Evil Idiots of the Month for August: Mark Helprin & Tim Goeglein

Metafilter turned me to this article and set my blood boiling: The Art of Telling Parties Apart

I've resisted the claims of cultural warfare, but if this is the dividing line, so be it.

"Goeglein recalled a dinner party that he and his wife recently attended in Northwest. Out of the six couples around the table, Goeglein and his wife were the only Republicans.As is inevitably the case, he said, the conversation soon turned to the couples' children -- most 5 or 6 years old -- and aspirations for their future occupations. One parent said editor; another, publisher; a third wanted the child to go into education.'I was intrigued by the question, and the answers of every one of our Democratic friends,' Goeglein said. Not one parent, he said, gave an answer that would be more typical of Republicans. 'Our party, in the way it is constituted, we think of medicine, we think of law, we think of business. We don't think, gee, I hope my son grows up to be a great playwright or painter or poet,' he explained."

That made me upset, but this makes me mad:

"But for Helprin, the divide remains. "The arts community is generally dominated by liberals because if you are concerned mainly with painting or sculpture, you don't have time to study how the world works. And if you have no understanding of economics, strategy, history and politics, then naturally you would be a liberal.""

Excuse me, but I'm going to use some strong language now. Thank god I've been watching "Deadwood."

Helprin, you cocksucker. You don't know what the fuck you're talking about. You goddamn, fucking, moron. Christ almighty what harm you do!

OK, feeling a little better now.

Helprin calls himself a writer and doesn't think liberals understand the way the world works? Who better understands the world, who studies, reads, and more importantly, gets out in the world to see what's really happening than those that study the liberal arts.

And as a parent, what do I want for my children? I want them to be safe, happy, and fulfilled. I do not want to perscribe a particular profession just because I think they will make lots of money. My eldest daughter is planning on studying music, the jazz string bass, and I fully encourage her to follow it as far as it leads her. My youngest daughter, too young to really know what she'll want to do later in life, is already a skilled and award winning artist.

As far as I can tell, they both will have more profitable and longer careers as artists than they might as computer programmers, for example. And they can use their old man as a roll model in this. I'm trained as a playwright and writer and have an advanced degree in theater. When people ask me what I am I tell them "a writer." And I've made a very good living in business, all based on my writing and theatrical skills. And now, in my forties, having some experience in the world, I'm ready to put those skills back where they belong: writing plays. How dare they declare that this is not a worthwhile occupation. How dare they saddle every activity with the necessity of economic benefit.

I'm sick and tired of the current administration treating the American public as if we just don't understand. Bush, with his smirking, talk down to me attitude, drives me insane, more than his policies. "If you only understood the world like we do. Let me explain it to you in simple language." God, how it infuriates me. We, the American people, do understand. Don't you dare talk down to us.

Well let me tell you, all of you right wing, low wage wanting, republican elitists, we artists and liberals understand the world more fully and accurately than you could ever hope to. Not only do you NOT understand the world, but you've gotten everything (actually, it's staggering how much) so completely wrong that we'll be decades in cleaning up the mess you've made.

What joyless, dry lives you must lead. What frustrated, troubled children you must raise. But don't worry. We artists will always be here. And we'll be remembered. What survives a great civilization, long lost? Its art.