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.