Defilers of Culture and Truth: From Art Vandalism to College Presidents

Coal pits? They’re in overdrive. Climate kooks? Their heads are twizzling, their eyes bulging, their teeth ground to the gums, their bowels distended. They look like the girl in The Exorcist. Where else are we to turn, though, to supply all the coal 2023’s nogoodniks are bound to get in their Christmas stockings. Quality-control freak that I am, I’m going to be embedded on Santa’s sleigh to ensure the naughty get their comeuppance. If we’re short of coal, I’ve got lumps of Blockbuster gift cards.

It’s a carbon glut this Christmas for art vandals in London who smashed the protective glass in front of the Rokeby Venus, Velázquez’s famous nude from the late 1640s, at the National Gallery. On November 6, a group called Just Stop Oil sent two goons with hammers to maul the picture. Since it was slashed in 1914 by a suffragette, it’s been a target for whoever’s irked by whatever.

About the Author

Brian T. Allen

Brian T. Allen is National Review’s art critic.

Coal pits? They’re in overdrive. Climate kooks? Their heads are twizzling, their eyes bulging, their teeth ground to the gums, their bowels distended. They look like the girl in The Exorcist. Where else are we to turn, though, to supply all the coal 2023’s nogoodniks are bound to get in their Christmas stockings. Quality-control freak that I am, I’m going to be embedded on Santa’s sleigh to ensure the naughty get their comeuppance. If we’re short of coal, I’ve got lumps of Blockbuster gift cards.

It’s a carbon glut this Christmas for art vandals in London who smashed the protective glass in front of the Rokeby Venus, Velázquez’s famous nude from the late 1640s, at the National Gallery. On November 6, a group called Just Stop Oil sent two goons with hammers to maul the picture. Since it was slashed in 1914 by a suffragette, it’s been a target for whoever’s irked by whatever.