Pro-America

From her first appearance at the RNC Convention to today, Sarah Palin has been bashing people who live in cities and lauding small town Americans as harder working, more authentic and more American.

Monday: The Spectre of Communism

Dead Trees

This quote was passed along on an e-mail list I'm on.

"The Modem, a.k.a. modulator/demodulator, is a handy little device that lets computers talk over telephone lines. ... 'I go home, have a glass of wine, turn on my computer and see what's on Dow Jones,' says Apple vice president Wilfred Houde. 'I don't know if it's good or bad, but I don't read the paper anymore.'"

-- Newsweek cover story, February 22, 1982, page 54

OK to be Godless?

CNN's Campbell Brown took Republican Senator Elizabeth Dole to task for her despicable smear ad linking her opponent to godlessness. She points out the distortions and the fact that the Democrat, Kay Hagan, is a god-fearing Presbyterian. But at no point does she say it is OK to be godless. She only treats it as a smear one must push back against.

During this election she's been more outspoken in her commentary and has defended against sexism and racism. Recently, as Obama was called an "Arab," she addressed the elephant in the room:

So what if Obama was Arab or Muslim? So what if John McCain was Arab or Muslim? Would it matter?

When did that become a disqualifier for higher office in our country? When did Arab and Muslim become dirty words? The equivalent of dishonorable or radical?

...

There are more than 1.2 million Arab-Americans and about 7 million Muslim-Americans, former Cabinet secretaries, members of Congress, successful business people, normal average Americans from all walks of life.

These are the people being maligned here, and we can only imagine how this conversation plays in the Muslim world. We can't tolerate this ignorance -- not in the media, not on the campaign trail.

There are more people who are "godless" in this country than Muslim. I'm not trying to put this on the level of racism against Obama, but as Campbell says, "We can't tolerate this ignorance -- not in the media, not on the campaign trail."

Politicians!

The election is almost over...

Inspired by that creepy feature in Us Weekly about how celebrities are like Joe Six Pack. Recently seen: "They LOVE burritos!"

Friday: Visit Pro-America!

Jack-Ass-O-Lantern

My attempt at McCain pumpkin carving.

Mailbag

My recent cartoon that called McCain a "unrepentant terrorist" for bombing civilian targets in Vietnam brought in a lot of mail--many irate and a good number that said what John McCain was actually doing was fighting for my right to draw offensive cartoons. Many were certain I wouldn't last five minutes in a Vietnamese prison camp. I thought I'd post one of the non-belligerent ones:

You have recently implied that in a cartoon that John McCain is a terrorist by being a pilot in Vietnam. However, John McCain was a soldier in a war, he was following the orders of his superior officers and was doing the job he was trained to do. He did this job against a Military force that was also equally trained to oppose him. As is evidenced by the fact that he was shot down and placed in a P.O.W. camp. Where might I add he was tortured and subjected to horrors that I would hope to never face.

I am not justifying the Vietnam war. I feel that the war in Nam was not a just war and it was not a war that needed to be fought. It is just disturbing that you would try and say that a soldier is somehow on the same level as someone who would explode bombs in his own country and call that an attempt at peace. You are obviusly someone who has never served and look at those that do with disgust and trepidation. These are the same folks that have ensured your right to free speech. I don't agree with you and what you have tried to say here, but I would not take away your right to say it. But you are wrong.

The act of war in all it's forms is horror and sorrow, but as long as there are men who hate there will always be a need for it. You and your kind will never understand this.

James T

USN

Redistributionist in Chief

Hendrik Hertzberg in The New Yorker:

The Republican argument of the moment seems to be that the difference between capitalism and socialism corresponds to the difference between a top marginal income-tax rate of 35 per cent and a top marginal income-tax rate of 39.6 per cent.

Taxpayer Millions Down the Abstinence-Only Drain

Cross-posted at the ACLU Blog of Rights

Most people don’t wait until marriage to have sex, but abstinence-only-until-marriage education programs tell teens they should…and not much else (hence the “only” part). Despite mountains of evidence showing these programs work as well as magical thinking, stubborn anti-sex ed moralists continue to insist we ignore reality and throw millions more taxpayer dollars at the problem.

The latest Civil Discourse comic examines some further ways taxpayer money can be wasted trying to keep teens in the dark about sex.

Abstinence-only programs are actually worse than teaching teens nothing at all— at least then LGBT youth wouldn’t be marginalized, and misleading information about STDs and gender stereotypes wouldn’t be spread. Thankfully, some states are starting to turn down the money.

Also, be sure to check out another ACLU cartoon I did on abstinence-only programs here.

Nader Rally

Nader has been so irrelevant in this election he hardly warrants another comic. But when I saw him last week, his supporters came off as so wacky I had to do some comic reporting. (See a previous one here.)

As I say in the comic, his speech was what you'd expect. There was plenty to agree with and I couldn't help but wondering why this man wasted the last decade running for President instead of doing something meaningful like writing books or starting a PAC.

Nader wants the media to focus on the issues, but his remaining supporters seemed more concerned with bizarre conspiracy theories. Half of the audience questions focused on these concerns and what Nader would do about them "as President."

I expected to see the so-called 9/11 Truthers there, but the chem trail question really threw me for a loop. I looked around to see if everyone was as mystified as I, but apparently not understanding how jets make condensation trails is more widespread than I thought.

Waiting for the bus outside the rally, a woman next to me brought it up. She said she never gets sick but thought the chem trails may have resulted in her cold. A massive government conspiracy is underway to give people sinus congestion! Then she started talking about how people with Downs Syndrome look like aliens and may be the result of genetic tampering by scientists or chemicals in our food.

See you in four more, Ralph!

Mailbag Douchebag

arthur_mosier@yahoo.com writes:

"The Racist Succumbs". The Racist? Let me tell you who the Racist is... [proceeds to tell me who the racist is for nearly 1,000 words of block text: La Raza, NAACP, Will Smith, liberals, etc.] ...I have no idea if you are black or white. But, based on your openly anti-white racist hate-cartooning, I have to imagine that you are either an Affirmative-Action propelled, racist black or a white-guilt ridden, elitist judaic. Either way, you are clearly a hypocritical black-sycophant with a gut full of hate.

The Obama Effect

Eight years of Bush, two endless wars and the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression seems to have pushed some people to vote for a candidate they normally wouldn't consider.

$400 updo

Wow. It would take Joe The Plumber four years of work to finance the clothes Sarah Palin bought in the last few weeks. She dropped some serious loot at Saks Fifth Avenue located in that Pro-America small town: New York City.

Outsource It All!

When the government has been whittled away to nothing but an ATM for corporations, the simple act of monitoring the people getting the money has itself been outsourced to a private firm. Eventually we'll save on the bureaucracy and just dump all of our tax dollars onto an open field and let everyone have at it. No sense in having mommy government tell us how to spend it.

Joe The Plumber

I was startled the other night to discover "Joe The Plumber" on the Mike Huckabee show on FOX. Not only was I baffled that Joe was still being interviewed, but had to find out that Huckabee has his own show.

Anyway, here's my Joe cartoon.

Wednesday: Iraq Contractors

TURD OF THE YEAR

Top ten worst political cartoons ever created. Since time began. Hands down.

(click here to view)

Gordon Campbell Freelance Oct 19, 2008 EditorialCartoonists.com

Trick or Treat

I was going to write a lengthy diatribe about the Halloween cartoon cliche for this entry. Luckily, my friend Kevin Moore already did that earlier this week, so I'll just quote him:

And that’s the problem with relying on cliches for inspiration. Nothing is really said, no opinion is made, no risks are taken, so nothing really funny happens; the brain doesn’t light up with connections nor does the heart ignite with fury or indignation. It’s just a chuckle, if that, a harmless non-thought sandwiched between editorials, letters to the editor and syndicated columns that, for all of their faults (and there are many), at least show engagement with the world around them and strive to advance a position, however futile. Is it any wonder more professional political cartoonists are losing their jobs?

See the previous installment of "Exposed" here.

Monday: Joe The Plumber!

W.

The movie for people who need two more hours of George Bush in their lives.

High Turnover Rate

For those of you caught up in the election, you may have missed major news in the Global War on Terror: we killed the latest in an endless string of No.2 men in Al Qaeda.

No.3? Time for your promotion.

MailBag Douchebag

bruceaajr@yahoo.com:

YOU SUCK!

In the words of Obama...

I...HOPE... your penis falls off. That would be a good...CHANGE.

AND He Plays Basketball!

Real Fox News Headline: "Hip-Hop-Dancing Colin Powell Fuels Speculation He'll Endorse Obama"


(via Oliver)

Constitution News

Cross-posted at the ACLU Blog of Rights.

The media coverage of the presidential campaign has devolved into daily obsessions with the latest gaffes and attack ads. The debates are stale stump speeches where our founding document is largely ignored. Watching it unfold, it’s easy to forget the candidates are competing to take an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution. (If they can dig it out off Cheney’s paper shredder.)

The candidates have one more chance to take on torture, wiretapping, or voting rights at tonight’s last presidential debate.

The latest Civil Discourse strip takes place in an alternate universe—one where Civil Liberties trump sound bytes and the "Constitution Debate" is moderated by a certain friend of the ACLU.

Palling Around

'nuff said.

Music Break

Jen Sorensen's blog pointed me to an amazing update of "Family Tradition" by Hank Williams, Jr. All music fans really need to check out this face-melting rocker. My favorite line:

They'll tell you just what they think/ They're not goin' to blink/ And they don't have radical friends to whom their careers are linked.

No radical friends? What about the Anti-American secessionists, Christian nationalists and Witch-fighting preachers? Sounds like it's a...Family Tradition. SNAP!

Bloodlines

Obama has often been compared to Honest Abe Lincoln. After all, they are both tall with big ears and launched their campaigns in Springfield, IL--by sheer coincidence, of course. Editorial Cartoonists love to depict the Lincoln Memorial momentarily gaining sentience to smile approvingly about the nomination of an African-American to a major party. He's the only half-decent statue in the country--these guys are like brothers from a different mother!

There is also an interesting parallel in racial paranoia surrounding the two.

Lying chain e-mails didn't exist back in the Civil War days so people used a form of communication called "talking to each other." Using this tactic, rumors were generated about Lincoln's heritage being of African descent. He was a plant--a secret foreigner--sent in to destroy the nation from within. That was his motive in freeing the slaves. Turns out we haven't advanced much since.

Anyway, there wasn't any YouTube or Tina Fey back then so cartoonists were actually relevant--and at least one cartoon on the subject became a hit with the fanatics. I recently discovered it in a book called "Lines Of Contention: Political Cartoons of the Civil War."

It was created by Aldabert J Volck (signed under a pseudonym for fear of reprisal) and features Abe with an modest afro and dress reminiscent of a Persian warrior(!) complete with a scabbard. The title: "Under The Veil." So yeah, if a fucking white guy named Abraham Lincoln couldn't beat this smear, Obama doesn't have a chance of completely overcoming it.

I was able to find the comic online. Click the first result to download a pdf. The cartoon is on page 14.

Bathing in Bubbly

Here's a panel from a comic I did earlier this year.


At the time, it was a humorous exaggeration of how Bank CEOs live. But the news of the decadent retreat by bailed-out AIG execs has rendered it true. The spa they went to had an option on the menu to bathe in white wine while drinking wine for $665. When I drew the comic I considered noting that the guy was bathing in champagne but the the panel was already crowded and it seemed too excessive...

The Fear

As McCain/Palin stoke fears about Obama, they've revealed their base to be packed with despicable paranoid racists. Jeering journalists, shouting racial epithets and clamoring for Obama's head--these people are lunatics who think their party leaders won't explicitly say Obama's a terrorist because the media will jump on them. (Naturally the media is in on this.)

The domestic terrorist that worries me is the insane guy who is going to think his country has been infiltrated by a one-man Kenyan terror cell and it's up to him to stop it.

In Wednesday's cartoon we'll explore Obama's close association with a dangerous man you may have heard of...

ESL

A local cartoon for The Oregonian:



Bill Sizemore is a conservative ballot initiative activist here in Oregon and has succeeded in getting numerous measures on the November ballot, including one to strictly limit English as a Second Language Education.

Circular...Logic?

Sarah Palin at a rally yesterday:

I know when my impatience through interviews or anything else shows--I know when that happens that some of you may think that I'm just trying to provide job security for Tina Fey. Well...no, it's because I am like you and I wonder too when will the questions be asked and when will we get the answers.

She can't answer questions...because she's wondering when questions will be asked and when there will be answers.

The crowd cheered.

Just take it in.

Karma Police

In Search of the McCain Youth Squad

You know that video Drudge had on his site for three days with the black kids doing weird Obama military chants? The idea was black people are about to take over the world so get fucking scared. Instead it was hilarious--I want to see kids do that for McCain!

"Because of John McCain I'm inspired to be the next cantankerous old fart"
"Because of John McCain I'm inspired to be the next Savings and Loan banker"
"Because of John McCain I'm inspired to subtly question people's patriotism"

Omega! Alpha! Omega! Alpha! Omega! Alpha!

Fear Of A Black Planet

Racial fear seems to be engulfing my native state of Ohio. See the new hit video on the internet: "Bloodlines" for some Straight (Racist) Talk from the Heartland. Anecdotal reports from the home front indicate widespread panic. Parents and friends relay bizarre stories of formerly-rational people saying they will vote McCain/Palin for elusive reasons. That AFL-CIO guy knows it.

A reality is dawning on these idiots: We're about to have a black president. Crowds are becoming increasingly violent; shouts of "Kill 'Em!" and "Treason!"

HOLD THE LINE OHIO! OR I'LL NEVER VISIT YOU AGAIN!

Phoning It In

Everyone is flipping out over McCain's reverent tone toward Obama!

Race Factor

Race woes probably won't cost Obama the election now that our economy is crumbling. I guess Ed Rendell was right about fuchsia colored men. Sometimes people can momentarily put aside their mistrust of black people--all it takes is economic ruin, eight years of Bush and the prospect of a McCain/Palin administration.

Friday: Karma Police

Debate Sketches II

Edit: I think Obama's position is that healthcare is a "right" but the panel above was supposed to be about the question someone asked about healthcare being a "commodity." He didn't answer that one directly.

Crash!

"I believe in the long run, this economy is going to be just fine." -George W Bush, today

"In the long run, we are all dead." - Economist John Maynard Keynes (deceased)

The Real Story - Graph Analysis by Matt Bors

Prolific blogger Andrew Sullivan linked to the following graphic today saying it told us "everything" we need to know about McCain. It's a "Net Favorability Rating" which I assume means something important. Anyway, conventional wisdom says this is bad news for McCain.



But this is wrong. McCain is in the middle of a truly historic master strategy. Below are my predictions for the trend lines through election day. You can see clearly that McCain is creating a silhouette of America with his Net Favorability Rating.



CNN: Call Me.

Fuchsia?

Everyone is looking for that great way to reach out to voters with a simple message. "It's The Economy, Stupid!" or "It's Morning In America!"

Well, Ed Rendell, Governor of the fine state of Pennsylvania had a great line about Barack and race on This Week Sunday. Worried about it? Shouldn't be. Just use this one on your racist friends. Guaranteed racism buster right here:

Number two, on the issue of race, here is the analogy I give, George. If you’re drowning in the middle of the river and you see a man on the riverbank and he’s got a coil of rope in his hand, you don’t care whether he’s black, white, orange or fuchsia, you don’t care whether he’s Methodist, Jewish or Unitarian. You just care that he’s got a strong right arm that can get that rope out to you in the middle of the river.

And Senator Obama has that strong right arm, he’s got the policies that can turn this country around. And Pennsylvanians are focusing on that.

I like how he compares the action of people in his state pressing a button for a black man to them being near death and realizing they have to set aside their racism for one moment and allow a black person to save them. The only other option is death.

I can see some guy stroking his chin stubble now: "You know, I guess there are some situations where I could tolerate the kindness of a black man. Thanks, Ed."

Why do white people always bust out the non-existent skin tones when they talk about how non-discriminatory they are? If I was drowning in a river and a fuchsia colored Unitarian man offered me some rope I'd choose death. Fuck those dudes.

Couric Vs. Palin

One of the strangest answers Palin gave in the Couric interview was that she reads "all of them" when asked what news media she looks to. All of 'em? Wow.

She obviously is not much of a reader, but couldn't she have said "Oh, Time and Newsweek, Katie. Love 'em." I'm not looking for a scholar here, but I am wondering if we even have a politician with a base-level ability to BS her way through a question that a fourth grader would ask their grandpa for a report on career day without a prepared response.

People were then relieved that she didn't crumble after spouting talking points and exaggerated folk-isms during the debate. platitude fest.

Oh, and a few days later she did come up with an answer: She reads the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the Economist. There. That wasn't so hard. She even got the added bonus of having the question asked by Carl Cameron of FOX News who could barely conceal his desire to have sex with her.

Wednesday: The Race Factor

Illustration

Here's my cover illustration for the latest issue of Free Inquiry. I took all the text off this version. The cover story is "Does Democracy Still Matter?"

Flag Pin News

Should Joe Biden have worn a Flag Pin Brooch at the debates? Apparently.

Pro-Life

Debate Night

I actually went and bought chips and dip for this.

Election Season Maladies

We're coming down to the home stretch. Are you suffering from any of these?

Ironically, I got a repetitive stress injury in my drawing hand right before I drew this. Trying to meet your deadlines while not exacerbating the problem is an interesting game. (/complaining)