"Defending" the Art of Jon McNaughton

Jon McNaughton's "The Empowered Man".  Acrylic/derp mixture on canvas.

The arts have long been considered a bastion for liberalism.  In recent history, this was readily apparent during the Bush years, when it seemed as if all an artist had to do to cling to, or in some cases regain relevancy was rail against Dubya in the most vociferous manner possible.  Yes, you can cite an exception with the Dixie Chicks having been dixie-chicked, but they do sing Country, and they're from Texas, so there was no way in hell their anti-Bush rant was going to go over well.  But, for the most part, it paid off artistically to express your dissent against our infamous 43rd President.

Look at Bright Eyes for instance: Connor Oberst spent the beginning of his career defining the archetype for broken-hearted emo dude narcissism, then he wrote a "political" record, started pontificating against Bush and voila!  He's the new Bob Dylan.

Or take Green Day, who got huge writing songs about masturbation and Oxycontin in the angst-ridden 90s, faded a bit, then came back big time after updating their look to a more emo friendly guyliner-and-skinny-ties getup, and releasing the quasi-political "American Idiot", scoring a massive hit. They went right back to being one of the biggest bands in the world.

Though their fourth member didn't fare so well.

Even ever-so-pensive Radiohead got a lot of mileage out of its Bush-bashing "Hail to the Thief" record.  So, with all of the pointedly leftist art that was released during the Bush years, color me surprised to see some liberal outrage over the paintings of ultra-conservative artist Jon McNaughton, mainly questioning the artistic merit of his work.

TRUE STORY - FOX News blowhard Sean Hannity bought this for six figures.

OK, so the guy is as subtle as a lead pipe in his art, his paintings being the canvased equivalent of the "fwd:fwd:fwd: OBAMA IS A SECRET MUSLIM" e-mails you might get from a redneck uncle, but there is inherent value in what he does, from an artistic point of view.  If art is essentially communication with enhanced significance, McNaughton's work undeniably fits that definition, even when it's impossible to agree with the message.   His creations are boorishly literal and uninformed - listening to his YouTube explanations of the paintings, it's pretty obvious you can back the dude into a logical corner within a second - but they spark debate, and being a reasonably talented painter, he is able to convey his sentiments and that of his subjects quite succinctly solely through his technique.  It's definitely much more interesting to look at, and more worthy of discussion than any of Damien Hirst's criminally overpriced turds frozen in formaldehyde.

"IDEA!"

Simply put, all of the criticism aimed at McNaughton reveals that there is a double standard when it comes to the appreciation of political art: if the message fits comfortably within the liberal mindset, it can wallow in pretension, stream-of-consciousness turgidity, even gimmickry, and still be considered "relevant" by the art world.  Use a direct approach with a conservative message, and it's considered "junk".

Here's what I mean - take for instance Chinese artist and political activist Ai Weiwei, one of the most celebrated figures in modern art, and his Sunflower Seeds exhibit at the Tate Modern Turbine Hall in London.  The exhibit was Ai's commentary on "mass consumption, Chinese industry, famine and collective work", and it consisted of one hundred million porcelain seeds, individually hand-painted by Chinese artisans, scattered on the ground of a large hall.  The artist intended for people to fully experience the exhibit by walking and rolling around on the "seeds" as a way to illustrate the way the world feeds off Chinese labor, which is a bit of an esoteric way to get your point across.  Was it an effective political message?  Hard to say.  A mere two weeks after opening, the museum had to stop people from walking on the seeds out of health concerns from the porcelain dust, pretty much nullifying the main point Ai was trying to convey.  It still made a buck though.  A 220-pound pile of the dust sold for $559,394 at Sotheby's, so basically someone paid over half a million dollars for a bag of the same shit that had been considered a "public health issue" just a few months prior.

Using similar logic, this should worth about $30

As for the critics? They fucking loved it.  I know you can easily make the case Ai's approach as more rational and sensible, but it also only seemed to have an impact inside the art world, and what is the point of a political statement if not to reach the widest possible audience?

I don't want to entirely wax poetic on McNaughton's "plight" because some of the criticism aimed at him is entirely valid.  Some of his detractors argue that his paintings have some racist undertones, and I do find a great deal of validity to that argument.  If you look at his work, the recurring heroic "everyman" figure is a white Christian male, that while not very symbolic in itself, it takes a different meaning when repeatedly pitted against the sinister image of an "evil" black President.  It definitely plays into the fears and deep-seated hatred of multiculturalism within the more racist elements of the Tea Party.  His paintings are also dreadfully inconsistent - why is the "everyman" trampled by money in one painting, then seemingly liberated by it in another?  Why does McNaughton single out Obama, Clinton, FDR and the rest of the "big government liberals" as nefarious, while portraying George W. Bush (the guy directly responsible for the Patriot Act and the financial bailouts) as some kind of unwilling participant?  Why the fuck is James Madison - famously skeptical of religion - praying?  Who the hell is this guy's history teacher?  David Barton?

"The FUCK OBAMA Collection.  Collect all 200"

And that's the beauty of McNaughton's art - it can be debated, and disproven.  That's why it works as political art; because it gets people talking.  Critics and supporters alike are judging it on its content alone and discussing its ideas, and that's its unintended simplistic brilliance.   The content of its message is not lost to interpretation and it doesn't collapse under the weight of lofty artistic expectations.  It's not a smart message - actually, it's downright moronic - but it is a message, and that's more than you can say about your hipster friends nailing pots to a goddamn wall and calling it "social commentary".

And hey, even if you find absolutely no redeemable in what Jon McNaughton does, at least his paintings make for awesome Photoshops.

In the Land of the Blind...

God's plan, apparently.

Well hello miscreants.  I am back after a two-month hiatus.  I am definitely wanting to be more prolific with this blogging thing, and I will definitely do my best to update more regularly, so let's get right to it.

The big event in the political blogosphere is of course, Rick Santorum dropping out of the race.  He cited his ailing daughter's health as the deciding factor, amidst growing pressure from party elders to drop out after Romney handed him his ass on a platter in last Tuesday's primaries, basically securing the nomination.  Considering Santorum's nonsensical "half-time" concession speech, this was somewhat unexpected, even as his prospects were looking grim.

I am often amused to see how the news media reacts to major political events, and quite frankly I'm surprised to see how positive the narrative is towards Santorum's candidacy.  It's not even coming from FOX News or Politico, but left-leaning outfits like Slate.  Their article is glaringly positive, and Rachel Maddow herself (one of my favorite liberal commentators) described Santorum's campaign as one of the most "impressive" in recent history.

Even if she couldn't pick a more unflattering picture.

It's no secret that the media likes a close race.  It's more dramatic, therefore better for ratings.  They endlessly speculated the idea of a brokered convention, pining for a long, bloody, contested battle but against their best wishes, what they got was a primary race settled in Romney's favor by the highly anticlimactic and unexciting way of the delegate count.  That's like the horny kid in a Seth Rogen movie that came to the big party expecting an orgy but got a handjob instead.  So, no wonder they're pumping up Santorum's presidential bid; because it supports the "fight to the death" narrative they'd been salivating about.

Newest correspondent for FOX News.

There is one huge, glaring omission though.  Santorum's campaign was anything but impressive.  Actually, it was a clusterfuck.  His organization was lackluster at best.  He failed to get on the ballot in Virginia, Washington DC and Indiana; a grave mistake for any presidential campaign, in addition to delegate counting issues in Ohio.  Even Ron Paul's undeniably grassroots effort has not fucked up that badly.  Santorum's fundraising was also anemic and his campaign perennially strapped for cash, seemingly bankrolled single-handedly by cartoonishly Texan oil billionaire Foster Friess - the "Aspirin" guy.

As for the candidate himself, Santorum proved himself to be a one-trick culture war pony in a campaign where the economy is the underlying concern.  He maintained a stubborn focus on social issues, gave little in the way of an economic plan, and defended his voting record in favor of stimulus spending; a deterrent for so-called "fiscal conservatives" looking for a candidate with more economic heft.  In the end, Santorum's out-of-touch religious extremism,  dickheaded statements, gaffes, blatant untruths, hissy fits and criminally ignored instances of "what the fuck was he trying to say?" (skip to 34:32) rendered the guy absolutely unelectable beyond the primary.  Seriously, this dude spent most of his time doing damage control, either explaining or defending some shit he said.

"By 'FREEDOM' I don't mean 'freedom'.  I mean, I'm going to 'free' you from porn, science,
homosexuality, birth control, and any semblance of a secular society".

In actuality, Santorum was never a "real" contender; he was only the one with most staying power out of a revolving door of colorful, substitute teacher-like conservative alternatives to Mitt Romney.  Bachmann, Cain and Perry all dropped out before any real voting commenced, and Gingrich's momentum was short-lived, so that left ole' Ricky here to be the de facto flag bearer for the ultraconservative.  Simply put, the base doesn't really like Santorum; they just hate Romney.  They are desperate for someone else.  Anyone.

Pulse optional

Santorum's perceived "success" and viability as a candidate is ultimately a reflection of the present state of the Republican party and the obstinacy of its base rather than any real competency from his part.  His appeal was pretty much limited to evangelicals and other social conservatives, considering his primary wins were narrowed down to heavily religious, blue-collar states where Romney was not expected to win.  Michigan was a close call and a sort of embarrassing victory for Romney (if you're running for President, it doesn't look too greatly if you can't carry your home state in your party's primary) but it looks like he was gearing up to repay the favor in Santorum's native Pennsylvania. I'm just speculating, but it's reasonable to assume that Santorum's supporters were those conservative voters too distrustful of Romney's Mormon faith and New England moderate background and too disenfranchised by the establishment to just fall in line, but too turned off by Gingrich's troubled personal history and ethical hiccups to make him the viable conservative alternative.

So, what's next?  I don't know.  Santorum was pretty defiant and adamant just last week about carrying on until the convention, consistently hammering Romney on his shifting positions, so it's doubtful an endorsement will be immediate.  That is not to say a deal was not struck though.  Romney was not in any danger of losing the nomination, but Santorum was in a position to really cause some damage by prolonging the campaign, so a Romney cabinet position in exchange for stepping down seems plausible.  Who knows?   I do know it will be hysterical when Santorum has to inevitably endorse Romney and call him "the right guy for the job" or some shit like that, after all that was said and done.  It will be an incredible display of mental gymnastics.

I will concede  that Santorum was hugely successful at upping the visibility of his brand and message, but not through skill or charisma, but rather a drawn-out process of elimination combined with sheer dumb luck.  He has a spot at the table now, and his voice will be heard by virtue of being the last guy left standing, even if he never had any legitimate shot at the Presidency.

Because, let's be honest, if your name becomes synonymous with "ass juice" in the public consciousness, you're simply not going to be President.

Again, this is why you don't say God asked you to run.  Because if you lose, you look like
an even bigger asshole.  You can practically see in these kids' faces their belief in God being
crushed under the weight of electoral defeat.

And Now, A Guest Entry From Newt Gingrich...

Hello America.  I'm Newton Leroy Gingrich.  Former Speaker Of The House.  Republican Presidential candidate.  Savior of civilization.  I am here today to re-introduce myself because, quite frankly,  I think you've forgotten about me, and who I really am.  See, I honestly believe that throughout my personal life and political career, I have left little to no doubt about the true nature of my character.  Who I am.  What I do.  What I really believe in.  Unfortunately, politics are a dirty business and as such, a lot of distortions, mischaracterizations and flat out lies have been disseminated about my person, and I am here to set that record straight.  So, without further ado, allow me to refresh your memory regarding who Newt Gingrich really is, straight from the source.

I'm an asshole, my fellow Americans. I am a huge, insufferable dick.

Quite frankly, I'm amazed that you forgot.  I've done a lot of shitty, questionable things in my life, to the extent that a lot of people consider me a sociopath.  Let's see, where do I even start? - I cheated on my first two wives.  That one always comes up.  Hell, I divorced my first wife while she was sick with cancer!  Pretty shitty, huh?  It gets better.  Throughout the Clinton impeachment, while I was persecuting Bill, being all publicly outraged and trying to unseat him over the Lewinsky affair…I was doing some fucking around of my own with one of my staffers!  Can.  You.  Get.  Any.  Shittier?

While yes I can!  I'm Newt fucking Gingrich!

I was also the first Speaker of the House to have to resign due to ethics violations.  I paid a $300,000 fine and regardless of what I may say, I resigned in disgrace, ousted by my own party.  I was so reviled, the House voted 395-28 to reprimand me!  Hell, if the House had to vote on whether they should get the clap or not, I bet at least 50 people would vote for it, just to see if they'd get it from a hot chick.  That's how shitty I was.

Slightly more popular?  Chlamydia trachomatis.

By the end of my speakership, people thought so poorly of me that it was widely believed that I shut down the government because I didn't get a good enough seat on Air Force One!  To be honest, I don't know the extent of my own dickishness, so I'm not sure if this is true.  But yeah, probably.

Yeah, I wouldn't put it past me.

America, I am, by all accounts, kind of a bad person.  So, why am I compelled to all of a sudden remind you of this?

Because some of you out there, either out of spite, gullibility, or both, think that I should still be President of the United States.  South Carolina, I'm look right fucking at you.  Seriously, let me break it down for you, why this is a bad fucking idea, OK?  First of all, let's be practical here:  I probably can't win.  I don't have the money, the organization, or the appeal to win the nomination, let alone a general election.  That Mormon asshole just handed me my fat ass in Florida, and I promised them a fucking lunar colony!  Nevada, Michigan and Massachusetts are not looking too good either so I'm sure that any day now, the GOP brass is going to start pressuring me to drop out.  Be a good sport, they'll say, for the sake of party unity.  Well fuck that!  I'm riding this all the way to the convention, I don't care if it splinters the party and effectively hands the black guy his second term.  I'm Newt fucking Gingrich!  My name literally means "toad" but I'm the fucking scorpion in this fairy tale!

You like that?  Just came up with it myself.

Don't let my half-assed mea culpas or disingenuous cries of foul play over negative campaigning fool you.  This is what I do.  I'm a cynical bastard.  I have no discernible values other than an insatiable lust for power and influence.  I don't understand why this is so hard, particularly for "family values" people to see.  It still makes me laugh that all I have to do to get the Jesus freaks to like me is pay them some lip service, hate on the queers a little bit, and sign a politically expedient albeit completely arbitrary family values "contract", promising not to cheat on my current wife, appointing me as some kind of "stewart" of marriage!  Me!  A twice-divorced serial adulterer!

Even if I could keep little Newt in my pants, I've had three religious denominations in my lifetime.  THREE!  I've had as many religions as I've had wives!  That's how little religious faith actually means to me; I can just switch it around whenever I feel like it.  And you know what's funny?  That hasn't even come up in the campaign!

Now, liberals like to say that I'm a "racist" because I've said a racially insensitive thing or two here and there, but let me clear that up for you.  I'm not a racist.  I'm a misanthrope.  I fucking hate everybody.  I only really love me, and even then, there are some days where I go "man, I kind of fucking suck" which is why I occasionally apologize for being such an ass.

To be honest though, while I was reading this, all I could think about was brown pussy and tacos.

See, America, my entire presidential campaign is based on dishonesty.  I'm like the guy who got fired from his job for really sucking at it, but is now back asking for a promotion.  Do I need to remind you that at the beginning of this campaign, my entire staff quit?  How was that not a red flag?  I am currently running as a "Washington outsider" but I was Speaker of the House!  I was the architect of the Republican super-majority of the 90s.  I am fucking Washington!  I even have the balls to tell you that I am technically not a lobbyist, even though I was a consultant for Freddie Mac, on their payroll, influencing policy.  Attack politics?  I wrote the manual on that shit, so it's hilarious for me to complain about it when they're used on me.  I thrive by preying on your fears, insecurities and prejudices.  This is why my only hope for victory is that you hate Mormons to the point where you can look past my sleaziness and hypocrisy.  In short, I'm the smarmy politician that does well by appealing to the worst in human nature, which is why I just need to go the fuck away.

Damn, even Rush Limbaugh asked me to cool it.  I made Rush Limbaugh sound reasonable.  Take a minute to soak that in.  Even my so-called "supporters" know that the main reason to vote for me is to stick it to the libs!  I am that much of a dick.

Gee.  Thanks for nothing, sugar tits.

Okay, America.  This is getting kind of long, but I am a windbag, and I want to make sure you get the point.  See, the viability of my candidacy is a shameful reflection of a team-sports political consciousness, in which it is perfectly OK to vote for a bitter old dickhead like me, who brings absolutely nothing of value to the table, as long as the party wins.  I'm not just a shitty candidate; I'm also a shitty human being.  You know this; it's how I've always been.  Don't expect me to be civilized or sensible, because that's not just me.  I'll sink the party; hell, I'll sink the whole fucking country to get my way - my hugely overblown sense of entitlement is that big!  I'm going to press on, trolling Romney just because I can and the truth is, with all of my dickish behavior over the past two decades, if you genuinely believe that I'm the absolute best choice for President, you're probably an asshole too.

So, my fellow Americans, let this be a reminder that I am indeed a dick, so please don't be surprised or outraged if I act accordingly.  You know how when you first read that I was running for President, a lot of you said "you gotta be fucking kidding me?"  Yup.  Should have left it that way.  You validated my aspirations with a primary win, and even though I'm running on pure ego right now, I've still got the potential to fuck it up for everybody.  And I probably will!

Love,

Newt.