NORMAN ROCKWELL
"Give'em Hell", said Harry Truman
Every soldier needs
both a Motherland and Fatherland
under attack by subhumans
To move the soldier, an image to feign
My pack is light, I march again
It's you, Lili Marleen
Manipulated by the things that we hold dear
Most damned of all, because it is so sincere
The crazy glue that holds a society
is the syrupy sentimentality
The fault is not the pursuit of virtue
It is the self-certainty
Thinking so much that you have it
when it is not really true,
mixed so much with the feeling
that "I am so much better than you"
It does not really do anything
The cough-drop medicine of cherries
The imaginary escape to Mayberry
The Opie of the masses
It is difficult to understand
How people can get so damned
on their way to Disneyland
How it gets twisted into such a hell
from a wholesome image of Norman Rockwell
------------------------------------------------------------------
27. Buy War Bonds by Norman Rockwell
- Giclee Print | AllPosters.com
Giclee Print - Buy War Bonds by Norman Rockwell at AllPosters.
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to bringing you only the best. Track your orders online!
www.allposters.com/gallery.asp?apnum=855658
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------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.rense.com/political/conspiracyharris.htm
The American people were aghast. War polls shot up favorably.
President Bush declared, "This aggression will not stand!" Then
the war began.
As was indicated in the original press release on this issue by
Mr. Harris's supporters, Mr. Harris and Mr. Leavitt were
arrested following a tip by Mr. Rockwell--an FBI informant of
dubious integrity and a jaded history; an extortion felon
convicted in 1981 and 1982. Rockwell told "NBC Nightly News" on
Friday (Feb. 20, 1998) that the thought of Harris and Leavitt
coming to his facility with military grade anthrax "scared me so
bad" he called the FBI.
This statement has many problems. First, Mr. Rockwell knew that
the purpose of the experiments was to find a way to kill anthrax.
------------------------------------------------------------------
44. Back From Iraq: "I Killed Innocent People For Our Government"
- by
Paul Rockwell: Baghdad was being bombed. The civilians were
trying to get out, right? Sgt. Massey: Yes. They received
pamphlets, propaganda we dropped on them.
www.inmotionmagazine.com/opin/pr_sjm.html [Found on MSN Search]
------------------------------------------------------------------
47. p44-NORMAN ROCKWELL
Rockwell is undeniably political - political themes run
consistently through his work, at times yielding to overt
propaganda- yet there is something nonideological about him
nonetheless.
www.wtv-zone.com/moe/moesboomerabilia/page44.html
[Found on MSN Search]
------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.artmargins.com/content/feature/pospiszyl.html
It does not take an experienced connoisseur to notice the
uncanny similarity between the widely popular art of Norman
Rockwell and certain artworks of Socialist realism.
Similarly, some of the official art created in the Soviet Union
during Rockwell's most successful years could easily pass as
emblematic of the Saturday Evening Post covers depicting that
era.
------------------------------------------------------------------
. George Lincoln Rockwell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rockwell became a 'secret Nazi' and published an Animal Farm
type of parody, ... American Fuehrer: George Lincoln Rockwell
and the American Nazi Party by ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lincoln_Rockwell
[Found on Google, MSN Search, Yahoo! Search]
------------------------------------------------------------------
11. A Famous Museum ... A Shocking Murder
... Secrets Written in Code: THE ...
I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think
it's hell." - Harry Truman ... When the curator of the Norman
Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass. is murdered -- stuck with
a ...
www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_36025.shtml
While the attention of the world is focused on the film version
of the best-selling novel, "The Da Vinci Code," writer-director
Alfred Thomas Catalfo and producer Marc Dole are rocking the web
with their short film spoof, THE NORMAN ROCKWELL CODE.
When the curator of the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge,
Mass. is murdered -- stuck with a harpoon and holding half a
lemon and a can of tuna -- the police desperately need help with
the investigation. They call in Langford Fife -- Professor of
Symbology at Stockbridge Community College and the son of Deputy
Sheriff Barney Fife of Mayberry, North Carolina. Langford may
have received his degree in symbology from a correspondence
course but he insists he's "just as competent as those high-
falutin' professors from Harvard with their fancy sheepskins
from accredited schools."
With cryptologist Sopha Poisson of the Quebec Secret Service,
Langford sets out to uncover the clues hidden in the paintings
of Norman Rockwell ... clues that will lead them to a secret
society, a legendary bloodline and a battle with sinister forces.
Catalfo came up with the idea for THE NORMAN ROCKWELL CODE after
reading the "The Da Vinci Code" and wondering "what if ...?" He
wrote a script and enlisted Hatchling Studios to bring it to the
screen. The 35-minute film was shot in seacoast New Hampshire,
Dan Brown's own backyard, and, of course, includes references to
"Opie" -- the character played by "The Da Vinci Code" director
Ron Howard in "The Andy Griffith Show." The filmmakers have been
invited to screen THE NORMAN ROCKWELL CODE at the real Norman
Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass.
For more information, visit www.TheNormanRockwellCode.com.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. neo-neocon: Pictorial propaganda: Part II--Norman Rockwell and ...
That title, of course, is no accident; as I wrote yesterday,
Rockwell's paintings were indeed a sort of advertisement and
even propaganda for America,
neo-neocon.blogspot.com/2006/03/pictorial-propagan...
[Found on Google]
------------------------------------------------------------------
Huck Finn Portfolio (See Below) Limited Edition Please Call
HFP - Your Eyes Is Lookin' Limited Edition Please Call
HFP - When I Lit My Candle Limited Edition Please Call
HFP - There Wasn't No Harm In Them Limited Edition Please Call
HFP - Then For Three Minutes, or Maybe Four Limited Edition Please Call
HFP - Then Miss Watson Took Me in the Closet and Prayed
------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.newberkshire.com/archive/miscellany/nrm-stamps.html
Norman Rockwell was commissioned to create the 4 Boy Scouts of
America 50th Anniversary stamp (11/8/60) and the 5 City Mail
Delivery commemorative stamp (10/26/63). Several other Rockwell
images were featured on stamps, including the famous Triple Self
Portrait.
------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.nps.gov/hstr/faq/books_by_author.pdf
Books Found in the Study of the Truman Home
Harry S Truman National Historic Site
Independence, Missouri
Reuben, William A. Atom Spy Hoax, The
Rice, Charlie Challenge!
Richardson, William, & Seymour Freidin,
eds.
Fatal Decisions: Six Decisive Battles of the Second World War
Richter, Conrad, et al. Reader's Digest Condensed Books
Riesman, David, with Nathan Glazer &
Reuel Denny
Lonely Crowd, The
Riley, James Whitcomb Riley Roses
Rittenhouse, Jack O. American Horse Drawn Vehicles
Robinson, Donald 100 Most Important People in the World Today, The
Rocker, Rudolph Pioneers of American Freedom
Rocker, Rudolph Six, The
Rockwell, Norman, as told to Thomas
Rockwell
Norman Rockwell: My Adventures as an Illustrator
Roosevelt, Eleanor India and the Awakening East
Roosevelt, Eleanor Tomorrow Is Now
Rorimer, James J. director Hours of Jeanne Devreux, Queen of
Steinberg, I.N. In the Workshop of the Revolution
Steinberg, S.H., ed. Statesman's Yearbook, 1961-1962
Steiner, W. Leonard Masonry Illustrated:
The Significant Symbols of the Three Masonic Degrees
Unknown Beacon Lights of Prophecy
Unknown Chemistry: Key to Better Living
Unknown Compact Bible, The
Unknown Dictionaries in the ''Midget'' Series
Unknown Texas Almanac 1954-1955
Unknown Torah: Prophets and Writings
Upfield, Authur W. Death of a Lake
------------------------------------------------------------------
35. RACHEL's Hazardous Waste News #317
The year 1992 was momentous for the nuclear industries (bombs, ...
Rockwell International pleaded guilty to 5 felonies and 5
misdemeanors June 1 and was ...
www.ejnet.org/rachel/rhwn317.htm [Found on Google]
------------------------------------------------------------------
http://richmond.indymedia.org/print_newswire.php?id=6722
I am sorry to say, I had helped build nuclear weapons for 23
years at Rockwell International. Now I am a grieving pacifist"
Peace activist and former nuclear weapons builder, Thomas Siemer,
is scheduled for sentencing in the Federal Court House in
Alexandria, VA on June 18. Siemer took part in a protest of the
unveiling of the Smithsonian's revisionist display of the Enola
Gay bomber back in December. The plane in question dropped the
first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, a civilian target, incinerating
the entire city and some 100,000 residents.
Siemer threw a small jar of red paint at the bomber symbolizing
the blood spilled by the Enola Gay and other B-29 bombers. He
was promptly arrested and suffered a heart attack during the
trip to jail.
Read the full article for Siemer's personal statement which
includes details of his arrest. Peace activist and former
nuclear weapons builder, Thomas Siemer, is scheduled for
sentencing in the Federal Court House in Alexandria, VA on June
18. Siemer took part in a protest of the unveiling of the
Smithsonian's revisionist display of the Enola Gay bomber back
in December. The plane in question dropped the first atomic bomb
on Hiroshima, a civilian target, incinerating the entire city
and some 100,000 residents.
Siemer threw a small jar of red paint at the bomber symbolizing
the blood spilled by the Enola Gay and other B-29 bombers. He
was promptly arrested and suffered a heart attack during the
trip to jail. His personal witness follows. Siemer needs support.
------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Bohemian Grove and Nuclear Weapons
Rockwell International is a mainstay of the nuclear weapons
industry. Robert Anderson, Chairman and CEO of Rockwell, is a
club member and Rockwell Chief ...
www.sonic.net/~kerry/bohemian/grovenukes.html
[Found on Google, Yahoo! Search]
------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Information Notice No. 84-48: Failures of Rockwell International ...
NO- 84-48: FAILURES OF ROCKWELL INTERNATIONAL GLOBE VALVES
Addressees: All nuclear power reactor facilities holding an
operating, license (OL) or a
www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/gen-comm/in...
[Found on Google]
SSINS No.: 6835
IN 84-48
UNITED STATES
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555
June 18, 1984
Information Notice No. NO- 84-48: FAILURES OF ROCKWELL INTERNATIONAL
GLOBE VALVES
Addressees:
All nuclear power reactor facilities holding an operating, license (OL) or a
construction permit (CP).
Purpose:
The intent of this information notice is to alert licensees of a
potential deficiency in the design, application, or maintenance
of Rockwell International globe valves that may have safety and/
or economic significance at nuclear power facilities. These
deficiencies have resulted in two types of failures: (1) the
stem separating from the disk and (2) the disk being backed off
its disk nut (see Attachment 1). Although no specific action or
response is required, recipients are expected to review the
information contained in this notice for applicability to their
facilities and initiate any needed diagnostic, preventive, or
corrective action. Likewise, licensees finding similar or
related defects at their facilities are encouraged to report
their findings to the Commission, including the corrective
actions taken, so that the industry may benefit from their
experience. However, suggestions contained in this information
notice do not constitute NRC requirements and, therefore, no
specific action or written response is required.
Background:
The discovery of these failures is attributed to what appeared
to be a completely unrelated event described in Information
Notice No. 83-65, "Surveillance of Flow in RTD Bypass Loops Used
in Westinghouse Plants" (dated October 7, 1983) and the sharing
of information by two utilities. Information Notice 83-65 was
issued because of a low-flow condition in a reactor coolant loop
RTD bypass line that occurred at Salem Unit 1. The manner by
which this apparently unrelated event led to the discovery of the
described globe valve failures is described below.
------------------------------------------------------------------
84. Plutonium Playground- Story
In 1989, the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons factory, then run by
Rockwell International under a Department of Energy contract,
was raided by the FBI. Rockwell's corporate managers and DOE
empl...
plutoniumplayground.com/story.htm [Found on MSN Search]
------------------------------------------------------------------
POET'S POSTSCRIPT
You might imagine that I dislike Norman Rockwell, but that is not
exactly true. I really do not mind things being corny, wholesome,
innocent or naive. As strange as it might be for a mostly cynical,
nihilistic, one-eyed, mad poet/prophet of doom, I actually have
a soft spot for such things. I always found his drawings to be
rather charming. I have a number of his books, which in the past
I had asked for as birthday and Christmas presents.
There was always something slightly unsettling, under the surface.
The word "propaganda" did not enter my mind, for a long time.
When I eventually got to the point that I could articulate this idea,
I thought it was a novel insight. When I started this poem,
and did web searches for the word-combination of "Rockwell"
and "propaganda", I was impressed at how much came back, to confirm
that the opinion was not simply mw own.
It was interesting to find a reference to the fact that Rockwell's
drawings seem remarkably similar to Soviet-era propaganda posters.
I had noticed the same thing, on my own.
I also have noticed - but did not find a web hit - that Rockwell's
drawings are also strikingly similar to Nazis propaganda posters.
I hope that no one makes the simple-minded conclusion that I am
trying to say that "Rockwell was a Nazis". The point is more
nuanced than that. Rockwell was not a Nazis. By the same token,
the parallel between Rockwell's images, and Soviet propaganda
images, and Nazis propaganda images, is not a meaningless coincidence.
I hope also that no one writes to break the big news that
the above web search results are referrencing various "Rockwells"
that have no literal relationship to Norman Rockwell. Well, duh-
that is supposed to be obvious. These references are partly for
humorous effect, but also they are also an impressionistic
way of making a point.
At one of the conservative websites referenced above, they argue
that poor Mr. Rockwell is picked on by horrible liberals who just
hate such virtue. They say that he just has different values
and is not engaging in "propaganda". They say that his work
was emphasizing positive things, not promoting hate. They point out
how he produced one sympathetic drawing about a young black person
trying to enter an all-white school.
The conservative argument (propaganda?) is not exactly devoid of
truth, just like Rockwell's drawings are not exactly devoid of truth.
The conservative blog is of course dripping with venomous contempt
and derision for all liberals, which is part of the problem that
is basic to moralists, religionists, and conservatives.
That attitude, "We believe in such wonderful things that we
cannot possibly be wrong. We represent such wholesome, good things
that anyone who sees otherwise must be evil."
It is a mindset that sees its own hate as being merely an
offended, superior virtue. It reacts with emotionalism to any
contradiction. It is so convinced of its own superior sense
that it cannot see when it is being completely irrational.
It is a pride that turns a blind eye to its own faults.
It starts to assume that it has a right to dominate, dictate,
take back, take over.
There are a couple tiers to propaganda.
On one hand, there are the cynical, deliberate propagandists who
know that they are twisting the truth and trying to manipulate
people. They do not mean a single word that they say.
Then, there are the indoctrinated parrots who learn to sing the
same tune, by rote and by ritual. In complete contrast,
they mean every word of what they say, from the bottom of
their hearts, no matter how preposterous it all might be.
They will bristle with resentment if you try to criticize
their sacred cows, no matter how overwhelmingly you can
document your case.
Which type of propagandist did Rockwell more resemble?
I suspect the latter- a basically nice and well-meaning
guy, with so much folksy charm on his eyeballs that he could
never see the heart of unimaginable rot that lurked
underneath it all. As much living in denial as mother visiting
a 39 year-old son and his roommate, asking when he is going
to find a nice girl, settle down, and get married.
Not that naive by reason of knowing that little. That naive
by virtue of retreating, insanely, into the comfort of a
pretense.
The immediate motivation for this poem came on the previous
weekend, when I was browsing through a Rockwell book,
in a Vermont bookstore.
I came upon his drawings of Ronald Reagan. I had not realized that
Rockwell was even still alive, when Reagan was President.
Rockwell made Reagan looks as folksy-American as a Thanksgiving
turkey getting plopped down in front of fresh, cherub-faced,
eager youngsters in a wholesome, traditional family, on Sunday.
Some drawings showed the good-humored, laughing Reagan.
Other showed the serious, determined, wise-leader Reagan,
looking like a very important historical figure.
I could not help but wonder what stirring thoughts
were going on in the mind of that serious, determined,
great historical leader:
* Ketchup is a vegetable
* Homosexuality is a tragic illness
* We start bombing Russia in 5 minutes
* I really miss the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities
I suppose that if you are cherub-faced young Huck Finn,
from a traditional family, on Thanksgiving Day, in Mayberry,
North Carolina, that is all there is to a figure like
Ronald Reagan: a folksy, decent leader.
It is always that way, if you fit in with a culture,
if you do not question the policies of your government,
if you are the right race and religion and sexual orientation.
I once listened to a bright young Russian student,
who said that everything was just fine under the communists.
I suppose it was, if you are not the one in Siberia or a gulag,
not a Jew, not a dissident. Oppressive countries are always
fine for the complacent and self-centered segments of the
population, who are not under the gun, for any reason.
The same would apply to fresh-faced, rosy-cheeked young
boy living in Nazis Germany. He would be filled with all
the same attitudes as any other country. His is proud
of his country, because that is his identity,
so nobody should dare to put it down. You prove yourself
a man by for serving bravely in your military. To question
your military's morality would undermine your manhood
and national pride.a
The terrible truth about someone like Adolph Hitler
is there would be little problem living under him, at all-
so long as you were not a Jew. So long as you did not
oppose him.
Why should anyone care about the Jews, like it a big deal?
They not not Christian. Therfore, they represent the spirit
of the anti-Christ, blah, blah, and therefore
do not deserve much sympathy when they are mistreated.
They are a corrupting force on all those fresh, rosy-cheeked
young German youths that we see in our patriotic posters.
America is not doing that with Jews, and is no longer
doing that with blacks. America tends to pat itself on the
back, and assume that it could not possibly be bigoted, because
of that fact.
Once, America had no big deal with Jew-hate, but it did have
a big deal with treating blacks as slaves. Nazis Germany did
not go nuts over black human beings, but did become insane over
its hatred of Jews.
America's relative lack of anti-Semitism during the days of slavery
did not redeem it from a soul-destroying problem. Nazis Germany's
relative lack of anti-black hatred during World War II did not
redeem it from a soul-destroying problem.
When Ronald Reagan became President, it was in large measure
credited to the "Moral Majority". At the time, the rhetoric of
the Moral Majority was that gays were "brute beasts" and that
Heaven would rejoice when they were annihilated.
I mentioned this to my own life-partner, who was skeptical that
even Jerry Falwell could have made such an extreme remark, and
asked me if I had a source.
I searched the web, a minute ago. At first, the only references
that I could find were web-sites that had listed my own essays
about it. I began to wonder if I could have been wrong about
the quote, because it seemed like only my own essays making
any issue about it. It took some digging, but eventually I found
a more exact attribution [1]. When I realized that the quote
was perfectly accurate, I was all the more indignant at the
thought that so few people seemed to care or think it to be
significant.
Another good friend of Ronald Reagan was then-Congressman
William Dannemeyer. Dannemeyer once had on a paid staff
a notorious homophobe by the name of Dr. Paul Cameron, who
had openly proposed literal mass-extermination if
"medically necessary to fight AIDS."
I submit that this is literally on a level of Nazis rhetoric
against the Jews. Ronald Reagan did not condemn the hate.
When he was not indulging in it himself, he was merely
seeking to reap politcal advantage from it.
A lot of Americans don't consider it to be the same, or to be
as important, when directed against gays. They justifiy
themselves by demonizing the opposition, pretending that
gays are so dirty, that all the attitudes are justified.
That is exactly what Confederates thought about blacks, also.
It is exactly what Nazis thought about Jews.
It is never unimportant. It is soul-defining. It is nation-destroying.
It is natural to find in a dying country, like ours.
Natural to find in governments who have a penchant
for starting ill-considered wars, who value military strength
above truth.
It is natural to find propagandist like Rockwell, pasting
reassuring, self-flattering images all over it.
Rockwell did not make drawings to demonize gays. Most Nazis
propaganda posters did not demonize Jews, either. They just
portrayed the Nazis youth with those same, rosy cheeks of
any Boy Scout.
Rockwell made drawings to glorify someone who was very closely
connected to people who did very much demonize gays.
Links in a chain, from the chains of oppression.
I wonder what Norman Rockwell would have thought about
a 15 year-old gay Boy Scout.
I would imagine that the words "homosexual" and "wholesome"
would have been as completely incompatible in Rockwell's mind,
as would be for a Confederate soldier to imagine an upright,
responsible African-American Congressman.
All that love of rosy-cheeked Boy Scouts would probably
have turned into a primal fear that wholesome young boys
would corrupted, perverted and defiled by deviate monsters
who were not considered to be a part of that folksy picture.
Very similar to the cheerful Nazis concept of "race defilers".
There was a sexual element to Hitler's hatred of the
Jews, you know, just as there was a sexual element to the
white racist's fears of black rapists. The primal-hate
sexual element is worst of all when the very identity
distinctions are based on sexuality.
I do not imagine that Rockwell would have had the kind of
hateful personality of a Jerry Falwell. He probably did focus
more on what he loved, not whom he hated. He wouldn't have had
any obsession to round up all the gays and put them in
concentration camps.
Most German citizens did not seethe with hatred, or have any
great desire to round up all the Jews, either. They just looked down
their noses at Jews, and managed not to notice the obvious,
when the Jews were finally being rounded up.
Rockwell apparently would have been the typical Good German who
was so full of love for the Fatherland, that he would not
criticize, especially not during a war. You never have the
responsibilty of wishing death to anyone. You just have to pretend
that you don't see the death being dispensed, like the average
American has been doing, for decades.
Rockwell could only lionize Reagan and create a hero-myth that
created a blind spot for societal attitudes that were nothing short
of monsterous.
What people think is a mere pimple on an otherwise perfect
beauty, is a malignant cancer that they allow to run untreated,
for failure to acknowledge what it really is.
REFERENCE
[1]
"But these things speak evil of those things, verse 10 [reading from Jude]
which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those
things they corrupt themselves. Look at the Metropolitan Community Church
today, the gay church, almost accepted into the World Council of Churches.
Almost, the vote was against them. But they will try again and again until
they get in, and the tragedy is that they would get one vote. Because they
are spoken of here in Jude as being brute beasts, that is going to the baser
lust of the flesh to live immorally, and so Jude describes this as apostasy.
But thank God this vile and satanic system will one day be utterly
annihilated and there'll be a celebration in heaven."
-- Rev. Jerry Falwell, "Old Time Gospel Hour" broadcast, March 11, 1984,
quoted by Rev. Jerry Sloan, "Is Jerry Falwell a liar?" Freedom Writer,
September, 1994
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