The oddly beautiful artistic talent of the nation’s drug cops | Hacker News Reader

The oddly beautiful artistic talent of the nation’s drug cops

washingtonpost.com

16 pointsdmazin10 comments

I'd be more inclined to appreciate this art if I didn't think the "war on drugs" was such a misguided failure.

The grim reaper could be fitting on some kind of edgy pro-drug patch, but as a serious reference to eg cocaine it's just ridiculous. These patches really illustrate what is going through the thugs' heads as they go about ruining people's lives.

Propaganda is the worst drug of them all.

no doubt. much respect for the police, except when it comes to the "drug war" (i.e. war on poverty / race / ...). in the case of the drug war, eff the police.

I reckon it could be reclaimed to turn it into a pro-drug statement. Sort of like how that "Reefer Madness" movie is now a stoner classic.

Heraldry will never go out of style. It will just get updated. We love showing our tribal affiliations.

I wonder whether they put as much information into the patches as the US military does. For instance, many programs operating out of a certain base incorporate some variation of the number 51 into their patches. Patches for space launch have even been known to leak classified information. But the badges in the OP seem far less creative.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/creepy-kitschy-...

Example "51" badge: http://www.thelivingmoon.com/45jack_files/04images/Patches/0...

With so many skulls, someone working at the DEA should ponder, "are we the baddies?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn1VxaMEjRU

Fun fact: Those skulls originate not with the SS, but with a regiment that rose to fight off Napoleon. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Brunswickers

Also, this painting: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Brunswicker_%28Mill...

Real hard hitting journalism there, WaPo.

The ironic point is that the art looks to be a product of drug-influenced creativity.

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