Shepard Fairey vs. the Manhattan Institute

Today's LA Times. Ms Allen is arguing that "critics and intellectuals" should self-censor commentary on forms of artistic and cultural expression that involve vandalism or unlicensed use of intellectual property, so as to preserve law and order. From her vantage point at the Manhattan Institute, it must seem strange and outrageous that even now some "intellectuals" aren't paid by specific corporate and or ideological interests to advance authoritarian political agendas.

In itself the whole Shepard Fairey vs. AP copyright dispute is dull and tawdry, and no one comes out of it looking that great. It doesn't really merit an op-ed, except perhaps one on the ridiculous state of US intellectual property law. But Shepard Fairey is an obnoxious character, and as such is a convenient MacGuffin for the argument that

Obama & the Democrats =
Elites (Hollywood, "critics and intellectuals") =
Homos ("most arty types, never having been near a battlefield, wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a bomb cloud and a geyser"--thrown in despite being completely irrelevant, just in case your respectable homophobia wasn't triggered already) =
The Unemployed (taggers and Marxists with no respect for "the philistines who had to take the trains to work") =
Violent Black Criminals ("grimy"--you know exactly what I'm talking about--'70s & '80s  NYC).

And this is a very important, serious, and respectable point to make, all the time, in every major media outlet in the country.