Designers refuse breakfast with Laura Bush

Following poet Sharon Olds' lead, five designers who won or were nominated for the National Design Award turned down an invitation from Laura Bush to have breakfast with her at the White House. The designers - Michael Rock, Susan Sellers, Georgie Stout, Paula Scher, and Stefan Sagmeister - sent Mrs. Bush the following letter:

"Dear Mrs. Bush:

"As American designers, we strongly believe our government should support the design profession and applaud the White House sponsorship of the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum. And as finalists and recipients of the National Design Award in Communication Design we are deeply honored to be selected for this recognition. However, we find ourselves compelled to respectfully decline your invitation to visit the White House on July 10th.

"Graphic designers are intimately engaged in the construction of language, both visual and verbal. And while our work often dissects, rearranges, rethinks, questions and plays with language, it is our fundamental belief, and a central tenet of "good" design, that words and images must be used responsibly, especially when the matters articulated are of vital importance to the life of our nation.

"We understand that politics often involves high rhetoric and the shading of language for political ends. However it is our belief that the current administration of George W. Bush has used the mass communication of words and images in ways that have seriously harmed the political discourse in America. We therefore feel it would be inconsistent with those values previously stated to accept an award celebrating language and communication, from a representative of an administration that has engaged in a prolonged assault on meaning.

"While we have diverse political beliefs, we are united in our rejection of these policies. Through the wide-scale distortion of words (from "Healthy Forests" to "Mission Accomplished") and both the manipulation of media (the photo op) and its suppression (the hidden war casualties), the Bush administration has demonstrated disdain for the responsible use of mass media, language and the intelligence of the American people.

"While it may be an insignificant gesture, we stand against these distortions and for the restoration of a civil political dialogue."

Poor Laura Bush. No one wants to have breakfast with her! But as Hughes for America says, "Those signing this letter recognize the damage this administration has done through its disregard for everything that makes our profession great. By treating communication - especially, of late, the media - with such utter disdain, the White House and Republican Party have misused an often noble profession as a means to an unfortunate end. An end these design notables recognized and revolted against. If only more people possessed their courage, their convictions, then things might not be as bad as they presently are."

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(Thanks to Eric Dickey for the tip.)