Jon McNaughton's painting "The Forgotten Man" is meant to be controversial. If you are a Republican you'll applaud the piece. If you're an Obama supporter or admire past Democratic presidents such as as Franklin Delano Roosevelt, you'll probably despise it.
The premise is shocking. In the foreground Obama obliviously crushes the Constitution underfoot, his arms crossed, staunch in his purpose. Off to the left is a disheveled common man poor and forgotten on a park bench. While Republican presidents such as Abrahan Lincoln, Ronald Reagan and Thomas Jeffereson plead with Obama to listen to reason, to release the Constitution from underfoot, Obama ignores them.
While McNaughton claims on his website no favoritism for Republicans or Democrats, the painting seems to be a rallying cry for Republicans and a brutal condemnation of Obama and other Democratic presidents. If you paint the president crushing the Constitution, you're saying he is crushing America.
Undoubtedly "The Forgotten Man" is a controversial painting, but it firmly blames the sorry state of the country solely on Democrats and President Obama while saint-like Lincoln, Jefferson and the newly canonized Ronald Reagan plead for common sense.
Perhaps it's partisanship blame that's responsible for the country being in as dire circumstances as we're currently in with Republican gridlock blocking reforms on health care and job creation spearheaded by President Obama. Perhaps the real message in "The Forgotten Man" is Americans are forgotten and ignored while parties continue to argue instead of working together for everyone's good, not just the very wealthy, privileged and powerful.
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