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...