The last time that we checked on the National Endowment for the Arts, the progressives were clutching their pearls over President Donald Trump’s threat to drain this particular pond of the government swamp.
Yet, the agency still exists…and just gave a fairly substantial grant to The Public Theater of New York, which just concluded its run of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar featuring the assassination of a Trump-like character. Here is an entry from the list of 2017 grants:
As a reminder, here is the denial of support for the same theater after criticism erupted over its Trump-slaying production of Julius Caesar.
In the past, the New York Shakespeare Festival has received project-based NEA grants to support performances of Shakespeare in the Park by the Public Theater. However, no NEA funds have been awarded to support this summer’s Shakespeare in the Park production of Julius Caesar and there are no NEA funds supporting the New York State Council on the Arts’ grant to Public Theater or its performances.
I assert that such a large infusion of cash is a fiscal pat-on-the back after-the-fact. Perhaps in the new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Trump character will be Nick Bottom (who has an asses head at one point).
The $100,000 grant is not the only questionable use of American tax dollars by the agency, either.
The National Endowment for the Arts is funding a progressive rendition of Pride and Prejudice, a choreographed traffic jam, and a play about climate change causing the end of the world.Aside from spending $20,000 on a musical about a lesbian illegal immigrant in love with an ICE agent and giving $100,000 to the theater company that put on a Trump assassination play, the NEA’s list of new grants includes numerous frivolous art projects.Numerous grants are dedicated to the issue of climate change. The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts received $60,000 for performances and workshops on climate change and a curriculum for public schools on “food justice.”
It’s like Team Obama never left! In fact, it hasn’t.
The current head of the NEA is Jane Chu, who was appointed by Obama.
“We have an opportunity to start a new dialogue on the ways in which the arts—and the ways the NEA supports the arts—are an essential component of our everyday lives,” says Chu. “Although many may not realize it, the arts actively intersect with areas such as the economy, human development, and community vitality. The arts and artists who are funded and supported by the NEA are an integral part of the solution to the challenges we face in all parts of our society.”
Upon reading that passage, I had an epiphany: We should ask President Trump to replace Chu with an artist who more aligns with the views on the economy, human development, and community vitality held by the millions of “deplorables” who elected him!
In fact, he should make his choice using the Scott Pruitt model: Pick a person hostile to the big spending, self-righteous, Trump-hating bureaucracy. Pruitt is currently reworking the agency’s priorities, so that it returns to its original mission of real pollution prevention.
Therefore, I would like to propose an incredible actor as the new chair of the NEA: James Woods. This tweet clearly indicates that Woods has the proper perspective on NEA projects.
Actually, I am seconding this nomination, as the first motion was from conservative pundit Tammy Bruce (who was angered at the $100,000 grant to the New York theater that promoted presidential assassination drama).
Think of the fun we could have watching Woods determine which art projects make the cut. And his Twitter stream is a masterpiece in its own right.
I hope President Trump finds someone soon who can help determine what other Obama-era holdovers need to be removed promptly!
[Featured image from Actors Stab and Kill ‘Trump’ in Bizarre Rendition of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar]
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