Aw shucks

It must have been a couple of years ago that I first accidentally ran accross some picture of Hitler that seemed banal, mundane, even downright charming. I knew it had to have been a bit of NAZI propaganda, but I just knew it was like the mother lode of irony- yet it lay fallow for all that time until now. All of a sudden I can't stop. Though I must say, if you do a Google search for "Hitler, sweet, friendly" you come up with some disturbing stuff. There are a lot of white supremacists and neoNAZIs out there who post these pictures without an ounce of irony and are proud as can be of their amazing leader. THAT gives me shivers. Let us all pray and remember and remind others so that it will never happen again.

What a great guy!

Once again, the initial point of this series is to highlight the way we sometimes blindly follow and loyally defend public figures without carefully scrutinizing all of their positions on all of the issues. There are figures whom I have criticized as a writer and cartoonist, such as Congressman Steve King and Governor Sarah Palin whom people vehemently protected as if they were family members. The same people, sometimes in the same breath would attack me for being pro-abortion. I am not pro-abortion, however, it's not the only political or moral issue out there and I believe that it is used callously as a politically expedient campaign tool. New reveal that the ultimate conservative, Richard Nixon actually advocated aborting the children of interracial couples.

Deep Thoughts

Please don't send hate mail if your a Buddhist. I'm not trying to make fun of Buddhism of de-legitimize his amazing teaching in this quote. It ought to be obvious that the juxtaposition of a pacifist, pious philosophy with evil is supposed to, uh, um, it's supposed to uh, well, I don't know what it's supposed to do. I guess I thought it was funny when I started it, but I think by trying to explain, defend, or analyze it I've pretty much ruined whatever effect I might have been after.
Never mind.

Quiet time

So loveable and adorable

*Let me clarify- I am not equating and never DIRECTLY compared Congressman Steve King or former President Gorge W. Bush to Adolf Hitler. The point of this series is to highlight our tendency not to scrutinize some public figures if we somehow identify with them or find them charismatic. It could be a teacher, a leader, a therapist, a celebrity, athlete, clergy or political leader- it doesn't have to be Bush or King, we're often taken in and should always maintain a healthy level of cynicism. Now, I'll admit that I do think that some of King's statements lean toward racist and his politics lean toward corporatism (if not fascism) and Bush's grandfather was a financial supporter of the NAZIs running up to WWII, but seriously, I have not yet and am not now comparing either of them to the great scourge of the 20th century. But if I were (and I'm not) hyperbole is the birthright of satire, so as egregious as such comparisons might be, I think I'd still be within my rights as a smart assed trouble-maker.

No, no, forget that's not true. Egregious is egregious. No one is as evil as Hitler was and no one deserves to be demonized that much. People must be REALLY paranoid to compare Obama to Hitler and it's just as unfair, irresponsible and outrageous to compare Bush to Hitler too. So again, I promise that I'm NOT trying to compare anyone to anyone. Just trying to be funny and make people think by using irony. Cheap, overly simple, unfairly easy irony, but irony none the less.

On a lighter note, the momentum has taken over so that these are just starting to be funny now rather than a therapeutic means to work through personal angst. I think this one is particularly silly. Of course it's not true, although Disney's fifth major animated feature Bambi did come out in 1942 and it was based on a book by an Austrian author.

Who'd you rather have a beer with?

*This one was inspired by an article in USA Today back in 2004. Satirists shouldn't patronize their readers by spelling things out for them, but if you haven't caught on yet, the point of this series is that sometimes we're really taken in by how populist politicians try to be.

For example- I may see my Congressman (Steve King) as an egocentric, xenophobic, bigoted demagogue (based on his public statements, voting record and behavior) but plenty of good people just see him as "good people," partly because he's warm and friendly and partly because he's as "pro-life" as he can be to get having to kill a doctor at his church somewhere in Kansas.

Mind you, I'm not pro-abortion either, but some people don't think you should speak out about corruption, hypocrisy, economics, health care, civil rights, the environment, violations of the Constitution, or unjust wars unless you are as absolutely over the top zealous about eliminating all abortion as they are. But that's a different ax for me to try to grind another time in a different cartoon, collage, or image. Just had to get it out of my system.

A very nice guy who likes people

*Actually, this series of Hitler as a lovable guy was originally inspired by something someone said on facebook about Iowa Congressman Steve King, they had babysat his kids for him when they were younger and thought he was a really sweet guy. This particular installment is really about George W. Bush from an August 2005 column for Solon.com by David Brooks.

One of us

What a great guy!

Mal•Adjusted

If I'm going to have these spurts of productivity like last week and the last couple of days, I should really post things on a time-released system where they show up once a week for a month instead of once a day for a week. Whatever. This one was fun. She's based on a dentures ad in a early 60's Saturday Evening Post- and a quote on fascism from 1940's Progressive Party Presidential candidate Henry Wallace.

The nut doesn't fall far from the family tree

Cartoon for May 29, 08 Mapleton PRESS

You'll have to click on this one to be able to read the captions under the elders, but I promise, it's worth it.

Once again, I'm posting on the day I get done, rather than the publication day, and once again, I'm hopelessly out dated. But doggone it, like Indiana Jones, I hate NAZIs almost as much as I hate hypocrites.

From April 1944 on, the American Air Force could have destroyed the camp with air raids, as well as the railway bridges and railway lines from Hungary to Auschwitz. The murder of about 400,000 Hungarian Holocaust victims could have been prevented.

A January 22 1944 executive order signed by President Franklin Roosevelt calling on the government to take all measures to rescue the European Jews. That order was ignored because of pressure brought by a group of big American companies, including BBH, where Prescott Bush was a director.

Some legacy. But by God, he's a "born-again-Christian" who's opposed to abortion and gay marriage. More guys like him and maybe we can get prayer back in public schools and evolution out of them!

When will Christian voters get a clue. Republicans are about money and eliminating the middle-class, they only SAY they're for those socially conservative, traditional, "family values" issues to get your vote. Really, they're about money and power for themselves and their cronies.

I bet we make Jesus cry. One of my favorite bumper stickers is "Drive Republicans crazy, live like Jesus."

Okay, okay, I'll shut up. Cartoonists are supposed to be funny, not preachy. Besides, the more I write about it, the more I look like some kind of conspiracy theorist crank. But I still can't believe that he had the gall to say what he did, on foreign soil, when he's not running for re-election, in front of the Israeli parliament on the anniversary of the Jewish state- especially with his family's background!

Sigh. I only wish more Americans had noticed or given a rip.

"I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments" ~Exodus 20:5-6