Public Editor: Don’t vote Wallis for Governor

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

By Mike Bressler

Normally I would be embarrassed to agree with a News&Guide editorial, but not last week’s. Both Matt Mead and Lesley Peterson represent the best of their political party. However, today’s political landscape assures the next Wyoming governor will be decided by Republicans and Independents voting in the GOP Primary. Mead and Colin Simpson embody the finest ideals of traditional conservatism (think more Barry Goldwater, less Pat Robertson); both bring new ideas and fresh perspectives and both would make bold leaders.

Simpson, however, lags far behind in the polls and voting for him makes little practical sense. Rita Meyer, with endorsements from actor Wilford Brimley and Sarah Palin (think more Pat Robertson, less Barry Goldwater) leads the polls. Mead has no celebrity endorsements, but as a Teton County local who was given much and returned even more, he understands Teton County and is the best choice for Wyoming.

The so-called “controversy” surrounding Wallis and the Art Association is beyond silly. Wallis’s opinions are hardly Earth shattering or even original. Mary Grossman is correct saying “A healthy arts scene needs honest criticism” [Publisher's Files, August 4], but no one supposes an art fair to be the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, so why write a vicious piece (using words like “dirty whore” and “bitches”), accusing the fair of not being something it never claimed to be?
Columnists are prone to overvalue their self-importance (myself a perfect example), and we need to ask ourselves if we are contributing, or merely bathing in an orgy of self-indulgence.

Wallis points to Jackson Pollock as a belonging to a proud tradition of dissent because he pissed in a fireplace. Pollock achieved fame during the birth of the Civil Rights Movement, yet his paintings, using "unconscious imagery," are by definition apolitical. Peeing in a fireplace does not tie you to a proud tradition of dissent. All it does is cut the flame and stink up the place. JHW
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Public Editor: Don’t vote Wallis for Governor | Planet JH News Article: Editorial

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