This essay applies environmental activist Robert Hunter’s conception of mindbombs to recent environmental activists throwing tomato soup, throwing mashed potatoes, and smearing paint on Van Gogh’s, Monet’s, and Degas’s works of art. Hunter’s mindbombs align with Hariman’s and Lucaites’s (2003; 2007; 2016; 2018) iconic photography while the defacing of priceless works of art adhere to Burke’s (1954) grotesque perspective by incongruity. In turn, iconic mindbombs relied on Burke’s (1969a) scene-purpose pentadic ratio, while incongruous mindbombs rely on Burke’s scene-act pentadic ratio. 

This essay addresses the establishment of a social false dilemma in the form of the socially-constructed categories of liberals and conservatives. The illogical positioning of only two options for solving a problem reduces an audience’s ability for developing creative solutions. The dichotomous nature of this political positioning undercuts critical thought through politicians’ usage of entrenched either-or thinking. In turn, the people struggle with a deliberative process that is underscored by an acceptance of a false dilemma. In particular, this essay focuses on an American dichotomous political climate by acknowledging the existence of the dichotomy, the promotion of Dissoi Logoi to avoid the false dilemma, and the repercussions of compromised deliberative functions of democracy.

The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is widely recognized as the worst oil spill in international history (Oceana: Protecting the World's Oceans, n.d.). Within days of the April 20, 20 Deepwater Horizon oil rig that had killed 11 people, remote underwater cameras revealed the BP pipe was leaking oil and gas on the ocean floor about 42 miles off the coast of Louisiana ( National Museum of Natural History, n.d.). Since the explosion, teams of researchers and scientists have begun studying the disaster and its impacts.