Janus Carnival Reprise

 

                                                     Janus, 

                                                    An original acrylics painting,on stretched canvas 

                                                    36" X 24" , unframed

                                                                          ( click on image to enlarge )

          Janus was the Roman god of two faces.  He had the ability to see into the 

future as well as the ability to look back into the past.  He was also the god of new 

beginnings, and he is the god for whom the first month of our calendar is named.

       Exactly three years ago, in January of 2021, I posted this painting of a carnival

attendee, fully costumed as Janus.  That was a month when the human carnival was

never more clearly on view for all to see, even for those who still refused to see the 

truth and act responsibly.  The covid  pandemic was in the process of killing millions

of people, and yet so many thoughtless dolts were partying on, endangering the lives of

of others besides themselves.  And then, on January the sixth, Donald Trump attempted

to overthrow the democratic government of the United States, by having his organized

militias attack the capitol building, injuring and killing it's defenders, in an attempt to

remove or kill the vice president and stop the electoral process, so that he could 

retain power.  

     How have we changed, in the three years since I last talked about Janus?  

Unfortunately,  the human carnival continues unabated, as so many of us remain blind 

to the future and unwilling to admit the mistakes of our past.  Donald Trump is still 

front and center in the news headlines.  He holds fascist political rallies, where he 

spouts quotations from Adolf Hitler, while at the same time he is attending his many 

trials for his criminal actions, trials he still continues to lose.  He compares his trials to 

the sufferings of Christ, as if he is being punished for the crimes of other people, 

and as if he is fighting for the right of his followers to be as blindly indoctrinated as 

they want to be. 

     Who are all of these MAGA idiots who have destroyed the Republican Party

and replaced it with the Trump Party?  They are an odd coalition of right-wing

extremists.   A major portion of them are the Evangelical Christians, who want to

turn our democracy into a theocracy, where they can take away our freedom of 

choice in every aspect of our daily lives, from what we are allowed to see and read

to what control we have over our own bodies and relationships.  They are willing to 

blindly overlook Trump's criminal and immoral behavior, and give him their support, 

because he packed the Supreme Court with religious conservatives who overturned 

women's rights to determine their own futures.  

     The other major portion of the MAGA tribe, consists of all of those who hate 

or fear everyone who they see as somehow too different from themselves to be

 worthy of the full rights of citizenship in this country.  These Trump fans are the 

racists, the xenophobes, the homophobes, and every other kind of phobic based 

personalities, who take comfort in Trump's promise that, with him, they will be 

able to take control, and somehow eliminate all of these wrong "others", 

who they see as the root of our national problems.

     Oddly enough, in one of Trump's recent, fascist speeches, somewhere 

between his favorite Hitler quotes, he attempted to reference some very

famous quotations, about remembering history, in order to avoid repeating it, 

but he mangled the words, of course.  He had three choices:  Edmund Burke 

said "Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it." ; George 

Santayana said "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to 

repeat it." ; and Winston Churchill said "Those who fail to learn from history 

are doomed to repeat it."  Although Trump didn't get the words out correctly, 

hearing them spoken by him might have had caused a more thoughtful audience 

to consider what a disaster Trump has been for the nation, and what a continuing 

disaster he would be if he should regain a position of power.  But Trump's 

followers do not have have the wise vision of a Janus.

      And so, the carnival continues.

                                                                     Eugene P. McNerney

 

 

 

The Bitter Landscapes

                      

     This week's guest artist is Old Man Winter.  His work is dominated by the cooler

colors of the palette, and he relies heavily on white, which he often applies with broad,

heavy brushstrokes.   Sometimes the surprise exhibitions of his impressive talents can

be a bit too much to take in, all at once.   His landscapes can often be sparkling and

beautiful, but they can also sometimes be stark and unforgiving.

     A couple of mornings ago, I looked out the window to discover a scene which

resembled the winter landscapes from David Lean's well known film of Dr. Zhivago. 

Tons of heavy, wet snow had blanketed our area during the night.  My front hedge

was nearly flattened, the evergreens were mounds of white, and the birch tree was 

pulled down nearly to the ground, by the weight of the snow.  I am still in the process

of digging out.

     I was fortunate that I did not lose power; many others were not so lucky.  The

utility linemen are still working to restore power and heat to the thousands of homes

which were trapped in the icy cold.  Fortunately for those families, the linemen 

seem to have been making good progress, because in the coming days ahead,

the daytime time temperatures here, will be in the single digits, and our nights will

drop well below zero.

     All of this is a reminder of the many thousands of people who are trapped in

the grip of Old Man Winter, without any relief in sight.  Vladimir Putin continues

to pound the civilians of Ukraine mercilessly, with hundreds of missiles and drones,

killing people and destroying their homes,  as he uses winter as an aid, to try 

and bend the Ukrainians to his will.   And at the same time in Gaza, the innocent

thousands of Palestinians, who are paying the price for the crimes of others, are

huddled shivering in makeshift shelters and tents, wondering if the next bomb to 

strike will be the one that gets them.

    Somehow, it is difficult to see the beauty in a fresh snowfall, when we know

that the winter is an added torture and painful burden, for so many people who

are less fortunate than ourselves.   The year 2024 is not starting out well.  Let's

hope it ends better than it is starting.

                                                            Eugene P. McNerney