NEA Chairman Defends Controversial Conference Call

What about the White House saying they had “specific asks” for the artists?
It wasn’t just the NEA on the phone. The WH was on the call, too.

Next thing you know there is going to be a hissy fit because the government is promoting dental health.
Where were all these crybabies when the government was getting kids to ‘duck and cover’ in their classes as a blatant propaganda exercise?

“‘duck and cover’ in their classes as a blatant propaganda exercise”
Eh, what’s the democrat and republican policies on ‘duck and cover’.. puhlesse, this phone call was obviously a call to advocacy for Obama’s health care plan… there is a whole lot wrong with that…
There’s rumors that the people behind “No one should die because they cannot afford health care, and no one should go broke because they get sick” astroturf were on this phone call…

Question to you liberals:
How would YOU have felt if the Bush Administration had used the NEA to put out posters supporting the war against Saddam’s regime in Iraq?
Or supposing Toby Keith had gotten a huge grant from the NEA to write pro-war songs?
You liberals would have been furious–and rightly so.
The problem with you liberals is that you see your agenda as not only desirable, but INEVITABLE. So to you, funding artists to praise your agenda is no different than funding an artist to produce art of any motherhood-and-apple-pie theme.
I got news for you liberals: Neither you nor your agenda are inevitable. And you’re going to find that out starting with next year’s congressional elections.

Hello, artists! This is the NEA, the single largest source of arts money in the whole cointry? Would you like to produce some pro-Obama art, or would you rather join the second shift at Starbucks?
This is despicable. The administration’s legal beagles “don’t think” our violated the law? I want an opinion, a very specific written opinion, from the Justice Deaprtment.

The Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS)is clearly lacking a section for art therapy.

Landesman will get the chance to defend this crap in court.

I find this article interesting. It leaves out the recent developments and new transcripts of comments from Michael Skolnik, “…tell our country and our young people sort of what to do and what to be in to; and what’s cool and what’s not cool…to support some of the president’s initiatives…and to push the president and push his administration.”
While I do not believe that Skolnik (a PR director for Russell Simmons) is employed by the administration, he was on the call, and obviously lead directive comments to the artists targeted.
So, can the white house and NEA lead conference calls/meetings for anything as long as they, specifically, don’t make the outright unlawful actions? Give me break… this is truly disturbing stuff.
Further: come on ABC. Report on the entire story – not just the part that broke a month ago – your readers deserve better. To report the story as such is misleading and apologetic.

Oh, come on. It absolutely was a request for the artistic community members on the call (several of whom had already received grants from the NEA in the past) to promote the President’s controversial agenda items. And guess what? Subsequent to that call, those on the call began to do just that. And yet ABC can allow the White House and NEA to get away with it, without much of a challenge. Pathetic.
Mr. Tapper, without your record of questioning the White House, I wouldn’t even be paying attention to ABC. This is an important issue, not only because taxpayer money is involved, but also because the government is stretching out its tendrils into (a) what should be a politically-independent organization devoted to art, to (b) convert it into a tool for propaganda purposes. Doesn’t this warrant some tougher reporting?

Straight up liar. Some of us have heard the call.
They are all pathological liars and socialpaths in this crazy administration.

Pretty safe bet that the Obama administration thinks they are above the law.
Obama calls it a mandate because “he won” and people wanted change.
What would this administration do if FOX and a few brave bloggers were not around to stop them?
The MSM looks the other way and could care less.

Two sets of rules.
One for the Obama administration–one for everyone else.

Wonder how many Americans are pleased that their tax dollars are going to the NEA and ACORN.
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Probably as many as were pleased that their money was going to Blackwater, Halliburton, Lockheed Martin, Gale Norton’s corrupt Interior Department and so on. What’s stunning is that the neocons suddenly care about whether or not tax payer dollars fund fraudulent contractors and agencies, after the GOP killed bills designed to improve contracting “by eliminating fraud and abuse and improving competition in contracting and procurement.” The contradictions… do they point to hypocrisy or simply newfound integrity now that a Dem is in office?

“The actual ends that the call was trying to achieve were an increase in community service, such as seeing more young people at blood drives.” posted by Alyson
Nope. Just read the entire 49 page transcript and found nary a word about blood drives. Did find lots of backslaps and high fives for getting Obama elected, talk of how to transfer that effort to supporting the President’s initiatives and furthering his agendas, and a fairly clear awareness on the part of several of the speakers that they were treading on very thin legal ice.

This is complete nonsense. I read the actual transcripts and thought Yosi was going to be completely cleared. In the most offensive sentence he actually says, “I would encourage you to pick something, whether it’s health care, education, or the environment — you know, there’s four key areas that the corporation has identified as the areas of service.” The “corporation” is the Corporation for National and Community Service. If you go to their webpage (serve.gov) you can see their (actually 5) priorities – the others are safety & security and community renewal. This is nothing to be scared or shamed over.
NOTHING was said about what Obama wants these VOLUNTEERS to say. No specific ideas, no legislation, no policies, no programs. Just the general concept of improving the environment, our schools and health care. Is this anti-American?? Come one.
Obama needs to stop caving into this nonsense! Does he think they are going to stop if every target gets removed?

Just read the entire 49 page transcript and ….
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That’s odd since the transcripts I’ve seen are 44 pages long, but bygones. Maybe there’s a 49 page transcript out there. I would say see avt2s’s post but it looks like you’ve bought into the neocon spin on this. You know what I didn’t notice in the transcript? Any reference to the call being recorded by United We Serve, by the NEA or by anyone else, including Patrick Courrielche. Informed or implied consent to record and disseminate the call was not given by any of the participants. Doesn’t California have strict eavesdropping and communication interception laws? Weren’t several of the participants from Cali, including Courrielche? Maybe that’s irrelevant. I don’t really know, but it seems a little creepy. As creepy as Sergant’s comments, to me, anyway. But whatever. In terms of appearances, it was absolutely a big mistake for the NEA communications director to participate in such a call (which is why he isn’t the communications director anymore, and rightly so; I disagree with avts on this– he should’ve known better; we’re supposed to be better than the GOP). NEA isn’t supposed to be and shouldn’t be involved in political advocacy, or the appearance of it. But, seriously, despite all the cheerleading going on by participants in the call, there’s nothing in the transcript that suggests that NEA money or grants were being funneled to progressive artists — this is the equivalent of jaywalking or rolling through a stop sign– unless the secret taping folks have a lot more they aren’t sharing. I find it hilarious that Repubs, tea partiers and so on are so worked up. I guess it makes them feel a little better–like somehow they’re doing something besides coming up with no solutions to any of our very big problems.
And then there’s the irony…
Many of the pushers of this story supported and voted for Bush, likely twice, and they yawned and turned their heads when the type of allegation being made here occurred during the Bush admin in waaaaay more significant contexts– Goodling hiring and firing U.S. Attorneys and DOJ prosecutors based on political criteria, for example.
I agree with Larry, though I don’t know that he intended it to mean this. There are definitely two sets of rules–neocons apply one very strict set of rules to their evaluation of the Obama admin (and Dems/liberals/progressives/community organizers) and another for everyone else.

Steve T asks:
“Doesn’t this warrant some tougher reporting?”
I think so. Here a current article from Big Government/Big Hollywood that broke the story:
At Least 6 Federal Laws and Regulations Violated By the NEA Conference Call

Of course news of this call came around the time we learned of Obama’s televised speech to students a few weeks ago. It was reasonable to think that both these efforts were just a part of ‘Organizing for Obama -oops, I mean America’ activities.

“Doesn’t California have strict eavesdropping and communication interception laws? Weren’t several of the participants from Cali, including Courrielche? ” posted by Alyson
Hehe. If you had your choice, which messenger would you prefer to shoot, Courrielche, Giles, or O’Keefe?
Anyway, that was a multi-state call, including participants from the most transparent administration in history who were presumably on federal property when it took place, and federal law allows for one party consent.
“Goodling hiring and firing U.S. Attorneys and DOJ prosecutors based on political criteria, for example.”
Oh Lord, back to Bush again. US Attorneys are political appointees, sort of like NEA Communications directors and Special Advisors for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, and serve at the pleasure of the President. They can be fired, reassigned, or forced to resign for any reason or for no reason.

If Leonardo da Vinci was alive today, it would not be a portrait of Mona Lisa, but rather an NEA sponsored painting of Michelle Obama.
Any artist that gets involved in a plan such as Obama is doing with the NEA, should quit as an artist. We do not need “Big Brother” directed art.

This is absolutely pathetic. Everyone needs to get their facts straight. The issue here is that – surprise, surprise – ABC and Mr. Tapper have done an extremely poor/non-existent job on this story.
There have been multiple parts to this. An artist (who was on the call) has released this story in multiple parts. The final part (I believe) was released this week. The transcript is 49 pages. For those of you saying it’s not a big deal, and dismissing it, read pages 8-9…
To Mr. Tapper:
Feel free to send me my share of your paycheck for doing your work for you. Now if we could just get someone to actually ask questions about this.

Oh Lord, back to Bush again. US Attorneys are political appointees…. They can be fired, reassigned, or forced to resign for any reason or for no reason.
Posted by: Bridget | Sep 23, 2009 9:03:42 AM
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Ah. No controversy then? Well, that explains a heck of a lot about where you’re coming from on all this.

When the president finds out how to keep these calls from coming, maybe he can give me a clue how to stop calls from Tom Price of Ga. He has called my home and last week called my husband, who is a democrat and total non political, on his cell phone with an area code of 202 (Wash.). Now how do you think he got that number….hummmmm?