Secretary of Drivel

So I hear this on the way into work the other day.

Here's the deal: Quincy Jones wants a job with Obama's little Operation Camelot. But this is ridiculous. Government has a role in life but not in the realm of art.

Remember Robert Mapplethorpe? I actually like what little of his work I've seen. But a lot of people think it's obscene, and it really is obscene when those people are required to pay him.

Metallica paid him for an album cover, fair enough, but you go taking tax dollars from some Baptist Deacon, don't be surprised if he gets in your face about it.

But aside from the fact that you beg for censorship when you use tax dollars to fund the arts, a cabinet level arts czar is the worst thing you could do for actual art.

Jazz, Rock & Roll, Blue Grass, Hip-Hop, Scrimshaw, anything America ever contributed to the world of art came about not because of government but in spite of it. In fact, every contribution would probably have met with resistance, successful or not, by that government if the state had been in the cultural loop. Putting government in the position of advancing art is like putting parents in charge of teenager's slang.

So Quincy, you should know better. If you want a job with the incoming Administration, I bet you could find one if you want it bad enough. But a Secretary of Culture? For a start as a taxpayer, I'll just say hip-hop is not art, are you ready to rumble?