This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Jon McNaughton, who has become arguably Utah's best-selling painter because of his forcefully right-wing content, is back with a new canvas that aims at liberals in the media and government.
The title — "Liberalism Is a Disease" — is as subtle as the work, which he calls "a satire that may appear humorous on the outside, but the underlying message is very serious."
The liberals McNaughton lambastes are (in alphabetical order): Alec Baldwin, James Carville, George Clooney, Stephen Colbert, Katie Couric, Matt Damon, Whoopi Goldberg, Al Gore, Jesse Jackson, Matt Lauer, David Letterman, Rachel Maddow, Bill Maher, Chris Matthews, Michael Moore, Piers Morgan, Lawrence O'Donnell, Rosie O'Donnell, Keith Olbermann, Nancy Pelosi, Sean Penn, Harry Reid, Ed Schultz, Al Sharpton, Jon Stewart and Anthony Weiner.
The painting shows these liberals grouped together, surrounded by quarantine tape. Symbols of liberal excess (like New York City and a spotted owl) are also shown.
As always, McNaughton provides a handy online guide, in case the message is too subtle.
McNaughton has become a darling to right-wing commentators like Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck, and has been ridiculed by Maddow and Colbert, among others. (Maybe that's why they rated immortality in one of McNaughton's paintings.)
On his Facebook page, McNaughton claimed "an angry onslaught of liberals" mocked him Wednesday night. This drew a slew of supporters' comments, some of which are pretty angry themselves.