Apr 30 2009
My first idea for this cartoon was to have the Republican say he was afraid of catching "Socialism." After all, the GOP is standing by and watching as the Democrats feverishly spend zillions to bail out the nation's banks, mortgage companies and automakers. That was my thinking on Monday afternoon. I had just finished a cartoon about Obama's first 100 days. Tuesday I always work on my local Brewed On Grant cartoon, so the swine flu cartoon had to wait until Wednesday.
Then the unthinkable happened: Arlen Specter switched parties. The crazy thing is, as liberal as my politics are, it makes me sad that there is no room in the Republican Party for a forward thinking guy like Specter (same goes for the Democratic Party.) Granted, the polls showed he was way behind in the Pennsylvania GOP primary race and it looked like this was the only way to hang on to his seat. But it is another example of how polarizing things have become in Washington and beyond. I am tired of this worn-out partisan two-party system. We need a true multi-party system so we can have more voices, more ideas and more political leaders not afraid to govern by the faith of their own convictions.
Apr 29 2009
Here is today's cartoon criticizing the Rivers Casino's plan to mount jumbotrons on the side of their building, thereby shining a bad light on the whole city. (To see a larger version of the cartoon click HERE.) I was already concerned about what a gambling casino will do to muck up the beautiful riverfont of Pittsburgh's North Shore. Now they want to muck it up even more. A recent editorial in the Post-Gazette said, "The casino already has been given enough leeway in varying from the
sleek, glass-and-steel structure that was presented in early
architectural plans. Adding two giant televisions on the side of its
garage is going too far." I agree.
When I was creating this cartoon I was trying to think of things
about Las Vegas that I would rather keep in Vegas. At first, I was
going to say Wayne Newton, but he has become sort of retro cool. Then I
was going to say Siegfried and Roy, but they've suffered enough. I
ended up using Celine Dion because, well, she's Celine Dion. What Vegas headliner or attraction would
you want banned from Pittsburgh?
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Apr 29 2009
On April 29th, 1990, I published the cartoon below in the Pittsburgh Press. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was cracking down on Lithuania, the Baltic State that declared their independence on March 11th. This was making U.S. President George H.W. Bush very nervous. He didn't want anything to spoil his upcoming summit with the Soviets. I chose the metaphor of wallpapering because I remember my dad teaching me to wallpaper my room when I was young. If I didn't get it on just right, an air bubble would get trapped underneath and it was impossible to flatten out. Fortunately, there were no breakaway republics hiding in my bedroom.
Washington National Airport was renamed to honor former President Ronald Reagan in 1998. Personally, I couldn't believe that the man responsible for the firing of 11,000 air traffic controllers would ever have an airport named after him. A shining city on a hill, maybe. A tax cut for the rich, why not? An airport, no way! In 2001, a controversy arose over whether to change the name of the National Airport Metro Station to reflect the airport's Reaganization. On April 19, the local transit board voted NOT to rename the station, but Congressional Republicans threatened to withhold funding if the renaming didn't happen. The objections of local leaders and residents were no match for the blackmailers. The cartoon below was published in the Post-Gazette on April 29, 2001.
Apr 28 2009
I almost feel sorry for the Republicans, with the emphasis on "almost." They are truly lost in the new liberal landscape of Washington, D.C. They lack true leadership, which leaves the door open for extremists like Rush and Hannity. The only argument they seem capable of making is that the Obama administration is spending too much to save the economy. The general public doesn't agree. Obama's approval ratings are higher than the last several presidents after their 100-day marks.
The GOP must feel a little like they are trapped in a prison, marking the days on the wall until they can regain some power. It was with this in mind that I drew this cartoon. I decided not to make it a prison, at least for now. One problem I ran into, as you can see from the rough sketch above, was how to negotiate the hatch marks.
Apr 27 2009
I attended my first comic book convention as a featured artist on Saturday. The Steel City Con was held in Cheswick, PA over the weekend, featuring the likes of: Anthony Daniels, the actor who played C3PO in Star Wars; Catherine Bach who played Daisy Duke in the Dukes of Hazzard(!); Jim Martin, the 4-time Emmy Award-winning director from Sesame Street and Mr. Roger's Neighborhood; and some wrestling dude I've never heard of Mick Foley, three-time WWF Champion. Check out this PG video from the convention, even though I'm not in it.
I was manning the ToonSeum table, along with a few other cartoonists. The ToonSeum is Pittsburgh's newest museum and features cartoon art from all genres. (Full disclosure: I am the president of the board of the ToonSeum.) What does an editorial cartoonist do at a comic book convention other than feel out of place? Aside from signing copies of my cartoons, I was also selling a collection of Bush cartoons that I edited called Bush Leaguers, and distributing free copies of the ToonSeum's latest cartoon project, North, a comic book guide to Pittsburgh's North Side.
As you might guess, there were many costumed nerds dorks geeks actors walking around and posing for pictures.
I managed to get my picture taken with Steelman, fulfilling a life-long dream of mine proving that I was there. According to his website, the Steel Man’s
costume is inspired from Pittsburgh’s Industrial Past and Present
Steelmaking in the United States. He's the self-proclaimed "World's
First and Only Ever Post-Industrial Anti-Hero." If anyone knows what
that really means, please explain it in the comments below.
Apr 27 2009
Here is another "Retro Rogers" for this day, April 27th, in the year 2005. The "retro" in this case also applies to the character who made an appearance in the diner as part of my local Brewed On Grant strip for that week.
Remember Donald Dingbat, the old Pittsburgh Press weather bird? When I started my job at the Press in 1984, Donald was no longer in the paper, but I sat in the art department surrounded by some of the artists who kept him alive for so long. As a cartoonist, I love the idea of having a cartoon bird deliver the weather. In fact, I vote we have cartoon animals deliver news and sports as well. In the cartoon below, Donnie comes out of hibernation (or migration or whatever cartoon birds do when they go away) to stop Rick Santorum from limiting the public's access to weather. Don't ask me to explain Santorum's thinking.
When this cartoon ran in 2005 I got a lot of emails from folks who fondly remembered Donald Dingbat. Unfortunately, when you google him, very little comes up. So, help me out! Share your memories of Donald Dingbat by clicking on the "comments" link below. Long live Donald Dingbat!
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Apr 27 2009
As part of my 25th anniversary as an editorial cartoonist, every week I will be highlighting cartoons I drew on the same day and month in another year.
This cartoon was drawn on April 27th, 2003 shortly after the start of the Iraq War. It became clear that Cheney's old firm, Halliburton, was going to benefit greatly from government contracts to rebuild Iraq. It still amazes me how brazened Dick Cheney could be. First, he headed a committee to pick Bush's VP and picked himself. Then, as if to clean up unfinished business from his tenure with Bush 41, he convinces Bush the younger to go back into Iraq and get Saddam. As we now know, these discussions began well before 9-11. Then, he gives his old buddies the contracts to clean up the inevitable mess that would be made. Talk about creating opportunities!
There was much talk about winning over the hearts and minds of the Iraqis. I don't really think those were the hearts and minds Dick Cheney was worried about.
Apr 24 2009
Let's go torture now, everybody's learnin' how, come on a safari with me!
How did George W. Bush keep a straight face when he said over and over again that the U.S. does not torture? Maybe, as illustrated in today's cartoon above (click image to enlarge), he thought waterboarding was some sort of fun water sport. Actually, he never kept a straight face. He was always smirking like he just got away with something. As it turns out, the administration got away with waterboarding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed 183 times (apparently 182 times wasn't enough.) Look, I have absolutely no sympathy for the so-called mastermind of 9-11. He deserves to be punished to the full extent of the law. But I also don't want to live in a country that tortures prisoners and ignores human rights and the Geneva Conventions. If these detainees are denied their rights, what's to stop the government from denying the rights of citizens who don't happen to agree with their policies.
As if that wasn't bad enough, it is now coming to light that these harsh interrogation methods were secretly approved without consulting the State or Defense departments. Cheney and Bush used 9-11 as an excuse to endorse torture. They didn't care what anyone else thought. That kind of blind ego led to the abuses in Abu Ghraib and the creation of secret CIA prisons. This seems like a fitting time to revisit some of my other torture cartoons. Here are a few cartoons I have done on this topic. The Abu Ghraib cartoon above is from 2004. The Vanity Fair cartoon came out at the same time that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes released pictures of their baby in 2006. The Holiday Torture Songs cartoon was drawn right before Christmas in 2005.
Apr 23 2009
How are those drawings coming? As I mentioned in my earlier POST, I’m not just looking for disgruntled readers. Those of you who love to
read editorial cartoons (especially mine) and just want to have fun
drawing your own cartoons are welcome too! This is one of the greatest
jobs in the world. Everybody should try it at least once before they
die.
Enter the “Armchair Cartoonist Contest” and impress your
friends and family by having your cartoons posted on a real blog! Click
HERE for more details! Remember, you don't have to be a great artist. Just have fun with it!
You have until May 1st to get in your entries for the first contest. The topic is the new White House dog. Here are a few of the entries we've received so far. "T. Bag" was drawn by Paula "Poosie" Orr of Squirrel Hill. "Clean Up" was drawn by Laura Kocher of Pittsburgh. "Yes, I Can" was drawn by a Squirrel Hill caricature artist who goes by the name of "ToonBrian." "Speechwriter" was drawn by freelance cartoonist David Coulsen, who also lives in Squirrel Hill. Wow, Squirrel Hill is stacking the competition!
Apr 23 2009
Time flies when you’re having fun! Believe it or not, this year marks my 25th anniversary as an editorial cartoonist. In the fall I will be coming out with a collection of my best cartoons from the last two and a half decades. Stay tuned to my blog for details.
As part of my new blog, once a week I will be highlighting cartoons I drew on the same day and month in another year. The first cartoon is one I drew on this same day, April 23rd, in 1995. It was a few days after the Oklahoma City bombing. I was trying to find a way to illustrate the shock and horror Americans were experiencing knowing that terrorism had come to the heartland. When I think “middle America,” I think of Grant Wood’s famous painting called American Gothic.
At first I was just going to draw the couple crying, but that seemed too sedate. Since I was already using an art metaphor, it was a natural next step to combine American Gothic with Edward Munch’s The Scream. The drawing was more difficult to pull off than I expected. I had to carefully balance both images while keeping each one recognizable. In the end, I was happy with the result.
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