutter of Victorian era. He was, as he said, “walking drunk with color through the exhibition.” He went home and painted every wall and all the furniture in his room with these new bright and vibrant colors. His father kicked him out of the house but he made the giant leap into realizing that design could be minimal and clear. This style is the beginning of modern graphic design today that relies on symbols and shapes rather than literal illustration to promote an idea. This school of work is known as Plakatstil (“poster style” in German) or Sachplakat (“object-poster” in German). The use of implied form with negative space is an incredible way to make the viewer work. This is a good approach: the more a viewer tries to understand the visual, the better he or she will remember it. The typography was created by hand as part of the illustration and was also reduced to the most basic message. Strong vivid colors, abstract and flat pattern, and a rejection of anything decorative are the hallmarks of the German poster movement. These artists without knowing it also were the first to work with modern corporate identity."
This style is the beginning of modern graphic design today that relies on symbols and shapes rather than literal illustration to promote an idea. This school of work is known as Plakatstil (“poster style” in German) or Sachplakat (“object-poster” in German). The use of implied form with negative space is an incredible way to make the viewer work. This is a good approach: the more a viewer tries to understand the visual, the better he or she will remember it. The typography was created by hand as part of the illustration and was also reduced to the most basic message. Strong vivid colors, abstract and flat pattern, and a rejection of anything decorative are the hallmarks of the German poster movement. These artists without knowing it also were the first to work with modern corporate identity. The idea of a logo today is a simple icon and name. This can be traced back to that original Priester poster. The effects of the German poster period are with us in modern identity design, minimal posters, and the basic concept of less is more."
TR was a bad judge of character. He liked Taft, who was an excellent administrator, and made him POTUS. Elihu Root would've been TR's first choice, but even TR recognized he was a total reactionary with zero political skills.Four years later, he was running against his great friend, because Taft had overturned most of his policies.
Taft was competent. And very smart. But bad at poliitcs. Which is what the Presidency requires.
But its a pattern with Republicans. Nixon would choose Ford, another "experienced insider" who was a terrible politican. Thank God we were spared Jack Kemp, Henry Cabot Lodge, Paul Ryan, or Earl Warren!
Isn't there a famous pick up line from the 60s on the order of how would you like to come up to my penthouse to have a look at my etchings.
We are a nation of rules and the rules are boring. Embrace that. In times of difficulty, go with the boring option. When faced with a frightening crisis, tamp it down with ultra-boring moves.
Martin Gurri, Discourse Magazine via Instapundit.
Prof's excerpt repeats itself. I didn't notice any typos, but I wasn't looking.
TR was right, of course. Nuance may impress intellectuals, but most voters prefer simple plots with obvious heroes and villains.
Etchings/posters: thanks. I've always wondered how, outside of newspapers, they advertised campaigns back then.
In rural Ruskin, Florida, the one train track ran between two pubs. Politicians and their workers spent election day outside the pubs with casks of liquor, trading drinks for ballots. Happily, the train only ran through very occasionally, to pick up produce.
Worst campaign song and slogan for a president who weighed more than 300 pounds:
https://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/sites/default/files/collection-pdfs/levy-009-023a.pdf
"Get on the Raft with Taft" sounds like a really bad idea.
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