The Chair

Let me start off with something of an advisory.  No, there will not be any controversial language, per se, but there will be some political points being brought up here.  So, if this does not interest you or you'd like to avoid it, I completely understand.

The original article has been linked at the bottom of this post.

Symbolism.  This is the life blood of a good story.  It's the stuff that allows audiences to come back, time and again to Inception's ending.  Is the top at the end the real thing, or is it simply a symbol?  If the latter, this means that the main character indeed has yet to wake up.

When Clint Eastwood gave a speech at the Republican National Convention, I'm not sure if anyone was prepared for the symbolism he would bring out on stage with him: An empty chair.  This was it.  Nothing more, and nothing less.  But this empty chair eventually came to symbolize something more.  No longer was it as light as air; it took on the heaviness of the president of the united states.  The empty chair came to symbolize Obama.

Political symbols have been used for a long time in this country.  Some rally under the banner of an elephant whereas others understand their symbol as a donkey.  Symbols, as Batman Begins might say, cannot be killed.  They have meaning because of those things we attach to them.  Thus, I find it disturbing that someone in Colorado has taken it upon himself to set a chair in his front lawn.  I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be upset over that.  Let me rephrase.  He has set a chair swinging as though from a noose from the bough of a tree on his front lawn.  This, he claims, is a political statement, and it should be protected under free speech.

I agree with him, actually.  I think that he has the right to do what he wishes to do.  However, I think that this is a political statement in the same way that Mein Kampf is a political statement.  You're certainly allowed to read that if you like, but I think we all know where you'd stand, politically and morally.  Disgusting is the first word that comes to mind although it may not be the best.

Let me explain why.

If the chair is a symbol for president Obama, then hanging that chair from a tree in the middle of your yard is akin to the symbolic lynching of someone.  This act carries connotations of racism, hatred, and bigotry.  It should be publicly discussed.  I think this man should be ashamed for such an heartless display, but it is in his yard.  It is on his private property, and I cannot justify forcing another to act as I see fit.

I just want people to realize that this act carries meaning.  Moreover, that the meaning it carries is not a very good one.  In fact, it is rather vague.  What is it saying?  That Obama ought to be hanged?  For what reason?  Because you don't like his policies?  There are far more eloquent ways to publish this message into a myriad of mediums.  Not only is this statement ineffectual, but it is brutish and grotesque.

Just as we are unsure if the top from Inception ever actually stops spinning which would leave the audience stuck firmly in a dream and deep in sleep, this country, too, sometimes seems unsure as to whether or not something as a symbol has meaning.  Everything has meaning, and we must wake up and realize that our actions and voice travels much farther than our arms (or our yards), and if we make a statement, we should make sure that we have a purpose for doing such not steeped in a past from which this country is still feeling the effects.

Rather, our creed should read:
We are awake; we are watching; and we are willing to speak up in a respectful manner if something doesn't sit right with us.  Even if that thing is simply an empty chair which has taken on much greater heaviness than simply that of air.

Source: http://kdvr.com/2012/09/24/loveland-homeowner-calls-hanging-empty-chair-political-statement-others-call-it-hate-speech/