• Nepenthe
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    6211 months ago

    TIL JFK’s official presidential portrait looks like a zombie silently judging you from the afterlife, and it’s because it was only painted after his death. The artist’s inspiration was a photo of Ted Kennedy mourning his brother and Jackie chose that one immediately out of all the options, partially because they were both bored with the same generic stance every president has.

    I’m not really getting the thoughtful, humble vibe she intended it to have, but I do really like it

    • @[email protected]
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      2510 months ago

      I don’t get thoughtful or humble, but if you were to put his portrait next to that of any ten presidents that survived their term and said that one was assassinated in office I’d know instantly every time even if I didn’t know the answer. It looks mournful and representative of his being dead.

      And I think it’s interesting to wonder what it would’ve been like had he lived. I suspect something closer to Obama’s, something full of life

    • @[email protected]
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      1910 months ago

      Lincoln was absofuckinglutely a war criminal. Now did his victims deserve it? Listen if anyone deserves war crimes it’s the confederacy. But yeah definitely did war crimes. Sherman’s march to the sea was the most based war crime there ever was.

    • @[email protected]
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      910 months ago

      It’s not a war crime if it’s against the British Empire.

      Please amend “Slave Owners” to your list, ty.

    • @Maturin
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      410 months ago

      Hey! Don’t forget about East Timor!

    • @vaultdweller013
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      110 months ago

      Did Theodore Roosevelt do any war crimes? Like maybe with the rough riders? But Im drawing blanks.

      • @[email protected]
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        510 months ago

        The whole panana thing was p sketchy but since it wasn’t technically an American war it isn’t a war crime.

        Also war crimes weren’t really “invented” until Nuremberg so in some sense no one committed war crimes until then. Somewhat more awkwardly the nazis tried at Nuremberg were being judged by laws that weren’t really codified until after they had committed them.

        Imo war crimes isn’t really a good way of phrasing it bc unlike a nations legal code which is usually fairly black and white, war crimes are international and therefore a lot more subject to politics. I’m glad they were punished but I wish it hadn’t been execution in so many cases, and it has been called something like “acts unbecoming of a human”. Something nasty but definitely not related to the legal system.

  • @[email protected]
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    10 months ago

    I am genuinely curious how the white house history website and whatnot will handle it if any of these convictions go through. Will they mention it? Will they omit it?

    tan suit

    • @[email protected]
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      210 months ago

      In the Southern bible belt they will probably either omit it entirely or downplay it, yes. Everywhere else no.

  • be_excellent_to_each_other
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    10 months ago

    This is wonderful, but if anyone has a link to the one where every defendant except trump was made up as a DC comics supervillain (Trump hadn’t turned himself in yet when I saw it yesterday) I would really appreciate it. I can’t even remember what platform I saw it on, but it was glorious. It was so good it must be making the rounds but I have not seen it again.

    Edits:

    Artist is https://twitter.com/IamHappyToast and he’s updated it now lol

    • @[email protected]
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      410 months ago

      I bought a bunch of silver last year, and Trump rounds (look like coins, but are just round bullion) were flying off the shelves. I kept my fool mouth shut every time I saw them. However, like you, if they made one with a Trump mugshot, I’d buy a tube of twenty five of them, and ask if they can produce a ten ounce bar with it on there.

  • PenguinJuice
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    611 months ago

    Crazy to think the vast majority of the presidents are painted and then it shows the progression of our ability to capture high definition photos. Technology seems to be a recently exponential progression.

    • @[email protected]
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      1810 months ago

      I think it’s kind of a bummer we’ve shifted away from painting. The painted portrait seems more regal and meaningful here.

      • newbeni
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        10 months ago

        Soo, stupid question, but don’t paintings require the subject to sit still for quite a while? Is is possible to take a picture and use that for the basis of the painting?