I’m embarrassed that the likes of Jon McNaughton are helping raise Utah‘s profile nationally. Depicting Barack Obama in terms that are just short of demonic, McNaughton is harming more than hurting. Perhaps the purpose of art is to shock and persuade, but subtlety is lost on McNaughton as he uses art like a 2×4 to hit his viewers over the head with his opinions. Playing on fears and anxieties that are real, McNaughton distracts from the important educational process that is necessary to create an informed public. From the Washington Post.
McNaughton, who is described by Salon as “the right’s Shepard Fairey”and who also creates Thomas Kinkade-esque landscapes and holiday paintings, has gained notoriety for some of his previous anti-Obama paintings: He has depicted the president trampling the Constitution andenslaving Americans in chains. In response to an article on the Blazeasking whether his work was free speech or offensive, McNaughton replied on his Facebook page, “I for one am deeply offended. I can’t believe I had to paint this in our own country. Stand up and be heard America!!”
Simply put, he creates a straw man out of Barack Obama and sets the straw man on fire. What a way to put Utah on the map. Where Shepard Fairey channeled the hope of America (however misplaced those hopes were), McNaughton slaps people in the face with dark, ominous images of Barack Obama stomping on or burning the Constitution. You might as well just depict the President in a mug shot wearing an orange jumpsuit. It couldn’t be a more damning depiction.
It does little to educate or inform. It appeals to our lowest, and least informed, qualities, pandering without raising our level of discourse. It obstructs any opportunity to form reasoned and educated opinions. And it makes it hard to meet our opponents on grounds where we can make a persuasive argument.
There’s a lot at stake. Our country is facing serious issue. We grapple with a health system that is expensive and wasteful, a government that costs more than it can afford, and an economy that is struggling to recover. Boiling that all down to the fault of one man, painting him in the most demonic of shades, and calling it “socialism” does little to move the American public to the qualities our country must readopt if we are to change. As Charles Murray argued in last week’s Wall Street Journal, our country is facing a multitude of problems, none of which can be solved by a government program. Just as the solution cannot be the government, neither can the fault be laid solely at one man’s feet. Instead, we should be focused on shifting how Americans view government, understand their government, and the level to which they participate in government. If it matters, it merits the time to understand and learn how it works.
[Washington Post] [Salt Lake Tribune] [Wall Street Journal]
Related articles
- “One Nation Under Socialism” : Controversial Painting By Jon McNaughton (theroycroftreport.com)
- ONE NATION UNDER SOCIALISM: Jon McNaughton Depicts Obama with Burning Constitution (PHOTO, VIDEO) (blippitt.com)
- Shepard Fairey pleads guilty over “Hope” court case (boingboing.net)
- Painting of Obama Burning Constitution Sparks Controversy: Free Speech, Offensive or Both? (tarpon.wordpress.com)
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Well said.
Well, thanks, sir.
I saw the picture last week and thought it was disgusting and agree that it’s bad for political discourse and Utah’s image. It makes me think of something I saw last week. “Promote the things you love, rather than bash the things you hate.”
Indeed…I agree, to a certain extent. I do think there is a time to talk about things that are wrong or distasteful. However, I think McNaughton has done both–he’s talked about something he doesn’t like in a very distasteful manner.
oh shut up you socialist this is a true message you need to except that obama has done nothing good 4 this country
Regardless of Obama’s effect on the country, how we talk about it matters, and what McNaughton has done is lower the level of political discourse.