2/27/06 Cartoon

"Billy, the Boy Who Knew Too Much"...

See more of Billy (or characters that bear a striking resemblance to the present-day Billy) here, here, and here.

Cheney's Got a Gun...

A friend of mine sent this to me. Pretty funny.

More New Orleans

The Washington Post has an article on the toll that Katrina continues to take on New Orleanians in the form of stress and anxiety (I have sensed that this may be an issue down there, based on some emails I've received from people I know still living in the area). This is terribly unfortunate, since what makes that city great is the noticeable absence of stress in the air down there. Hopefully, things will get better soon.


On a slightly more positive note, The Times-Picayune won a Polk Award for their amazing Katrina coverage on Nola.com... which was particularly admirable given the circumstances under which the reporting was done.

2/20/06 Cartoon

"New Floats for Mardi Gras, '06"... satirical floats are big this year for the parades, so some of these may actually come to fruition.

Read a remarkable first-hand account of what New Orleans was like in the days after Katrina hit, written by Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone.



New T-Shirts and other goodies coming soon!

State of the Union

This is a little old, but I came across this while researching the most recent 'toon. Funny as hell... keep an eye on Hastert while Bush is speaking.

Also, check out the Cheney Quail Hunting game (via Huntington Post).

"Rednecks & Bluenecks"

Interesting article via Cursor: Reason.com tries to sort out the political puzzle that is country music.

Merle Haggard, who has historically been a musical hero of right-wingers, also recently called Dubya one of "the top three assholes of all time," right next to Hitler and Nixon.

2/13/06 Cartoon

"2+2=5"...

Dammit all if the best news item ever for satirists didn't come too late for this week's 'toon. Something tells me this won't be going anywhere for a while, though... it's a defining moment for Cheney's image. Sort of like Dubya trying to open the locked door, or Bob Dole falling off the podium, or George H.W. barfing on the Japanese Prime Minister at a state dinner in Tokyo.

Low and Behold...

Right on cue, Bill Bennett and Ann Coulter prove my point yet again...

These people are free to say whatever they want, but they are quite obviously NOT the "great minds of our time." They are hateful extremists who have no business being on mainstream media outlets of any kind, trying to shape the viewing public's opinion based on a twisted, small-minded worldview.

Muhammad Cartoons

My requisite political cartoonist's P.O.V. on this? It is not a simple issue. I would not have drawn those cartoons, or anything like them.

It seems that commentators on all sides are trying desperately to boil this entire dispute down to one black and white issue. Some people say it's about FREE SPEECH, a value that should be immutable in a civilized society and cannot be brushed aside by violent thugs. Some say it's about POLITICAL ISLAMISM, which in its present-day form often demonstrates a hostility towards "democratic values." Some say it's about CULTURE CLASH, and the insensitivity towards "the Other" that pervades Western society (which remains eternally unaware of historical context and its imperialist tendencies).

I think that there may be some truth to all of these statements. It is not an un-nuanced situation.

I don't know what the ultimate answer is. Free speech is a vital principle, of course, but as suggested by the American legal doctrine that shares the name of my cartoon (although this is not why I picked it), words that can be expected to incite an immediate breach of the peace may not be protected speech. As for the religious and cultural differences, these are obviously not easy topics either... or someone would've found a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a long time ago. At any rate, it is a subject for honest debate by scholars and the great minds of our time.

What makes this a particularly urgent and contentious issue right now, and is keeping this from being a level-headed debate by scholars, are the extremists... on both sides.

As has been well documented, Islamic extremism rises as a result of complex historical and political situations that are unique in different parts of the world. In general, the relationship of "Islamic fundamentalists" to Islam is roughly analogous to the relationship of "Christian fundamentalists" to Christianity (which makes al-Qaeda akin to the KKK). This means that the nuts who are currently burning down embassies and sending death-threats to cartoonists are just that -- NUTS... and they should be treated as such.

On "our" side, the debate over the Danish Muhammad cartoons within the American media simply demonstrates to me just how far our MSM has wandered from the values it claims to covet. Ted Rall makes an excellent point in his recent column (via Matt Bors):

"We always weigh the value of the journalistic impact against the impact that publication might have as far as insulting or hurting certain groups," said an editor at The San Francisco Chronicle.

"The cartoons didn't meet our long-held standards for not moving offensive content," said the Associated Press.

Bull----.

If these cowards were worried about offending the faithful, they wouldn't cover or quote such Muslim-bashers as Ann Coulter, Christopher Hitchens or George W. Bush.

Until we get to the point where we never again see Ann Coulter on the cover of Time Magazine, when we never again see Bill O'Reilly on the Today Show, when CNN stops hiring nuts like Bill Bennett and Glenn Beck, and when Fox News ceases to exist... the American mainstream media will not have a whole lot of credibility in determining what is "offensive content."

As a cartoonist, at this point I can't do much about Islamic extremism. However, I can make my voice heard about creeping extremism within my own society, and hopefully help to effect some change there.

Good News, Keef...

... and a touching cartoon.

Attitude 3

Pre-ordering is now available on Amazon! I'll be putting up some stuff on this on FightingWordsComics.com soon...

Well THAT sucked...

Quite possibly the worst officiated national championship game in any major American professional sport ever.

There are some UP-set sports fans in Seattle today...

2/6/06 Cartoon????

Well, folks, it's not looking good for a new 'toon this week. A big wind storm came through the Puget Sound area last night and knocked out my power, which means I can't scan my artwork, and it's not looking like the power's going to be up tomorrow either (since I live in "B-F, Egypt," as I heard someone put it the other day). That coupled with the home team playing in the big game tomorrow (which I will be watching elsewhere), spells doom for a spanking-new 'toon. However, I suppose that's why God invented "Repeats" (also known as "Classics," "Best-Of's," and "Oldies-But-Goodies"):


As an added bonus, here's an illustration I did last week (click to enlarge):


It's Ohio congressman Bob Ney, Tom Delay, and Jack Abramoff re-enacting a scene from Caddyshack:

Obligatory political stuff...

Cartoons in the news a-plenty: read about the Muhammad cartoon fracas, and about the Joint Chiefs playing politics with a Tom Toles cartoon. Also, Clay Bennett has given some excellent quotes on the Toles 'toon debacle (via Matt Bors, who has some nice coverage of these items).

I may do some in-depth posts on these issues later, but I live in a town that is currently in the grips of FOOTBALL FEVER. I've tried to avoid it, tried to plug my ears, but I have to admit that I'm there now. I'm human, dammit. Interestingly, I've never even really been a huge Seahawks fan... if by some miracle the Mariners were to make it to the World Series, I might be out of commission for a full week or so. So in contrast to last week, I'm gonna try to get the new 'toon posted a little early...

Of the People and By the People

Want to know where change is going to come from? Sure as hell not from the Democrats, as we're all starting to realize. It's going to come as the result of actions by people like Cindy Sheehan, who was arrested inside the House chamber last night in one of the ballsiest moves for peace that we've seen so far in our current national political adventure.

It is appalling how little media coverage this is getting... CNN's website had it briefly as a "Breaking News" story in red, and then it basically disappeared. When the story does show up, the MSM is falling over themselves to also mention that a Republican congressman's wife was also "removed" (she was politely asked to leave, as opposed to being arrested and forcibly removed). Change will sure as hell not come thanks to the mainstream media either.

Support Your Local Alternative Cartoonist

In a long overdue move, I've included some links (on the right) to blogs of other cartoonists that I frequent. Check 'em out (I'll add more later)...

Also, for you folks in the Seattle area, Fighting Words Comics will have a table in the Artist Alley at Emerald City Comicon April 1 & 2, where I presume I will be pressing the flesh and selling high-quality merchandise (this is my first one of these things, so I'm not too sure how they go). Mark your calendars!

1/30/06 Cartoon

Thanks for your patience...


"Alien Society, #3"... see the previous episodes here and here.

Check out a couple great articles by Robert Parry: "The End of Unalienable Rights" and "Is Bush Stupid - Or is America?" And, see two decent interviews with Noam Chomsky, in the Seattle Weekly and Eat the State.

tomorrow's 'toon...

...is gonna be posted a little late. Sometime Monday afternoon or evening (PST).

Latest from the SBSN...

Lovely woman.

UPS should be proud to have her on their roster.



[What is "SBSN," you ask? See here...]

Ricky, Ricky, Ricky...

Do you think JESUS would scream maniacally at reporters like that?

(via Cursor)

From the Science Department...

Via Huffington Post, scientists have announced the discovery of an icy, rocky world orbiting a distant star that is "the most Earth-like planet" ever detected...



...and next week, Ted Stevens will announce he's drafting legislation to drill the hell out of it.


(rim shot)

Thank God for Molly Ivins...

GREAT column yesterday:

I'd like to make it clear to the people who run the Democratic Party that I will not support Hillary Clinton for president.

Enough. Enough triangulation, calculation and equivocation. Enough clever straddling, enough not offending anyone. This is not a Dick Morris election. Sen. Clinton is apparently incapable of taking a clear stand on the war in Iraq, and that alone is enough to disqualify her. Her failure to speak out on Terri Schiavo, not to mention that gross pandering on flag-burning, are just contemptible little dodges.

The recent death of Gene McCarthy reminded me of a lesson I spent a long, long time unlearning, so now I have to relearn it. It's about political courage and heroes, and when a country is desperate for leadership. There are times when regular politics will not do, and this is one of those times. There are times a country is so tired of bull that only the truth can provide relief.

Poetry.

1/23/06 Cartoon

"Scott-Bot: Robot in Disguise"... see more of Scott-Bot here, here, and here. Read about Scott-Bot "playing dumb" about extraordinary rendition of prisoners to Syria in a blog post on ThinkProgress (via Cursor), and see Scott-Bot attack John Murtha here.




GO SEAHAWKS

Battle of the hairdos...

CSM (via Huffington Post) has an interesting juxtaposition of images of the crystalline coifs vying for Tom Delay's job.

Speaking purely as a caricaturist, I gotta go with Roy Blunt... that guy's eyebrows are classic.

War Games

From the Onion -- war is hell. Especially when you run out of Cheetos or your mom makes you hit pause to take out the garbage.

Or when your troops turn on you...

Whores

For this week's 'toon on the Alito hearings, I very nearly did another edition of Media Pimps n' Ho's -- the overall coverage was just atrocious. It is still a distinct possibility for next week's 'toon, though, since CNN has continued their stellar performance with the hiring of conservative nutcake Bill Bennett and professional idiot Glenn Beck.

The goodwill they won back from me due to their coverage of Katrina has almost entirely dissipated.

Alito on Bush v. Gore...

So, while it probably wasn't the most important answer that Alito gave during his confirmation hearings, one of the answers he gave that particularly bothered me was in reference to Bush v. Gore:

KOHL: So, Judge Alito, I'd like to ask you: Was the Supreme Court correct to take this case in the first place?

ALITO: Well, Senator, I think you're probably right, and I hope you're right, that, that sort of issue doesn't come before the Supreme Court again.

Some of the equal protection ground that the majority relied on in Bush v. Gore does involve principles that could come up in future elections and in future cases.

As to that particular case, my answer has to be, I really don't know. I have not studied it in the way I would study a case that comes before me as a judge. And I would have to go through the whole judicial process.

KOHL: That was a huge, huge case.

And I would like to hope and I would bet that you thought about it an awful lot, because you are who you are...

ALITO: Well, there's the issue of whether they should take it and the issue of how it should be decided.

And, Senator, my honest answer is I have not studied it in the way that I would study the issue if it were to come before me as a judge.

And that would require putting out of my mind any personal thoughts that I had on the matter and listening to all of the arguments and reading the briefs and thinking about it in the way that I do when I decide legal issues that are before me as a judge...

The manner in which a judge studies a case, as defined by Alito, sounds to me to also be an apt description of the role of a law professor, which Alito was at Seton Hall. He taught Con Law I & II (both before the Bush v. Gore decision was handed down), and later in '03 and '04 taught courses on terrorism and civil liberties. He also judged several Moot Court competitions.

Now, from this information, I don't know if any of these later activities required a professor with a deep knowledge of the Equal Protection Clause. But, as I recall, the Bush v. Gore decision is a vital part of modern Equal Protection Clause doctrine... I spent at least a month trying to read and understand that freakin' thing, and I don't think I ever did understand it completely. What I do know is that if I, as a hypothetical law student, ever received a poor grade from Professor Alito on anything regarding the Equal Protection Clause from December, 2000 on, I'd be calling the Seton Hall registrar or whoever and demanding a refund of my tuition for those classes.

Of course, my guess is that Alito has indeed studied Bush v. Gore and has very well-defined opinions about this case, and that he was just being evasive here. But his answer was reminiscent of Clarence Thomas' laughable answers on Roe v. Wade during his confirmation hearings in 1991.

1/16/06 Cartoon

"According to Alito!"

More info on this 'toon later...

Asshole

My apologies... "President" Asshole. He says everything is going "great" in New Orleans:

NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 12 - President Bush made his first trip here in three months on Thursday and declared that New Orleans was "a heck of a place to bring your family" and that it had "some of the greatest food in the world and some wonderful fun."

Mr. Bush spent his brief visit in a meeting with political and business leaders on the edge of the Garden District, the grand neighborhood largely untouched by the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina, and saw little devastation. He did not go into the city's hardest-hit areas or to Jackson Square, where several hundred girls from the Academy of the Sacred Heart staged a protest demanding stronger levees.

Mr. Bush's motorcade did pass some abandoned neighborhoods as it traveled on Interstate 10 into the city.

Maybe if you ventured outside Uptown you'd have noticed that most of the city is still dark at night, you disingenuous prick.

s-s-swweeeet oooiilll.......

Ted Stevens will be bathing in pure crude oil tonight.


Yuck. Grossed myself out a little there.

Worse and worse...

I'll get to the whole thing with Scalito (yeah, I said it) and his weepy wife later, but first...

An NSA whistleblower is saying that the number of Americans under surveillance in Bush's "limited" program could number in the "millions." So for all of you who make little jokes in your emails about the NSA agent reading the message... you better hope you're not a friend of a friend of a friend of a guy who used to go to the same barber as Osama bin Laden.

Freedom is Slavery.

... damn WHIPPERSNAPPERS!!

Sen. Ted Stevens officially qualified as a senile old coot Monday (who is nonetheless #3 on the presidential line of succession, if that doesn't send a chill down your spine...). As the ANWR drilling provision went down to defeat before Congress left for the holidays, Stevens apparently threatened to resign and go home to sit on his porch with a shotgun to keep punks off his lawn. Or maybe he meant he was going to try to do it on the steps of the Capitol building. Anyway, he clarified his comments Monday, saying he wasn't resigning, but that he was just not going to be "friends" with certain people anymore, that he would not "play tennis or swim or do various things with them," and hinted that he was referring specifically to Sen. Maria Cantwell (story via Cursor).

Up until this whole thing, I think many voters in Washington State, including myself, had been pretty unimpressed with Cantwell's first term in office. After seeing her leadership on this issue, I think a lot of us will fight to be at the front of the line to vote to re-elect her in 2006.

1-9-06 Cartoon

"Bush: Above the Law"... see more of international action hero George W. Bush here.

Skanky blonde she-Nazis are sexy...

August Pollak notes that the Young American Foundation has come up with full-size glamour posters of Ann Coulter, which will surely begin showing up on the dorm walls of young Republican wankers everywhere.

'Scuze me for a second....

....(((shiver)))....


If you're able to suppress the gag reflex, you can view the pictures here.

Oh, wait... it's actually this link here. Silly me...

FLOAM

Anybody seen the commercials for this new "toy" for kids? There's something disturbing and insidious about this stuff, but I haven't been able to put my finger on what it is.

The folks at Flak Magazine have taken a shot at what exactly is so diabolical about this product.

I can't wait to see the lawsuits fly when some idiot kid decides to sit down and eat a few tubs of this stuff, "non-toxic" or not. Or perhaps he can put it up his nose...

Good Ol' Dave...

Letterman was uncharacteristically confrontational with O'Reilly last night. Fun to watch.

(via Huffington Post)

Don't Drop the Soap...

Happy trails, Jack Abramoff. You're off to the big house, the slammer, the clink, the icebox, the joint, hoosgow, calaboose, the pokey, the jug, the iron hotel, doing time, up the river...

Any others? Go ahead, it's fun!

1/2/06 Cartoon

"The Drunk Local News!"... see also one of the very first Fighting Words, on the issue of local TV news (my how we've grown...).

Local TV news is a pet peeve of mine, as it is for a lot of us. I HATE local TV news. Some may feel that I'm stating the obvious with this cartoon... but apparently the point still needs to be made because it's still where most people go to get their daily "news," even though it is the same intellectual wasteland that it has been for years. I saw Bill Moyers speak last year, and during the Q & A session he was asked, "what can we do about local TV news?" His answer: "end it."

NOT Global Warming

Tropical Storm Zeta has formed in the Atlantic, a full month after the official end of hurricane season.

But, of course, we've already established that global warming has absolutely nothing to do with it, you crazy fringe-theorist...

... all normal cycles 'n stuff.

Cases-In-Point, #2, #3 and #4

As the Defense Department makes moves to further centralize power around Rumsfeld loyalists, the Administration throws a hissy-fit over a Fourth Circuit decision on Jose Padilla, citing "profound separation-of-powers concerns" (via Cursor), and another blog post profiles John Yoo, a mid-level lawyer at Justice who has "had a hand in virtually every major legal decision involving the US response to the attacks of September 11," and who apparently believes very strongly in a despotic presidency (both via TBogg).

"It's just a goddamn piece of paper!"

Continuing with the theme of this week's cartoon, those words were apparently uttered recently by the President in reference to the Constitution of the United States.

If true, it is yet more proof that these people are all completely insane.

The Greatest Show on Earth

And you thought the California gubernatorial race was fun? The race for governor in Alabama features an indicted former governor, ousted Alabama Chief Justice and religious nutball Roy Moore, and a midget in a bikini.

(via Cursor)

12/26/05 Cartoon

"Alberto the Torture Turtle's Guide to the Constitution"... catch Alberto's previous appearance here, which was part of the Fuzzy Bunny series.

Some good articles this week: Sidney Blumenthal on the Administration's fundamental disrespect for the law and for Tom Paine; Michelle Goldberg on whether we have the political will to impeach Bush (probably not); and Edward Lazarus on the serious threat to the Constitution posed by Bush's wiretapping.

All indications are that this issue (the wiretapping) is going to be the clincher... either we all stand up to them on this, or we can officially kiss our democracy goodbye. As with Watergate and "Plame-gate," though, it may take a while to unfold...

Useless Information Department

Researchers at a London University (via Huffington Post) have released an exhaustive study which concludes that the only sure way to avoid a hangover is not to drink in the first place.


Thanks, jerks.

AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, (R) California, gives us what is now the standard Republican argument for eliminating the Constitution and making George W. Bush king and supreme ruler (via Cursor):

EVIL.... SLAUGHTERED.... CONFRONTED.... EVIL.... SLAUGHTER.... SLAUGHTERED.... IMMINENT ATTACK.... AT WAR.... AT WAR.... MASS MURDER.... TERRORIZE... AT WAR.... AT WAR.... BLOW UP.... AT WAR.... SLAUGHTERED.... SLAUGHTERED.... ATTACKS.... BLOWN UP.... NUCLEAR WEAPON.... NUCLEAR WEAPON.... BURN.... BLOW UP

That is all. Please return to your Christmas shopping now. Ignorance is Strength.

"The breathtaking inanity..."

If you value reductive science and/or the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, do yourself a favor and read the decision in Kitzmiller, or at least read the conclusion. (Thanks to David)

The Washington Post says that this could be a watershed opinion, with regards to future cases that seek to determine whether "intelligent design" can or should be taught in public schools.

Beware of PETA...

What the hell is this thing conservatives have about PETA?

Like they're some shadowy, Freemason-like secret society that is poised to take over the country...

12/19/05 Cartoon

"George W. Bush Conversation With God: The Environment."
Catch Bush's previous conversations with God here and here.




On an unrelated note, I wanted to make a quick comment on the death of The West Wing's John Spencer. The first four seasons of that show (the Aaron Sorkin-penned years) have really had a huge influence on me, as examples of satirical political commentary at its highest level in popular culture. When I'm working on these cartoons, I will often have a DVD of those episodes running in the background, to give me a little inspiration. But, of course, writers don't create the characters all by themselves... I think it can't be done without an extremely talented actor, in a process I can't even begin to comprehend.

Very sad.

A victory!

On another positive note:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate on Friday refused to reauthorize major portions of the USA Patriot Act after critics complained they infringed too much on Americans' privacy and liberty, dealing a huge defeat to the Bush administration and Republican leaders.

I guess they'll just have to be satisfied with violating civil liberties in secret and outside the law, which apparently is something they're completely comfortable doing...

How about that...

Don't let it be said that I don't take notice when the Bush Administration actually does something right:

Nagin praised Bush's commitment to nearly double an earlier $1.6 billion package for levee repairs and improvements, saying the president had responded to local residents' call for action. "I want to say to all New Orleanians, to all businesses, it's time for you to come home, it's time for you to come back to the Big Easy," Nagin said. "We now have the commitment and the funding for hurricane protection at a level that we have never had before."

Of course, this didn't happen until people screamed at them about their reluctant Katrina response, and it does nothing to address the $14 billion needed to restore barrier islands and coastal wetlands, the "natural levees" that are necessary to protect New Orleans from hurricanes. But it's a nice start.

m u n k e e . . .

From a recent Bush interview with Brian Williams:

Williams: This says you're in a bubble. You have a very small circle of advisors now. Is that true? Do you feel in a bubble?

President Bush: No, I don't feel in a bubble. I mean, you feel in a bubble in the sense that I can't go walking out the front gate and, you know, go shopping, like I'd love to do for my wife. Although I may, I'm not going to tell you what I'm going to buy her. Look, I feel like I'm getting really good advice from very capable people and that people from all walks of life have informed me and informed those who advise me. And I feel very comfortable that I'm very aware of what's going on.

And later...

Williams: ...Once and for all— and I know you've had some fun with members of the press on this subject how much television news do you watch? How much do you read the morning papers, news magazines? How much do you see in an average week?

President Bush: I don'I see a lot of the news. Every morning I look at the newspaper. I can't say I've read every single article in the newspaper. But I definitely know what's in the news. Occasionally, I watch television. t want to hurt your feelings, but it's occasionally. I'm working at that point, as are you. But I'm very aware of what's in the news. I'm aware because I see clips. I see summaries. I have people on my staff that walk in every morning and say, "This is what's --— this is how I see it. This is what's brewing today," on both the domestic and international side. Frankly, it is probably part of my own fault for needling people, but it's a myth to think I don't know what's going on. And it's a myth to think that I'm not aware that there is opinions that don't agree with mine. Because I'm fully aware of that.

Williams: But you, yourself, said to a reporter, I think it was Brit Hume, that you'd prefer to get the news orally from your aids?

President Bush: Well, that's one way to look at it. I mean, I read the newspaper. I mean, I can tell you what the headlines are. I must confess, if I think the story is, like, not a fair appraisal, I'll move on. But I know what the story's about.

After answers like these, don't we just have to come to a point where we don't really care what he has to say about anything else? He is obviously so disengaged from what is going on, can we reasonably be expected to give any credibility to his comments on Iraq, torture, or Katrina?

It's like going to the zoo and sitting down with the monkey with Tourettes, and then asking him in-depth questions about zoo administration. You know he's going to have no idea what is coming out of his mouth, and at some point he's just going to start slinging around feces...

State of California Kills 5-Time Nobel Peace Prize Nominee

We are living in truly prehistoric times. Someday people will look back and be shocked by the things our society did.

12/12/05 Cartoon

"Wild Planet: Animals Using Camouflage"... you can check out the previous episodes here and here.

I thought it was about time I took the Democrats to task a little. Some articles to check out: Thomas Harrison on the "Collapse of the Left" after the 2004 elections; Jeffrey Goldberg in the New Yorker on Joe Biden and the "national-security Democrats;" John Walsh on "The Lies of John Edwards" and other Dems; and Patrick Martin on "What is troubling Joe Lieberman."

Pompeii on the Mississippi

We had to know this was coming. Anybody in the government remember "Katrina?" Ring a bell?

[Of course, since when does knowing in advance that a particular event or decision would turn out badly count for anything in this country? (front pages from Newseum)]

THREE MONTHS after the epic flood, we are specimens of congressional torture. Network celebrities who swept through for disaster backdrops are gone. The suffering in the Superdome and Convention Center is old footage. Torturing a city is tougher coverage for soft newsbodies.
...
Apathy toward the dying neighborhoods stains the Social Darwinists who run Congress. They wear the masks of prolife Christians. As Nero fiddled while Rome burned, these Jesus-lovers yawn at a city on the rack, their pensions safe in the mammoth debt furnished by the worst US president ever.
President Bush came to Jackson Square in September and promised a sweeping recovery. His backers in Congress recoiled from the cost.
...
The leadership vacuum from the White House to Baton Rouge to City Hall is frightening. There is no other word for it. Bush makes nebulous remarks about helping ''the people down in Katrina" (we are a new geography), but his priority is counterattacking critics of the Iraq war.

Another article calls for New Orleans to be completely abandoned, simply because the author doesn't forsee Bush ever giving enough of a crap about it to ensure that it is sufficiently protected.

But while encouraging city residents to return home and declaring for the media audience that "we will do whatever it takes" to save the city, the President earlier this month formally refused the one thing New Orleans simply cannot live without: A restored network of barrier islands and coastal wetlands.
...
How could this administration, found totally unprepared for the first Katrina, not see the obvious action needed to prevent the next one? My theory is that Bush hears "wetlands" and retreats to a blind, ideological aversion to all things "environmental." Which perhaps explains why in multiple speeches given during six photo-op trips to the Gulf since Katrina hit, the President has not one time mentioned the words barrier islands or wetlands. Not once.
"Either they don't get it or they just don't care," said Mark Davis, director of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. "But the results are the same: more disaster."
So stop the repairs; put the brooms and chain saws away. Close the few businesses that have re-opened. Leave the levees in their tattered state and get out. Right now. Everybody. It's utterly unsafe to live there.
To encourage people to return to New Orleans, as Bush is doing, without funding the only plan that can save the city from the next Big One, is to commit an act of mass homicide. If, after all the human suffering and expense of this national ordeal, the federal government can't be bothered to spend the cost of a tunnel from Logan Airport to downtown Boston, then the game is truly over.

While I don't agree with any solution that calls for surrendering an entire American city (in this case, a particularly important American city) due to Bush's monumental incompetence, the point is well taken.

As unthinkable as it was that Bush could have done something worse after his illegal war... the Katrina response is the worst crime of the Bush presidency.

"Black Ink Monday"...

Editorial cartoonists are joining together on Monday, Dec. 12, for a day of cartoons criticizing corporate downsizing in the newspaper industry, which is responsible for staggering job losses among the ranks of editorial cartoonists:

Since Ben Franklin and colonial times, the editorial cartoon has been one of the most visible and popular parts of the daily paper. However, recent changes within the newspaper industry have placed this American institution at risk.

Over the last 20 years, the number of cartoonists on the staff of daily newspapers nationwide has been cut in half. In the last month alone, the Tribune Company (owner of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and a half-dozen other prominent papers), has forced out well-known and award-winning cartoonists at the LA Times and Baltimore Sun, eliminating their positions entirely.

It occurs to me that, while my style of cartooning would probably be considered an "alternative" to the genre that these guys represent, my art still depends on the existence of their industry (if they went away, who would we be an "alternative" to?). While artists like me can poke them with a stick, and force the industry to stay smart and relevant, the "mainstream" editorial cartoonists are still carrying on the tradition of Thomas Nast and, as noted, Benjamin Franklin. If they disappeared, it seems to me that drawing silly cartoons with political messages would lose much of its meaning.

So, perhaps, it might be nice to pick out a couple of your favorites and send them a note of support.

As the NYT turns...

From Editor & Publisher:

In a lengthy feature piece on this autumn's Judith Miller saga forthcoming in the January issue of Vanity Fair (on sale Dec. 13), writer Seth Mnookin covers much familiar ground but also reveals new details and complaints from the reporter's colleagues at The New York Times. Publisher Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. also gets a good working-over from unnamed in-house critics.

...

Elsewhere, Mnookin pulls no punches in stating that over the years Miller "had built a reputation for sleeping with her sources," had dated one of Sulzberger's best friends, Steve Ratner, "and had even, for a time, shared a vacation home with Sulzberger," whatever that means.

Yikes. Is anybody going to take this newspaper seriously again?

The End of O'Reilly...

So, in his deranged campaign against the mad-liberal "war on Christmas," Bill O'Reilly has decided to take on The Daily Show. Dumb, dumb, dumb. In terms of humorist ridicule in popular political commentary, that is like O'Reilly challenging Lennox Lewis to a bare-knuckles street brawl.

If the Daily Show bothers to respond tonight, it should be fun to watch.


[By the way, if you noticed the resemblance... the right-wing alien in this week's 'toon is somewhat of an O'Reilly caricature.]

12/5/05 Cartoon

"Alien Society, #2." You can catch the previous episode here.

A few articles I found interesting in my research this week: Edward Lazarus on the coming battle over government accountability; a blog post by Arthur Silber on the Padilla indictment; and a story in the New Yorker by Jane Mayer, which gives graphic details about the death of a prisoner in CIA custody.

Looks like Tom Tomorrow and Jen Sorensen had similar ideas as I did this week... both made comments on the (apparent) death of reason, logic, and civil dialogue in our society. Both very good cartoons.

Withdraw

Retired three-star general William Odom, one of the "most respected military analysts in Washington," is now calling for a withdrawal from Iraq:

"... Iraq is the worst place to fight a battle for regional stability. Whose interests were best served by the U.S. invasion of Iraq in the first place? It turns out that Iran and al-Qaida benefited the most, and that continues to be true every day U.S. forces remain there."

Of course, this is just another guy "endorsing the policy positions of Michael Moore and the extreme liberal wing of the Democratic party."

Time to Move On, Lieberman...

I love this:

The Hartford Courant reports today on how Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) continues to self-servingly pursue an image of Bush administration apologist on the Iraq War. For years, Lieberman has stabbed his party in the back on high-profile issues - but now, finally, Lieberman may have overreached, and might feel some consequences.

The Courtant specifically notes that Moveon.org now openly says it will consider supporting a primary challenge to Lieberman...

After John Kerry faced the most unqualified Presidential incumbant in our history and lost, many like me vowed to never again vote for (or spend so much time and energy working for) a Democrat unless they really deserved it, and not just because they're "ABB." This demonstrates to me that Democratic politicians can still be held accountable by the people whose values they are supposed to be representing in our (supposed) "two-party" system.

Wednesday Comic

Actually, it's from Sunday, but if you missed Doonesbury in your morning paper that day... it was a classic. Garry Trudeau offers a little back-story on why Bush, a classmate of Trudeau's at Yale, might think torture is such a good idea. Trudeau explains to Editor & Publisher that he drew his first editorial cartoon for the Yale Daily News when the incident in question occurred, and that the Bush comment in panel seven was a direct quote.

See, this is why you never piss off a cartoonist. We never forget.

Where's Scotty?

Everybody's all bent out of shape because Scott McClellan hasn't appeared before the press corps in, like, 19 days. Think Progress quotes PR Week:

A White House correspondent, who asked not to be identified, predicts McClellan, who replaced Ari Fleischer as press secretary in summer 2003, will soon be leaving his post. "I’m expecting very big changes," the correspondent says.

Relax. It's probably all just a routine retrofitting/system upgrade. I'm sure the IT guys are all over it...


UPDATE: See, he's back now. Running like a top.

November 28, 2005 Cartoon

"Stuff I'd Rather Do Than Watch That Movie" is now showing on your screen at the Newest 'Toon page. You can check out the previous episodes here and here. My only regret is that I have not yet had a chance to do one on a Paul Walker movie... that guy is one bad actor. He makes Keanu Reeves look like a Rhodes Scholar.

Back to important stuff...

...that said...

As you start your Christmas shopping, don't forget the folks in New Orleans. My suggestions for your donations: Habitat for Humanity, WWOZ, and Humane Society of Louisiana

Taking a short "blog break" 'til Monday the 28th... happy holiday!

Black is the new black...

Cafe Press now has black T-Shirts, which I have included among the products for my current designs: the Bush n' God 'toon, the Fox News "Remove Your Brain" 'toon, the Bush AWOL 'toon, and the banner design (which actually looks pretty cool in black).

Someday soon, I'll come up with some new designs and put those up. Send me an email (nomind@fightingwordscomics.com) if you have any suggestions for images from my cartoons or products you'd like to see.

Monday Comix

Matt Bors becomes a victim of the Bush Propaganda Machine...

Keith Knight has another episode of "Life's Little Victories" (I can identify with #78)...

Ann Telnaes has President Doofus eating "Chinese Trip Leftovers"...

Breaking News

The Onion (via Bartcop) reports that a Bush voter actually sat down and had a beer with the President. It did not go well:

"We were sitting there watching the game, and some cheerleaders were up there waving their pompoms," Reinard said. "Then George mentioned that he used to be a cheerleader at Yale. I didn't know what to say to that one, so I just drank the rest of my beer real fast."

Big Oil and Pharmaceuticals

Perhaps I was wrong this week... the problem isn't getting these corporations to do something "nice" for the rest of us, it's having politicians who won't constantly look for ways to make it easier for them to actively screw us. Observe:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- People injured by a vaccine against bird flu or anthrax would have to prove willful misconduct to bring a claim for damages against drug manufacturers or distributors, according to legislation being drafted behind the scenes by Republicans.

and:

A White House document shows that executives from big oil companies met with Vice President Cheney's energy task force in 2001 -- something long suspected by environmentalists but denied as recently as last week by industry officials testifying before Congress.

One of my "study guides" for this week's 'toon was The Corporation, which talks about the effect of "externalities"... the rule of business which directs a corporation to maximize profits by making others pay for its negative impact. Go rent it.

Wednesday Comic

Yet another good one from Luckovich...

Religion, Buddhism

In the news this weekend (via Cursor): the Dalai Lama addressed a group of scientists in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, and declared that "science and Buddhism share a quest of open investigation into the nature of reality, and science can be a pathway to discovering well-being and happiness."

While I don't consider myself a member of any one religious group, I have found that some of the ideas in Buddhism (and really Eastern philosophy in general) lend clarity and perspective to questions of reality that, in our society, become impossibly bogged down with fanatical Christian dogma. These days, the "fair and balanced" mainstream media is so absolutely terrified of condemning this movement of fanatics as a bad thing, that we the viewing public are endlessly subjected to their exclusionary rantings. For some reason, as Americans, it is automatically presumed that we will afford credibility to fire-breathing maniacs simply because they claim to speak in the name of Christianity.

Right now, I'm reading Zen and the Art of Insight by Thomas Cleary:

For us in the West, who have been exposed to some of the worst religious persecutions in the history of the world, and even today hear of violence for and against all around the globe, it may be emotionally and intellectually difficult even to conceive of religion that is not based on dogma, belief, or worship. Yet that is precisely what we find within Buddhism, which aims for direct perception of truth and reality, not defense of doctrine or destruction of dissenters. (Introduction, IX)

Great book so far... recommended.

11/14/05 Cartoon

If you're interested, you can catch the previous episodes of "The Corporation Guys" here and here.

It occurs to me that I should probably get back to these recurring series' more often than once every 5 or 6 months. I was firing off a "Fuzzy Bunny" cartoon every couple of weeks there for a while, because I was trying to bring that story to some kind of completion to meet a deadline. So, maybe not THAT frequent, but I'm trying to get a regular rotation going...

Friday Comic

Mikhaela B. Reid's new one is a must-see: other problems Dick Cheney can fix with torture...

The Greatest of All Time

Was the Champ making a statement here?

Bush, who appeared almost playful, fastened the heavy medal around Muhammad Ali's neck and whispered something in the heavyweight champion's ear. Then, as if to say "bring it on," the president put up his dukes in a mock challenge. Ali, 63, who has Parkinson's disease and moves slowly, looked the president in the eye -- and, finger to head, did the "crazy" twirl for a couple of seconds.

The room of about 200, including Cabinet secretaries, tittered with laughter. Ali, who was then escorted back to his chair, made the twirl again while sitting down. And the president looked visibly taken aback, laughing nervously.

A spokesman for Ali quickly clarified that it was all a joke, but I'd like to think that it may have meant a little more coming from a man who once said this:

Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on Brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights? No I’m not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end.

My Lifelong Dream...

If I work hard, stay focused, and eat my vegetables, maybe someday I too can have an FBI file and appear on George W. Bush's Enemies List.

(via Cursor)

Monday Comix

Mike Luckovich is a Bad Man (in the Muhammad Ali sense of the term).

Steve Moore ("In the Bleachers"): not political, but I thought it was cute.

Boondocks

Don't forget: Aaron Magruder's Boondocks premiers on Adult Swim Sunday night at 11. Should be cool.

Finally... a little HONESTY

Michael Scanlon on his fellow conservatives:

Consider one memo highlighted in a Capitol Hill hearing Wednesday that Scanlon, a former aide to Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, sent the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana to describe his strategy for protecting the tribe's gambling business. In plain terms, Scanlon confessed the source code of recent Republican electoral victories: target religious conservatives, distract everyone else, and then railroad through complex initiatives.

"The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees," Scanlon wrote in the memo, which was read into the public record at a hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. "Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them."

Did You Know...

In the wake of Katrina, Fat-Assed radio host Rush Limbaugh referred to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin as "Mayor Nagger." Listen and judge for yourself whether it was just a slip of the tongue. And then remember that this is a guy who, according to FAIR:

As a young broadcaster in the 1970s, Limbaugh once told a black caller: "Take that bone out of your nose and call me back." A decade ago, after becoming nationally syndicated, he mused on the air: "Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?"

In 1992, on his now-defunct TV show, Limbaugh expressed his ire when Spike Lee urged that black schoolchildren get off from school to see his film Malcolm X: "Spike, if you're going to do that, let's complete the education experience. You should tell them that they should loot the theater, and then blow it up on their way out."

In a similar vein, here is Limbaugh's mocking take on the NAACP, a group with a ninety-year commitment to nonviolence: "The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies."

When Carol Moseley-Braun (D-IL) was in the U.S. Senate, the first black woman ever elected to that body, Limbaugh would play the "Movin' On Up" theme song from TV's "Jeffersons" when he mentioned her. Limbaugh sometimes still uses mock dialect -- substituting "ax" for "ask"-- when discussing black leaders.

As you may know, this vile piece of human filth has an audience of 15 million weekly listeners, and is heard by our soldiers abroad on taxpayer-funded American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS). Notice that Media Matters provides a link to his syndicate (of course, a subsidiary of Clear Channel), so you can contact them and tell them what you think of this sub-human savage.

Dems Find Cojones

The Democrats ate their Wheaties this morning:

Democrats said that report was a year overdue and vowed to close more sessions to pressure Republicans to produce it. "We're serving notice on them at this moment. Be prepared for this motion every day until you face the reality," said Senate Democratic Whip Richard Durbin of Illinois.

Republicans were outraged.

"The United States Senate has been hijacked by the Democratic leadership," Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee said. "Never have I been slapped in the face with such an affront to the leadership of this grand institution."

He's so mad he thinks he's gonna explode!

10/31/05 Cartoon

I have detected a slight misunderstanding with regards to the point I was trying to make with this 'toon. Yes, the character is a parody of Judith Miller, but it wasn't necessarily meant to be exactly like her. Specifically, I have no evidence that she is an abnormally bubbly or animated person (aside from that giant self-satisfied grin she always seems to have on her face), nor do I know if she actually once did restaurant reviews or interviewed celebrities. Mainly, I was attempting to present a satirical critique of some of the decisions she's made as a journalist, which have been, shall we say, "ill-advised."

Rove?

Raw Story is not backing down, and is saying that it is quite possible that Rove will still be indicted next week. The Washington Post agrees that he is still under scrutiny.

Cross your fingers...

Thursday Comic

Powerful Luckovich 'toon on the 2000th military death in Iraq.

IT HAS BEGUN...

Raw Story (yet again, via Cursor) has it:

Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald has asked the grand jury investigating the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson to indict Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby and Bush’s Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, lawyers close to the investigation tell RAW STORY.
Fitzgerald has also asked the jury to indict Libby on a second charge: knowingly outing a covert operative, the lawyers said. They said the prosecutor believes that Libby violated a 1982 law that made it illegal to unmask an undercover CIA agent.

NOW we've got a show...

Cooked Goose?

Lawrence O'Donnell (via Cursor) makes an interesting point about the chances of indictments being issued, should Fitzgerald ask for them:

A typical Washington, D.C. grand jury is about 75% African American. Fitzgerald’s is slightly more than that. This is not the kind of group Karl Rove feels at home with. He has no professional experience trying to appeal to a group like this. He has been so unsuccessful at it that his boss’s job approval rating with African Americans is now 2%, which, factoring in the margin of error, could actually be zero. To make matters statistically and demographically much worse for Rove and Scooter Libby, only 12 of the 23 grand jurors have to agree to indict them.

Monday Comix

Shannon Wheeler has obviously been to downtown Seattle.

Tom Toles on Bush's inner circle.

Friday Comic

Brian McFadden tells the story of another Massachusetts Halloween tradition (the fifth frame gave me a laugh)...

Breakin' th' LAW...

Daily DeLay has a copy of the arrest warrant (via Cursor)...

The World's Top Intellectual

...according to Prospect Magazine, is to no one's surprise, Noam Chomsky. Umberto Eco was second. Coincidentally (or not), I was reading both of them last week while researching cartoon ideas. The "Democra-Bludgeon" is a not-so-veiled reference to Chomsky's quote: "Propaganda is to democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state..."

The validity of the poll as a whole was questionable, though. Christopher Hitchens? Paul Wolfowitz?! Howard Zinn and Arundhati Roy had to be "write-ins?" Give me a break...

New Patron

Fighting Words is now running on the Opinion pages of Flak Magazine, an online "noncomprehensive guide to everything." Check it out.

Cheney Resigning?

Atrios points us to the existence of rumors of a Cheney resignation over the Plame investigation, as TalkLeft suggests it was Rove that flipped on Cheney. US News says that this would clear the way for Bush to elevate apparently the last black person in America that still supports him to the Vice Presidency.

Of course, Cheney resigning would be a historic development and I would absolutely be doing backflips, but I have to say that I would miss doing Cheney characters... the guy is such an easy target.

Monday Comix

Shannon Wheeler knows my pain.

Mike Luckovich is on quite a roll.

Weasel-Bot

Ah, Scott-Bot... that "asshole" program of yours will not win you any friends in the press corps:

THOMAS: What does the President mean by "total victory" -- that we will never leave Iraq until we have "total victory"? What does that mean?

McCLELLAN: Free and democratic Iraq in the heart of the Middle East, because a free and democratic Iraq in the heart of the Middle East will be a major blow to the ambitions --

THOMAS: If they ask us to leave, then we'll leave?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm trying to respond. A free and democratic Iraq in the heart of the broader Middle East will be a major blow to the ambitions of al Qaeda and their terrorist associates. They want to establish or impose their rule over the broader Middle East -- we saw that in the Zawahiri letter that was released earlier this week by the intelligence community.

THOMAS: They also know we invaded Iraq.

McCLELLAN: Well, Helen, the President recognizes that we are engaged in a global war on terrorism. And when you're engaged in a war, it's not always pleasant, and it's certainly a last resort. But when you engage in a war, you take the fight to the enemy, you go on the offense. And that's exactly what we are doing. We are fighting them there so that we don't have to fight them here. September 11th taught us --

THOMAS: It has nothing to do with -- Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.

McCLELLAN: Well, you have a very different view of the war on terrorism, and I'm sure you're opposed to the broader war on terrorism. The President recognizes this requires a comprehensive strategy, and that this is a broad war, that it is not a law enforcement matter.Terry.

TERRY MORAN: On what basis do you say Helen is opposed to the broader war on terrorism?

McCLELLAN: Well, she certainly expressed her concerns about Afghanistan and Iraq and going into those two countries. I think I can go back and pull up her comments over the course of the past couple of years.

MORAN: And speak for her, which is odd.

McCLELLAN: No, I said she may be, because certainly if you look at her comments over the course of the past couple of years, she's expressed her concerns --

THOMAS: I'm opposed to preemptive war, unprovoked preemptive war.

MR. McCLELLAN: -- she's expressed her concerns.

PBF

I've been getting into a new comic: The Perry Bible Fellowship. Actually, it's not new, I was just never able to access it before because of my pathetically slow internet connection. Don't let the name fool you... it's damn funny.

The Right Way to Rebuild...

In researching this week's 'toon, I came across a particularly good article written by Tulane Law Professor David Gelfand:

Recently, The Wall Street Journal chillingly described plans of the "power elite" to rebuild New Orleans "in a completely different way: demographically, geographically, and politically." Unless we insist upon an inclusive, cooperative, localized approach to the planning of restoration of New Orleans, that narrow power elite will have their way. They will do so by conspiring with the companies that currently feed at the federal government's trough with massive, no-bid contracts for "redevelopment" abroad, and which may already have received some contracts for the "new" New Orleans.

...

(T)he "new" New Orleans should take account of the racial impacts of demolition and reconstruction. A model for this could come from the racial justice movement in the environmental field. Though the movement has typically focused on challenges to the location of undesirable industrial plants in poor and minority neighborhoods, it provides mechanisms for assessing the racial impact of changes - even those deemed "gentrification" by the developers -- on a particular neighborhood.

Unfortunately, I never got the chance to take a class from Gelfand when I was there. I could say that about a lot of the professors, though... I wasn't "there" that much.

Reconstruction Screw-Up

Paul Krugman makes the point better than I did in my cartoon, in his column exploring the ways in which the administration will screw up reconstruction in New Orleans:

Since the administration is already nickel-and-diming Katrina’s victims, it’s a good bet that it will do the same with reconstruction - that is, if reconstruction ever gets started. Nobody thinks that reconstruction should already be under way. But what’s striking to me is that there are no visible signs that the administration has even begun developing a plan. No reconstruction czar has been appointed; no commission has been named. There have been no public hearings. And as far as we can tell, nobody is in charge. Last month The New York Times reported that Karl Rove had been placed in charge of post-Katrina reconstruction. But last week Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, denied that Mr. Rove - who has become a lot less visible lately, as speculation swirls about possible indictments in the Plame case - was ever running reconstruction. So who is in charge? “The president,” said Mr. McClellan.

...

I’ve been reading “Off Center,” an important new book by Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson, political scientists at Yale and Berkeley respectively. Their goal is to explain how Republicans, who face a generally moderate electorate and have won recent national elections by “the slimmest of margins,” have nonetheless been able to advance a radical rightist agenda. One of their “new rules for radicals” is “Don’t just do something, stand there.” Frontal assaults on popular government programs tend to fail, as Mr. Bush learned in his hapless attempt to sell Social Security privatization. But as Mr. Hacker and Mr. Pierson point out, “sometimes decisions not to act can be a powerful means of reshaping the role of government.”

When I suggested that their natural course of action would be to award giant reconstruction contracts to corporate bigwigs, what I didn't specify was that I think this is due as much to pathetically poor planning as it is to blatant patronage.

My general point was that it should no longer come as a surprise to ANYONE when this administration demonstrates yet again just how incompetent they are with regards to governing.

Monday Comix

A couple good ones from today:

Matt Bors came up with a pretty cool format idea for today's 'toon.

Ted Rall has the Generalissimo tapping into the "Strategic Popularity Reserve."

Luckovich

...via Bartcop:

REVISED: someone pointed out to me that I should probably link directly to Luckovich's 'toon on the AJC site rather than just assuming I have permission to reproduce the image. I should know better. Sorry Mike.

...anyway, it's a funny cartoon.

McNamara

By the way...

The article by Robert McNamara that was my source for the most recent 'toon is here .

And, of course, if you never got a chance to see The Fog of War, go out and rent it immediately. Outstanding.

"The Hammer"

How about a break from Katrina posts? The second indictment of DeLay contains a money-laundering charge that carries a penalty of up to life in prison.

I'll wait for you to stop giggling... OK.

Of course, we've already seen him as a mob boss, a pimp, a pro wrestler, and a child bully, so putting him in an orange jumpsuit for the rest of his life should not be too much of a stretch for the imagination.

10/3 cartoon

This is the 'toon I had done several weeks ago, before the storms came.

I've been getting emails from a friend in New Orleans:

I'm sitting in front of a coffee house, (closed on Magazine and Jefferson) right now that has wireless, so I can go on-line. More people are coming home today looks like. We still have an 8p.m. curfew, water is still not drinkable, but .. The colleges look ok from Saint Charles. It's messy, but I'm sure there was a lot cleaned up before we got home.

The areas of the city that are considered most important to the city's economic elite (i.e. Uptown, Downtown, and the French Quarter) all sound like they got slaps on the wrist, comparatively. I wonder if they'll just go back to business as usual, or if they'll take the crisis as a sign that it's time to finally push for a decent levee system?