The wait (and excessive media coverage- but that’s another post) is over. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina has been elected pope. This BBC profile of the new pope describes him as “orthodox on sexual matters but strong on social justice”. I see that as a big contradiction. Women’s economic status, especially in poor countries, is affected by the lack of access to contraceptives and their position in society.
Category: politics
No sequester pain for Congress
Washington Post: Congress won’t face pay cut in sequester.
Do I need to add anything more?
Jeb Bush: ‘History will be kind to my brother’
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush made the Sunday morning news show rounds yesterday and suggested that his brother’s presidency will be remembered in a favorable light. I certainly hope our memories aren’t that short.
March 8th is International Women’s Day
Senator Rand Paul’s 13 hour filibuster against drone policy
Republican Senator Rand Paul spoke out against the Obama administration’s drone policy during a 13 hour filibuster yesterday. He was joined by several other republicans but only one democrat, Senator Ron Wyden.
The Oscars and women
I considered just letting this go. There’s so much other important news happening and frankly I’d rather concentrate on my next animation. However, after listening and reading some of my regular morning news sources I felt I had to spend a few minutes to address last night’s Oscars. Yes, there were funny and memorable moments; I laughed out loud at the clever Christopher Plummer Von Trapp intro and cheered Shirley Bassey’s Goldfinger performance– but really, we’re still doing boob jokes? Yes, I know Seth MacFarlane was brought in to attract younger audiences but the obnoxious references to women’s body parts and female tendencies really set my teeth on edge. As some of you may know, MacFarlane’s fame comes from animation and since I began my career there, I wasn’t surprised at the sophomoric humor. But what was a surprise was that it hasn’t changed since the 1980’s.
But maybe I’m not reading the tea leaves here. Perhaps this is the way to look at the situation; let’s hope so.
More news coming out of the Vatican
More and more news about the Vatican has been appearing since the sudden resignation of Pope Benedict on Feb 11th. There’s a report which investigated the 2012 scandal over leaked Vatican documents , dysfunction within the Vatican, and criticism of Cardinal Mahony’s plans to participate in the choosing of the next pope. Speaking of Cardinals involved with the Church’s sexual abuse scandals, during next month’s gathering in Rome Cardinal Law (remember him?) will not be participating; he’s 81 and ineligible to vote in the conclave.
Supreme Court will hear campaign finance case
This cartoon from my archives goes all the way back to 1997 but after reading the news that SCOTUS will consider lifting limits on individual campaign contributions I think it’s still relevant. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- money is not speech.
State of the Union sketches
Here they are all together; lots of colorful ties.
Live sketching Obama’s 2013 State of the Union tonight
So much news- the Pope announcing his resignation, the ex-LAPD officer is in a standoff with police at Big Bear, and the State of the Union is only 2 hrs away. I’ll be doing live sketches during the SOTU speech so I hope you’ll follow via the Washington Post or twitter. For you dog lovers, the Westminster Dog Show is also on tonight. In case you’ll have to miss it, here’s a taste of our own Washington Worst of Breed:
Pope Benedict announces his resignation
Well, that was certainly a surprise when I opened up my laptop. I happen to be traveling this week so it confirms a time-honored belief for editorial cartoonists- anytime you’re on vacation or business travel, a BIG news event is bound to happen. So, here’s a cartoon from 2005 when Pope Benedict was elected:
Sen McCain and Chuck Hagel clash over Iraq
During Chuck Hagel’s Defense Secretary confirmation hearing today, Senator McCain grilled him over his past statements on the Iraq war. To use a phrase tossed back and forth between the two, I think history has already made a judgement about Iraq.
