Monday, March 19, 2012

Jon McNaughton--the (Unintentional) Satirist

I'm a fan of fine political satire, so it goes without saying that Jon McNaughton would be one of my all-time favorite liberal artists. His cutting wit--expressed through intentionally overwrought Colbert-esque ultra-Conservative images--are absolutely hilarious, especially when targeting his favorite punching bag, the religious right.


He poked fun at common right-leaning claims that President Obama is ruining America by putting out a painting showing Obama literally standing on the Constitution, which had of course been left on the ground like a discarded piece of trash. The image portrays the metaphors used by right-wing pundits and shows how ridiculous they really are. Can anyone look at an actual depiction of the US President wiping his feet on the literal, physical, actual Constitution and not think, "Wow, that's actually kind of stupid"? Even better, though, is the fact that Obama is standing almost absent-mindedly while behind him a gaggle of Founding Fathers rip out their hair and gesture helplessly at the document under Obama's shoes. One can almost imagine that, an instant later, Obama will turn around to see what on earth the commotion is behind him, glance down at his feet, then avert his eyes and put his hands in his pockets as he sheepishly tries to wipe the Constitution off his shoe, as though he'd come out of the bathroom trailing toilet paper.