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About
brief biography
- Clinton Fein (born 1964) is a South African born artist, writer and activist, closely identified with his controversial web site,Annoy.com and his notable Supreme Court victory against Janet Reno, Attorney General of the United States, challenging the constitutionality of the Communications Decency Act in 1997, where Fein's right to disseminate his art was upheld in a landmark victory for First Amendment rights.
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May 17, 2008
April 05, 2008
Dig You Better Dead
In Memory of Charlton Heston. former actor and president of the National Rifle Association. This homophobic twat once held a rifle above his head, challenging his detractors to pry it "from my cold, dead hands." Finally, the time has come. So pry.
March 09, 2008
February 29, 2008
February 14, 2008
A Gay Agenda and Concerned Women
Oh, the predictability.
Just weeks after I wrote an editorial on my blog on the San Francisco Chronicle's website criticizing Matt Barber, of Concerned Women for America -- one of the first homophobic organizations to latch onto the University of California (UCSF) press release relating to staph infections (MRSA) as evidence of the danger of homosexuality -- he has retaliated by quoting from a satirical article I wrote back in 2005, titled the "The Gay Agenda"
In my recent piece on the grave missteps by UCSF, exacerbated by the San Francisco Chronicle and Reuters, I expressed how frightening and infuriating it was:
how much people like Matt Barber of Concerned Women for America (I know, the irony!), despise their own children enough to misinform them and lead them to believe they’re in more danger of being infected by coming into contact with a gay person than they are sharing a towel in the locker room at the Christian gym.
In fact, I was so infuriated by the misinformation in the UCSF press release, and related coverage, I urged the Vice Chancellor of UCSF, Barbara French, to meet with me (and fellow irate citizens Michael Petrelis and Hank Wilson -- See details of the meeting here.) Last week I was asked to testify before the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to report on the outcome of my meeting with UCSF and the meeting agenda I had constructed.
In a caveat accompanying my "The Gay Agenda" piece, I predicted this very episode by this very player:
Despite the tongue-in-cheek nature of this piece, it can, and likely will, be taken out of context, and used destructively by bigots and homophobes with ill intentions. From the other side, I'll be criticized for irresponsibly kindling the already raging fires by providing fresh fodder. I've already battled it out on the radio with Robert Peters from Morality in the Media, who appeared to have a peculiar fixation on the penis (hopefully not mine), and Concerned Women for America called me an obscene pornographer or something to that effect in one of their polemic press releases.
Like clockwork, although nearly four years later, Barber, whose column has been published on Concerned Women for America's website and syndicated by a bunch of like-minded publications, under the header, "In Their Own Words" took a few of the agenda items I had written totally out of context, stating explicitly that my article had been "candidly" titled. He referred to my satire as a "stark example of homofascist persecution" and to me as a "noted activist and pornographer."
What was that ninth commandment again? "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."
Either Matt Barber is deliberately giving his God the finger, or is too stupid to discern satire. Probably both.
The Gay Agenda
by Clinton Fein
http://www.annoy.com/features/doc.html?DocumentID=100722
Unmasking the Gay Agenda
by Matt Barber
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/mbarber/080213
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCommentary.asp?Page=/Commentary/archive/200802/COM20080214c.html
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/14696/CFI/family/index.htm
http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=26840
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1970179/posts
http://www.christianworldviewnetwork.com/article.php/3098/Matt_Barber
http://www.therealitycheck.org/2008/02/13/unmasking-the-gay-agenda/
http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_19384.shtml
February 06, 2008
It Takes An Activist...Or Three
L to R: Clinton Fein, Barbara French, Hank Wilson, Dr.Chip Chambers, Shane Snowdon,
Michael Petrelis and Kieran Flaherty, UCSF Campus, February 5, 2008
It began with a sensational front page story in the San Francisco Chronicle about a new staph infection at which men who have sex with men in San Francisco were at the epicenter. The study, which appeared in the Annals of Internal Medicine, was authored by UCSF, and its findings were touted in a press release which had the unfortunate effect of turning legitimate scientific data into an exercise in hysteria and homophobia, creating a media firestorm reminiscent of the early days of AIDS, when it was dubbed GRID. (Gay Related Immune Deficiency). Across the globe, stories about gay men being responsible for spreading a new superbug spread like a virus.
Misapplying epidemiological terminology, such as population distinctions, to an unsophisticated and lazy audience of journalists, resulted in confusion and misinformation being spread quickly, in some cases turning inconclusive data into established fact, and fueling the fires of homophobic organizations intent on finding evidence to support their agendas.
A subsequent apology issued by UCSF did little to clarify the misinformation or how the press release could be, and was, misinterpreted, and was all but ignored by most of the media organizations for whom it was most relevant. (Even UCSF's own student newspaper, Synapse, misreported on the issue, having to later issue an apology.)
Along with a few others, immediately following the initial reports, I wrote an editorial on my blog on SFGate (The San Francisco Chronicle's online media property) harshly condemning the irresponsibility of the language of the press release, and the docile transcribing by Chronicle's, Sabin Russell.
On Monday, January 28, I received a call from activist Michael Petrelis, renowned for his brilliant, yet often abrasive community activism, after he had unsuccessfully attempted to set up a meeting with Barbara French, the Associate Vice Chancellor, University Relations at UCSF, to voice his outrage and demand answers. At his behest, I contacted Ms. French, choosing to write a letter outlining the damage resulting from the UCSF press release, and urging her to meet with Petrelis, long-time activist Hank Wilson, who had also called requesting a meeting, and me.
I agreed to participate - calling for a meeting and offering to attend it - for a number of reasons. First, I learned long ago not to rely on organizations such as GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Association Against Defamation) or in this case GLMA (Gay and Lesbian Medical Association) for things that impact me directly. When it comes to representing me, I generally tend to be my own best advocate. And second, many of these organizations are too bogged down in old-school, bureaucratic consensus-building techniques that don't equip them to act quickly or efficiently in crisis mode. While this story was gaining more and more traction, GLAAD was issuing press releases mourning the death of Heath Ledger.
Within a day of receiving my letter, Ms. French contacted me and agreed to meet with us. She also requested that we agree upon an agenda prior to meeting. After consulting with Petrelis and Wilson in terms of what they hoped to get out of the meeting, I drafted an agenda. My original letter and subsequent agenda made it clear that our objectives were not simply an exercise in pointing fingers and laying blame, but rather, sought to understand what went wrong and how, and explore what steps could be taken to mitigate the current situation, and prevent it from happening again. Ms. French's tone suggested to me that the meeting would be productive rather than combative.
It's worth pointing out that what was at play here was a very interesting dynamic. All three of us -- Petrelis, Wilson and I -- were coming to the table as three individuals, not as representatives of any particular organization or community group. And our expectations and approaches differed significantly. Petrelis, for instance, was determined to continue vocally criticizing UCSF's lack of accountability and inadequate response, while I felt that given their commitment to meet with us, they deserved a reprieve until they were given an opportunity to express their side of the story. The beauty of our meeting set-up -- that we were not united as a group - was that I had no control over how Petrelis chose to conduct himself leading up to the meeting, nor did I want it. Although I considered the possibility that he might antagonize UCSF, I was confident that they recognized they were dealing with three individuals, not one group.
And so it was. On Tuesday, February 5, 2007, three members of San Francisco's community met with Barbara French and other representatives from UCSF to address an issue that began weeks ago, and continues to generate headlines. In addition to Ms. French, present were: Kieran Flaherty, Director of State Government Relations; Shane Showdon, Director of LGBT Resources; Aimee Levine, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs, Beth Mooney, assistant to Ms. French and Dr. Chip Chambers, a scientist and professor involved in the MRSA study at the center of the storm. (See photos).
Their willingness to listen to our concerns, clarify their actions, offer candid assessments and share their active and ongoing approach to addressing the issues that gave rise to the situation, was even more productive than I had hoped. Instead of being defensive and attempting to deflect criticism or shirk responsibility, Barbara French and her team demonstrated that they have the leadership, insight and commitment to remedy the situation and not just restore UCSF's credibility, but enhance it. (See Meeting Details below).
While I may not always agree with Petrelis' tactics and methodologies as an activist, (and I'm pretty certain I can say the same for the tireless Hank Wilson), I am honored and privileged to collaborate with such remarkable and committed individuals. The community owes them a considerable debt of gratitude.
There is something very powerful about people actively engaging in events that impact their lives, and standing up for themselves and their communities rather than waiting for others to step up to the plate, or simply complaining about circumstances with a preconceived notion that they have no control over events or cannot play an important role in shifting things that require it.
We sought answers and we got answers, we offered input and input was received, we spoke our minds but were willing to listen, and the conciliatory approach and civil discourse resulted in a remarkably fruitful exchange of ideas that reinforced the health and wellbeing of not only our community, but all communities.
MEETING DETAILS
The following people were present at the meeting: Barbara French, Associate Vice Chancellor, University Relations; Kieran Flaherty, Director of State Government Relations; Shane Showdon, Director of LGBT Resources; Aimee Levine, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs, Beth Mooney, assistant to Barbara French and Dr. Chip Chambers, a scientist and professor involved in the MRSA study. (See photos)
Following introductions, I outlined the basic agenda items. (See agenda here). I was determined to clarify that our concerns lay not so much with the study, or its findings (although none of us was in a position to determine whether their methodologies were sound, or how or why they chose the sample groups they did ), but rather with the press release touting the study.
I pointed out that studies that result in findings that pertain to gay men (or women, or any population group for that matter), no matter how alarming the data, are valuable and necessary. We are not asking UCSF, despite media reports to the contrary, to sugar-coat scientific data in the interests of political correctness or tread with an oversensitivity that shields communities from data that allows them to make meaningful risk assessments and informed decisions about their health.
The core problem presented by the press release was a misapplication of epidemiological terminology that implied that gay men were about to unleash a MRSA strain on the "general population" instead of acknowledging that the strain already exists in the "general population," despite findings that it seems to have a higher preponderance among men who have sex with men.
This misconception was fueled by comments by one of the lead authors of the study, a postdoctoral scientist, Binh Diep, who expressed grave concern about "a potential spread of this strain into the general population."
Diep's subsequent comments about the intention of the press release to serve as a prevention mechanism shifted his role as a scientist reporting on the science alone to an area beyond his expertise for which he was neither trained nor qualified.
UCSF was quick to acknowledge the boundaries breached by Binh Diep. As a postdoctoral scientist, while excited about communicating the findings of his study, and whilst genuinely hoping to communicate the information in the interests of promoting health, he was unequipped to recognize the extent to which his comments could be misconstrued. Both Ms. French and Dr. Chambers expressed regret that Bihn Diep had not been more carefully prepared for the media onslaught, and have since moved to ensure that Doctor Chambers alone serve as a spokesperson insofar as discussing the science related to the study.
I also pointed out that the subsequent apology issued by UCSF was not quick enough and inadequate, and failed to clarify what data had been misinterpreted or how, and that some might construe the apology as a publicity maneuver to demonstrate contrition without really acknowledging anything. Ms. French responded to this, stating that their apology was anything but a publicity stunt, and explaining that their response time was based on careful consideration of what had happened with the original press release, and might have appeared vague because UCSF did not want to repeat the very same mistake, which could perpetuate the situation or be taken out of context and misused again.
Ms. French raised the challenge of balancing the needs of the community with the arming of medical professionals and healthcare providers with appropriate and accurate data. My response was that it would be more useful to then tailor communications for appropriate audiences, so that health care professionals could receive uniquely tailored information that was relevant to them in terms of treatment and prevention, whereas lazy journalists and media professionals from sensationalism driven media properties would receive information that was presented in a way that would least likely encourage sensational coverage.
Ms. French acknowledged that one of the lessons garnered from this situation was that UCSF was reminded of the extent of its leadership role and taking on more responsibility for broader community issues than just communicating the data from its studies.
Ms. French acknowledged that an internal task force had been created in the wake of the MRSA fallout, to streamline and coordinate efforts between and among various departments relating to the dissemination of news and public communications. This is an important and significant development.
Hank Wilson raised the issue of dissemination of studies, and the need for community interface, even if studies aren't published. He requested more transparency so that communities are aware of ongoing studies, in addition to being able to offer community input that could in turn inform the direction of studies underway or about to begin, or even pre-grant.
Dr. Chambers outlined the dissemination distinctions between NIH funded studies vs. pharmaceutical company funded studies, and raised the practicalities of community input prior to the writing of grants. It was generally agreed that only once studies had already been funded or grants provided, would it be beneficial to solicit community input to help inform the direction of such studies
Shane Snowdon discussed the ongoing development of a database that would allow for easier access to accommodate interest in studies and results, even those not published, or terminated prior to conclusion.
Michael Petrelis raised the issue of community meetings, urging UCSF to sponsor its own open community meeting to address the MRSA issue. While both Ms. French and Ms. Snowdon communicated UCSF's involvement in numerous community forums currently underway, Petrelis felt that a forum hosted by UCSF would better demonstrate UCSF's willingness to hold themselves accountable in the eyes of the public. UCSF agreed to explore the issue further to assess its feasibility and effectiveness.
Petrelis also suggested a public awareness campaign where, for example, Mitch Katz and the Chancellor both washed their hands with soap and water to demonstrate the most effective staph infection prevention method to date.
I suggested that given that MRSA could impact people who go to gyms, for instance, it would be useful to start thinking outside of the box in terms of prevention techniques, so that prevention reached beyond the confines of usual constituencies such as Stop Aids or Magnet, and further serve to illustrate that prevention education is not only targeted at gay men.
In a discussion with Aimee Levine following the meeting, we discussed the extent to which strategies pertaining to studies, community relations and communications with this community could serve as an across-the-board template in managing other communities, particularly vulnerable populations, such as children, women or prisoners.
The most important thing to come out of this, I believe, was that UCSF was given an opportunity to recognize the leadership they offer in the work they do, and the global impact of their role. They agreed that this situation, the lessons learned from it and actions taken as a result will allow them to set the bar when it comes to the establishment of best practices, which was the essence of our participation.
We recognize the valuable health opportunities that UCSF provides that benefit our community and the population at large, and were looking to establish a more productive partnership in the achievement of these goals by creating a climate of trust and mutual respect. An environemnt where our input is sought, considered, and fundamental to the ongoing success of future studies and research. I believe we took a big step in moving towards that goal.
This is all based on my recollection. I didn't take many notes, as I was more engaged in the discussion at hand. I'm sure I have skipped over additional items that might have been discussed, although I think this covers the gist. Michael Petrelis and Hank Wilson may likely recall more details, which I will add and update here, in addition to uploading or referencing more documentation that has yet to be digitized.
All in all, a productive day.
January 18, 2008
Staph and Queers and Sensationalism, Oh My
It’s difficult to express the ire I felt encountering the San Francisco Chronicle’s headline and accompanying article on Tuesday morning written by Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer, about a supposedly new staph infection epidemic at which San Francisco’s gay community is at the epicenter.
Along with the sensational headline, S.F. gay community an epicenter for new strain of virulent staph, a graphic, looking conveniently like a quarantine blueprint, colored San Francisco’s Castro district red.
Russell had taken a study released by UCSF in Annals of Internal Medicine, concisely titled Emergence of Multidrug-Resistant, Community-Associated, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Clone USA300 in Men Who Have Sex with Men.
Failing to heed, perhaps the most important sentence in the Editor’s notes, appropriately under the heading “Cautions” which read: “The data were passively reported or retrospectively collected and are therefore subject to bias,” the Chronicle seemed to ignore the key word in editor’s “implications” as well. “Multidrug-resistant USA300 MRSA infection is especially common among men who have sex with men. It might be sexually transmitted in this population.” Might being the operative word.
That didn’t stop an idiot from Reuters named Amanda Beck from opening an article with: “A drug-resistant strain of potentially deadly bacteria has moved beyond the borders of U.S. hospitals and is being transmitted among gay men during sex, researchers said on Monday.” Note how the might changed to is.
Did San Francisco Chronicle’s Sabin Russell actually read the study, or did he just rely on a horribly misinformed and inflammatory press release issued by the UCSF press office? Among the gems in this press release:
"But because the bacteria can be spread by more casual contact, we are also very concerned about a potential spread of this strain into the general population."
"The potential widespread dissemination of multi-resistant form of USA300 into the general population is alarming.”
The last time I checked, gay men were already part of the general population. And the first thing that crossed my mind as I read the article was the coverage I had already seen relating to drug-resistant staph infections, particularly in sports. Although once limited to hospitals or other healthcare facilities, MRSA infections are very common among healthy children and adults in many settings, from the high school locker room to the local gym to any potentially contaminated surface.
Last October, a county in southern Virginia closed its 21 schools to clean them to prevent the spread of a dangerous bacterial infection after a 17-year-old high school student died from a staph infection.
In August 2, 2004, the University of Michigan issued a balanced, hysteria-free press release related to the emergence of drug-resistant staph infections.
“Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of these types of bacteria which is now found among athletes, military recruits and others in the general population,” it stated.
While they also used the term “general population,” the segment of the population they were referring to as excluded from that population, were people in healthcare settings, where staph infections have been more common, regardless of gender, religion, race or sexual orientation.
Quoting Suzanne Bradley, M.D., an infectious disease specialist at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and University of Michigan Health System, the University of Michigan press release cautioned as follows:
“…hospitals have been dealing with MRSA at least since the 1980s, but it wasn't until the mid-1990s that doctors began diagnosing serious MRSA infections in people that never had any contact with a health care system, including healthy children, athletes and military recruits.
“We've seen outbreaks in athletes, collegiate athletes and professional football players. Since staph is acquired primarily by direct human contact, anyone with a break in their skin who has a lot of contact with others is potentially at risk.”
So what’s the beef, you might wonder? First, the findings of this new study are anything but new. That they chose to explore staph infections in gay men could only result in a finding related to gay men. Would the results have been any different had they chosen to examine the medical records of female athletes?
The biggest problem I have with the UCSF press release, parroted and sensationalized by the Chronicle, is the language. Were the Editors at the Chronicle too focused on meeting with Obama or the breathless Tatiana tiger coverage? How could the San Francisco Chronicle, the same publication that boasted And the Band Played On’s Randy Shilts as a journalist, publish such a shoddy, ill-researched, scare-mongering piece of unadulterated garbage without considering the implications of the community it serves, gay or straight?
While it was instantly predictable that activists like Michael Petrelis would be justifiably outraged, similar responses in the blogosphere were as swift and as damning. And while the Chronicle wasn’t the only publication to pump out the sensationalist tripe extrapolated from UCSF’s press release, it should be ashamed of its inability to consider the implications of its irresponsibility.
For anyone who thinks the response to this is an overreaction, or questions the usefulness of Michael Petrelis' advocacy, I just learned of a written apology issued to Petrelis by the author of the UCSF press release, Wallace Ravven, in which he agrees to a public apology in a more satisfying context to be issued soon.
It was just as instantly predicable that the rabid homophobia of organizations like Concerned Women for America (who once labeled me a pornographer in a press release) would latch on to this coverage and use it as a pretext to instill fear, hate and division among their already confused constituents. As illustrated by their statements in a panic-inducing press release, rationally tilted “Epidemic Feared - 'Gays' May Spread Deadly Staph Infection to General Population:
The medical community has known for years that homosexual conduct, especially among males, creates a breeding ground for often deadly disease. In recent years we have seen a profound resurgence in cases of HIV/AIDS, syphilis, rectal gonorrhea and many other STDs among those who call themselves 'gay.'
"The human body is quite callous in how it handles mistreatment and the perversion of its natural functions. When two men mimic the act of heterosexual intercourse with one another, they create an environment, a biological counterfeit, wherein disease can thrive. Unnatural behaviors beget natural consequences.
"In recent years our culture has adopted a laissez faire attitude toward sexual deviancy. Television shows like Will and Grace glorify the homosexual lifestyle while our children are taught in schools that homosexuality is a perfectly healthy, alternative sexual 'orientation.' 'Stay out of our bedrooms!' we're often commanded by militant 'gay' activists.
"Well, now the dangerous and possibly deadly consequence of what occurs in those bedrooms is spilling over into the general population. It's not only frightening, it's infuriating.”
Actually, what are frightening and infuriating are UCSF’s press release, and the San Francisco Chronicle’s related coverage. And how much people like Matt Barber of Concerned Women for America (I know, the irony!), despise their own children enough to misinform them and lead them to believe they’re in more danger of being infected by coming into contact with a gay person than they are sharing a towel in the locker room at the Christian gym.
"These multi-drug resistant infections often affect gay men at body sites in which skin-to-skin contact occurs during sexual activities. Once this reaches the general population, it will be truly unstoppable," vomited Binh Diep, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco who led the study. "That's why we're trying to spread the message of prevention."
Oh really? And if indeed the concern is for the gay men studied, how much more evidence do you need, without a fat grant, to realize that gay men will tune out to anti-sex, anti-gay messages that demonize them and try instill unwarranted fear into them? Unless of course Binh Diep was spreading the “prevention” message to the “general population” in which case his remarks would still have the complete opposite effect. So we should heed his advice, and go forth safe in the knowledge that body sites where skin-to-skin contact occurs between heterosexuals are not vulnerable to staph infections? Spread the word.
If there was one thing to be gained from this useless study, or one iota of intelligent prevention advice that could have been imparted by the coverage, it’s that people living with HIV or AIDS or compromised immune systems ought to be cautioned against the risk of being infected by the “general population.” Regardless of whether they’re straight or gay.
The current Presidential primaries have been remarkably free, so far, of the usual gay hating rhetoric that has permeated them in election seasons past. (Mike Huckabee being the looney-bin exception, and, honestly, who takes that idiot seriously anyway?)
Thanks to The San Francisco Chronicle, Reuters and other media organizations that were seduced by UCSF’s sensational press release, a fresh injection of hate, confusion and fear-mongering took care of ensuring that homophobia remains front and center in 2008.
Apologies, at this point, while might be appreciated by the likely victims of this disgrace, are probably too little too late. While simple acts of basic hygiene and washing one’s hands with soap and water might help prevent staph infections, it will take a lot more to prevent whatever disease permeates American newsrooms.
January 06, 2008
Sometimes Change Isn't Good Enough
In a column They Didn’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow, Sunday, January 6, 2007, New York Times columnist, Frank Rich wrote that the Iowa caucuses served as a lesson that change -- not experience -- is what voters value most in this Presidential primary:
But if Clinton operatives know how to go negative, they don’t have the positive balance of a 21st-century message. Iowa confirmed that the message the campaign has used to date — experience — is D.O.A. in post-Bush America. It was fascinating to watch that realization sink in on Thursday night. In her concession speech, Mrs. Clinton had her husband, the most tangible totem of her experience, standing right beside her, yet she didn’t mention him or so much as acknowledge him.
Although I don't have a dog in the Democratic presidential race, I'm not so sure I would conclude that "experience" is DOA. All Hillary would need to do (as opposed to torturing her campaign message to conform to a "change" paradigm) is run an ad showing Katrina victims in the Superdome and on their roofs, cut to Brownie being congratulated for doing a "heckava job," and end with the tag line "Sometimes Change Isn't Good Enough. Experience Counts."
January 01, 2008
The Second Coming, A Second Time
I’m not one who is apt to repeat myself, but on the first day of 2008, the year America will finally elect a new president and – despite the lack of ideal choices – one that may just show a little more respect for not only the Constitution he or she is worn to uphold, but for American citizens, aliens (fabulous term, no?) both legal and illegal, and to global citizens who have a right to live each day without fear of being bombed, shot or tortured by the United States.
I wrote originally wrote The Second Coming: The Age of Bin Laden on September 15, 2001, four days after September 11th. The World Trade Center was still in flames, and America had yet to start a war against Afghanistan, let alone Iraq. Every awful prediction I made came to pass, far worse in some cases, than I had imagined. Foolishly optimistic, in 2004, I thought America would get rid of George W. Bush come election time. I was horribly mistaken. Perhaps reiterating these words from September 2001 in the forums available to me through San Francisco Chronicle's SFGate, as well as Annoy.com, Pointing Fingers and Daily Kos might wake some people up this election. Somehow I'm less optimistic this time round. To paraphrase, correctively, the misphrasing of our current President: "fool me once, shame on you..."
The morning of Tuesday September 11, 2001, began typically enough. Yawningly irreverent New York radio host Don Imus, (whose show is simulcast on MSNBC), was angrily denouncing MSNBC for allowing nauseatingly saccharine hosts Chris Jansing and Gregg Jarrett to knock him off the air anytime there was breaking news, rather than let him break it. Seemingly unaware of the high premium MSNBC places on youth. Clearly oblivious to the fact that a vast majority of Americans don't want some bitter, wrinkled, dried-up, ex-cokehead, surrounded by spineless yes men, wheezing breaking news between hits on his oxygen mask.
And then terror struck. Big time. In the worst terrorist attack in history, suicidal fanatics attacked the United States by smashing hijacked commercial planes into the World Trade Center towers, Pentagon (and potentially other targets, were they not foiled by passengers). America and indeed most of the world were numbed to the core by the horror and magnitude of such destruction.
Throughout the day -- and ever since -- repeated images of the horror looped and looped on every TV channel in every language interspersed with hundreds of heartstring tugging stories that reduce the most hardened of men to tears.
As the dust settles, literally and figuratively, we may well emerge from this a changed nation. Although not with the overnight hyperbole reflected by trite headlines stating as much before we had even had a chance to absorb what we were hit with.
Some things remain horribly the same.
While most American's were reeling, stunned into a shocked and disbelieving silence, the impenetrable roaches of humanity's refuse at its worst and ugliest came crawling out fast and furious, vomiting their hate and their anger like festering pus on gaping wounds.
Reverends Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson shattered their own decaying credibility by fanatically blaming the attack on abortionists, liberals, online pornographers and civil liberties groups, declaring that Americans got what they deserved. This, of course, while their fellow Americans - and a host of other nationalities -- lay dead, suffering and smoldering under heaps of shattered concrete and melting mangled metal.
Intellectually barren columnist, Ann Coulter, in a tribute to talk show partisan Barbara Olson that was about as sensitively timed and welcome as an untreated yeast infection on Prom night, suggested that America bomb the fuck out of whatever country was responsible. Children and innocent civilians be damned! And convert them all to Christianity. No doubt her perverted brand of Christianity that deems bombing babies nobler than oral sex.
'War is Stupid and People are Stupid,' Boy George once sang frivolously.
The governments waging them may be damn stupid too, but they are not that stupid, and not as stupid as we are, it seems. War allows governments to get away with things that are not possible in peacetime, where cooler heads and reason prevail. Using the word 'war' to describe something that is not a war, diminishes the notion of what a real war is and trivializes and mocks genuine patriotism. It threatens the very tenets of freedom. It allows for States of Emergency with unparalleled government powers from eavesdropping, surveillance and ex-parte motions to detention without trial.
'This is War!" screamed the headlines, TV networks and cable channels, and while we -- vulnerable in our pain, grief, fear and shattered sense of security -- wept over round-the-clock heart-wrenching vignettes of the fallen and their families played to the tune of the national anthem everywhere we turned.
While we mourned and watched and read and listened and cried, an anti-terrorism bill was drafted that rivals South Africa's most draconian at the height of Apartheid. Within just one week of the attacks. Not to mention an almost unanimous vote by both chambers of Congress (save one brave voice of Congresswoman Barbara Lee) to give Bush full authority to use "all necessary and appropriate force" against terrorists linked to the attacks and against those that sponsor them as well as a unanimous $40 billion anti-terrorism package.
America's worst enemies -- hypocrisy and its unrelenting media machinery that cripples our intelligence and goads us into thinking and acting like dazed sheep before a slaughter -- has done and will continue to do more harm to this country than Osama bin Laden or any other terrorists anywhere could ever wish to.
We cannot, as a response, simply bomb other countries with vengeance or blame people with different beliefs or ideologies. Nor should we grit out teeth through our tears and sense of helplessness and resolutely commit to revenge. A dogged pursuit for vengeance, whether framed as self-defense by ancient Defense Secretaries or resulting from a deep-rooted, visceral and all too understandable desire to punish by continuing along the very same path is explosively dangerous. All we can hope to achieve with such an approach is to add new recruits to the cause of terrorism and alienate public opinion domestically and especially internationally.
Before we embark on a war of retribution, like a frantic chicken with its head cut off running around in search of a definable enemy, we need to reflect. Big time.
What message we are sending when we impose sanctions on a country for nuclear testing one day, and then lift them so that the same country can help us attack or bomb an enemy we once befriended, trained and created ourselves the next? And to what extent might this just engender a distrust and hatred of America?
Some, more detached, have pointed out; the targets were symbols of American military might and economic prowess. The Pentagon and World Trade Center respectively represent the very essence of capitalism. Borrowing an American justification for the bombing of innocent civilians, and just as callously, some have referred to the victims as simply collateral damage. Indeed a shockingly insensitive euphemism. Why we should ask ourselves, was it so easy for us to stomach it in Baghdad or in Yugoslavia? Why then not in Oklahoma? Why not in New York?
We must question whether strategic national interests -- that have us bombing other humans to deflect scrutiny and accountability at home -- are either strategic or in our interests.
We must ask ourselves whether the multinational corporatization of culture that makes for stronger First World economies is worth the sweat and blood of children in sweatshops in the Third World.
We must reexamine the appropriateness of remaining silent while females are butchered at birth in China as Rupert Murdoch, Steve Case and their merry band of savages lay down the satellites and pipes for broadband to poison new minds with freshly sanitized, brain-anesthetizing content, and sell the population-controlled, surviving males new laptops.
We need to stop for a second before bedtime channel surfing between NASCAR and Howard Stern while dripping genetically engineered McDonalds burger grease onto our GAP sweaters, only to wake up just early enough and strive just hard enough to earn just enough to replace it with one from Banana Republic instead.
We need to pause before we tap our Budweisers in tune to a lecherous Bob Dole sitting in a darkened room transparently pawning Viagra in Pepsi commercials while watching Britney Spears flaunt her underage crotch in his face. And then mindlessly tune in to a two-hour JonBenet Ramesy special and wonder who killed her. And why.
We need to find balance, where criticism of Rudy Giuliani for his horrific record on arts funding is not ignored or suddenly no longer relevant because of the incredible sense of comfort and security he has been able to inspire in the wake of the attack on New York.
We need to still be able to vigorously condemn the horrific ordeals faced by the likes of Abner Louima or Amadou Diallo at the hands of corrupt New York policemen without negating or trivializing the admirable and incredible heroism displayed by brave men and women from the same Department that continues to give credence to the phrase New York's Finest in the wake of the attack on New York.
We need to parse information being fed to us by an amateur, stammering Press Secretary Ari Fleisher, (who remember, was fainting in anxiety and threatening the media during the tense furor surrounding Jenna Bush's underage drinking escapades), with the appropriate grains of salt and respect for freedom of information.
We need to learn to not confuse extremist conduct with necessary and strong criticism of policy or appreciation of an alternative ideology. Nor refrain from critical self-analysis. We must stop oversimplifying wide ranging complexities by lumping everything into an Us v.Them paradigm that leaves too many people cornered, scapegoated or unfairly branded.
We need to realize that the declarations of war, the political rhetoric on all sides and the sweeping tide of emotion and patriotism right now are potentially the most dangerous and damaging to our civil liberties if left unchecked and unbalanced. And the threat posed by our willingness to blindly trade our freedom for a heightened perception of security cannot be underestimated.
We need to question with apprehension Attorney General John Ashcroft s draconian requests for unprecedented law enforcement powers for investigating 'suspected terrorists' (however vaguely defined) that are being fast tracked through Congress without nearly appropriate enough consideration. And how the curtailment of civil liberties during wartime translates into Rumsfeld's ominous characterization of the 'war' that reads more like his biography. "It is a much more subtle, nuanced, difficult, shadowy set of problems." With neither a beginning nor end.
Now, more than ever, we need to tune in to people around us and tune out the sappy, obsequious corporate-controlled media instilling over-produced, high-tech fear into us by simply regurgitating the government's outdated war strategies as advocated by dying blowhards who peaked in the exact same posts in President Ford's cabinet four administrations ago.
Let's smell the Starbucks and realize that the stock prices of companies like Viacom, Microsoft, AOL Time Warner, News Corporation, General Electric, Disney, Vivendi, Alcoa and Halliburton are really the only thing anyone from the White House to the Treasury to the media touting this war cares about, not humanitarian values or the value of the information or programming that is designed to keep us ignorant and petrified while we cling to our flags in tears.
Such a violent and horrific attack not only showcases our vulnerability militarily, economically, politically and ideologically, but also robs of us of our families, friends and loved ones and very joy of living.
In spite of blunderbuss rhetoric and toxic media fallout, this tragedy has resulted in people coming together and reaching out to one another in ways no one ever could have imagined. A new, more informed dialogue has begun.
The greatest honor we can bestow on the people who died so tragically on September 11, 2001, is to simply wake up and pay attention.
December 31, 2007
London, Miami and Art in America
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| London, Miami and Art in America December, 2007 Happy New Year. I end 2007 on a good note, happy to say. My Torture exhibition, which opened at Toomey Tourell Gallery in January 2007, has had a pretty good run so far, and there is still more to come. You'll be pleased to know that I am working on a new body of work (so that I'm not forever associated with Torture) which also includes an amazing billboard project as well as a book, the details of which I will share in my next update. Following a successful and fascinating exhibit at Art Beijing with Michael Petronko Gallery in September, the show went on to London in October, at the invitation of Bridge Art Fair, and finished the year, again with Toomey Tourell at the Bridge Art Fair in Miami during Art Basel. The cherry on top was a great review by the renowned Peter Selz in the December 2007 issue of Art in America. Thanks for all the support and encouragement throughout the year. Have a happy and healthy New Year. Till next year. Clinton |
| Torture on the Road Art Beijing There were two things that really struck me. The first was, as one Chinese woman told me (through a translator), she thought the original Abu Ghraib images were just anti-American propaganda by the Chinese government. Upon seeing my simulated images, it dawned on her that what happened at Abu Ghraib must have been real. The notion of simulations serving to make real what the actual images failed to do was something I never would have occurred to me. The second was that unlike either England or America, the Chinese seemed to have no qualms about allowing their children to study the images, which many did quite intently. >>Art Beijing Photos: Reactions |
| Bridge Art Fair, London >>Bridge London Art Fair |
| Bridge Art Fair, Miami >>Bridge Art Fair, Miami |
| Most Recent Reviews/Commentary Peter Selz, Art in America >>Peter Selz, Art in America, December 2007 |
| Art Basel: Miami 2007, Clinton Fein, and The Abu Ghraib Prison Tortures Anyway, the piece that really impacted me was located in the Bridge Art Fair at the Catalina Hotel, where all the hotel rooms became galleries. As you would walk from hotel room to hotel room you looked at what each gallery had to offer. With in this labyrinth of art, The Toomey Tourell Gallery showed Clinton Fein's Torture Exhibition [...] [...] I casually saw two huge photographs of Abu Ghraib tortures in the hallway of the hotel, we continued to stroll in to the room where the gallery was showing Clinton Fein's work. As you walked into the room you saw four people talking, but it was as if they were not there because the most eye-catching piece of art was Fein's "Rank and Defile 1." Right after I saw the photograph, I turned around to see the other pieces in the room, but I couldn't keep my eyes off the picture. ...more Patricia Helena Micolta, Eclectic Fusion, January 13, 2007 |
| Art Basel - Bridge Art Fair Opening Sprinkled through the Collins Avenue hotel's faintly musty halls were Clinton Fein's in-your-face, politically-charged digital depictions of torture that you couldn't pass without a glance or thought, even if you wanted to. On the first floor, a 60-by-45 shot showed a naked model of an Abu Ghraib prisoner with a sack over his head on his knees forced to perform oral sex on another. ...more Miami New Times, December 7, 2007 |
| Oh My Ami Though in the higher category, the three standouts of the week were works by photographer Clinton Fein (showing at Toomey Tourell who had stands at two fairs). The work, a partial commentary (sort of a brutal homoerotic take) on Abu Ghraib, were striking, visceral and bloodied bodies, masculine, pretty raw stuff. Nothing else quite like it in the fairs. ...more TJ Norris, UnBlogged, December 11, 2007 |
| Bridge: Chicago fair launches first London edition Spread across five floors of the Trafalgar Hotel in the shadow of Nelson's Column, the Bridge Art Fair is offering a range of contemporary work from paintings to video. First launched in Chicago, mainly with local dealers, the fair has expanded with editions in Miami and New York; this year it comes to London for the first time with over 70 dealers, as well as rooms devoted to individual artists' displays. Determined to make an impact, the fair has not shied away from promoting controversial works. [...] [...] In one of the artist's project rooms, Clinton Fein (517) has re-enacted the photographs of US soldiers abusing prisoners in Abu Ghraib in his own high resolution, wall-sized prints. ...more Helen Stoilas and James Knox, The Art Newspaper, October 12, 2007 |
| Pointing Fingers Twas the Night After Christmas Iraq still a quagmire, he felt a strong urge To tout the success of Petraus' surge If not for the violence and political mess No one could argue the scale of success. So goddamn upsetting he wanted to cry Or break a few laws, maybe eavesdrop or spy On citizens, idiots, who thought they were free Duped by "reporters" who wrote for a fee. The flag waving patriots who've never seen war Were clinging at straws like they had once before Christmas Eve fun for the troops in Iraq Their kids home alone, simply shit out of luck. First Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld then Ashcroft and Meyers Gone were the assholes that started the fires Ridge and Alberto now just ghosts from the past His legacy dead, for the die have been cast. Twas the Night After Christmas: Expanded |
| Kids Who Kill Dogs Not much to say about this loser that hasn't already been said. The new rising star of the Republican presidential hopefuls is a former governor of Arkansas with a few choice attributes that make him the perfect Republican. He equates homosexuality with pedophilia and necrophilia (perhaps an association made by spending too much time in Church), refused to retract his absurd 1992 comment that people with AIDS should be quarantined, and is one of those self-appointed soldiers for Christ, to whom the fringes on the religious right gravitate like flies to feces. As revelation after revelation of the CIA's torture policies under the Bush administration swirl with headline grabbing attention, Mike Huckabee released a Christmas campaign ad in which he states: "What really matters is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ." ...more Kids Who Kill Dogs: Expanded |
| My 10th Anniversary!!! Since most people would qualify me as single, I began to think of the ramifications. My choosing to be single is a perfectly legitimate social choice. When I made the decision to refrain from long-term relationships, I forfeited the opportunity for my friends and family to celebrate my choice. There have been no registries, no toasters, no fabulous silverware, or any of the items that are usually given to help sustain a new relationship. As my siblings married, they were given gifts designed to strengthen their bonds, but really just saved them having to go out and buy a bunch of shite for the house. I never received anything, despite my household being just as plagued by bachelorhood, and just as capable of benefiting from many of the same upgrades, simply because I've chosen to avoid contractually binding myself to a long-term, supposedly monogomous nuclear family structure. ...more My 10th Anniversary: Expanded |
| Unbearable in Sudamn "She got a very light punishment...Actually, it's not much of a punishment at all. It should be considered a warning that such acts should not be repeated." Thus spake Rabie A. Atti, a Sudanese government spokesman referring to the conviction and sentence of British teacher, Gillian Gibbons, who was sentenced to 15 days in prison and a deportation. She could have spent months in jail and been lashed 40 times, after she allowed her 7-year-old pupils name a class teddy bear Muhammad. Call me multiculturally insensitive, but isn't lashing a woman forty times just slightly more offensive than naming a stupid teddy-bear Muhammed? Unbearable in Sudamn: Expanded |
| Rupert and Rudy Giuliani's response to the Judith Regan lawsuit, was to dismiss it as sounding like a "gossip column story," and one not worthy of his response. That strategy might have worked for George Bush Senior when asked about his adulterous affair, but Giuliani might not be so lucky. For one, even his Republican opponents are already all over it, and more importantly, it's not only a gossip column story, it's a lawsuit alleging criminal conduct on behalf of News Corp. executives in the name of protecting the presidential ambitions of Rudy Giuliani. It makes sense really. The smutty programming produced and aired by Fox coupled with the smutty lifestyle exemplified by Giuliani is a match made in heaven...or hell. The only thing worse than a world run by George Bush and Dick Cheney, would be one run by Rupert Murdoch and Rudy Giuliani. ...more Rupert and Rudy: Expanded |
| Drowning in Hypocrisy Much like her decision to sponsor legislation that would desecrate the constitution by criminalizing flag burning, Feinstein has shown her true colors yet again. Waterboarding, a torture technique that Mukasey refused to state unequivocally was just that, despite calling it "personally repugnant," has been considered a war crime for over a century under the United States and international law. Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, refused to vote in favor of Mukasey, stating that: "The president says we do not torture, but had his lawyers redefine torture down in secret memos in fundamental conflict with American values and law." Drowning in Hypocrisy: Expanded |
| The Genius of Genus Annoyingly, I missed the world premiere owing to a wildcat strike by technicians over proposed pension revisions (who would have thought, in France?), but the performance I did end up seeing was nothing short of genius. - Joby Talbot - Benjamin Wynn (Deru) - Genus - A small sample of Genus |
| Contact Information MICHAEL PETRONKO GALLERY 646-536-7362 478 West Broadway New York, NY 10012 Michael Petronko michael@michaelpetronkogallery.net GALLERY HOURS: Tuesday - Sunday: 11 a.m. - 6.00 p.m. Monday by appointment |
| This is a monthly online newsletter by Clinton Fein. You receive it because we're friends, family, know one another, or you have requested to be on this list in order to keep up with what I am up to. If for any reason, you don't want to receive this, please just hit your reply button and enter the word "Unsubscribe" in the subject line, and your name will automatically be removed from the list. Clinton Fein Email:  I try and send out updates about once a month, but am not alway able to be so fastidious. I will respond to all and any emails I get from anyone, so please respond when you can. Feedback is not just welcome, it's encouraged. |
