This rant comes a bit late, as Taiwan's "nine-in-one" elections took place last weekend, but at that time I was more interested in posting about our Thanksgiving break trip to Philadelphia than in venting about things Taiwanese. Last Saturday's vote tallies showed the Kuomintang 中國國民黨 beating up on the Democratic Progressive Party 民主進步黨, capturing 15 of the 22 mayoral contests, in a reversal of the DPP's sweep in the 2016 contest. I don't live in Taiwan these days and so no longer have my finger on the Taiwanese pulse (who am I kidding? I never did!), but it's tiring to read the almost-knee jerk responses in the Western media that the KMT's strong showing reflected the desire of the Taiwanese public for more peaceful relations with China. There's no doubt such considerations do, in fact, play a role in voting booth decisions, but not everything in Taiwan has to do with China. I imagine for most voters it was a desire to send to signal to the DPP that expectations raised back in 2016 have yet to be met; or that it's the economy, stupid; or that all politics, in the end, are local (which candidate will bring home more pork?). Yet from what I've read from the BBC, Reuters, New York Times et al, the only thing that really mattered last Saturday was cross-strait relations.
My daughter enjoying the bright lights of Broad Street in Falls Church
Many of these reports also frequently cast the election as a contest between the "liberal" DPP and the "conservative" KMT, but that's a false dichotomy in Taiwan. The DPP supposedly tilts to the left, but much of its support comes from rural voters in the southern Taiwanese heartland, who aren't exactly known for their progressive ideals. More about that in a moment.
They say the Xmas lights are bright on Broad Street
Personally, I was very disappointed but sadly not surprised by the outcome. After all, I lived more years than I care to admit in a semi-rural, semi-industrial township called Shengang 神岡 (now a part of greater Taichung city 台中市); and because my wife is from Xiluo 西螺, I've spent a lot of time in Yunlin County 雲林縣 as well. Being in the heart of Taiwan - with its betel nuts, blue trucks and gangsters - was an ongoing lesson in the inherent conservatism of Taiwanese society. But for the Bubble People© (who I've ranted about on numerous occasions on this forum - see here, here, here and here), the realization that Taiwan isn't as progressive as they thought appears to be difficult to deal with. Remember, the majority of these folks live in or near Taipei 台北, and assume that their relatively cosmopolitan burg is representative of Taiwan as a whole (it isn't, not by a long shot). They tend to associate with relatively cosmopolitan Taiwanese who appear to share the same beliefs (or at least claim to believe in order to avoid unpleasant arguments with foreigners who of course know Taiwan better than the locals), and assume these people are representative of Taiwanese society as a whole (they aren't). So it must've been a nasty surprise to discover that many Taiwanese people aren't quite ready yet to embrace the 21st century when it comes to certain 21st century ideals, and that Taiwan isn't quite yet the progressive island in an Asian sea that they imagined it to be.
A kalbi bibimbap lunch at Rice Bar on G Street in Washington
But to give credit where it's due, Taiwan has been at the progressive forefront in Asia on this issue, as when the Council of Grand Justices 大法官會議 ruled in May 2017 that the Legislative Yuan 立法院 had two years in which to enact laws legally recognizing same sex marriage. Gay couples will eventually have their partnerships officially recognized in some capacity; the question is whether that recognition will take the form of marriages, or some other sort of legal union. And on the political front, there's still time for the DPP to learn from last weekend's debacle and not shoot itself in the foot (again) when the next elections come around in 2020. For the Taiwannabes® in Taipei, I'm sure the shock will soon wear off, and they will retreat back into their comfortable dens, at least until the next unpleasant experience threatens to shake up their world again (ROC citizenship, anyone?). It turns out some bubbles are surprisingly durable.
Yes, it was a cold (4°C/39°F), wet Saturday morning yesterday as Amber and I made our way into D.C. to the National Portrait Gallery:
Vaquero by Luis Jiménez
We had previously visited back in the summer of 2012, but there's no reason not to to go to one of the Smithsonian museums again (and again). The impetus for this occasion was a guided tour of the presidential portraits on the second floor organized by the Foreign Service Youth Association. Before going into those rooms, the docent pointed out this painting by Nelson Shanks called The Four Justices. It features the four women who have served on the Supreme Court bench - beginning counterclockwise from the bottom Sandra Day O'Connor (retired), Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan:
Naturally, we began with the first President, George Washington, and the most famous portrait of the Father of Our Country, the Lansdowne portrait painted by Gilbert Stuart in 1796. The original was purchased by the National Portrait Gallery in 2001 for $2 million:
This rendition was done in 1795 by Rembrandt Peale:
The basis for this 1786 plaster was a life mask made by French sculptor Jean Antoine-Houdon:
John Adams, the second President:
Our third President, Thomas Jefferson, looks a lot better in other depictions than he does in this unflattering portrayal:
Washington may be the country's father, but James Madison (President number four) is rightly considered the Father of the Constitution:
Andrew Jackson, the seventh President, was once held in high regard for being the first "common man" in the White House, but his stock has fallen considerably in recent decades (as the docent pointed out, he's probably not the favorite president of Native Americans). Efforts are underway to have his image on the $20 bill replaced with that of Harriet Tubman:
The 11th President, James K. Polk, went to war with Mexico and came away with essentially what is today's American southwest:
The 13th President didn't accomplish much, but my daughter wondered why anyone would name their child Millard:
Our docent explains the story behind George P.A. Healy's portrait of the 16th President, Abraham Lincoln:
The famed cracked-glass photograph of Lincoln, taken by Alexander Gardner in February 1865, about two months before his assassination:
The mask of Lincoln second from the left is not a death mask but was actually done while the president was still alive, in February 1865. It shows the strain the Civil War had taken on Lincoln's appearance:
The 18th President Ulysses S. Grant. As a president, Grant was an excellent Civil War general. Regarding his alcoholism, when it was suggested to Lincoln that he fire Grant, the president replied that it would be better to learn what the general was drinking so that the other Union generals could fight the war as well as Grant was doing:
Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President, looking very bully. Amber commented that he was the only Roosevelt that she was aware of:
The 27th President, William Howard Taft. My daughter knew Taft for one reason: as the president who was so large that he once got stuck in a bathtub:
Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President. He "kept us out out of war", only to involve the United States in the First World War beginning in April 1917:
The docent explains the several pairs of hands in Douglas Chandor's 1945 portrait of the 32nd President, Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was done so that FDR could choose which pair would go into the portrait:
Elaine de Kooning's abstract expressionist portrayal of John F. Kennedy, our 35th President:
The 36th President, Lyndon B. Johnson:
Norman Rockwell apparently made this portrait of Richard Nixon, the 37th President, intentionally flattering because he found Nixon's appearance to be "troublesomely elusive":
The portrait of George H.W. Bush, the 41st President, was draped in black as he had died the previous day (there was also a condolence book for visitors to sign). Sadly, he appears to be the last of an era, as they don't seem to make Republicans like him anymore these days:
Chuck Close's 2006 portrayal of the 42nd President, Bill Clinton. Artist and subject share a history of sexual misconduct allegations:
Kehinde Wiley's 2018 portrait of Barack Obama, the 44th President, is the main reason why attendance at the National Portrait Gallery has doubled this year:
After finishing with the presidents, our docent took us upstairs to show us some other recent portraits of well-known Americans. This portrait of former First Lady Michelle Obama by Amy Sherald certainly caught the attention of one little girl after its unveiling:
Amber poses with Melinda and Bill Gates:
The docent and my daughter have one thing in common: neither of them knew of LL Cool J:
This is for them:
Amber wasn't fond of the gallery's floor tiles:
Like other Foreign Service kids, my daughter's knowledge of American history is somewhat patchy (the result of attending international schools in other countries). Hopefully, Saturday's outing was one small step in filling in some of those gaps. Though I have a feeling she's more likely to remember the caramel charro she downed at the Downtown Holiday Market located outside the gallery on F Street:
Amber and I both agree: the Brutalist nightmare that is the FBI's headquarters has got to go:
The Smithsonian Castle in the drizzle:
After her dose of American history, I dragged my daughter over to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
She's young, and there's still time for her to realize that her attachment to impermanent things such as her iPhone will be the cause of her future suffering. As for me, I'm still attached to getting that $60 book on the Tibetan Shrine Room, though I managed to fight off the urge yesterday in the gallery gift shop. One small step on the path to Nirvana...
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