For Aug 28, 08 Mapleton PRESS

I had thought about this idea for today's newspaper, but then I decided to go with that whole "Birth of Venus/Obama" thing since the convention is the 25th-29th. Guess I got things backward. It was actually a half-ways original idea when I thought of it back on Aug 14, since then every cartoonist and their brother have pretty much drawn a variation on this theme. Whatchyagonnado?

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.

At 'Dog & Pony Shows' like this, who's the dog and who's the pony?

Happy 5th anniversary, Warhawks! Happy 4,000 US dead.
Where's Admiral Fallon? Why didn't they want to have him testify?
Come to think of it, why not have Condaleeza Rice and Presidents Cheney and Bush testify? Obviously, we can't seriously talk about getting out in an election year.
The plan, tone things down between August and the election, with hopes that it will help McCain. Then, leave it for the next guy (or gal) to clean up.

The Legacy

I love this cartoon. Can cartoons make their Daddies proud? Below are some of the sketches I did. You can't believe how hard this thing was to draw and finally put together.

Believe me, Iowa's 5th District is NOT as racist or stupid as our Congressman

Here is the finished cartoon. I sent it to KingWatch.org and they're talking about using it, but I still haven't made up my mind about the March 20 Mapleton PRESS thing- for one it will be 2 weeks old, for another a lot can happen between now and Friday when I turn a cartoon in to them. Hillary Clinton and George Bush could do lots of stupid things between now and then, for that matter, so can Steve King!

Rep. Steve King (R) of Iowa's 5th District strike's again!

Last night on the local news, my idiot Congressman ACTUALLY said pretty much just what I wrote above about Barack Obama. I was so incensed that I HAD to draw this cartoon. Of course, due to plumbing disasters, we're temporally living with my in-laws while our home undergoes repairs, so I am without PhotoShop till I go back to school on Monday, so I'm posting it pretty raw. If I use it for the PRESS for March 20, I'll obviously rework it some- but then the incident will also be 2 weeks old, so who knows if I will or not.

Read more about this dweeb at http://www.kingwatch.org

Someday she hopes to be a REAL cabinet-level official

Political Cartoon for the Feb. 21 Mapleton PRESS

Man, I haven't drawn her since August 2006, you can't believe how differently I did it too. I don't know, I think I liked the old style better. She still looks mean. Sort of a Black Cruella De Ville. Guess if I were going to do it over again, I would've made Wexler Jiminy Cricket instead of having both Jiminy and Wexler both.

Hawk & Dove

Here's my cartoon for the Feb. 7 Mapleton PRESS. I wish Anderson Cooper would've asked a question that addressed this issue.


Dr. Ron Paul,; old guy courting the youth vote. Dudes, libertarianism is not as cool as anarchy is, and anarchy is only cool if your angry, stoned, or stupid. On the other hand, I like his stance on Iraq.

Fear of vermin can be paralyzing

I'm so angry with Reid and Pelosi that I can hardly see straight. Why did they cave in on the omnibus bill like they did? Another $70 billion on the war Bush lied us into. They'd better put impeachment back on the table in the new year or I may re-register to the Green party or at least as an independent or something.

On the other hand, I'm pretty proud of my drawing. Funny frightened donkey, my G.W. Bush is finally coming along... but it is a little weird that last week I used Suess and this week I used Disney- hope I don't get into a rut of using other people's cartoon characters.

Stop him before he wrecks again

Once again, I was somewhat disappointed with myself for how this turned out. I was sick and feeling pretty miserable this week but didn't want to cannibalize an old cartoon again. It's also a little tender because I know people who've had DUI accidents. Please, don't drink and drive- not even a little. Meanwhile, Bush and Cheney beating the drums of war again really scares me. I've talked to a former student in the Marine Corps and a old college friend in the National Guard and they both have a pretty strong feeling, from their superiors, that this is going to happen, it's only a matter of time. We can help stop it- visit http://www.stopiranwar.com or www.votevets.org
Help retired General, Wes Clark prevent another fiasco.

Mirror, Mirror....

So... 'W' says that Iraq is like Vietnam after all... (in a weird sort of way). Well guess what 'Dub? History repeats it self in all kinds of ways...

I juxtaposed Ronnie and Dick just for the fun of it.

Learn it in a book

The Tantrum

This week, I took so dang long to create my cartoon that I've decided to show you step-by-step what the process is like.First, I drew the President as a little kid throwing a tantrum. This is actually my second try. His face was too fat and the mouth just didn't look. His eyes were open too and frankly, he just looked possessed!
Next, I drew the sandbox. Okay, I'll confess, I pretty much traced some piece of clip art, but I made the shovel bigger and I changed the truck into a tank.
Then, I drew the "Mom & Dad," Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Ried. I started with him first and was a little worried that he looked too much like former Defense Secretary Rumsfield. In the end, they remind me a lot of Grant Wood's Farmer & daughter in "American Gothic." Of course, he always did- he's just too square to represent Las Vegas. As you can see, I had a little trouble with Madam Speaker's hair. For one thing, she has it fixed different in different photos. I also had some trouble finishing her body. She's a very lovely woman, but being in her sixties, I didn't want to overdo her femininity. I think I probably did over do the mascara and the smile, but maybe that will make my Republican readers happy. I had meant to give her a forced grin like June Cleaver when she's really lost her patience with the Beaver, instead it's bordering on clownish. This is when I pretty much decided to put the parents in the foreground, so I could cut off most of their bodies.
I love how this turned out. I wanted to show a child's scream and I knew that neither my pen or any computer font would do it. I thought about a Sharpie marker, but I decided that that would be too smooth. So, I went with a charcoal pencil. PERFECT.
Believe me, this is about as good as MY handwriting gets.
Oops! I can't believe I forgot to just draw a baloon around that. Oops! I hate how I never remember how to spell "b-a-l-l-o-o-n."

Bringing down demagogues

This in no way even begins to relay the anger and frustration that I feel toward this administration. I can only pray that cartoons like this are somewhat prophetic. John Conyers said today that he plans on opening hearings on the Libby vertict and hope to bring to light what Cheney did or ordered done in the Plame outing.

But here I am using photos from the web and computer fonts again. Oh well, someday I'll have some skills.

Protect us, PLEASE

One of my New Year's resolutions was to make the editorial cartoons that I do for the Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper and the Schleswig Leader lighter. They print darker anyway, so I'm trying to not shade darker than 50% and to use it more sparingly. I think my George W. is getting better, don't you?

I worry that with so many readers over 60, who don't have computers or lots electronics at home, whether the surge protector analogy will even make sense.

I have this goal of being clipped out and hung on peopl'e refrigerators, I'm just afraid that I'll have to do something cute and sweet like Bill Keane's 'Family Circus' for that to happen.

I've gotten several compliments from real right-wingers on my column lately and I just know it's because I haven't been writing about politics.

Does a quack really have no echo?