Daniel Ortega for President of Nicaragua! An "Angel" in disguise woke me up this morning...

Max Ernst "Fireside Angel" 1937 Oil on canvas; 44 7/8 x 57 1/2 in. (114 x 146 cm)

I woke-up watching a Spanish language reporter interviewing Daniel Ortega who is now waging “a legal” campaign for the Presidency of Nicaragua. The reporter (Jorge Ramos) asked him if he hated the United States. Ortega replied and made the point that he didn’t hate the people, or America per se, but rather the political leadership. Fair enough, that’s a valid comment. But what made me cringe was when Mr. Ramos asked the pointed question of how he could afford to fly around in helicopters. Ortega smirked and replied that the helicopter was funded by his friend Hugo Chavez (President of Venezuela); and then went on to ad that he’s finding inspiration and support from a tight coterie made up of Fidel Castro, Omar Kadafi, Evo Morales and Schafik Handal [fantastic].

Even, as recently as 1998, Daniel Ortega was charged with sexual abuse of his stepdaughter who with the support of the Nicaraguan based Women's Network Against Domestic Violence claimed that she had been physically, sexually and psychologically abused by the FSLN leader since age 11.

SEE: Babalublog

This alone should be enough to blacklist any candidate - dam what’s the matter people really? I won’t get into weighing the complexities of the various political arguments or economic realities and we shouldn’t make-up for our apathy with generalizations and rhetoric, which BTW frustrates me more then anything. I simply want to sound a wake up call! We need more choices we need better candidates here in the United States and abroad. How as a society can we begin to turn the tide? Maybe through the POWER OF ART: Artist could lead the way…

I’ve been looking for an excuse to post an image of Max Ernst’s Fire Side Angel [which is part of his “bird series,” I just discovered - that seems fascinating on its own!]; the fact that I’m associating it with Daniel Ortega, interesting enough does makes sense when you find out that a lot of Ernst’s early work reflects the angst associated with war and the sociopathic evil tendencies of man; megalomania and the hammer of fascism. “Fireside Angel,” painted in 1937 (during the Spanish Civil War) is a commentary on the hidden danger that lies underneath the veneer of Fascism. [Also, I think the stomping and this beast trying to escape from itself manifested as this grabbing monster coming out of its leg, might also perhaps be some kind of manifestation of a deep rooted guilt of Ernst’s; I just read that he abandoned, “rejected,” his first wife and child when he left Germany in 1922 (interesting).]

“Ernst’s works took on a darker tone as he saw the signs of approaching world war. Forest imagery became more prominent in his work — forests, in Ernst’s words, “take over the sun.” Fascism was a plague spreading through Europe, and Ernst channeled his fear of this specter into 1937’s “Fireside Angel,” which depicts a raging, violent monster destructively plodding across an abstracted landscape. Ironically naming this frightening beast an “angel,” Ernst evokes the danger of the seemingly innocuous, referencing the surface appeal of fascism but underscoring the evil he perceived in its proliferation.” Review of "Max Ernst: A Retrospective" by Ryder Kessler

Harvard Advocate

So an angel in disguise woke me this morning; I applaud the spirit of contrarianism any day and I will be the first to admit that a very strong argument can be made for fascism begat by US policies at home and abroad but at least we have a system of checks and balances and as ineffective as we might think our political system can be at times, simply being less apathetic and getting out to vote can make a huge difference. We should not be arrogant and take things for granted this is far better then having to cower to clandestine death squads or not having religious freedoms or having to act the sycophant to a tyrant. So I hope the people of Nicaragua become energized in a positive way; that there are enough candidates - that the people vote.

Nicaragua and Venezuela are merely a three-hour flight from Miami. The last time I flew out of Caracas (2001) I shared a cab ride to the airport and got to witness an interesting debate (which I might ad I instigated) between the taxi driver who was pro Chavez and the other fellow flying out who was anti-Chavez. Also by the way there is a shantytown on the outskirts of Caracas that envelops the valley on both sides on the way to the airport this was the backdrop to the discussion in the taxi. They both had strong arguments pro and against and they where taken aback, as was I, by this environment of hopelessness which reflected so well and was used as an example in both their commentaries. They both agreed pointing out this nether-gray-world of a shanty town that we were driving through has been and would be the best barometer to gauge the state of affairs of their country. My only wish is that those poor children with those shoegaze stares not be forgotten, and that they have the chance to educate themselves and rise up. Perhaps even “Art” could affect a change in their lives or perhaps simply the next Fireside Angel might come from all this.

William