More on Evangelical Extremism...

Sources and inspirations for this week's 'toon:

• The main inspiration was Jesus Camp, which I rented over the weekend. My reaction to this flick?
  
  Yikes.
  
  I usually don't get a visceral fright from horror movies... they're just kinda boring to me. I guess the scene in "The Ring" where the kid crawls out of the TV is pretty scary... and the scene in Hannibal where he feeds Ray Liotta his own brain made it hard for me to stomach food for a while. I also found Requiem for a Dream disturbing on many levels.
  
  But this movie... holy freaking crap. Let's just say I couldn't watch the whole thing all the way through in one sitting. It's that messed up. Of course, mostly because it ain't no horror movie... just the everyday lives of Evangelical extremists in America.
  
  As many have noted, by far the funniest part of the movie is at the beginning of the camp, when the white-bread freakazoid adults are getting their little minions pumped up to a Christian techno-rap tune with lyrics like "J.C.'s in da house!" and "We're kickin' it for CHRIST!"
  
  The laughs stop there, though...


• Check out a couple of articles by Chris Hedges, whose book American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America just came out in January. The first is on the radical Christian Right's use of middle and lower-class despair as a recruiting tool; for example, playing on the guilt and shame of women who've had abortions for the purpose of furthering an extremist ideology. In the second, Hedges talks about the radical Christian Right's infiltration of the military and police, which he says "signals the final and perhaps most deadly stage in the long campaign... to dismantle America's open society and build a theocratic state." While this may seem somewhat alarmist on the surface, he does make a compelling point that the "final aesthetic" of the radical Christian Right is violence.


• Check out Susan Jacoby on the plight of atheists in our society.
  
  See also Boltgirl on Makeover Ministries' movement to "inspire women to look good from the inside-out and to be Supermodels for Christ"... according to founder Tammy Bennett, who decks herself out "from head to toe in silver." Wow...

Fighting Words: 2/26/07 Cartoon

"The Evangelical Circus"...

More on Campaign Finance...

Sources and inspirations for this week's 'toon:

• Farhad Manjoo on a proposal by a pair of Yale professors on how to fix campaign finance -- give every American citizen $50 to donate anonymously to candidates of their choice. Among the revelations in this article, the author notes that Hillary Clinton has already announced that she is going to fund her campaign entirely through private contributions, and her rivals are likely to follow suit. Also, Russ Feingold continues to plug away at attempts to fix the system, but his ex-partner in the effort, John McCain (now, of course, himself a candidate for president), seems to have forgotten all about his former crusade.
  
  Check out Russ Baker on the top 10 corporate democratic strategists-for-hire, which shows just how far the Democrats' tentacles reach into the corporate world (despite being the party that is supposed to represent the interests of poor people). See also a couple of FindLaw articles on the Supreme Court's most recent encounters with Buckley and campaign finance reform: McConnell v. FEC and Randall v. Sorrell (with, of course, Scalia and Thomas leading the defense of the "free speech" rights of big money contributors). Finally, some multimedia: check out Bill Moyers' Capitol Crimes, and some NPR reports on campaign finance.


• I've been reading a lot lately about the presidential election of 1896, which many political scientists have considered to be a "realigning" election... I'm going to save most of the links for a later cartoon, but here's a good little article that links it to present-day events. It was the election that marked the birth of modern campaign finance, as William McKinley's campaign manager Mark Hanna appealed heavily to corporations for help in their run against progressive William Jennings Bryan. Hanna's famous quote: "There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money, and I can't remember what the second one is."
  
  Shocker of the century: Hanna is Karl Rove's personal hero...


• Some good articles trying to dissect the Obama phenomenon by Matt Taibbi and Patricia Williams, and one on John McCain's problems with Arizona Republicans by Max Blumenthal.


• If you don't already know about these sites, check out Vote-Smart, Politics 1, and (especially) Open Secrets. Lots of good info on all the candidates, including actual important facts beyond what Hillary's wearing or what Obama's middle name is: e.g. voting records, public statements on important issues, contributor info (w/ background on some of the corporations and their interests), and the top industries contributing to each candidate.

Fighting Words: 2/19/07 Cartoon

"Corporations: Protectors of Free Speech and the Electoral Process"...

Check out the previous "Corporation Guys" episodes:

Holy cannoli!!

Rage getting back together?

That would just about make my decade...

Say what?

This story came out last week, but I haven't seen much outrage over it:

Apparently, back in 2003/2004, the Federal Reserve airlifted gigantic shipments of cold, hard cash to the new "government" of Iraq, amounting to $4 billion and weighing 363 tons.

Fast-forward to the present day, as the ever weather-beaten people of New Orleans stand, mouths-agape, asking "are you fucking kidding me?!" while levee repair money gets shifted around to various projects.

But then, they're just being "ungrateful," right?

Holy crap...

More on the military, Watada...

Sources and inspirations:

• This week's 'toon was based largely on the case of Ehren Watada, the Fort Lewis soldier who was court-martialed last week after refusing to be deployed with his unit to Iraq. The prosecutor in the case says that Watada "disgraced himself and the military." Of course, the obvious question is: if Watada has disgraced the military, then what in the effing hell has George W. Bush done?!
  
  This aspect of military law is pretty murky. Of course, soldiers cannot be governed under the same set of laws as the rest of us -- the chain of command has to be preserved. At the same time, soldiers clearly have a duty to refuse unlawful orders, a principle established by the Nuremburg trials. As a result, those soldiers who are men of conscience are put in an impossible position when a reckless and insane Commander-in-Chief orders them to commit illegal actions. And, in the end, the consequences for those actions fall completely on the soldiers' shoulders when the administration leaves them out to dry. "Support the troops" indeed...
  
  Taking all these points into account, Watada probably should go to prison, something he seems entirely willing to do. George W. Bush should go to prison, too, but my psychic tells me that's never gonna happen. My gut tells me that the mistrial was orchestrated by the government, which was faced with a high-profile trial that would put a huge spotlight on the most objectionable aspects of this already unpopular war and turn the kid into a martyr when they sent him to prison. I'm suggesting that the confession was "botched" to make it all go away quietly. I don't really have any "evidence" for this, but that doesn't seem to be a big deal in investigative journalism these days.


• Check out a whole heap 'a older articles from Mother Jones on the military and the Pentagon's recruitment crisis. JoAnn Wypijewski reminds us that "the fundamental lesson [of Vietnam]... is that soldiers forced to become criminals for old men's ambitions won't all come home quietly." David Goodman gives us the backstory on Iraq soldiers who believe that the adventure there is illegal and immoral, including one who has to worry about getting run over on the streets of his hometown because he voiced his belief. See also Jonathan Stein's interview with documentary filmmaker David Zeiger.


• Diane Farsetta on the U.S. Army's new sales tactic for potential recruits: encourage them to ignore their parents and other people who don't think the Iraq War is a very good thing.

Fighting Words: 2/12/07 Cartoon

"Who's the Most Screwed?, #2"...

Previous episode here:

Speaking of "Journalism"...

Here's a question: you guys in the teevee "news" business realize that Anna Nicole Smith was not a former president, right? Or a Supreme Court Justice... or a foreign dignitary... or a Pope... or a Nobel Laureate... or a soldier who died in the line of duty.

I don't want to speak ill of the dead... let's just put it this way: I was not offended or annoyed by the coverage of Barbaro's death. But this is like something out of the freakin' Twilight Zone...

You guys have officially gone 'round the bend...

More on Journalistic Integrity...

Sources and inspirations for this week's 'toon:

• Check out two excellent columns by Matt Taibbi on the right-wing media's formula of "fear, titillation, and self-loathing," and on the conspicuous lack of any legal consequences for their pseudo-journalistic hate speech. See also a post by Glenn Greenwald on right-wing pundits as the world's foremost experts on "what Americans want."


• Robert Parry and Eric Boehlert on the right-wing media's Obama preoccupation, and some unfortunate news for Fox News as their ratings begin to plummet (See this? It's the world's smallest violin playing just for them).


• Satta Sarmah on "The Cowardly Wolf," and Media Matters on CNN's eager-to-please attitude on White House talking points.
  
  See also Michelle Pilecki on another poor excuse for an interview, NPR's Juan Williams with President Lunkhead.


• In case you had any doubt, Molly Ivins was a "swan." Check out a couple of her older terrific columns on Rush Limbaugh's misuse of satire and the Bush administration's treatment of the media.
  
  Matthew Rothschild has a collection of her greatest quotes (my favorite: "The only thing to do is fight harder and smarter."). See also tributes from Paul Krugman and The Nation.

Fighting Words: 2/5/07 Cartoon

"Wild Planet 5: The Ugly Duckling Syndrome"...

See the previous episodes:

More on Iraq, Iran, and War as a Children's Game...

Lots and lots of inspirations and sources for this week's 'toon:

• There were a few issues I wanted to touch on but couldn't work into the story, such as Bush's decision to send two aircraft carrier groups to the waters off Iran and his order to kill Iranian operatives in Iraq (which is called a "purely political" move). However, check out a terrific column by Robert Parry on the "logic" behind Bush's efforts to ratchet up tensions in the region.


• Why would he do this? Because, of course, Cheney and the neo-cons want it that way. Apparently, back in 2003, the White House had an opportunity for "a diplomatic prize of unparalleled proportions" -- a reasonable negotiated settlement with Iran. Of course, they blew it off because they were still expecting to be greeted with rose petals in Baghdad (with an encore in Tehran), and because Cheney said they "don't negotiate with evil." Juan Cole says: "For the Love of God Impeach this Man."
  
  In case you were wondering, the third Li'l Bushie along with George and Dick is Bill Kristol... not the best caricature ever, but it was my first time drawing him. Check out a post by Glenn Greenwald on the resurgence of neo-con influence over White House foreign policy decisions. In particular, Fred Kagan is said to have "won the ear of the President" on Iraq and Iran, which is not good news for any of us.


• I purposely avoided talking about the legality of the Iraq escalation or a possible Iran attack (I'll save that for another 'toon), but check out another excellent post by Glenn Greenwald on those issues.


• Is George W. Bush CRAZY? Justin A. Frank, M.D. says that he does indeed exhibit sociopathic tendencies, in the sense that he is someone who "exhibits external and surface empathy and amiability, but internally cannot actually empathize with the pain and suffering of others." He is one of many who say Bush has now adopted a "bunker mentality," and he argues that Dubya turns everyone who disagrees with him into his father (for example, James Baker).


• For in-depth analysis of the situation on the ground in Iraq, check out an article by Matt Taibbi, who argues that the whole idea that more troops will do any good in Iraq is "absurd on its face." He says that the majority of the troops there are holed up it Forward Operating Bases, simply trying to keep themselves safe, and that they are not actively engaged in keeping Iraq secure. The ones who go out on road patrol have been reduced to cannon fodder, forced to cross their fingers and hope they don't get blown up while driving around in circles.


• Notice any similarities between the current rhetoric on Iran and the Vietnam-era rhetoric on Cambodia and Laos? You're not imagining it...
  
  James Ridgeway argues that the Iraq surge may be a Kissinger ploy, in the sense that Bush "will plunge into a counterinsurgency operation in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq, and then amidst mass civilian carnage, declare victory and announce negotiations." I think the apparent resurgence of neo-con influence makes this a less likely possibility.


• Do the Dems really have to cut off funding for the troops? Marty Lederman argues that they simply have to "pass an appropriations rider providing that no funds may be used to increase the number of troops in Iraq."


• Lastly, check out a typically outstanding column by Molly Ivins, who apparently is not doing well right now. She's one of the greats... give it a read.

...and probably more that I missed. Read a lot last week...

Fighting Words: 1/29/07 Cartoon

"Li'l Bushies 3: Real Men Go To Tehran"...

See the previous episodes here (4/17/06) and here (10/3/05).

Go Peyton...

Even though they ejected both of my teams from the NFL playoffs, I never really had much of a reason to seriously hate the Bears... until now. Now, all I want is to see these fat, sub-human asshole "superfans" crying on their deep-dish pizzas, which they will disgustingly gorge themselves with (on their way to "yet anudder 'eart attack") to drown their sorrows after their miserable team gets the ass-kicking it deserves. I want to see Rex Grossman get sacked 89 times...

(thanks to Myia for story)

In other New Orleans-related news, it seems the Prez-dent has completely forgotten the events that started his approval ratings on their gradual descent to Nixon country. Kudos to Jim Webb for being the first and only member of Congress that I have heard say explicitly what I was trying to express in this 'toon, that maybe we should use our money to take care of our own before dropping more into the black hole that is Iraq.

Here's a good place to start...

More on Predicting the Future with Bush...

A few articles relating to this week's 'toon caught my eye...

Most of us know at least a few reasonable people who simply refuse to believe that certain terrible things could ever happen in our great American society, especially in "this day and age." They dismiss any notion that these things could happen as being "alarmist" or "science fiction." Things like the United States government maliciously spying on its own citizens en masse, not in any imperative quest to keep them safe from an outside threat, but rather in an effort to check political speech and document dissent. Or like our own government manufacturing a fake international incident in order to intentionally provoke a war, in an effort to fulfill dubious political goals. Or like our own government responding to a terrible disaster befalling its citizens, and basing its response on the racial makeup or political demographics of the citizens involved (let alone intentionally exacerbating the disaster in an effort to harm certain citizens). Generally, I think one should try to listen to such people, and take what they say into account... some conspiracy theories are, in fact, absurd.

EXCEPT WHEN WE ALREADY KNOW OUR GOVERNMENT HAS DONE THESE THINGS IN THE PAST:

• I already talked about the "Crusty" response to allegations of mass surveillance a few weeks ago...
  
  Check out this article by Paul Craig Roberts on the possibility that the Bush administration may be trying to engineer another "Gulf of Tonkin" incident in an effort to provoke all-out war with Iran, or perhaps another "U.S.S. Liberty" incident in partnership with Israel:
  

  In 1967 Israel attacked and destroyed the US intelligence ship Liberty, because Liberty'’s crew had picked up proof that Israel had initiated the war with Egypt and intended to attack Syria the next day. Some have speculated that Israelis hoped their attack on the Liberty could be blamed on Egypt and used to draw the US into the war against Egypt.
  In 2003 the Moorer Commission, headed by Admiral Tom Moorer, former Chief of Naval Operations and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, concluded:
  "That in attacking the USS Liberty, Israel committed acts of murder against American servicemen and an act of war against the United States.
  "That fearing conflict with Israel, the White House deliberately prevented the U.S. Navy from coming to the defense of USS Liberty.
  "“the Captain and surviving crew members were later threatened with court-martial, imprisonment or worse if they exposed the truth; and were abandoned by their own government.
  "That due to the influence of Israel'’s powerful supporters in the United States, the White House deliberately covered up the facts of this attack from the American people.
  "“That a danger to our national security exists whenever our elected officials are willing to subordinate American interests to those of 'any foreign nation, and specifically are unwilling to challenge Israel'’s interests when they conflict with American interests.'"”
  On the 30th anniversary of Israel's destruction of the liberty, Admiral Moorer said that Israel attacked the Liberty because Israel knew that the intelligence ship could intercept Israel's plans to seize the Golan Heights from Syria, an act of Israeli aggression to which the US government was opposed. Admiral Moorer said, "“I believe Moshe Dayan concluded that he could prevent Washington from becoming aware of what Israel was up to by destroying the primary source of acquiring that information--the US Liberty. Moorer reports that after a 25 minute air attack '“that pounded the Liberty with bombs, rockets, napalm and machine gun fire . . . three Israeli torpedo boats closed in for the kill . . . the torpedo boats'’ machine guns also were turned on life rafts that were deployed into the Mediterranean as well as those few on deck that had escaped damage."
  Admiral Moorer says, "“What is so chilling and cold-blooded, of course, is that they [Israel] could kill as many Americans as they did in confidence that Washington would cooperate in quelling any public outcry."



• A bombshell from Brownie, as he reveals that political concerns were ultimately driving decisions on the federal response to the Katrina disaster. To be honest, Brownie has about as much credibility on the issue right now as the White House does. And his accusation is that the White House wanted to federalize New Orleans, which I really wish they would have done much earlier in the process. However, Brownie's gradual revealing of previously hidden facts has the feel of an inside story that we haven't heard the last of, in the sense that there may have been many more decisions that were made based on political concerns. It's stories like this that make me more inclined to buy into suggestions like those made by Spike Lee in When the Levees Broke, that the levees were intentionally blown in an effort to fundamentally change the political makeup of Louisiana.
  
  I mean, would you really put it past them?

Fighting Words: 1/22/07 Cartoon

"The Amazing Madame Zorah"...

"Classic" Fighting Words this week... doing some stirring on my creative juices, while also trying make a little progress on the 18,000 ongoing projects that I've been working on. Back soon with some bloggy goodness for you...

More on the New Orleans crime wave...

A few bits of New Orleans-related news for this week's 'toon:

• A number of commentaries on the recent spate of murders, including a couple by friends of independent filmmaker Helen Hill. One man's description of the wounded city that is fighting for it's survival: "New Orleans is dying, y'all." The violence was the impetus for a series of marches to City Hall on Thursday, attended by up to 3,000 people, including a few friends of mine.
  
  It's unclear from my reading this week whether more federal assistance would help with the current crime wave, or whether it's purely a local problem. However, by most accounts, a large part of the problem resides with the "cash-strapped" judicial system, including a public defender's office that is stretched so thin that judges are having to hold them in contempt when they fail to show up for hearings. It's hard to believe that the federal government couldn't help with this in some way, a feeling echoed by some of the people at the marches, who carried signs seemingly directed at District Attorney Eddie Jordan saying "FEDERALIZE NOLA." Regardless, there is a clear consensus that flagging attention from the rest of the country on New Orleans' continuing difficulties does not help matters...


• Commentary from HuffPo on the cost of Bush's escalation (let's call this what it is... it ain't no temporary "surge"). The administration is saying $5.6 billion, with another $100 billion needed in the near future. These little estimates are pretty meaningless in the long run... the total cost of the war is going to be at least $500 billion, and probably much, much more depending on how long we stay (which works out to at least $1,666.67 per American). All of which is deficit-financed, the interest on which, of course, we pay for as well. All for George W. Bush's futile attempt to save his political legacy...
  
  I can only think of a few million things I'd rather have my money spent on, how about you?

Fighting Words: 1/15/07 Cartoon

"Metaphor Theatre: America Goes to the Doctor"...


Posting this one a little early so I can devote my Sunday to watching the Seahawks lose. Irregardless, if by some miracle they actually win, my loyalties will shift back to the Saints next weekend...

Incovenient Ignorance

Welcome to Federal Way, WA, home of a very special people commonly known as White Trash. Shockingly, the Federal Way school district has placed a moratorium on the showing of An Inconvenient Truth, after a couple of parents complained about their children being indoctrinated with such "controversial" ideas:

"Condoms don't belong in school, and neither does Al Gore. He's not a schoolteacher," said Frosty Hardison, a parent of seven who also said that he believes the Earth is 14,000 years old. "The information that's being presented is a very cockeyed view of what the truth is. ... The Bible says that in the end times everything will burn up, but that perspective isn't in the DVD."

Fortunately, the likelihood that any of Frosty's seven kids are going to grow up to be in a position to make decisions for the rest of us on such issues of consequence is extremely remote. Parents like Frosty will likely have their greatest ambitions for their children realized when little 15 year-old Joe Dirt or Tiffani-Ann gets ripped on Stroh's at the big monster truck extravaganza at the Tacoma Dome, and then knocks up (or gets knocked up by) their cousin in the back of a 1984 Pontiac Firebird with a "Calvin pissing" sticker in the back window.

Good job, folks!

More on domestic surveillance...

For this week's 'toon, I wanted to stay away from the legal issues (which I touched on in this 'toon) and the theoretical social problems (which I talked about here) involved with the N.S.A.'s domestic spying program, so I could focus on issues like historical context and scope. But that doesn't mean I didn't read some good stuff on those other issues...

• Check out Glenn Greenwald on the gutsy decision a couple months ago by District Court Judge Anna Diggs Taylor, which flat rejected almost all of Bush's domestic spying program on almost all grounds. The fact that she even held that the program violates the First and Fourth Amendments is important because this would not be overcome by a Specter "compromise" bill (that, seemingly, would just let Bush do whatever he wants anyway). See more great stuff on the Taylor decision from Julie Hilden (twice).
  
  The decision was stayed until it could be reviewed by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, which apparently will happen on January 31st. From there, it will probably go to the Supreme Court...


• Guess what? George W. Bush just declared in a signing statement that he has the right to open your mail without a warrant... and you bet your ass he's gonna do it. At what point have we officially crossed the line from "free society" to "police state?" Will someone let me know when it happens?


• Robert Parry on the previously proposed Total Information Awareness program, which was to include the use of "transactional data" (financial, educational, travel, medical, etc.) and "biometric signatures" (faces, fingerprints, gaits, and irises). The proposed office even set off alarms with the Da Vinci code conspiracy crowd, who noted the Masonic symbol in the logo and the ominous acronym that was going to be used.


• As far as I can tell, the use of surveillance cameras has not been identified as being part of the N.S.A.'s current snooping activities... but would you put it past them? Apparently, it's not outside the realm of possibility in the Western world these days... some sources say there are over 4 million surveillance cameras overlooking the streets in the UK, many with listening capabilities. I've noticed a few here and there in downtown Seattle... who do they belong to?


• Lots on the historical context of the current N.S.A. program, including this super-cool site from GWU with documents describing previous programs such as ECHELON, SHAMROCK, MINARET, CHAOS, and COINTELPRO. It also recounts the genesis of the FISA law that Dubya is openly violating, which, at the time of its development, was (of course) vehemently opposed by then-Ford staffers Don Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney.
  
  As one would expect, the ACLU has an excellent page on warrantless wiretapping, and also check out this cool online documentary from Julian Bond. See also Tim Shorrock on the scope and history of such programs.

See also my previous posts on this stuff...

Fighting Words: 1/8/07 Cartoon

"Crusty McCrotchety on Domestic Surveillance"...

Trying something a little different artistically again... see the previous Crusty episode here.

Energy follow-up...

Apparently, energy is going to be a "central theme" in the upcoming State of the Union, to the extent that Dubya sez it's gonna "knock your socks off!"

How's that going to happen? Well, I'm no Pat Robertson or anything when it comes to divining the future, but I can take a wild stab...

• ANWR! (there goes one sock)... which will buy us a whole extra year doing what we do until we get our


• Super-cool futuristic hydrogen cells! (and sock #2 goes)

There's a classic scene in Who Killed the Electric Car of Dubya at a highly-scripted photo-op, chatting with a blue-collar Joe about the super-cool futuristic hydrogen cells around the corner that will change all of our lives. Meanwhile, Rove skulks in the background on his cell phone, plotting... something.

Think Progress has a good list of Bush's sock-shedding shockers on energy through the years.

More on energy alternatives, conservation...

My main inspiration for this week's 'toon was "Who Killed the Electric Car," which I had a chance to watch last week. It's a generally well-argued documentary that raises a lot of questions about GM's systematic campaign in the early 90's to sabotage their own product, the EV1. A few of these questions remained unanswered for me at the end of the film, but I'd still highly recommend it simply for the fact that it sheds light on events that are not often discussed. Why the hell don't we have these electric cars (which are relatively low-tech, clean, fast, and quiet) all over the highways today? Why did nobody pay attention when a California zero emissions law was killed by a taxpayer surcharge opposition group (which later turned out to be a front for big oil)? For his part, Ralph Nader, who's been fighting on these issues for years, offers an explanation: car companies and big oil make too much money from "technological stagnation" to have any incentive to change.

Here also are some articles to check out:

• Bill McKibbon in the Sierra Club magazine on energy alternatives. His main point seems to be that most magic energy solutions like hydrogen cells and ethanol are economically unfeasible, and would save as much energy as just a little bit of organized conservation.


• A great article in Mother Jones by Dennis Gaffney on "hypermilers," a group of nutty guys who are obsessed with squeezing the absolute most out of a tank of gas, and who enter competitions to test the limits. As fanatical as they are, there's a bunch of handy tips in there that I wish everybody would utilize... like all the freakin' idiots who sit idling in McDonald's drive-thrus.
  
  Of course, I also finally watched "Super-Size Me" last week, so that raises a whole other thing...


• A blog post on Sen. Inhofe's parting shots at the environment and, y'know, people who like the environment.


• John F. Borowski on the National Science Teachers Association's refusal to distribute "An Inconvenient Truth."


• Robert Bryce on "The Ongoing Myth of Energy Independence."

Fighting Words: 1/1/07 Cartoon

"Fuzzy Fossil Fuels"... see the previous Fuzzy episode here.

Or, go check out all the Fuzzy fantastic-ness:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11...

More on Conservatism as a Failed Ideology...

Some excellent sources for this week's 'toon, as we're witnessing some relevant breaking news on Gerald Ford's death:

• Ford's death is relevant, of course, because of Henry Kissinger's role in the Nixon and Ford administrations, which I also touched on in a previous cartoon. Many have argued over the years that Kissinger's involvement in the clandestine carpet-bombing of Cambodia and Laos during the Vietnam War and the 1973 Chilean coup have earned him an appearance before an international war crimes tribunal. It seems he can't go abroad these days without someone trying to indict him. And, according to Bob Woodward, this is the guy who has been advising Bush and Cheney lately on the best way to proceed in Iraq.


• Check out the terrific introduction to Sidney Blumenthal's new book, How Bush Rules: Chronicles of a Radical Regime, a comprehensive retelling of the story of "the most willfully radical president in American history." The good points are too numerous to list, but he does note in the beginning that among Bush's 2000 campaign promises was to be a more "humble nation" with regards to foreign policy, and also to bring an end to the Clinton administration's policy of violating the civil liberties of Arabs accused of terrorism. Wow.


• A generally well-argued piece by Alan Wolfe entitled "Why Conservatives Can't Govern," which makes the claim that contemporary conservatism is a fundamentally contradictory ideology, in the sense that the conservatives who hold office must operate within the same federal government that they want to make "small enough to drown in a bathtub." As a result, he says, they attempt to "split the difference" by operating the government in a way that gives them the most political gain, for example, by giving tax cuts to billionaires. His best example in support of this hypothesis is FEMA, an agency that worked so well under the Clinton administration, but under Bush was reduced to a skin-and-bones operation run by the former head of the International Arabian Horse Association. The problem is that the Bush administration was trying to run an agency when they were fundamentally opposed to that agency's mission.


• Gary Kamiya's obituary of neoconservatism (which I think may be a bit premature). The neocons' foreign policy game plan is characterized by a belief that Americans hold a monopoly on nationalism, and by a purposeful ignorance of the varying cultural and historical contexts among different groups within the Arab-Muslim world. Which partially explains why, when we were attacked by a bunch of Saudis, we attacked Iraq...


• Kevin Baker on the conservative art of "the back-stab."


• A couple of articles on the back-story behind Robert Gates by Eric Alterman and Robert Parry, and a couple on Newt "the Outsider" Gingrich by Alex Koppelman and John M. Broder.

Fighting Words: 12/25/06 Cartoon

"Conserv-B-Gone!"... check out some other commercial parodies here, here, and here.

Runnin' a little late here, but it's crazy holiday time... I figured everyone would be opening presents anyway, or eating turkey, or drinking heavily.

To everyone who takes the time to read my cartoons every week: Merry Groksmas!... y'all are much loved. Stay tuned for the new year, should be some fun developments coming in the Fighting Words world...

More on Conservatism as a Failed Ideology... ?

I'll save my weekly list of sources and inspirations for next week, because I think I'll touch on the subject again. I haven't been half-assing lately, trust me... suffice it to say, widespread power outages and webcomics don't go well together. Makes it kinda hard to scan your artwork if you can't turn your scanner on...

So, that was my big cheat: this week's 'toon was made almost entirely by cobbling together extraneous artwork from previous cartoons. Yeah, I s'pose I could have driven an hour to a Kinko's that may or may not have had power, but I was sick, and didn't have time, and blah blah blah boo-hoo piss/moan...

All I'm saying is if I have to do another cartoon next week with no power, I'm gonna be really mad. You hear me Puget Sound Energy? You wouldn't like me when I'm angry...

Fighting Words: 12/18/06 Cartoon

"George W. Bush's It's a Wonderful Life"...

This one was actually a pretty big cheat for me, but I have a good excuse. Explanation coming...

All About the Art...

Ummm... how does this guy draw with a pen?

Actually, I really don't want to know...


(thanks to Jess)

More on religious pluralism, media figures...

Cartoons like this week's sometimes end up as writing disasters for me (although this one turned out OK). I start out with good intentions, with the goal of making an argument on a substantive subject like religious pluralism in our society, but inevitably I get into the realm of media figures who make it their objective to eliminate pluralism. It's all downhill from there, as I find myself slogging through various quotes and yammerings by the Glenn Becks and Bill O'Reillys and James Dobsons of the world, in an effort to make the language coincide with the particular caricature. Eventually, my original point gets lost. I think it's just the nature of certain formats that lead to this result sometimes...

On the other hand, I believe I have made a discovery: the "mental pressure point" to induce vomiting. The other day, I learned a pressure point on the lower forearm that prevents vomiting, sneezing, coughing, etc... now I've discovered its opposite! So, if you want to barf, either chug 10 shots of Jagermeister, or read these:

• Extensive coverage of the War on Christmas, including Simon Maloy blowing the cover off our collective, double-secret, secular-progressive agenda, and Media Matters on Bill O'Reilly's exposing of "the worst kind of fascism you could possibly have."


• Alexander Zaitchik on the "distressing" discovery by the leaders of the religious right that less than 10% of born-again Christians actually have a good understanding of what the Bible says. Yeah... shocking. Included are a number of classic quotes by James Dobson, aka "The Truth":
  

  "Only by understanding the immutable truth claims of Christ," says Dobson in The Truth Project's promotional video, can Christians successfully defend against the "postmodern worldview" in which "God does not exist," "the family is defined as any circle of love," and "homosexuality is the moral equivalent of heterosexuality."
  
  "If we capture and embrace more of God's worldview and trust it with unwavering faith," says Dobson, "then we begin to ... form the appropriate responses to questions on abortion, same-sex marriage, cloning, stem-cell research and even media choices." But the real prize is bigger than any one issue. By fully embracing Truth, religious conservatives can "recapture Western Civilization," which they "invented but have lost."

  Of course, in reality, Dobson could care less whether people read the Bible or not, as long as they buy into him being one of the ultimate authorities of what the Bible really says. It's a means of control... nothing else.


• An action alert from FAIR on Glenn Beck's comment to newly elected U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress: "Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies." We also learn that Beck really likes the scene in The Siege where Muslims are herded into stadiums and put behind razor-wire... maybe a little too much, if you get my drift.


• George Johnson, on the suggestion by some that "science needs to take on an evangelical role, vying with religion as teller of the greatest story ever told"... in effect creating a religion of science.
  
  I'm not sure that surrendering the moral high-ground is necessarily the right way to go here, guys.


• A CBS News report on the inside story of David Kuo, Bush's former head of Faith-Based Initiatives.


• Paul Krugman on John McCain's kowtow-ing to Jerry Falwell.
  
  The more I read about McCain, the more nervous he makes me...

Oh, yeah... and the article saying that scientists have determined Neanderthals were indeed cannibals.

Fighting Words: 12/11/06 Cartoon

"NEANDERCONS, #3"...

It's been a while... check out the older episodes here and here, which are a wee bit different.

Good Actor

This is a few days old, but I found it amusing.

Of course, the immediate reaction for a lot of us is: "Gee, I do that all the time, but I didn't know there was money available for it"...

More on war profiteering...

My main source for this week's 'toon was the latest documentary from Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films, Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers, which I was able to view thanks to my friends at Not A Number (who, by the way Seattle folks, carry my latest t-shirts and buttons!).

The arguments are well-made throughout this excellent film, but there were also several images that I hadn't seen before that I found interesting. One was the image of thousands of private contractors' supply trucks doing daily routes in and out of various areas in Iraq, like a scene out of Road Warrior. It gave a good sense of the wastefulness of the profiteers' daily activities there, as many of the trucks continued to do their routes on the taxpayers' dime even though they were nearly or completely empty.

A second image that I found striking was that of scores of soldiers at a camp somewhere in the sweltering heat of Iraq, who were forced to stand in huge lines every day at chow time because the contractor was so slow with their food service. Meanwhile, many of these companies' employees and executives were living in conditions that were, shall we say, a bit more luxurious.

One last item that found its way into the cartoon was the segment on the use of "burn pits," which I found particularly stomach-turning. I don't want to give the whole movie away, though... go see it!

Here also are some articles to check out:

• Two Alternet articles, one on the 10 Most Brazen War Profiteers, and another on #1 on that list, C.A.C.I. International, who has recently been on a legal warpath in an effort to intimidate their critics in the media and blogosphere.


• James Glanz on the closing of the government office that was meant to oversee these private contractors in Iraq, and Paul Krugman on Bechtel folding up the tent and going home, which he says means that "the U.S.-led reconstruction effort in Iraq is basically over."


• An interview with Jeffrey St. Clair, who, in the process of talking about the "sub-atomic" intertwining of politicians and corporations, interestingly calls John McCain "the most fraudulent politician in Washington."

Fighting Words: 12/4/06 Cartoon

"Profiteer: Corporate Contractor!"...

See some previous video game spoofs here, here, and here. I love this format, but I've never actually owned a video game console of any kind. I have wasted many an hour playing other peoples' machines, though...

P.S.A.

A message for all you kids out there: if you're going to smoke crack, make sure you don't wander naked into a swamp in Florida. Apparently, the giant alligators down there just sit and pick off wandering naked crackheads like they're popcorn. Remember, a safe naked crackhead... is a happy naked crackhead.

The more you know...


(thanks to Jess)

Shocker

Wondering how the Supreme Court's hearing on global warming is going? Take a wild guess...

Milkey faced skeptical questioning from Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., the court's newest members, but the most sustained -- and entertaining -- interrogation came from Scalia.

At one point, he acknowledged the role of carbon dioxide as a pollutant in the air but wondered about it being a pollutant in the "stratosphere."

"Respectfully, Your Honor, it is not the stratosphere. It's the troposphere," Milkey said.

"Troposphere, whatever. I told you before I'm not a scientist," Scalia said to laughter. "That's why I don't want to have to deal with global warming, to tell you the truth."

...

Justice Stephen G. Breyer said a change of heart by the EPA could set off a string of similarly small decisions by other agencies, "each of which has an impact, and lo and behold, Cape Cod is saved." He seemed most sympathetic to the states' case, along with Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Justice Clarence Thomas, who as usual asked no questions, is presumed to be in line with Scalia, Roberts and Alito. That leaves Justice Anthony M. Kennedy as a pivotal vote in whether the states have proven they have standing for the case to go forward.

The title "Your Honor" sort of loses all meaning when it's used in reference to Scalia, doesn't it?

More on Class War, the Yuppanzee...

Some information relating to this week's 'toon, on everybody's favorite materialistic monkeys:

• Lots from Paul Krugman, including a lecture aired on Democracy NOW, and columns on class war politics, on "tax farming", on the education/income myth, and on the history of economic inequality in America. His most commonly made argument is that we are currently witnessing levels of economic inequality and elitism that have not been seen since the Gilded Age of the '20s and '30s. As an example, he points to the Gilded Age mansions of Greenwich, Connecticut, which had been given up after that period to become museums and government buildings because people could no longer afford them as private homes, but are now being knocked down to build even bigger modern-day mansions for the uber-wealthy.


• Two articles from Mother Jones on "the subsuming of the political process to the corporate agenda" (quoting Thom Hartmann from his book on "corporate personhood," Unequal Protections).


• A really fascinating article on "slum ecology" by Mike Davis, which I have been trying to work into a cartoon, but still haven't really been able to do it. The piece talks about large cities in third-world countries (such as Buenos Aires, Johannesburg, Caracas, and Rio de Janeiro), where conditions are such that millions of impoverished residents are forced to relinquish all acceptable standards of safety and health in favor of a place to live:

  They are pioneers of swamps, floodplains, volcano slopes, unstable hillsides, desert fringes, railroad sidings, rubbish mountains, and chemical dumps —unattractive and dangerous sites that have become poverty's niche in the ecology of the city.

  Reading this article, the one thing that kept coming to mind was "New Orleans"... in other words, this is the answer to people who asked after Katrina, "how could this happen in the United States?" The answer is that things were not so good in New Orleans before the storm, and, just maybe, on the whole, this country is not so "great" after all...
  

See also some late articles on similar topics by Louis Uchitelle, William Greider, and Matthew Rothschild, which may end up as inspirations for the next episode of "Yuppanzees"...

Fighting Words: 11/27/06 Cartoon

"The Great American Yuppanzee #2"... see more of the Yuppanzee here!

See also the previous anthropological study of the people of the heartland here, here, and here.

Oh yeah, I have a blog...

I think the tryptophan has done fogged-up my brain... I totally forgot I had a blog to update. Here are a few articles that have caught my eye, that probably won't end up in cartoons:

• I ain't no "feminist" (not that I disagree with them, it's just not a focus of inquiry for me), but this is pretty messed up. What century is this again?
  
  See also some analysis of the Supreme Court's upcoming decision on the Partial Birth Abortion Act.


• Turns out Seattle isn't so environmentally enlightened after all...
  
  And everybody who spent time in Thanksgiving traffic this week lets out a collective "DUUUUUUHHHHHH".........


• Introducing the new home of the Utah Jazz, EnergySolutions Arena, aka "The Dump"...

More on signing statements, executive privilege, and the MCA...

Lotsa great sources for this week's toon, first on signing statements:

• John Dean, Dave Lindorff, and Tim Harper on the more than 750 laws that have been waved away by a president who apparently believes (or, I should say, has been coached to believe, since there is no way he could comprehend such complex legal issues on his own) that the Constitution grants him all the powers of the presidency enumerated in Article II, plus all the ones in Articles I and III that supposedly talk about "Legislative Power" and "Judicial Power."


• Charlie Savage, who broke the story wide open (or would have, if the rest of the mainstream media had bothered to pay any attention) with some excellent reporting in the Boston Globe.


• Edward Lazarus on the general havoc wreaked by the administration on the Constitution, part of a "triple-whammy" where they systematically stamp out civil liberties and executive accountability while dramatically increasing government secrecy.

On executive privilege, or possibly related topics:

• Think Progress with a clip of Cheney on the Stephanopoulos show, saying that neither he nor his little buddy would be appearing before Congress if subpoenaed.


• Michael Dorf and John Dean on the administration's past experiences with executive privilege, mostly dealing with Cheney's Energy Task Force meetings.

And on the Military Commissions Act:

• Two in a series of excellent essays by Joanne Mariner on the Bush administration's attempts to chip away at Common Article III of the Geneva Conventions, or at least their obligation to comply with it via the War Crimes Act.


• Good commentary on the subject from Molly Ivins and Glenn Greenwald, and Nick Turse on the "American Prison Planet," with always disturbing little nuggets like this:
  

  Earlier this year, news broke that Halliburton subsidiary, KBR -- the firm infamous for building prison facilities at Guantanamo Bay and for scandals stemming from work in the Iraq war zone -- received a $385 million contract from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to build detention centers, according to the New York Times, "for an unexpected influx of immigrants" or "new programs that require additional detention space."
  ...
  One Vietnam-era radical, former Pentagon analyst Daniel Ellsberg, grasped the implications immediately. "Almost certainly this is preparation for a roundup after the next 9/11 for Mid-Easterners, Muslims and possibly dissenters," he said. "They've already done this on a smaller scale, with the 'special registration' detentions of immigrant men from Muslim countries, and with Guantanamo."

Fighting Words: 11/20/06 Cartoon

"Billy, the Boy Who Knew Too Much #3"... see more of Billy here, here, here, and here.

UPDATE: extremely minor spelling correction made that probably no one would ever have noticed. If you can figure out where the correction is, you win... um... my heartfelt congratulations.

Curse of the Shrunken Brain

Voodoo practitioner tries to jinx Bush:

BOGOR, Indonesia - A renowned black magic practitioner performed a voodoo ritual Thursday to jinx President George W. Bush and his entourage while he was on a brief visit to Indonesia.

Ki Gendeng Pamungkas slit the throat of a goat, a small snake and stabbed a black crow in the chest, stirred their blood with spice and broccoli before drank the "potion" and smeared some on his face.

"I don't hate Americans, but I don't like Bush," said Pamungkas, who believed the ritual would succeed as, "the devil is with me today."

We can laugh, but you ever wonder why he gets those nasty infected boils on his face? Or could it perhaps explain some of his verbal gaffes, like it's some kind of tongue-swelling curse?

(thanks to Myia)

More on Election '06...

Not too many sources for this week's 'toon... just a few quotes from some of your favorite right-wing political commentators. Here they are, if you can stomach it: Glenn Beck, Jonah Goldberg (an older quote from a running feud he had going with Glen Greenwald), Michelle Malkin ("Unhinged moonbats! Unhinged moonbats unhinged moonbats unhinged moonbats... unhinged moonbats? Unhinged moonbats!!"), Rush Limbaugh (Is he back on the hillbilly heroin? You decide...), and Karl Rove (fka "The Architect").

See also a couple of good articles on the crumbling of "Movement Conservatism" by Richard W. Behan and Paul Krugman.

Fighting Words: 11/13/06 Cartoon

"TV Trivia!"...

Back to Work...

OK, Dems, time to show us if you're actually any better than the other guys. In particular, I want to see those federal dollars pouring into New Orleans (you can pay for it by rolling back all those tax cuts for billionaires).

Another article today on the raging mental health crisis in New Orleans, due mostly to the fact that only 2 out of 11 hospitals there are fully functioning.

MEM-REEEEEES....

Of the way, we werrrrrrrrrrrrre....

Goodbye, you crazy-ass goat fart.








Scattered pic-tuuuurrrrrrrrrressss....

More on Global Warming, Katrina, and the all new Chevy Oblivious...

A number of good sources this week, for another fairly straight-forward cartoon:

• Check out an earlier 'toon and BushGreenwatch on the links between hurricanes and global warming.


• See an article by "The Republican War on Science" author Chris Mooney, noting a speech by sci-fi novelist and environmental science "skeptic" Michael Crichton, who argues that environmentalists are trying to "politicize science" (and... what exactly is he doing?). See also Clayton Sandell on two senators' calls for ExxonMobil to stop their "ideas lobbying," i.e. funding of politicized "science."


• Julia Whitty on "The Thirteenth Tipping Point," which cites a sociological study that lists the top 5 reasons why some Americans reject environmental science, namely: belief that global warming is natural, belief that it's media/environmentalist hype, distrust of science, plain old flat denial, and conspiracy theories. The study found that the people were most often white, male, highly religious Republicans who get most of their news from the radio (surprise!). On the other hand, check out Bill Moyers' latest piece, "Is God Green," on the growing environmentalist movement within evangelical Christian circles.


• John Heilprin, who reports that two federal agencies are investigating whether the Bush administration blocked government scientists from speaking freely about global warming and censored their research. It wouldn't be the first time, of course. Specifically, the article notes that the science journal Nature reported last month that the NOAA suppressed a report linking hurricane strength and frequency to global warming.


• More on Crazy Jim Inhofe from Media Matters and Think Progress, and Bill Berkowitz on the environmental crimes of one of Inhofe's major donors, Koch Industries.


• Check out videos and reviews of the ridiculous Chevy Silverado ad by Jalopnik and Slate, and an article by David Carr.

Happy "choosing" day! Too bad most of the choices suck. Stephanie McMillan has a good one on that subject... see also Matt Bors on "staying the course."

Fighting Words: 11/6/06 Cartoon

"New Chevy Commercial"...

Nope, not done with Chevy yet.

This is our country...

How about a rare YouTube video post, a follow-up on my rant from a few days ago on the Chevy Silverado ad (via Cursor):

More on Bush's Evolving Iraq Rhetoric...

Fairly straight-forward cartoon this week... check out:

• Thomas A. Ricks and Joe Gandelman on Bush's new call for "benchmarks" on Iraq, a reversal that they suggest is motivated by an upcoming report by James Baker's Iraq Policy Group criticizing the current Iraq War policy.


• Carpetbagger on the shocking revelation that the Bush administration's policy on the Iraq War is ultimately motivated by domestic political concerns, rather than what would be the best way to save the lives of American soldiers. I'm shocked...


• Media Matters on Dan Bartlett's bald-faced claim that "it has never been a 'stay-the-course' strategy" for them.


• Harold Meyerson on Dubya's statement that the "cut-and-run" Democrats are "all over the place" on Iraq. Meyerson notes the irony of Bush attacking the Democrats "for failing to articulate a clear, compelling alternative to his war, though his war created so cosmic a debacle that there were no compelling alternatives."


• Jonathan S. Landay on Cheney's view that water-boarding is a "no-brainer." And nobody knows more about not having a brain than his little buddy...

Stumptown was fun. Sales were a little better than SPX, and it's always nice to (hopefully) gain a few new readers too. I've also learned that comfortable shoes are an absolute necessity at these shows, because my dogs were barking by about noon on Saturday...

Fighting Words: 10/30/06 Cartoon

"Alien Society, #5"... see the previous episodes here, here, here, and here.

UPDATE: Spelling error fixed (oops!)...

Why? Why why why why why why... ?

Quick comment on the World Series coverage -- specifically the patriotism circle-jerk disguised as a Chevy commercial with the John (Cougar?) Mellencamp song playing in the background.

Why in the name of all that is still reasonable in this world is there Katrina footage spliced into at least one of the versions of this commercial? Is Chevy suggesting that the proper response to the Katrina disaster is to go out and spend more money (instead of, say, donating it to people who need it) on another gas-guzzling automobile that will make global warming worse and give us bigger, stronger hurricanes? Does Chevy really think people are too stupid to make this connection? I think most people who drive cars now are not deluding themselves that there are tangible consequences to their actions... it's like splicing pictures of a smokers' lungs into a cigarette commercial.

Just wondering... I ain't no consumer psychologist or anything.

More on Network Neutrality...

Some sources to check out for this week's 'toon on a very complex subject:

• See especially the recent Bill Moyers On America episode titled "The Net At Risk," which is available online. Among the interesting points made in this piece, the internet revolution is compared to the birth of language and the invention of the printing press, in terms of historical developments that revolutionized how we learn and communicate. Also, the point is made that Japan and South Korea have fiber-optic infrastructures already in place that supply internet connections up to 100 times faster than the best DSL connections in the U.S., for the same rates that we pay here. Apparently, the telecom companies had promised to build such a system here in the 90's, but never really got around to it.
  
  See also Moyers' article with Scott Fogdall, "Fighting the Imperial Internet."


• See some older articles on the subject from Christopher Stern, Jeff Chester, and Celia Viggo Wexler & Dawn Holian.


• Be sure to check out SaveTheInternet.com and David S. Isenberg, both of whom kindly have linked to this week's 'toon, and are much more qualified to speak intelligently on this subject than I.

I'm off to Portland in a couple days for Stumptown... if you're in the area, stop in to say hi!

Fighting Words: 10/23/06 Cartoon

"The Futuresons"...

Executive Authority to Let You Die

This is a few days old, but I wanted to comment on it before it tumbles down the Memory Hole...

Congress last week passed a new homeland security bill, which included a set of job qualifications for the head of FEMA (obviously in response to the "Brownie" fiasco):

To shield FEMA from cronyism, Congress established new job qualifications for the agency's director in last week's homeland security bill. The law says the president must nominate a candidate who has "a demonstrated ability in and knowledge of emergency management" and "not less than five years of executive leadership."

Bush signed the homeland-security bill on Wednesday morning. Then, hours later, he issued a signing statement saying he could ignore the new restrictions. Bush maintains that under his interpretation of the Constitution, the FEMA provision interfered with his power to make personnel decisions.

The law, Bush wrote, "purports to limit the qualifications of the pool of persons from whom the president may select the appointee in a manner that rules out a large portion of those persons best qualified by experience and knowledge to fill the office."

It's like the administration's lawyers aren't even trying anymore...

I suppose what this means is that everybody should acquaint themselves with their local shelter of last resort, because you're gonna get to know it REEEEALLY well should a catastrophe happen to strike your community (if, for whatever reason, you do not have the means or opportunity to leave). Personally, I sure am glad the Kingdome is gone, 'cause I couldn't stand to be in there for 3 hours for a Mariners' game, let alone spend 4 days there in a pit o' hell with 40,000 other people waiting for the government to get around to helping us.

More on Diebold, GOP electoral fraud...

Check out:

• RFK Jr.'s article "Will the Next Election Be Hacked?", which makes several important points, in particular:

  The United States is one of only a handful of major democracies that allow private, partisan companies to secretly count and tabulate votes using their own proprietary software. Today, eighty percent of all the ballots in America are tallied by four companies - Diebold, Election Systems & Software (ES&S), Sequoia Voting Systems and Hart InterCivic. In 2004, 36 million votes were cast on their touch-screen systems, and millions more were recorded by optical-scan machines owned by the same companies that use electronic technology to tabulate paper ballots. The simple fact is, these machines not only break down with regularity, they are easily compromised - by people inside, and outside, the companies.
  
  Three of the four companies have close ties to the Republican Party.



• Art Levine on "Salon's Shameful Six," the six states where GOP vote suppression tactics could most likely impede fair elections in 2006. The quote in this week's 'toon about keeping "the wrong kind of people from voting" comes from a comment by Arizona Secretary of State Janice Brewer (AZ's equivalent to Ken Blackwell and Katherine Harris) at a fundraising event.


• Vochi J. Dreazen on "Why Some Republicans Want to Lose," in which Bruce Bartlett makes what is probably a very good point:

  "Every Republican I know thinks Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are the best things they have going for them," wrote Bruce Bartlett, a Treasury Department official during the presidency of Mr. Bush's father, referring to the top-ranking Democrats in the House and Senate. "Giving these inept leaders higher profiles would be a gift to conservatives everywhere"...



• In case you didn't recognize it, the tirade by the wiseguy voting machine in this week's 'toon comes from the DeNiro/Capone rant in The Untouchables...
  

Had a good time in DC last week. The Politics & Prose signing was fun, and I met a lot of great people there and at SPX. Sales at SPX stunk, which put me into a pretty sour mood, but hanging out with the cool kids in CWA (along with a few stiff drinks from the Marriott hotel bar) made me feel much better. A great many thanks to my wonderful friends Jim and Karen for putting me up in our nation's cap-i-tal last week!

Next up, Stumptown... hope to see lots of Northwest peeps out there picking up t-shirts!

Fighting Words: 10/16/06 Cartoon

"GOPranos, #2"... see the previous episode here.

Runnin' late...

Sorry folks, cartoon's coming. Didn't get in from DC until late last night... stay tuned!

More on Foley, Woodward...

On the comparatively unimportant but entertaining Foley scandal:

• Dan Balz and Jim VandeHei on the possible repercussions for the GOP in the upcoming election.


• A post from several weeks ago from Pam's House Blend that caught my eye again, on Hastert's "House Republican American Values Agenda." It includes a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, a Pledge of Allegiance protection act, an "Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act" (requiring doctors to inform women seeking abortions that the unborn child feels pain), and a "Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act" (particularly constructive -- it would prohibit governments from using federal funds to confiscate guns from law-abiding citizens during emergencies).
  
  Interestingly, there's nothing about protecting children from sexual predators in the House of Representatives... he probably just "forgot" that one, though.

On the fallout from Woodward's State of Denial:

• Mike Whitney, who asks why Woodward waited until now to disclose these crucial details, and argues that his "real job is not to maintain an 'informed public' or preserve the free flow of information," but to serve the interests of "disenchanted elites [who] want a place at the policy table again."


• Think Progress on the revelation that Henry Kissinger has been advising Bush and Cheney, noting:

  Says Woodward, “Now what’s Kissinger’s advice? In Iraq, he declared very simply, ‘Victory is the only meaningful exit strategy.’” Woodward adds. “This is so fascinating. Kissinger’s fighting the Vietnam War again because, in his view, the problem in Vietnam was we lost our will.”



• A CBS report with several nice little nuggets from Woodward's 60 Minutes interview, including this one on Saudi Prince Bandar:

  Woodward told 60 Minutes that Bandar has promised the president that Saudi Arabia will lower oil prices in the months before the election - to ensure the U.S. economy is strong on election day.
  
  Woodward says that Bandar understood that economic conditions were key before a presidential election: “They’re [oil prices] high. And they could go down very quickly. That's the Saudi pledge. Certainly over the summer, or as we get closer to the election, they could increase production several million barrels a day and the price would drop significantly.”



• Another CBS report and an article by John Dickerson on the palace intrigue of the Bush administration, including all your favorite names in Republican professional wrestling (as seen in the last square of this week's 'toon, from left-to-right): Laura "Spacegirl" Bush, Andy "Bad News" Card, Don "The Galloping Geezer" Rumsfeld, George "Slam Dunk" Tenet, Colin "Sgt. Sycophant" Powell, Condi "The Shopping Queen" Rice, and "King Kong" Cheney.
  
  (OK, I could probably come up with better wrestling names for most of those if I put some thought into it...)

Fighting Words: 10/9/06 Cartoon

"Republican Wrestling Federation, #2"... see the previous episode here.

Bizzy Bizzy Bizzy

Getting ready for my DC trip...

But that didn't stop me from wasting way too much time playing Help Hastert Hide the Perv from HuffPo.

More on the Katrina response...

This cartoon came about mainly because I finally got a chance to view a tape of Spike Lee's "When the Levees Broke." As expected, this documentary was tough to watch in some spots, but, needless to say, this is not due to a lack of quality filmmaking. I'm no "film cricket" (as Homer Simpson once said), but this has to go down as one of Spike Lee's best pieces ever. While it is more a straight-forward retelling of events than his regular films (as it should be), it bears a lot of the familiar Spike Lee artistic signatures that are common in his work: dramatic music, over-exposed images, "portrait" shots, uncompromising storytelling, etc. It's a must-see if you feel as strongly as I do about the injustices that have been perpetrated by our government during the Katrina aftermath.

See also Noam Chomsky on our missing leaders, Isaiah J. Poole on the "catastrophic conservatism" that truly made this tragedy possible (it's certainly not just about a hurricane), and an interview by Alan Maass with a couple of very eloquent Katrina survivors.


I debated with this week's toon whether to have the doctor leave a dying Bush's hospital room, and spray-paint the now-familiar urban marking used by searchers in New Orleans on the door, indicating that there was "1 body" inside. I decided that this was a little over-the-top, or maybe just too un-funny.

It's a decidedly un-funny thing that's happening down there, though...

Fighting Words: 10/2/06 Cartoon

"On Their Deathbeds: George W. Bush"...