Sherry Chandler

My local readers will be less than shocked to learn that our Senator Jim Bunning was front and center in the failed push to pass a flag-burning amendment to the Constitution. Even got his picture in the NYTimes, right there with Orrin Hatch and Bill Frist, who mourned “Old Glory lost today.”

Astoundingly enough, Mitch “Money Is Free Speech” McConnell voted nay on this one, and for that I’ll have to give him credit. I think it’s the only time Mitch has cast a vote I approve of.

All this serves as a lead-in to noting that I have listened to the full broadcast of Radio Open Source’s consideration of modern conservatism. By and large, I was disappointed. I thought I might learn something but for the most part it seemed to me that the panelists simply repeated current Republican talking points. Taxes bad. Wars of aggression good. Christopher Lyden is very good at the interview, however, and he did manage to get a few thoughtful answers. Enough that I can recommend listening to the audio file.

I was reminded that once the Republicans were led by men like William F. Buckley. I used to watch “Firing Line,” and though I usually disagreed with everything Buckley said, he said those things intelligently and the conversations he led were thoughtful ones that allowed his guests to make their points. Now we have Crossfire and the likes of Ann Coulter and Bill O’Reilly. When asked why the latter were not included in his Encylopedia of American Conservatism, editor Jeff Nelson was very diplomatic, claiming that it isn’t yet established what contribution these folk may make to conservative thought. But the last thing these people do is think. What they do is spout vituperation.

Nowadays, it all seems to be about the show.

The comments section on the Open Source program is worth reading. As is this NYTimes review of Reading Leo Strauss (University of Chicago Press).

While I’m on — or at least near — the subject of Lexington’s Creative Camera Club, John Snell, one of its pre-eminent members, has a new book of photography due out in the fall: Red River Gorge: The Eloquent Landscape.

Looking at some of the gorgeous shots on the promo page, I was moved to ask a friend whether some of the effects might be Photoshopped. I got this reply:

[John] has specialized in the RRG for 25+ years. I suspect that much of the work in the new RRG book predates Photoshop and any effects are natural or were achieved with traditional means, i.e., filters, exposure modification, painting with light, etc. John has been a driving force in the Lexington Creative Camera Club for many years, organizing workshops, planning and leading excursions, etc. Good guy, too.

John Snell himself says:

Ever since 1980, when I traded a friend $100 and two pickup truckloads of firewood for an old Minolta camera and two lenses, my life has not been the same. Each year, I spend numerous hours lugging heavy camera equipment through various venues, most often Red River Gorge in eastern Kentucky, searching for expressions of nature that speak to me in a special way. Sometimes I succeed photographically, but many times I just enjoy the walk in the woods…

He has been generous enough to share those walks with us on his webpage galleries. He even includes little bios of the shots. I recommend browsing around there for a while.

I don’t know John Snell. I learned about his book from his brother, David. I’ve known David Snell for several years as a neighbor, fellow poet (though primarily a novelist, I think), and owner of Country Charm Bed and Breakfast here in my home town of Paris, Kentucky.

For those of you who aren’t from Kentucky, I should explain that Red River Gorge is a subject of some passion for those of us who love our natural environment. Not so many years back, this unique geological area was threatened by plans to build a dam. Fortunately, local protest was able to stop those plans, but it took several years of hard work.

I wish we could have protected our mountain tops so successfully.

The possession of originality cannot make an artist unconventional; it drives him further into convention, obeying the law of the art itself, which seeks constantly to reshape itself from its own depths, and which works through its geniuses for metamorphosis, as it works through minor talents for mutation.

— Northrop Frye, Anatomy of Criticism