Upon the statement by Steven Pearcy on my show this morning - that the curator, organizing the "A Creative Merger" art exhibit inside of the AG Office was being paid to 'censor' (a paid government official determining which expression of art/speech gets displayed) the art work - the Communications Director of the California Arts Council, Mary Beth Barber, has offered this official statement this afternoon:

"A Creative Merger is a temporary exhibit of artwork done by lawyers or others in the legal field, originally coordinated by California Lawyers for the Arts and the Sacramento County Public Law Library and financially sponsored by 18 different organizations and individuals. The exhibit was NOT funded by the California Art Council."

She was obviously very concerned about the possibility of 'government censorship', using tax dollars to pay an official acting on behalf of the government body, determining which 'art expressions of speech' can be displayed, and those that cannot be displayed.

By playing this off as a privately sponsored event, the 'cash connection' cannot be made to the coffers of a government agency, staffed by former Gov. Gray Davis nominees. Yet, the concern remains...the AG's Office with a government agency has determined 'political speech', and has excluded 'political speech'. Censorship IS; when the GOVERNMENT determines WHICH speech gets presentation, and which speech does not. Isn't this what we have in the lobby of the state's justice building tonight?

If you're interested, here are the sponsoring individuals and corporations:

River City Bank

Thadd A. Blizzard, Esq.

Davis & Leonard LLP

Ruth Downes

Edward Henning

Jacobsen & McElroy Law Firm

Kanter Immigration Law Office

Law Offices of Rothschild Wishek & Sands

Rick Mitchell, Thomson West

Tom Otter

Steve Peletta

Sandi Wasserman

Sharon Simms, Esq.

Solomon Dubnick Gallery

Wiley Manual Bar Association

Women Layers of Sacramento

Linda Wood, GBC Realtors

Yamshon Family Trust