State of Jefferson

Driving through California, there is a striking absence of presidential election imagery.  Places where signs stood four years ago are naked today.  After driving 70 miles on I-80, I finally saw my first sign while I took a detour through a neighborhood.  Four years ago signage was scattered on chain-link fences along the frontage roads and signage decorated lawns alongside Halloween pumpkins and ghosts.  Yes, I still had to go out seeking the signage, but I was able to find clusters of signs.  This day, after seeing the one sign, the only other sign I could find was a little one next door, kind of hidden behind some bushes.  Also Trump.  Have yet to see any support of Hillary.

So when I saw the State of Jefferson Trump sign, I couldn't resist documenting it.  

Now, you have to understand.  I'm driving alone, this sign is displayed alongside a speedy highway with huge tanker trucks everywhere. I almost didn't see the sign because my tiny car was surrounded by trucks taller than me by 4x.  This is not a place that I can pull over and photograph it.  But this one's fantastic.  So, I decided to explore the video from my phone.  At the very least, I thought documenting it this way can capture it for longevity.  

It just so happens that there was an interesting press conference this morning as well that underlines the signage I saw yesterday.  The pundits are having a field day with it.   It seems to me that the words I hear continue to divide the country even deeper.  I'm not sure where the middle ground is anymore, the middle road.  Politics, to me, is finding the middle road and working with it, alongside it.  

As I continue east today, I'm intrigued by what's ahead. This moment in time, it seems to me that it's the death of politics as we have known it. Maybe that's ok.  That's what Trump wants, right? That's what Sanders also was speaking about.  That's what many politicians and social groups have been speaking about - for years.  And so I think that what we are all up in arms over is - what's next?

Us Against Them, You v. Me

We are sick of you. Get out of here. We are saying it all the time now. 

It's happening more and more.  You've probably read by now that Amy Schumer threw out Trump supporters in her audience for booing her Trump jokes - 200 of them - that's a huge portion of an audience. I'm not blaming her, but that's a lot of people to throw out of an event.

It's no secret that Trump has thrown out people in his audiences for various reasons, I don't blame him either.  I'm sure others have done the same, though it seems to be happening more and more, right? Or maybe I'm just hearing about it now that I'm paying attention.

What's fascinating to me is an increasing unwillingness to be present and respectful of other opinions, of being an audience member in attendance with the specific goal of disruption. Booing at an entertainment event seems like a good way to kill a party - why do it?  It's not a convincing way to have a conversation, or argument for that matter.  Say "Boo" and the conversation is over - the ghost has entered the room.

Perhaps we are no longer willing to be in the same room together anymore because of our increasing ability to surround ourselves with like minds online - where a huge portion of our socialization seems to happen anymore.  We've gotten really good at being steadfast in our opinions, before hearing out the other side at all.  Ads, news, friends, and colleagues come our way electronically customized to our already established tastes.  This new level of customization has contributed to what we are seeing today - this particularly divisive presidential election.  

Not only is this election Democrat v. Republican, but now we've got Black America v. police, women v. "locker-room-men", Christian v. non-Christian; did you catch that moment a few months ago where Pope Francis spoke out against Trump? - yes- we even have The Pope v. Trump.  It's like a giant mosh pit of all elements of the human race who, all of a sudden, need to rise up to defend their own humanity while those in possible leadership are mocking and demoralizing the entire spectrum of Americans and world citizens.  Where does this end? 

To me, this isn't an election that sees any winner.  We have already lost.  Looking beyond, as we tread these muddy waters, I'm envisioning a new leader with a new level of respect for humanity. (No, I'm not talking about God, though that did cross my mind.) To some extent, we need to 'create' this leader, the same way that we have created these characters before us in the Presidential election of 2016.  We need to shift our attention from the entertainment and cultural norms of this reality-show-negative-bickering-blasphemousness, and move towards diplomatic conversation and focus on bigger picture.  

But I digress. Really, I'm just scared. I'm afraid that as I travel through the states in the next couple of weeks, that people will just look at me and immediately refuse to speak with me or let me photograph them because of whatever suspected political taste they attribute to me. I'm afraid of being attacked in the same way that so many others have been attacked recently, verbally, physically, emotionally, psychologically. I'll get thrown out of the comedy club. 

I am not working on this project to show anyone that either side is better than the other, to 'Boo' or 'Yay' anyone. I'm an observer, a historian, an artist.  These images are for reflection, insight, and contemplation - of all of us. I get it - I get 'both' sides (and I get that there are many more sides than that).  I'm hoping that America gets it, too.

The Real World - Presidential Season

The male versus female is now front and center, each in it's own side of the ring.  My vision of the male versus female political match in the American presidential arena pitches two beautifully argued intellectual points, each about how to better America as a whole, sparring over how to further American leadership and minimize suffering around the globe. This election is not that.

We are amidst the very first presidential election that includes a female candidate for President on the mainstream ticket, poised in the ring for a good match while the male candidate takes his penis out and pisses all over the ring.  The last election included a female candidate, though somehow it didn't seem to touch the historic level of  iconic machismo we are seeing today.

Do these two people represent contemporary American culture? Are they representative of us? 

I think about how the qualities of presidential candidates have changed over time depending on the major social elements going on at the moment. The clear example: JFK's suave charisma right at the time when television was entering American living rooms is arguably the defining quality that led him to defeat Nixon in 1960.  Is that same thing happening right now? Argument, harassment, disgust, absurdity - are these the major social elements of our time and thus we want the presidential season to reflect these things - 'The Real World - Presidential Season'?

Did we create these monsters?