“Pictures at an Exhibition” * (1874) is a musical depiction by Modest Mossorsky of a promenade taken at the Imperial Arts Museum in Saint Petersburg, past several paintings by the artist Viktor Hartmann. The separate musical scores relate to the theme and mood of the respective paintings as expressed by the composer.
We have chosen (with apologies to the venerable composer) to construe a plinyblog version of the melifluous Romantic composition relative to our frespective perception of the contrasting “off-key” and dissonant (dis)harmonies of the Trump Administration. We would request that the reader analogously picture himself walking slowly while simultaneously perusing the respective depictions to the suggested music relative to each “work of art.” We will list them in such perambulatory order.
EXHIBITED PORTRAITS and ACCOMPANYING MUSIC:
DONALD J. TRUMP: Shown with half-eaten “Big Mac,” ketchup stains on his face, menacingly brandishing a black, velvet-tipped “Sharpie,” in the presence of a cadre of adoring sycophants. Music: “Hail to the Chief.”
J.D. VANCE: Portrayed as holding a Bible, Marriage Certificate, and copious amounts of blank Birth Certificates, plus a banner demonstrating his support for the Nation’s National Christian White Militias. Music: “Old Folks at Home.”
PETE HEGSETH: Shown, holding in his right hand an M-6 rifle, together with a band of extra clips of bullets around his neck and a dripping, half-empty bottle of Vodka in his left hand. Music: the song, “Show Me The Way to Go Home.”
JFK, Jr.: Drinking milk directly from a cow’s prodigious udder, while simultaneously wielding a hammer, smashing a tabletop loaded with vaccination needles.
KRISTI NOEM: Shown wearing a wide cowboy hat and pulling the ignition lanyard on a military Howitzer, directly aimed at an ASPA animal shelter.
KASH PATEL: Reading Batman comics while blotting out selected phrases from the U.S. Constitution. Music: “Tiger Rag.”
TOM HOMAN: Seen, casting out an enormous fishing net while sitting on a large wooden crate of steel handcuffs. Music: “The traditional (radio) music theme for ‘The Lone Ranger.”
TULSI GABBARD: combing her streaked hair to a reprise of a classic WW2 broadcast by TOKYO ROSE. Music: “Ain’t Misbehaving.”
PAM BONDI; Shown, knitting a large garment containing a “Trump enemy list” in the style of Madame Defarge in Dickens’ “Tale of Two Cities.” : Music: “La Marseillaise.”
There are additional musically descriptive pictures to experience, but our feet suddenly feel tired, and we are surfeited with the nauseating portraiture of typical Administration misfits.
-p.
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