I visited yesterday MOMA, my favorite museum in NYC. I've been there plenty of times - with some paintings it's a bit like meeting old friends. Of course, they don't change or age, but sometimes I see them differently.
One of my favorite works there is Jasper Johns' American flag. Painted in 1954, it always makes me think about what makes us a nation - and this is true not only for the US, but also for my native country, Israel.
For me, Johns' flag shows how a country is the sum of all the people who make it. It's not some ideal red/white/blue set of stars and banners that we should conform to. His flag is not clean and pretty - but life is not either. The stars are a little stained with red, the stripes are not even. The idea they form is not necessarily coherent - different pieces "pull" the piece to different directions. In a sense, this is an anti-fascist statement. You can also see how much work he put into creating this piece. Just painting a banner with colors is not enough to unite a nation - but maybe giving everyone the chance to contribute his own piece and own shade can do it.
Tomorrow I'm going to vote for the first time for the president. I'm excited to be part of it, and excited to finally have a president that represents me. I believe Obama believes in this tapestry called America - after all, his personal biography is anything but homogeneous. Even with all the economic turmoil of the last months, I feel things can dramatically change for the better with him. Run, Obama, run!
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