A DC district judge ruled yesterday that the NSA’s collection of Americans’ phone records is most likely unconstitutional. This comes right after the outrageous 60 Minutes promotion/propaganda piece for the NSA last Sunday where the viewer was treated to little tidbits about Edward Snowden’s behavior so he comes across as a bit of a weirdo.
Category: politics
13 years ago today
On Dec. 12, 2000 the Supreme Court issued a decision on Bush v. Gore, effectively deciding the presidential election. Here’s the cartoon I did about it, which was also part of my entry which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001:
When politicians open their mouths
In my animated editorial cartoons I only use the actual audio of my subjects. I decided on this limitation when I first began because of time, costs, and artistic reasons. Sometimes I even get a bonus when a politician pretty much hands me my idea through his choice of words:
From my sketchbook:
Look! Another extended recess for members of Congress!
Here’s a comparison of the House of Representatives schedules for 2013-2014. Looks amazingly alike in how many days they’ll be in recess, doesn’t it? 
The reality of our health care system
So, the last two animations I’ve done have dealt with conservatives talking nonsense about the healthcare situation in the US. This one was actual nonsense coming from a well-known voice of nonsensical talk and the other one, from a former VP who is peddling a book about his life-long healthcare experiences and obtaining a new heart.
I’m getting to the point where I feel like throwing something at my TV because of the current debate over whether or not people should be able to keep their current health care insurance plans in light of the Obamacare website fiasco. Conservatives are yelling about government forcing people to give up their current insurance plans, the talking heads are obsessing about how some people will end up paying more for their new health care insurance plans, and the House leadership is planning a bill called “Keep your Health Plan Act”. On the last one, they conveniently left out the operative word: insurance. We are just skimming the surface on a health care system which is complicated,ineffective and incredibly expensive- all because we refuse to discuss what is fundamentally wrong with how we provide health care. There are so many other systems in the world we could learn from but all it takes is one uninformed politician or talking head to scream “socialism” and it effectively shuts down any meaningful discussion.
I’ve mentioned this book before, but I’m going to again- 
Go buy it. It’s excellent and will open your eyes. I wish it was required reading for every member of Congress.
UN Human Rights Council- what’s in a name?
Yesterday 14 new countries were named to the UN Human Rights Council- among them were China, Russia, Cuba, and Saudi Arabia. I’ll just post this 2001 cartoon from the archives:
Veteran’s Day 2013
Town of Greece v Galloway
Yesterday the Supreme Court heard arguments over the question of public prayers at town board meetings in Greece, NY. Chris Christie and other election results dominated the news but it will be interesting to see how the Court ultimately rules. Here’s a few photographs from outside the court:
Virginia Gubernatorial Race- Election Day
It’s Election Day in Virginia. The republicans have managed yet again to offer the voters a candidate out of touch with so many Americans, especially women. Ken Cuccinelli, a staunch anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, social far-right gubernatorial candidate for the GOP is still behind Terry McAullife, but the numbers are tightening.
*UPDATE: Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe wins, but it was a tighter race than most predicted.
Drones and civilian deaths
I’m just shaking my head…
“Actually, IDGAS how many. Killing potential enemies is messy”
That was a facebook comment in response to my current animation about human rights groups challenging the Obama Administration over the number of civilian deaths due to drone strikes. Ok, so even if one can’t feel simple human compassion for the deaths of non-Americans, I can’t understand how these people don’t see the impact these strikes have on our standing in the international community. Seems like it would just make the job of “killing potential enemies” harder.
One bad heart away from the presidency
Sundays are one of my regular deadline days. It’s the toughest one for me, especially if it’s a beautiful sunny day and everyone around me is still in weekend mode. I suppose I could do the animation on Friday but I like to watch the Sunday morning news shows to see if there’s some interesting audio to use. However, this past Sunday wasn’t difficult to focus because 60 Minutes was running an interview with Dick Cheney and if any of you are familiar with my print work, the former vice-president is one of my favorite targets. I’m pretty sure I’ve done more cartoons over my career about Cheney than even GW Bush during his two terms.
60 Minutes is on at 7pm in my time zone, so I couldn’t wait until then to come up with the idea but there was a short video clip from the upcoming show circulating online. Most written pieces highlighted that Cheney and his doctor decided to shut off the wireless capability of the implanted defibrillator because of a potential terrorist hacking threat, but I found Cheney’s terse answers to questions about his health problems more interesting. I didn’t know this but apparently studies show that people with severe heart disease can also suffer from memory loss, depression, impaired cognition, and a decline in decision making abilities. Great-the guy who is second in line to the presidency and more than likely the major decision maker in going to war in Iraq can’t differentiate between Saddam Hussein and the guy who ordered the attacks on September 11, 2001.
Dick Cheney’s heart
In an upcoming “60 Minutes” interview, former Vice President Dick Cheney said he had his doctor disable the wireless function of his implanted defibrillator because he was concerned terrorists could hack into the device. I have a feeling Cheney wasn’t only concerned about terrorists when he made this decision.