Some two decades ago, police and aldermen in the city of Chicago seized the painting “Mirth and Girth” from the walls of the Art Institute of Chicago over its offensively satirical treatment of the late Mayor Harold Washington. Many in the city took offense at the suggestion that the recently deceased mayor, a rumored cross-dresser, was disrespectfully treated.

I wonder – will any of them go after this offensive work that insults and degrades a living politician? Or will the fact that she is on the ticket opposing Chicago’s favorite son (and a healthy respect for the First Amendment) lead them to leave this one alone?

There's been no shortage of takeoffs on Sarah Palin lately, from television skits to action figures, but Bruce Elliott has gone one step further than most. He's taken off her clothes.

Elliott, whose wife, Tobin Mitchen, owns the Old Town Ale House on Chicago's North Side, painted a nude portrait of the Republican vice presidential nominee and hung it above the bar, where it's now a prime attraction among his display of more than 200 celebrity portraits and other racy art.

* * *

Despite their political differences, Elliott admits to a bit of a crush on the Alaska governor. He began painting her smile and trademark glasses, he said, before filling in the details: a gun, red high heels, polar bear rug, rugged Alaska landscape and a scared moose. His daughter, who looks a little like Palin and does a great impression of her, served as model for the governor's body.

Interestingly enough, the Chicago Tribune was more than willing to show the disgusting picture by a sick freak prominently in both print and electronic editions. Contrast this with their refusal to reprint the Muhammad cartoons for fear of offending Muslims. And I somehow doubt that such an insult directed at the very juniour senator from Illinois would be tolerated for long -- or so prominently distributed by the Chicago media. Could it be that the only folks allowed to be degraded in the city of Chicago are white Christian conservative women?

Posted by: Greg at 01:23 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 359 words, total size 2 kb.