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PATRIOTIC-ER THAN THOU
Perhaps the greatest impediment to having
The Big Discussion between liberals and neo
conservatives over the future of the republic is
that we all tend to view it as a massive game
of Capture the Flag. Some time back the neo-
cons grabbed the flag and declared themselves
the sole proprietors of patriotism and national
identity. Liberals have been scrabbling around
ever since to prove that they have just as
much claim to America, but without success.
We let them paint us as boutique intellectuals
who want to abolish God and marriage and
the Grand Ole Opry, and if neoconservatism is
currently out of favor, it's because of the fail
ure of their policies, not the strength of our
positions.
The main reason neocons get to wear the
title of Real Americans and do their Superior
Dance is because while we dithered and
debated and emphasized the complexity of the
problems our nation faces, they cornered the
market on symbolism—cowboy presidents bat
tling Axes of Evil to protect the 9/11 widows
from terrorists and gay flag-burners while the
majestic eagle soars and Toby Keith and the
ghost of John Wayne team up to kick lefty ass.
We've never been able to compete with that
kind of imagery and we've been foolish to try.
The best we've managed is subversion and sat
ire a la Colbert, but that's really just our guys
playing with their tools.
Speaking of Imagery: Despite their proprietor
ship of patriotic symbology, however, there
are many neocons who feel there's still not
enough of it, that dissent and pacifism and
other un-American ideas persist because we
haven't been bombarded quite enough with
stock images of American gloryness. If there
are people out there railing against a substan
dard minimum wage and the blood-price of
American hegemony, it's only because they've
forgotten that we live in the greatest country
in the world. Here's Mount Rushmore, now
shut the hell up.
Georgia painter Steve Penley is here to fill
that gap with his touring exhibit of jingoistic
motel art The Reconstruction of America, cur
rently showing at the Cobb Museum of Art in
Marietta through June 13, and its companion
volume of the same name (Mercer University
Press, 2008). The book has a foreward by Fox
News' Neil Cavuto and glowing cover blurbs by
Newt Gingrich, Neal Boortz, Saxby Chambliss
and Sonny Perdue, all men with a lot to say
about art, to be sure. This would be like
shooting fish in a barrel, if I didn't believe in
gun control.
Penley's series consists of interpretations
of portraits of iconic figures in American
history (Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln,
Franklin, both Roosevelts, Reagan on horse
back) and popular culture (Marilyn, John
Wayne, Warhol, Elvis, Satchmo, Bear Bryant,
The Ramones pre-"Bonzo Goes to Bitburg"),
along with some of the products that made
America great (Coca-Cola, Wall Street and the
Big Mac). Commentary linking each image to
Penley's larger point about the greatness of
our nation and the triumph of our culture over
the nay-sayers of the rest of the world runs
throughout the book. Subtle it's not: "The
intellectuals of Europe could not be so vocal
without us to defend them against dictators.
They should realize that a weak America is the
world's worst nightmare. The rest of the world
owes America a debt of gratitude for whatever
freedoms they have." Nor deep: "Baseball,
Football, Hot dogs and
Hamburgers, Pickup
trucks and Coke bottles
are all objects that
symbolize America.
These objects are Icons
of American- culture
which give us a dis
tinct character. These
things evoke feelings
of good times which
we can remember even
through the hard times.
They are comforting."
But then, subtlety
and depth are not
Penley's intent here.
He felt moved to do
an homage to patriotic
iconography, and to
be honest, the paint
ings themselves aren't
that bad. Penley is an able Tenderer of images,
certainly more so than I am, and he has a
keen sense of composition and an eye for the
visually dramatic, so the issue is not Penley's
qualities as a painter. What is bothersome,
however, is Penley's choice as an artist to
merely recreate earlier images and compile
them in a primer format, a monosyllabic ser
mon to the choir, crib notes for Patriotism
101. It's art designed to go down easy, to
inspire us rather than make us think, and
that's its problem. Good art, like good ideas,,
never goes down easy. It disturbs and ques
tions and demands active participation from
the viewer. Good art picks a fight; Penley's art
wants to buy you a Coke.
Other Notes: Meanwhile, in the real world,
America lost one of its true patriots. On
Apr. 11 Judith Krug, longtime director of
the American Library Association's Office for
Intellectual Freedom
and the founder of
Banned Books Week,
passed away after a
lengthy illness at the
age of 69. A tireless
defender of the First
Amendment, she was at
the forefront of every
challenge to our right
of access to books in
our public and school
libraries, sometimes all
the way to the Supreme
Court. Whenever Real
Americans (doing their
Superior Dance) sought
to take Mark Twain and
John Steinbeck and
J.D. Salinger and half
the freaking Newbery
Award winners out
of our children's hands, Krug and her people
stepped in to stop them. Whether you were a
fan of Judy Blume or J.K. Rowling (and some
how miraculously didn't become a sex maniac
or a Satanist), we all owe a heap of thanks
to Krug, whose commitment to our freedoms
reflects the spirit of our Founding Fathers
far more than any painting of Ben Franklin
could—and Franklin would agree.
John G. Nettles
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