In praise of freedom

I bought this 3-D basswood carving, by Georgia artist Ned Cartledge, way back in the '90s, and it's hung in a place of honor ever since.

"Mooning Jesse," done in response to Jesse Helms, is subtitled, "(Inviting censorship.) Censorship inhibits free expression. This is not funded by the NEA."

Of course, those were the halcyon days when one could laugh about such things, before habeas corpus was suspended, before citizens could be detained without charges or warrants and while a certain man was ramping up to become the governor of Texas who signed 152 death warrants.

Apparently he's been studying hard since, and has finally gotten up to "commutation" in the dictionary.

(Remember Sister Helen Prejean? The one Susan Sarandon played in "Dead Man Walking"? Here's something Prejean wrote two years ago: "As governor, Bush certainly did not stand apart in his routine refusal to deny clemency to death row petitioners, but what does set him apart is the sheer number of executions over which he has presided. Callous indifference to human suffering may also set Bush apart. He may be the only government official to mock a condemned person's plea for mercy, then lie about it afterward, claiming humane feelings he never felt.")

If Ned were alive today, what would he carve?