A Shark Bite In Familiar Waters Can Be A Good Thing

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Jesse Jackson's remarks on FOX News about how he wanted to "cut [Obama's] nuts off" shocked a nation. What was most shocking for many was to hear one of the black community leaders speak in such a way when it was widely thought by whites that all blacks supported Obama and agreed with everything he said. This was a ridiculous belief, of course, because the black community is very diverse, populated by people of very different viewpoints and a few are even Republicans. What the incident taught was the lesson that there are no safe waters for Barack Obama to swim in. Even within the seemingly safe and calm sea of the black community there are those who, like the shark you see in the picture above near Jesse Jackson's head, want to pop out of the water and chew off his leg or, in Jackson's case, his testicles.

What seemed like a negative incident at first for Obama actually brought to light to many that Obama did not fully identify with the "black left" ideology of blaming the government for all of its problems as Jackson is often criticized for doing, nor did he identify with the right-wing notion which says people shouldn't ask too much from their government. The Jesse Jackson "hot mic" incident served to align Obama more with the CENTER of the country and this centrist identification went a long way toward helping him win the election.

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Those Who Sacrifice The Pig Must Also Sacrifice To The Pig

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Here we have Benjamin Banks, the porky star of all those TV commercials that FeedThePig.Org puts out. I haven't seen any of the commercials for awhile and I've noticed they changed the look of Benjamin on the website to something perhaps a little less creepy. The original Benjamin Banks had a more realistic-looking head and was played by an actual human being. It looks like they now use some type of computer animation. Perhaps someone finally got mad at Benjamin and made bacon out of him because, in the commercials, every time someone got their paycheck or came across some money, Benjamin would appear out of nowhere and hold his pink hand out, expecting the person to give him a portion of their hard-earned cash. There wasn't any explanation for the commercial as to what it meant but when you check out the website you see that it is all a metaphor for people putting money in savings. Benjamin represents a "piggy bank," you see.

I included Benjamin Banks in my painting documenting Jesse Jackson's "Obama Castration" Remarks because it follows along with the theme of "sacrifice." Hard-working people must sacrifice by putting money into savings and people making over $250,000 a year must sacrifice a few extra dollars under the Obama tax plan. Hopefully no one will have to sacrifice their nuts as Jesse Jackson said he wanted to do to Obama because Obama simply asked males in the black community to be responsible for their children. It is the responsibility of all Americans to come up with a productive use of their skills in order to "bring home the bacon," not just blacks, and the more bacon we take home to our families the sweeter the taste will be when we put savory, smoked strips of it between our lips and think of Benjamin Banks. "Sacrifice of the Pig" goes hand-in-hand with "Sacrifice TO the Pig" and I think this is an important American lesson we all should keep in mind.

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An Alternative Metaphor To Jesse Jackson's Castration Remarks

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I was as disappointed in Jesse Jackson's remarks made on a "hot mic" about Obama over the summer as anyone. His comments about how he wanted to "cut Obama's nuts off" showed that not only is there divisiveness amongst the political parties and races, there is also fighting within the black community. Funnily enough, what Jesse Jackson was angry with Obama about is also a major element of the Republican party's ideology, that of taking personal responsibility. Obama said that black fathers need to start taking more responsibility for the lives of their children while Republicans often say that people need to take more responsibility for their own needs and not look to the government for help.

There is also a more direct connection to Jackson's "cutting" remarks when you think of it not as cutting off Obama's testicles, but in the sense of "cutting the umbilical cord." We all could work to meet people like Jesse Jackson halfway if we say, "Okay, you want to snip at people's body parts with your scissors, how about we cut everyone's umblical cord instead?" Rather than using the grisly metaphor for taking away someone's manhood or potency and speaking of their private parts, we can use one which applies to something everyone goes through as an infant and apply it to the idea of taking personal responsibilty for one's actions and own situation. This ideological compromise alone could perhaps help to unite the black community and that is but one small step toward realizing Obama's goal of a fully united nation.

As far as thinking of something for the Republicans to cut instead of someone's nuts, how about we just ask them to please cut the CRAP? Hahahahahaa.

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Barack and Jesse Jackson in Hawaii

When the Reverend Jesse Jackson made those comments about how he wanted to "cut Barack Obama's nuts off" I knew I had the inspiration for a painting. Of course, I had no desire to portray any sort of ghastly, gruesome imagery that would take Jackson's comments literally because I'm trying to make these paintings PG-rated and clean. But I thought it would be fun to experiment with some symbols and images that would indirectly convey what Jackson said without
having to be explicit in showing any castration images, which of course would be crude, disgusting and in bad taste. We all know that Jesse Jackson meant what he said figuratively and this painting is done in good fun, just as a way of recording and commemorating a moment in election history... . . . . . Click to read more

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