WASHINGTON (AP) – The idea seemed simple enough. Scatter some whimsical donkey and elephant statues around the nation’s capital to coax some smiles. So what do the locals do? Turn it into politics, as usual . . . After all, no one sued Orlando, Fla., over its lizards or raised a stink about the painted pigs in Peoria, Ill. “Why would we get sued?” librarian Sue Herring, who served as Peoria’s “pig lady,” said between hoots of laughter when asked about any legal troubles. “You’re just living in the wrong area of the country, that’s all. I think that’s the saddest thing I’ve heard in a long time.”
The Green Party isn’t chuckling. It considers the “Party Animals” display of 100 donkeys and 100 elephants, each 4-feet tall and weighing 800 pounds, an affront to all other political parties, as well as to independent voters . . . The Greens demanded equal time - giant sunflowers, their symbol, displayed in polyurethane alongside the other parties’ animals . . . People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals convinced another judge that the city violated their First Amendment right to protest the treatment of circus animals when it rejected their portrayal of a weeping, shackled elephant. It wears a feathery headdress and a blanket proclaiming, “The circus is coming, see shackles - bull hooks - loneliness all under the big top.” The city’s argument that the elephant will dampen the exhibit’s festive tone, designed to foster “an atmosphere of enjoyment and amusement,” was rejected by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon.
Washington’s more aggressive art critics smashed a donkey with a baseball bat and pounded an elephant with a steel bar, prompting the city to post a $5,000 reward . . . The commission moved an elephant away from the Marine Barracks on Capitol Hill - the nation’s oldest Marine Corps post, dating to 1801 - after military officials complained it gave the impression they were endorsing the Republican Party. Some corporate sponsors felt obliged to pay for two animals - an elephant and a donkey - to remain bipartisan.
I liked the big cows we had in Manhattan a while ago. They put one in Grand Central Terminal and painted it yellow and wrote “Metrocow” on it. Heheheh.
Actually I think placing little sculpted piles of shit all around D.C. would be more appropriate. After all, isn’t that what all those “Donkeys” and “Elephants” actually do all over the capitol of the USA anyway?
We had an exhibit like that here in Toledo last year but with giant frogs.
My favorite one?
A grinning green bullfrog wearing a bib and licking his lips while holding a human leg.
As to the OP, I’m not going to bother to feign shock. This is DC we’re talking about. Last I checked all the sane folks had abandoned ship and left the Capitol to the loonies.[sup]*[/sup]
bella
[sub]*I’m just joking (kinda), please don’t throw things at me[/sub]
You didn’t post the whole story or a link so I have to ask - is the display being done by private money or tax money? That would really change my opinion of the whole thing…
I, too, like the donkeys and elephants around downtown DC, my favorite being the pink donkey in drag at the corner of P Street and Connecticut Avenue in Dupont Circle (DC’s gay district for outside-the-Beltway folks).
Maybe the vandals are just aficionados of Dadaism, obeying the dictum to “smash art.”
I’m lost. Are we ranting about the morons who have nothing better to do than complain about stupid-ass public art projects, or those officials who foist them upon us?
