The White House Correspondents Dinner

Posted on May 1, 2014 by - free speech, politics

The annual inappropriate schmoozefest, also known as the White House Correspondents dinner takes place this Saturday.   The whole idea of journalists yucking it up with politicians at fancy Washington events only confirms what most Americans think- that the Media is elitist and not interested in holding government leaders accountable.  Rem Rieder from the American Journalism Review has criticized this event for years; here’s his piece from 2012.050506WHcorresDinner

Here’s a link to Stephen Colbert’s 2006 speech which ruffled the Washington Media’s feathers.

LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling

Posted on April 30, 2014 by - free speech, human rights, politics, society, womens issues

The owner of the LA Clippers is banned for life from the NBA and fined $2.6 million after audiotape of several racist comments he made during a conversation with his girlfriend is released.DonaldSterlingFrom the looks of this guy he must be an exceptional speaker since his First Amendment right of $peech attracts such young and beautiful women.

Can you hear me now?

Posted on April 29, 2014 by - free speech, human rights, politics

SCOTUScellphonesSMThe Supreme Court hears 2 arguments today about whether the police can search the cell phones of suspects they arrest before obtaining an search warrant.  Since most people today own smartphones which contain all sorts of private information, what the justices eventually decide will impact us all.  My first question is, how many justices actually use cell phones?

Cardinal Dolan: A “loyal American”

Posted on April 21, 2014 by - human rights, politics

New York’s Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan appeared Easter Sunday on Face the Nation, talking mostly about the positive effect Pope Francis has had on the Church and a bit on the possible candidacy of Jeb Bush in 2016.  He was also questioned about the change in public opinion about gay marriage in the US.  This part of his reply caught my attention:

“Do I believe that society could be affected negatively if we tamper with the definition of marriage? Yeah. And that’s just not as a man of faith, that’s just, I’d like to think, as a loyal American — that if we tamper with that essential of human relationships – marriage — we’re sooner or later going to come to regret it.”

“A loyal American”?  So, does that mean that people who support marriage equality are not loyal Americans?  The Washington media in general is taken in by Cardinal Dolan’s  jovial, good guy next door schtick but he’s always come across as a car salesman to me.  I’m a bit surprised no one in the media picked up on his not so subtle suggestion that being against gay marriage somehow makes one a real American.Cardinal Timothy Dolan

click image for animation at the Washington Post

Russian cartoonist Victor Bogorad

Posted on April 16, 2014 by - free speech, human rights, politics, society

While I was at the conference in Caen I met the Russian cartoonist Victor Bogorad. Although I speak no Russian and Victor no English, we did discover that both of us had a limited ability to speak in German so we were able to communicate a little. One of the best things about being among cartoonists though, is that we really don’t need words. Someone will inevitably pick up a pen and start to draw- as Victor did continuously. I was lucky enough to be the recipient of several of Victor’s charming wordless sketches:
VictorBogoradSketches

Day 3- Memorial de Caen cartoon conference

Posted on April 5, 2014 by - free speech, human rights, politics, society

Panel: “Cartooning in war time”
Cartoonists from Palestine, Iran, Algeria, Morocco, and Russia discuss working in countries under repressive governments and during wartime.

Sabaaneh/ Iran Mohammad Sabaaneh, Palestine
“The most hard thing a cartoonist faces in the Arab world… is the audience”

Alizadah, Iran Javad Alizadeh, Iran
“If I think about danger, I would never draw a cartoon”

Bogorad/ Russia Victor Bogorad, Russia
“Most magazines and newspapers prefer not to deal with the subject” (Putin and Ukraine)

Gueddar/ Morocco Khalid Gueddar, Morocco
“Sex, Religion, Royal family” (taboos in Morocco)

Lounis/ Algeria Djamel Lounis, Algeria
“No satirical reviews in Algeria anymore (due to) repressive laws concerning journalists”

Day 2- Memorial de Caen cartoon conference

Posted on April 4, 2014 by - free speech, human rights, politics

The cartoonists were taken on a tour of the museum and D-Day landings on Thursday. The museum is divided into sections, beginning with the events leading up to World War II.  Propaganda posters during Vichy FranceI found the area dealing with Germany in the early 30’s especially interesting because it shows how intolerance and fear enabled Nazism to gain power in Germany.

D-day beachAmerican cemetery

No cameras in the Supreme Court

Posted on March 27, 2014 by - human rights, politics, society, womens issues

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments this past Tuesday for Sebelius v Hobby Lobby, one of the cases which brings up the question whether a business can deny its female employees birth control coverage under Obamacare because of the owners’ religious beliefs.  As usual, the line for public seating started early. This is the scene Saturday morning:SCOTUS03222014

By Tuesday the line had grown to this:HobbyLobbyLine0325

Only about 100 members of the public are seated for SCOTUS arguments; about another 100 seats are for the press and select choice seats are designated for guests of the Justices. Cameras are not allowed in the courtroom so the majority of Americans never get the opportunity to watch as one of their three branches of government makes important decisions which affect their civil liberties and personal lives.

My take about cameras in the courtroom from the Washington Post’s Post Partisan blog yesterday.

Here’s a good piece by Washington Post blogger Alyssa Rosenberg on the subject of cartoonists being allowed in the court.

24 hour speculation on Malaysia flight 370 disappearance

Posted on March 17, 2014 by - society

The cable news channels is having a field day with the disappearance of Malaysia Air flight 370, now in its ninth day. Especially CNN, as Eric Wemple tweeted:Screen shot 2014-03-17 at 7.06.51 AM

We’re having some video problems so my latest animation which deals with this subject isn’t posted yet (hopefully sometime this morning) but meanwhile here’s an archived cartoon from 2005:122805ReportAirDisasCOLIf I recall correctly, the Denver-bound Frontier was diverted back to Los Angeles after the plane’s cargo door warning light had turned on- which left plenty of time for CNN to speculate about what exactly would happened if the door ripped off, all while the flight was still in the air and passengers were being readied for an emergency landing.  Thankfully the plane landed safely and we were all spared watching CNN do wall to wall coverage of the carnage on the tarmac.