Art and controversy

During my two years of business school, a number of things happened in the outside world that I experienced through a sort of fog. Mayor Giuliani cutting off funding for the Brooklyn Museum of Art primarily due to Chris Ofili's The Holy Virgin Mary painting is one of those dim memories. Seeing it today, fifteen years later, it seems almost benign. The piece wasn't smeared with elephant dung as fantastically described at the time, although it was adorned with it like many of his works during that period, plus multiple images of female genitalia that presage a current reality star's butt cover photo - although Ofili's are slightly more anatomical and radically less offensive than I find that cover. Kind of like Madonna's Sex book, which now seems a bore. Having that window to experience the contrast of a current frame of reference vs. a former one is powerful. Has the world become more shocking and/or less obsessed with judging art by seemingly arbitrary moral standards? In my case, I think the cumulative twenty years of adult living, working, striving in NY plus much global travel makes art more necessary yet raises the bar for what compels, moves or surprises me. Somehow Ofili and the New Museum achieved all three of these things.

why

Why is it acceptable for the govt to not provide funding for abortion even though it's legal? Why are pro-choice Democrats trying to placate pro-life Democrats (much less Republicans) by perpetuating this in the health-care bill?

Why is it such a common occurrence that someone with huge talent can't work out the rest of life, ends up a total wreck but for some random twist of fate when sanity enters in (usually in the form of someone else?)
Those who made it: Robert Downey Jr., Drew Barrymore, Billy Paul, Janet Jackson (except for that whole yo-yo weight thing)
Those who didn't (or likely won't): Michael Jackson, River Phoenix, Lindsay Lohan (she's not exactly at their level but...) and oh, Marilyn