The unveiling today of the Obama official portraits at the White House opens an awkward question: what is to be done about a Trump portrait? Thread …
— David Frum (@davidfrum) September 7, 2022
In some ways, the problem is not as hard as it sounds. It’s entirely up to the current president which (if any) portraits are to hang in the White House and where. There’s no obligation to hang all the portraits, that’s what the National Portrait Gallery is for. 2/x
In one way, Trump himself made the problem easier. He signed a law in 2018 prohibiting the use of public funds for presidential portraits. The eventual Trump portrait, if ever painted, will be a purely private matter. 3/x
There’s no rule or custom or practice that every single past president must be represented in every single future president’s White House. On the other hand … 4/x
… over the past decades, current presidents have made a point of welcoming recent predecessors back to the White House. It's a lovely custom, an expression of a unity deeper than politics, seldom better expressed than by Obama to W. Bush 5/x https://t.co/JvPHf4yrFm
— David Frum (@davidfrum) September 7, 2022
It’s worth taking the few minutes to watch and listen to Obama’s and Bush’s speeches that day. Whether you supported one president or the other, or neither, or both, the video will touch something in you, make you prouder of this country’s deep constitutional continuity. 6/x
But what happens if you have a past president who literally tried to overthrow the Constitution by force and violence? If the Constitution is deeper than politics – then surely there’s something deeper than politics in condemning a violent attempt to destroy the Constitution? 7/x
One of the few republics to last even longer than the United States had to confront this problem. The republic of Venice endured for some 1100 years. Its chief magistrate was called a “doge.” Portraits of most of the doges … 8/x
Portraits of most of the doges hang overhead in the grandest chamber of the ducal palace on St Mark’s Square. The portraits are fictionalized of course, nobody really knows what the early doges looked like. But they are almost all represented.
Except for one … 9/x
In 1354, then-doge Marino Falieri organized a coup d’etat to overthrow the Venetian republic and install himself as some kind of autocrat or monarch. The coup failed. Venetians were faced with the same problem of memory that Americans face with Trump. 10/x
Their solution: in the place where the portraits of the other doges are displayed, the expected portrait of Falieri is replaced by a black curtain. The Latin phrase atop the curtain reads … 11/x pic.twitter.com/UTpUmMqKpE
— David Frum (@davidfrum) September 7, 2022
But the Venetians do teach: it's not necessary to obliterate the memory of past wrongdoing to eschew honoring the memory of the wrongdoer. END
— David Frum (@davidfrum) September 7, 2022
I’m sure we *all* have nominations for the appropriate portrait; I myself feel some version of this would be good:
New picture in the WH instead of the official picture of Frump.#TrumpMeltdown #TrumpStoleClassifiedDocuments pic.twitter.com/m71KhHggEt
— Now He's Going To Jail. 🌊 (@Jckruse79) August 31, 2022
What’s your favorite(s)?
just pick any random portrait from deviantart. pic.twitter.com/ZGiRybJBr3
— Jort-Michel Connard 🐘 (@torriangray) September 7, 2022
opiejeanne
He’ll probably just donate the idealized portrait of himself in tennis clothes.
I suggest that if he does present a portrait that it should be hung, but facing the wall..
Martin
@opiejeanne: It’ll be the fake Time magazine covers they found with the classified docs. Captures so much about him.
opiejeanne
@Martin: Ha!
What a petty, vindictive asshole he is. You know that that prohibition on spending government money for an official portrait was because of Obama.
Joey Maloney
My portrait nomination: TFG.JPG (perfectly SFW)
Dangerman
@opiejeanne: hanged (/pedant).
I’d say hanged and covered with a black cloth* until he’s outta jail or dead.
* something easily washable so people can sling shit at it without fear
Chetan Murthy
deleted
Keith P.
I had a surreal conversation tonight where a friend of mine argued with me that the FBI didn’t find anything at Mar-a-Lago. I said there is literally a receipt of documents that Trump’s lawyers signed for as well as actual, you know, photos of classified documents with the large borders and initials on them. All that did was lead into a separate argument that the FBI staged the evidence (in quotes) to make Trump look bad. All I could say was, “well, I look forward to you arguing your airtight case in front of a judge.”
JoyceH
Open thread – has anyone heard of any differences between the Pfizer and the Moderna bivalent boosters? Both of the pharmacies near me carry the Moderna, and I thought I’d just go ahead and get it.
Msb
If he has to use his own money, no portrait will ever appear. Simple.
sab
@JoyceH: I am a Luddite so I can’t link. From what I have read, the Moderna is better for us older folks. It is effective longer. There are some cardio risks for teenage males with Moderna so they are being steered towards Pfizer, but that isn’t an issue for older women.
The newest booster (omicron effective) has the same issues for young males, so Pfizer is okay for 12years and older and Moderna is okay for 18 years and older. So some of the big chains are going with Pfizer only.
I just got a Pfizer booster because my grocery store pharmacy wasn’t taking appointments, so I went CVS which only offered Pfizer. Turns out my grocery was taking walk ins for both. The Pfizer was already thawed, but you had to wait for the Moderna to be thawed because they weren’t expecting so much demand.
If I had known all this I’d have gone Moderna again, but I went with Pfizer at CVS. Slight rash at the shot sight and slightly sore arm with Pfizer. Moderna shots and boosters put me in bed asleep for a day or so.
VFX Lurker
@JoyceH:
Pfizer has 30mcg of vaccine (half original, half Omicron); Moderna has 50mcg (also half-and-half).
Choose Pfizer if you want a normal dose with minimal side effects; choose Moderna if you want the Costco-sized dose 👍
I chose Moderna earlier this week because I wanted the biggest dose I could get. 🥳
lgerard
Too funny
https://twitter.com/mjrobbins/status/1568605539315097600
sab
@VFX Lurker: My Pfizer booster had the tiniest syringe I have ever seen.
BeautifulPlumage
@opiejeanne: we should just frame one of those old “I ran into Tammy Fay Baker at the mall” shirts and call it good.
topclimber
Let me make this simple for the libtards on this blog:
Only portraits of FORMER Presidents hang in the White House. Herr Trump is still President because of the cheating thing. Ergo, no portrait.
Now, if the reason behind his stealing secrets is serious enough, there is a non-zero chance he himself will hang in the White House.
sab
@topclimber: Hmm. I would like your reasoning if it didn’t suggest he was entitled to be still in the White House.
Maybe make bowing out gracefully the standard for portrait hanging.
Hey Narcissicist: If you lost and want your portrait hung then bow out gracefully. Otherwiise we will pretend you never existed.
sukabi
gotta say, I like the Venetian solution…all of it.
sukabi
@topclimber: not IN the WH, that would be unseamly. On the front lawn, to allow for a proper public viewing.
sab
@sukabi: Yes. It rains a lot in DC, doesn’t it?
The Thin Black Duke
If Trump’s portrait is allowed to hang in the White House, you might as well put Aaron Burr’s up as well.
patrick II
Baud mentioned the other day that he read someone has been working on the Trump portrait. Is that known? If so, is some MAGA person paying for it? You know Trump isn’t unless he can get a charitable deduction. Will it have bulging Rambo type biceps?
Is Baud just messing with me?
oatler
@Dangerman: It might attract some of Chuck Todd’s “extremists”, like a bug zapper.
Baud
@patrick II:
Probably.
patrick II
@Baud:
You do get up early, but the article you link to says the process has started and
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@patrick II: “Early to bed, early to rise….”
prostratedragon
I second your first pick AL. In fact was thinking exactly that yesterday when I saw that mug slapped up somewhere.
mrmoshpotato
Don’t you tell me what I don’t “go in for.”
And can someone explain due process to David?
mrmoshpotato
@The Thin Black Duke:
And John Wilkes Booth’s.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@Dangerman: At the risk of massive pedantry, the portrait would be hung, not hanged. Things are hung; people (such as traitors such as TFG) are hanged.
mrmoshpotato
WARNING: Dump’s disgusting face, but more disgusting (appropriate).
Anonymous Expat
This should be the official Trump portrait.
mrmoshpotato
@Anonymous Expat: Your naked 😲 link is busted.
Anonymous Expat
@mrmoshpotato: fix’t while you waited; the WYSIWYG bit is borked on phones, apparently.
mrmoshpotato
@Anonymous Expat: Good call on Dump’s portrait.
Jim Appleton
An update of the Venetian model
A Vantablack death mask.
oatler
@Bruce K in ATH-GR:
Hang or hanged, hung or hunged, same deal.
Baud
@Jim Appleton:
I think that solid black painting captures Trump’s soul perfectly.
prostratedragon
Thinking for a moment about that weird photo with wife and son that looks like a travesty of “Las Meninas” got me to thinking about another Velasquez parody, known as The Screaming Pope by Francis Bacon. Something like that might be apt.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
This Scottish Guard in Edinburgh is really sharp
SFAW
@Bruce K in ATH-GR:
Besides, many people say that TFG is NOT hung. My sympathies go out to those whose learned this first … uh … hand.
Jim Appleton
@Baud: Not a painting, an actual death mask, preferably from the actual corpse.
To be displayed so as to show how pathetically small and vacuous he really was.
prostratedragon
@prostratedragon:
Ref: “Velasquez Wept”
SFAW
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:
The Scotch guard, on the other hand, is sorta fuzzy, after a few bouts of “guarding.”
The Utter Dregs
I nominate this for the official TFG portrait: https://pin.it/4Cp3zq5
p.a.
Hang it in one of the public areas of the WH with a supply of aging produce in front, $1 a throw, money goes to rotating group of local charities.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
Portrait will be on black felt with him standing next to a naked Russian hooker, just like General Garcia’s famous portrait (photo) [NSFW]
SFAW
I’m kind of appalled that none of you libtards has suggested the Trump-as-Rocky (Balboa, not Flying Squirrel) “portrait.” Especially because that’s the one he’d pick.
[Frankly, I’d rather see Rocket J. Squirrel, but to associate him with TFG is probably banned by the Geneva Convention.]
2liberal
he’ll fundraise off it.
Chief Oshkosh
This seems fairly easy: his mugshot, of course.
lowtechcyclist
@topclimber:
This is also why he can’t be re-elected in 2024: the 22nd Amendment says “No person shall be elected to the office of President more than twice.” Nothing about whether you actually took office, or why you might not have done so. Once you’ve been elected twice, you can’t be elected again. He claims to have been elected twice. By his own admission, he is ineligible to be elected again.
lowtechcyclist
@SFAW:
Alternatively, Rocky Horror. “In just seven days…”
Patricia Kayden
Do to Trump what he did to the Obamas. President Biden owes Trump less than nothing. This isn’t even a discussion that needs to be held.
Albatrossity
This is the only portrait I would support. And it includes the Third Lady as well, so it would save space.
NotMax
@SFAW
Rocky? Nah. Too plebeian.
Dolt 45 as Rambo, done in the motif of Gustav Klimt’s golden period. Bestriding the globe like the Kaiser, only twice life size, natch.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
You guy’s underestimate Trump’s narcissism. The painting has been already done by Jon McNaughton and it was hanging in the White House when Trump was in office.
https://time.com/5424453/donald-trump-painting-andy-thomas/
evodevo
@patrick II: probably that Jon McNaughton guy…he’d probably do it for free LOL
Mousebumples
Late to the thread, but Mr. Mouse and I got our boosters yesterday. We had both gotten Moderna x3, but went with Pfizer this time.
1) NIH Study has shown mixing (pre-bivalent booster, granted) is at least as effective as not mixing manufacturers.
2) There’s theoretical benefit to mixing the two types of mRNA vaccines since both companies have similar but different methods of manufacturing so there may be some added immunogenicity from mixing. (I’m more confident in that for the OG vaccine and boosters since there’s limited data on these to-date, for the record)
3) If you’re all-Pfizer to this point, I’d definitely try to switch since Moderna seemed to be slightly superior, for the OG vaccine.
4) If you’re ready to be boosted, I wouldn’t hold things up to find a specific brand. The most effective vaccine is one that’s in your body.
BlueGuitarist
@mrmoshpotato:
“They call it due process, and some people are overdue”
Gil-Scott Heron
Cameron
Trump ‘s portrait should be treated the same as John Tyler’s.
Tony G
@sab: I’m pretty sure that to-climber is being sarcastic. (I hope so.)
RepubAnon
@Msb: Perhaps a copy of the mug shot?
Wanderer
@JoyceH: I took Pfizer because no Moderna was available. I will say side effects with Pfizer were easy to take compared to all my previous vaccinations which were Moderna. Your experience could be different. I am happy to have gotten boosted in time for the return in doors.
Jinchi
Oh my god. It’s going to be the one with Trump riding a dinosaur into battle, isn’t it.
Carlo Graziani
Seriously? Nobody has taken “Orange Jumpsuited Trump In The Marion (IL) Penitentiary Exercise Yard” as the portrait theme?
Then the real contest begins: Write the caption.
Ruckus
@JoyceH:
I haven’t gotten mine yet but plan to early this week. I’m going with Moderna because I had 3 Pfizer and 1 Moderna so far and the Moderna gave me the least issues/symptoms. That will likely change of course because it’s me, but still, the odds and all that.
opiejeanne
@Dangerman: It’s hanged if he’s suspended by the neck, to be executed. A painting is hung.
Or were you being a smart-arse, saying you’d like to see him executed by hanging?
Halteclere
Is there a size limit to the official portraits? If not then Trump will want a portrait significantly larger than any one else’s. And you just know the frame will be overdone in gilded gold.
J R in WV
Last night I had my typical couple of hours of awake time, from around 3:30-5 :00 am and just wanted to say thanks to the B-J community for giving me things to read at that time of night.
The histories of Putin’s rule in Russia will of necessity include lots of losing, and as long as he continues to be invading other nation states and committing war crimes against neighboring peoples and peoples Putin calls Russian. . . there will be much losing. LOOOOSING!! Bitch.
billcinsd
@patrick II: If Trump chose, it would probably be McNaughton
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@mrmoshpotato: Yuk! Accurate, but yuk!
Scuffletuffle
Gilded urinal with his face inside as the “target.”
fancycwabs
I mean, Jon McNaughton is champing at the bit for his chance…