Fat is on the Flag

Historical event of the day:
On this day 143 years ago, Abraham Lincoln delivered the most-important speech in American history. It was four minutes long--just 10 sentences. It followed a two-hour oration that has long been forgotten. Lincoln’s speech became known as the Gettysburg Address.

Musician quote of the day:
“That people actually still like us is staggering, really.”
--Charlie Watts, drummer for the Rolling Stones

Related trivia of the day:
Number of tractor-trailer rigs required to transport the last Rolling Stones world tour: 54.

Technology quote of the day:
“The problem may be that our world has become overrun with gadgets that do more than ever because they can, not because they should.”
--John Maeda, MIT Professor, in today’s "Parade."

Did you hear about art student William Gentry? His senior project was pulled from the Clarksville, Tennessee art museum just 18 hours after being put on display. It was called “The Fat is in the Fire” and consisted of three U.S. flags with phrases such as “Poor people are obese because they eat poorly” and more than 40 smaller flags fried in peanut oil, egg batter, flour and black pepper.

This conflict is just silly. The problem of America overeating is not silly. The principles for which the flag stands are not silly. But this conflict is silly.

Art is always a matter of taste. But being offended by this exhibit is idol-worship. This artist is not denigrating America or American principles in any way, or even questioning them. He is making a creative statement of a well-known fact. Our biggest nutritional problem is overeating and poor choices, while in many developing nations there are no choices. A billion people live in situations in which nothing edible is ever thrown away and there is no Diet Coke because every calorie is vital.

I suspect that Benjamin Franklin, Dolly Madison, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln would all respect and admire this art work.