When Norman Rockwell died in 1978 he left behind a legacy of over 4000 original works
Fondly remembered as painting a snapshot of American life featuring everyday people like farmers, factory workers and clerks
His magazine covers for the Saturday Evening Post were a mailbox highlight
He lifted spirits during the World War Two years and for a few brief moments gave respite to America’s plight
His cherished paintings of the four freedoms raised many dollars for the ongoing war
Freedom of Speech, Worship, Want and Fear proudly portrayed America at its best and gave hope for those with loved ones on a distant shore
However today would the paintings be the same or are the four freedoms just a recollection for the very old
The stoic man in the leather jacket speaking his mind today, thanks to the Department of Justice, could be sitting in a jail cell waiting to be paroled
The campus and city riots of antisemitism would be portrayed differently than the original Freedom of Worship masterpiece
The new canvas could show the burned out synagogues and battered Jews as angry Palestinian supporters screamed for the war in Gaza to cease
Freedom from Want showed a family around a Thanksgiving table serving a turkey with a look of satisfaction on all faces
The new Freedom of Want could feature looters grabbing merchandise from smashed in storefronts as law and order only pertains to the other races
An updated Freedom of Fear instead of a Mom and Dad tucking their children in for the night could now feature a lonely youngster cowering in her bed
Peering out the window hoping the ruckus outside doesn’t involve a couple of rounds fired into the wall above her head
Rockwell’s Rosie the Riveter showed American women as strong and decisive
Today’s women should be depicted as loud, rude and divisive
Perhaps the sketch could show two women trashing a quick serve restaurant because they felt disrespected
While the rest of the customers and the staff look on at the idiocy to which they are subjected
It would be difficult to paint the current America in any kind of positive light
As a portrayal of any kind would be subject to immediate ridicule by some hate group and the riot they would incite
So today instead of painting teenagers in love, acts of kindness, and black kids moving in under the white kids suspicious eyes
He’d need a doorbell with a camera, a burglar alarm and a bolted door so someone didn’t steal his supplies
An Observer of Life in Bad Poetry 