#1: Music

So here we are, just two days before the Bush Administration formerly closes its show, and we bid adieu to this most artful cast of characters.   Bush's final speech delivered, he takes his bows and like all artists, will let history decide the merits.  In that rather surreal speech, he declares:

America must maintain our moral clarity. I've often spoken to you about good and evil, and this has made some uncomfortable. But good and evil are present in this world, and between the two of them there can be no compromise. Murdering the innocent to advance an ideology is wrong every time, everywhere. Freeing people from oppression and despair is eternally right. This nation must continue to speak out for justice and truth. We must always be willing to act in their defense — and to advance the cause of peace.

My definition of art is simple:  I come to the work of someone's hands, someone's life, with an open mind.  If I leave that work and start seeing the world in a different way, I have encountered a work of art.

Do you remember the dark days following 9/11?  Do you remember the gentleness with which people treated each other?  Do you remember the goodwill extended to our country by so many in the world?  Did I imagine that we all felt for a time particularly aware of the value of a single 

human life?

Do you remember the "Wanted Dead or Alive" speech? Do you remember the first time some Boston driver flipped you the bird, and you realized the moment of grace had passed?

Can there be any doubt that we experienced a work of art?  More Hieronymus Bosch than Michelangelo, but hey, we don't have to like it to recognize it when we see it.

Can we believe in Barack Obama?  Can we believe that we have finally shattered a glass ceiling for millions of Americans?  Can we heal from these surreal years, this insane war, and the lunatic greed that has sent our economy reeling? Can we rise to this opportunity and get back to the innovation, creativity, business savvy, and compassionate spirit of service to the world community that has made the United States such a great place to live?

Hell, no.  But maybe, if we suspend disbelief, and open our minds on Tuesday, we might dust off our moral clarity and demand a higher quality artistic experience from this next troupe.  We might even participate ourselves.

We have born witness to a most bizarre, surreal chapter in American history.  I prefer the Renaissance.

So, speaking of surreal, I give you my vote for the #1 artistic contribution of the Bush Administration. This musical number, sung by Guy Hovis (of Lawrence Welk fame) at the second Bush inauguration, was actually made famous through the composer's own performance of the piece at the Gordon Theological Seminary.  Although the recording didn't go platinum, the video went viral, and the comedians went wild.  And the winner of the music category is:

Singer/Songwriter John Ashcroft for "Let The Eagle Soar".

And I swear to all that is good in postmodernism, that if someone proposes to make this the National Anthem, I will move to Australia.