Phun in Photoshop

Remember the old Murphy Brown show? Recall how on the inside of her office door, she had a dartboard and famous politicians and media types often found themselves there? Like Dan Quayle. Well, here's my answer to it. Now that I have the template, I can put any perceived villain in the Polaroid. Fun way to blow off steam, huh?

Happy NEW YEAR!!!!

For August 14 Mapleton PRESS

I like my caricature of McCain on the right better than the one on the left, the emotion really comes through. His teeth are so like they are in real life, forget about his heroic jaw. I'm also really proud of how smug Rove looks! Politics certainly does make for strange bedfellows, doesn't it? Someone who smeared McCain so bad in the South Carolina primary eight years ago is the very one who he hires to help him out now. Such is the Machiavellian nature of politics.

Rove loves to attack your strengths rather than weaknesses, Obama's too popular, Obama recommends saving on gas by inflating your tires... But maybe America finally is genuinely tired of negative campaigns. The ad comparing Obama to Paris and Brittany seems to have backfired pretty bad. I almost drew a cartoon endorsing Paris for President, but I thought that would be too easy- besides it would be treating a symptom, not the disease.

Mike Royko used to have a sign in his office; "Aquila non captat muscas" Eagles don't hunt flies. Okay, so I have a long way to go till I'm an eagle, point is why shoot low, aim high, right?

Goebbels says he believed in Bush as war started

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan says he didn't object to the way the war in Iraq was sold to the American people at the time because he, like other Americans, gave the president the benefit of the doubt.

McClellan says in his new memoir that he came to realize that the war was sold with propaganda that inflated the threat posed by Saddam Hussein. He says administration officials didn't deliberately lie — but they became wrapped up in trying to shape the story to their advantage, and ignored intelligence that didn't fit the picture.

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Note- I guess I haven't decided yet whether to use this for the June 6 Mapleton PRESS. Anytime you employ the NAZIs you're being heavy handed, but then again, cartoons are nothing if they're not hyperbolic. But of course, little Scotty McClellen was never as powerful as Josef Goebbels. Most people might think Karl Rove was more like Goebbels. Although Himmler has Roves round face and hairline. Whatever.

Anyway, raving reactionary that I am- I just couldn't let this bit of current events go unreacted to. I wonder what Indiana Jones would've thought of our current administration and the Iraq war. I wonder how many artifacts were lost that could've been in a museum. How could an archaeologist discover lost emails?

OOPS!- The first time I put this together, there was a gross historical inaccuracy in my analogy. Rove would be more like Himmler- mastermind of the Holocaust, whereas Goebbels was in charge of propaganda, more along the lines of a Press Secretary. Shoot- that's what being reactionary gets you, bad aim. My History professors would be ashamed. Sorry Dr. Fiala. Guess I'll try something else this week. Still, you gotta admit that it looks pretty cool!

At least, I hope that you dear readers, appreciate the transparency with which I let you in on my creative process.

Trivia tid-bits- Himmler committed suicide after turning himself over British forces this week in 1945! Goebbels remained with Hitler till the bitter end where he killed his wife and family before committing suicide in Hitler's bunker. Whereas Scotty McClellen is cashing in an a 7-figure book deal. But at least if we're lucky, it will help get Rove or Cheney prosecuted for something eventually.

Whatever works

At the rate she's going, she may still be able to snatch defeat for the Democrats from the mouth of victory! I don't know how well I did at drawing Hillary this time, but I'm pretty proud of my Harold Ickes and Terry McAuliffe!

Usually my columns and cartoons are pretty independent of each other, but this week the compliment each other pretty well. Click here to read "Confession is good for the soul" from the March 13 Mapleton PRESS.

Good Riddence

After our back-to-school teacher meetings, I SHOULD have been cleaning my classroom or getting ready for school to start Wednesday, but I was so excited about the great architect leaving, I had to do this one a week early.

The Pupettmaster

All the King's Men

They're all "bad-eggs." Whew! I think this whole process took almost two hours and was pieced together from four drawings. Would you believe my inspiration was Easter Eggs? With all that's going on between the U.S. Attorney firings, the Plame/Wilson leak, Libby trial, the Congressional battles over an Iraq exit deadline, and now the saber rattling with Iran, the Nixon-esque Humpty Dumpty/All the Presiden't Men analoy seemed appropriate.