{"id":2103,"date":"2013-02-03T11:02:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-03T11:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2013\/02\/happy-birthday-norman-rockwell.html"},"modified":"2013-02-03T11:02:00","modified_gmt":"2013-02-03T11:02:00","slug":"happy-birthday-norman-rockwell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2013\/02\/happy-birthday-norman-rockwell.html","title":{"rendered":"Happy Birthday Norman Rockwell"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Yes, the real reason I couldn\u2019t let today go by without a blog. \u00a0It\u2019s Normal Rockwell\u2019s birthday! \u00a0The Great One was born this very day, ready to bring a take on American life that still resonates even after all these years. \u00a0Growing up, Rockwell often was portrayed\u00a0along with Ozzie and Harriet as a\u00a0euphemism\u00a0for \u2018everything that sucks\u00a0about\u00a0America\u2019. \u00a0The big lie, the\u00a0propaganda, the pie-in-the sky\u00a0exceptionalism\u00a0 \u00a0Just like old Ozzie, Norman painted fanciful notions of a perfect America where all was well, problems were denied, and ignorance, naivety, or outright denial were the way\u00a0all\u00a0America loving patriots dealt with the ugly truth. \u00a0It was a tactic common to a nation that refused to admit to its problems and failings, that insisted it was the only nation in the world worth anything, and that refused to deal with the harsh realities of real life.<\/p>\n

Except, of course, it wasn\u2019t. \u00a0It never dawned on me until I became an adult that Ozzie Nelson was quite aware of life\u2019s hardships. \u00a0He knew full well what it was to struggle in a marriage, deal with bills,\u00a0grieve\u00a0over loved ones. \u00a0He understood how rough life is. \u00a0Who doesn\u2019t? \u00a0Certainly not the people of the Depression and World War II. \u00a0Certainly not people who served in the First World War. \u00a0Just because they chose to strive for the better side of life, to see the potential of human beings rather than focus\u00a0on the\u00a0worst\u00a0 doesn\u2019t mean they were unaware of the worst. \u00a0Just\u00a0because\u00a0they chose to look at cups half full and dwell there meant they saw value in the positive, not that they were unaware of a negative.<\/p>\n

Ironic that many shows today indulge in a single minded sermonizing that would shame the old\u00a0stereotypes\u00a0 because in many ways, modern progressivsm is everything that old time American\u00a0conservatism\u00a0was accused of being but wasn\u2019t. \u00a0So shows like Glee and networks like MTV promote almost fairy tale ideals of modern liberal values, shamelessly avoiding the\u00a0negatives\u00a0 and almost singularly focused on advocating their morals in a way that even Ozzie Nelson would find ham-fisted. <\/p>\n

The same is true with Mr. Rockwell. \u00a0Derided\u00a0by some of the hipper students and professors in my younger days as a liar with\u00a0paints,\u00a0 I didn\u2019t realize until much later how closer to reality Rockwell was than many of those students and professors. \u00a0Sure, he could be whimsical. \u00a0Yes, he could be\u00a0humorous\u00a0 \u00a0But it was often humor with truth. \u00a0And while he looked at the better side of Americans, he wasn\u2019t afraid to be brutally honest. \u00a0One\u00a0of my ongoing themes is just how much of a big, fat lie the thing known as liberalism was, at least the liberalism I grew up with. \u00a0I shake my head at just how so many liberal movements today are everything liberals of old railed against. \u00a0A former colleague once said he couldn\u2019t figure me out, who I voted for, where I stood. \u00a0I said it\u2019s easy. \u00a0I am a liberal in search of liberalism, because the thing out there that passes for liberalism has more to do with old, false stereotypes of American Conservatism than anything to do with the lofty\u00a0promises\u00a0of yesterday\u2019s liberals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Honesty<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Some more doses of reality about America\u2019s religious habits<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
One of the best self portraits<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
This hung in my childhood doctor\u2019s office; one of Rockwell\u2019s wise and kindly adults series<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
I bought a print of this for my Mom, the humor and point was well taken<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Growing up, it was Ro
\nckwell type Conservatives\u00a0who were seen as the threat to free speech<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Willing to inflict the comfortable, not just skate by in an illusionary world<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Some more of his \u2018all adults aren\u2019t evil\u2019 prints; one of my favorites<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The real perceptions of Rockwell, far more honest than our Glee-infected look at modern progressive values<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yes, the real reason I couldn\u2019t let today go by without a blog. \u00a0It\u2019s Normal Rockwell\u2019s birthday! \u00a0The Great One was born this very day, ready to bring a take on American life that still resonates even after all these years. \u00a0Growing up, Rockwell often was portrayed\u00a0along with Ozzie and Harriet as a\u00a0euphemism\u00a0for \u2018everything that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nHappy Birthday Norman Rockwell<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Yes, the real reason I couldn't let today go by without a blog.  It's Normal Rockwell's birthday!  The Great One was born this very day, ready\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2013\/02\/happy-birthday-norman-rockwell.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Happy Birthday Norman Rockwell\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yes, the real reason I couldn't let today go by without a blog.  It's Normal Rockwell's birthday! 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