'It's like Hanging a Portrait of Hitler in a Synagogue Or In a Jewish Community'

Just imagine if it were a Hitler banner. Or better yet, savor the umbrage were someone hanging a 52-by-35 image of that most evil of all creatures, Dick Cheney. The crestfallen indignity if George W. Bush were immortalized in such fashion would have protests in the streets. But since the most gruesome mass murderer of the 20th century is an idol of the ACLU and their offshoot, the NYCLU, they're apoplectic over the removal of Uncle Joe Stalin.

The New York Civil Liberties Union has demanded that city officials explain why they ordered a private art school to remove a banner displaying an image of Josef Stalin.

In a letter Thursday to the Department of Buildings, NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman expressed concern that the banner was taken down from The Cooper Union after some residents of the local Ukrainian community complained that it "seemed to promote" the Soviet dictator on the 75th anniversary of a famine he imposed. The famine, called the Holodomor, killed millions of Ukrainians.

The banner was part of an art exhibit, "Stalin by Picasso, or Portrait of Woman with Mustache." Lene Berg, the artist who created the banner, said it was intended to provoke discussion about the relationship between art and politics.

The 52-foot-by-36-foot banner features a reproduction of a 1953 Pablo Picasso portrait of Stalin. At the time, the image was viewed as a critique of the Soviet leader.

But the Ukrainian community found it offensive, said Tamara Olexy, president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America.

"It's like hanging a portrait of Hitler in a synagogue or in a Jewish community," she said.

After receiving several complaints, the Department of Buildings investigated the banner's legality and determined it violated construction and zoning regulations, the agency said Friday.

"We determined the sign was too high, too large, lacked a permit and blocked the building's windows," buildings spokeswoman Kate Lindquist wrote in an e-mail. "The department does not regulate sign content."

Indeed, the do not. Since I know enough folks at the Buildings Department, they can vouch for me.

How pathetic is it the ACLU worships this genocidal maniac?

Here's a random thought: Maybe if we start erecting 52-by-36 images of Barack Obama (and frankly, are we that far from that?), will they just STFU for the next four years and go back to Free Mumia rallies?

I couldn't locate an image of this banner (if someone does, feels free to link it or email me), but found a fascinating image of a 1902 Stalin here that I don't recall seeing before. A young greaseball-looking Stalin, only a couple decades before he decided to exterminate millions of people.