ART OR HATE OR BOTH? There was an uproar at the Boulder Public Library a few weeks ago when the library director refused at first to hang an American flag inside the library for fear of offending people who find the flag offensive. This uproar intensified when it was noted that this same library had an art exhibit of 21 brightly colored phalluses (phalli?) hanging in its lobby. Then, over the weekend, the exhibit was stolen and Old Glory was left in its place. Within the day, it was recovered in the home of the thief, a man who said he found the art offensive.

I'd have to agree with him. The exhibit, which was called "Hanging 'Em Out to Dry," consisted of painted ceramic penises nestled inside of knitted "cozies" hanging from a clothesline with a noose tied at one end. According the library, it was placed there in honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Now, I'm no semiotics expert and I haven't seen the piece, but it appears to me, from the descriptions, to advocate the sexual mutilation and possible lynching of men in retaliation for domestic violence. What's more, there's nothing in the description that directs these threats at particular abusers, rather it seems to be addressed to anyone with a penis to be "hung out to dry."

This is offensive, if anything is. Yet there is a segment of the Left that sees this instead as a brave artistic statement. If men are offended, well, that would be the point. Only certain groups, such as haters of the American flag, have a right not to be offended in a public library.