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There is little doubt that clowns have developed a bad
reputation in recent years. In fiction, Stephen King's <span
class="moz-txt-underscore"><span class="moz-txt-tag">_</span>IT<span
class="moz-txt-tag">_</span></span> with Pennywise, and in real
life the likes of the serial killer John Wayne Gacy, have done
little for a positive clown image.<br>
<br>
On the other hand, when I was a little tot watching our
family's Emerson black-and-white television set (it received one
station, a CBS affiliate), I remember seeing Freddie the Freeloader
and Clem Kadiddlehopper, both characters created by an actor known
as the Clown Prince, Red Skelton. Many years later I learned that
he was an avid painter of clown images, and won recognition and
admiration for those efforts, too.<br>
<br>
Like the archetypal trickster, I doubt that the clown can be
destroyed. The most that is possible is to unmask the particular
instance with which one is confronted, and attempt to learn its
character details because the mirror image of those details will
indicate something about the person who apprehends them. As Stephen
King illustrates in, for example, <span class="moz-txt-underscore"><span
class="moz-txt-tag">_</span>Needful Things,<span
class="moz-txt-tag">_</span></span> the best that can be done is
to run the very old proprietor of the establishment out of town,
then attempt to recover from the effects of its visit.<br>
<br>
Because the massive, long-term, collective action necessary to
do anything about the archetype embedded in our collective psyche
would amount to a reconstruction of the human psyche, it is highly
unlikely that tricksters, clowns, and the like will be going away
any time soon. In fact, after Needful Things was closed in Maine, a
new store in Ohio called Answered Prayers was opened. You could
hardly believe your eyes.<br>
<br>
Part of the reason why Stephen King wrote Needful Things was to
provide himself with a literary vehicle with which he could destroy
his fictional town named Castle Rock, about which he was tired of
writing. He wanted to write the last Castle Rock story, and to
purge the town from his system. Considering the many times it is
mentioned in later works, his purging success is incomplete, but the
geography of his fictional world is better represented.<br>
<br>
And so it might be with the American electoral psyche, if the
next president, whoever it may be, is willing to allow, and perhaps
facilitate, more open discussions of the darker parts of twentieth
century American history. There too many various activities by too
many people of high official rank and rich social station that are
only reluctantly discussed in polite society. The nation's civil
society needs the services of political psychiatrists (not to
mention accurate historical researchers) to allow our collective
self to examine and to grapple with these unresolved questions. To
the extent that Donald Trump, a relative outsider to politics,
elective office, and the machinations of the
less-than-completely-public parts of our society might be able to
allow, if not actually to facilitate, such a set of discussions,
then perhaps his presidency might not be a total waste of our
collective time.<br>
<br>
This is not to suggest, of course, that his election would be
preferable for this purpose. But if he is able to catalyze
truth-telling and justice, then some related benefits might accrue.<br>
<br>
<br>
Ken<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 5/14/2016 1:36 PM, Tom Hansen wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:92322F2A-00A4-4DEA-93F5-403E314A09D2@moscow.com"
type="cite">
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;
charset=windows-1252">
<div>"The Clown Has Taken Over the Party" by Roy Zimmerman<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://youtu.be/pmanuxq3PEM">https://youtu.be/pmanuxq3PEM</a></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Reminder . . .</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>The Eighth Annual Intolerista Wingding</div>
<div>(with Roy Zimmerman, Jeanne McHale and the Threat Level
Purple Singers)</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>June 10th (Friday), 6 pm - 10 pm</div>
<div>The Great Room of Moscow's 1912 Center</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Beer, wine, sodas, and munchies on sale by <i>D Willy's
Blues, Brew and BBQ</i></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div id="AppleMailSignature">Admission is FREE!<br>
<br>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya
there, Moscow, because . . .</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow
Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div>
<div><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color:
rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div>
<div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom
Hansen</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow,
Idaho</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
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