Thursday, March 29, 2012
Utah County and the Art of Politics
Posted By Eric S. Peterson on March 29, 2012, 3:10 PM
A heated presidential race is bringing out some inspired political art and engaging billboards from Utah County, be it Obama burning the Constitution or an adorable Romney sing-a-long video.---
Jon McNaughton is known for soothing landscape paintings that calm the heart and also for “patriotic” pieces that raise liberal blood temperatures. His latest work is, unfortunately, one of those high-brow, guess-the-hidden-meanings pieces called “One Nation Under Socialism” that depicts Obama holding a burning Constitution.
If you're one of those people who doesn’t “get it,” luckily for you McNaughton leaves all the analyzing to himself in an explanation of the art. As a bonus, the explanation includes a bizarro-world pledge of allegiance to accompany the piece that reads:
“I pledge allegiance to the United States of America, And not to an ideology, which can never stand, one nation under socialism, divisive, with no liberty or justice for anyone.”
In case you still can’t untangle the complex symbolism, here’s a video of the man himself waxing on about the piece.
For something a little different, Utah Libertarians have been shaking things up lately with billboards challenging the hawkish side of the dominant culture. In Salt Lake County last month, they recently put up the head-turning “Bomb Iran” billboard.
This weekend, a billboard will be set up in Orem along Interstate 15 that provocatively asks “Why did Spencer W. Kimball say we are a war-like people?” The billboard invokes the late President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to direct viewers to the group’s website where they can read Kimball’s 1976 speech, where he sermonizes on the need for peace, saying among other things that:
“When threatened, become anti-enemy instead of pro-kingdom of God; we train a man in the art of war and call him a patriot, thus, in the manner of Satan’s counterfeit patriotism, perverting the Savior’s teaching [to love your enemies].”
The group is looking to get people thinking, especially after LDS Conference, about the legacy of the church’s teachings on war and peace. And last but not least is this adorable song, “Mitt Romney Says,” written by a 70-year-old Utah County grandma. This song is deceptively adorable. By deceptive, I mean that this song is so is sweet and folksy you’ll swear it was a parody. But it’s not. Seriously.
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