{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Caricature","description":"This week I take an imaginary walk through Jackson Square in New Orleans and ask a caricature artist to draw me something...different.  ----- There are sections of our society that have become parodies of themselves. Once proud, they\u2019re now laughable forms of their former self. Imagine this: You\u2019re walking through the New Orleans French Quarter. You stop at one of the caricature artists on Jackson Square. You say, \u201cHey Mr Caricature artist. I don\u2019t want a picture of me. I want you to draw a picture of, let\u2019s say, today\u2019s country music.\u201d That caricature artist would draw country music exactly as it is today. Because country music has become a caricature of itself. It would be both a portrait of country music and a caricature at the same time. The musician\u2019s goal is to find rhymes for the words beer, mud, tire, and truck many multiples of times in just under three minutes. Fishing a few weeks ago, I heard the song \u201cit\u2019s a bad bad day to be a cold cold beer\u201d over and over again. It was a parody of country music. A caricature of itself. The ghost of Hank Williams has his ghost head in his ghost hands and he\u2019s crying ghost tears. Another one. Imagine saying \u201cHey Mr Jackson Square caricature artist. How about drawing me a picture of today\u2019s Republican party.\u201d They\u2019d draw the Republican party exactly the way it is right now. The GOP has become a caricature of itself. It would be, again, both a portrait and a caricature at the same time. Once the party of integrity, honesty, and character, it now denies those qualities and, and in fact, spoofs them. It\u2019s imaginable that a person could change their favorite color one day. But political party going from railing against liars and the mistreatment of women to saying today, \u201cAh, well. Maybe that stuffs not so bad.\u201d A complete reversal. The Democratic party is still vaguely recognizable for of what it once was. The Republican party? A parody. A caricature. A spoof. They used to be amateur wrestling. Now they\u2019re the WWE. Another one: \u201cHey, Mr Jackson Square caricature artist. You smell of strange herbs and your eyes are barely open. Can you see well enough to draw me a caricature of college football.\u201d Folks, I love college football. I can\u2019t wait for it to start up again, but my narrow-eyed caricature artist friend would draw a portrait of college football as it is right now. It\u2019s a caricature and a parody of what it used to be. A spoof. Transfer portals and NIL money have taken their toll. The only ones playing for love of school, sport, and a college degree are the ones who never see the field. The third and fourth stringers. It\u2019s a shame. What purity and innocence it had, if it ever had any, is gone. After reading this through \u2013 maybe one more. Hey Mr Caricature artist, draw me a caricature of a bitter, grumpy old man. One who doesn\u2019t like change and lives too much in the past. And please be kind. I\u2019m Cam Marston and I\u2019m just Keepin\u2019 it Real. ","author_name":"Keepin' It Real with Cam Marston","author_url":"https:\/\/cammarston.com\/keepin-it-real-with-cam-marston\/","html":"