Steve Brodner / Person of the Day

Bump of the Day

2008-07-22T15:01:28+00:00

So Obama lands in Iraq and Maliki endorses his troop pullout plan. Then the DOD releases this footage of Obama, with GIs, making 3 points from Downtown. Next McCain tells an interviewer that you have to secure the border of Pakistan and Iraq (which, er, doesn’t exist). A McCain adviser says, "We're f*cked."

Person of the Day

2008-07-21T10:50:10+00:00

Missing the wonderful Tom Trapnell at the LA Times (drawn here with his lovely wife Claudia). In a significant act of idiocy, where one thinks hacking off one’s limbs will help lose weight (well, yeah!) the Tribune Company is systematically destroying the Times as well as others, when the real solution lies in forms of creativity which elude the corporate “intelligence” on display in their boardrooms. Tom is so great a gift to design and illustration to seem to be born to it. Firing him is a stand-out in a catalogue of sins. It is important to understand the surrounding issue: the cluelessness of the corporate media in an exciting, challenging time. Below is the sorry scene as painted by Eric Alterman in this week’s Nation. I, the Drawger gang and beyond are thinking of you, Tom, sending you wishes for all the best in the next chapter . . . with the greatest gratitude.

“Spend some time on the "future of news" conference circuit, as I have recently, and believe me, you'll need a drink and perhaps a Prozac. The flight of readers and advertisers to the web has led to an unprecedented assault on stockholder value, making newspapers the investment equivalent of slow-motion seppuku. For instance, on July 11 Alan Mutter's invaluable Reflections of a Newsosaur blog reported that in "perhaps the worst single trading day ever" for the newspaper business, "the shares of seven publicly held newspaper companies today plunged to the[ir] lowest point in modern history." When these losses continued to accelerate, Mutter calculated that newspaper stocks had shed an amazing $3.9 billion in value in just the first ten trading days of July, leading to the disappearance of more than 35 percent of these companies' combined stock price in 2008 alone.

It's been nearly two and a half years since the much-missed Molly Ivins observed of media moguls that, "for some reason, they assume people will want to buy more newspapers if they have less news in them and are less useful." And yet the strategy continues unabated. The Los Angeles Times just announced that it will cut loose another 250 people, including 150 in the newsroom--this on top of a series of job cuts by the previous owners, which led to a revolving door of resigning editors and publishers who could not in good conscience carry out the cuts demanded of them.

As a result of this avalanche of industrywide layoffs, buy-outs and firings, Mutter notes, the industry's age-old ratio of one journalist per thousand papers in circulation is about to disappear. But as a contributor to Romenesko pointed out, this is "a self-correcting mechanism. As subscribers find less and less to read because newspaper staffs are thinned too much to produce quality copy, subscriptions will lapse and the ratio will be restored--until, of course, additional layoffs refresh the cycle."

For those who embrace the now omnipresent mantra that the staff will simply have to "do more with less," blogger Kevin Roderick of LA Observed notes, "Yes you can put out a good paper with 700 staffers--but not a better paper than the one paying customers are already fleeing."

Corporate responses have also included: asking an already dispirited staff to take a 10 percent pay cut (the Boston Globe); raising the newsstand price by 33 to 50 percent (Gannett, the Wall Street Journal); drastically reducing the newspaper's news/advertising ratio (all Tribune papers); turning the paper's Sunday magazine over to the business staff (the Los Angeles Times); reducing the physical size of the newspaper and cutting down on the news hole (everyone); buying out experienced, knowledgeable staff members and replacing them with underpaid novices (everyone); and closing foreign and national bureaus (almost everyone). Virtually the only expense still intact is executive pay. On the Recovering Journalist blog, Mark Potts notes that the average compensation among the thirteen public-company newspaper CEOs was just under $6 million a year in 2007, according to corporate proxy filings with the SEC. These figures, one can only conclude, are entirely unrelated to performance.

The dearth of decent ideas designed to save newspapers--or reinvent them for the digital age in ways that preserve their crucial democratic functions--is curious and depressing. It's curious because some of the smartest, most ambitious and most civic-minded people in America are deeply engaged with the problem. It is depressing because the only ones with the self-confidence to undertake radical measures appear to be completely off their respective rockers.

Take the example of the Tribune Company's new owner, Sam Zell. Leaving aside his penchant for potty-mouth rejoinders for those who question his judgment, Zell has done nothing to slow the slide in the company's fortunes and much to accelerate it. Scrambling like mad for cash to service the company's debt, Zell sold off the profitable Newsday and borrowed $300 million against future earnings, a clear sign of panic. To advise him on long-term strategy, he has appointed as "chief innovation officer" Lee Abrams, a man who was apparently surprised to learn that reports datelined "Baghdad" are actually produced by reporters in Baghdad. His suggestion: "photos of the reporter with Iraqi kids" to advertise this fact.

Writing on his blog, Abrams mused that newspapers were "TOO NPR," (caps in original), which he found "a bit elitist." He would rather have newspapers "study the feel of a well honed All News Radio station," which he defines as "being INTELLIGENT... not intellectual."

The more one listens to the men and women at the top of the industry, the more it becomes obvious that the survival of the newspaper--the primary information-gathering and knowledge-disseminating instrument of American democracy--is going to have to come from somewhere else. Sure, the blogosphere makes some invaluable contributions and a few foundations are rising to the challenge of funding investigative journalism. Carnegie Corporation president Vartan Gregorian recently suggested to me that universities might attach a small fee to their students' tuition--like an activities fee--to pay for the newspaper subscription of their choice. This would improve the newspapers' bottom line, give their advertisers access to a coveted demographic and, if successful, would inculcate in the students the habit of newspaper reading as they approach maturity as voting citizens. It's a great idea, and unlike most of what one hears at these conferences, it is on scale with the problem. Unfortunately, young people do not appear to want to pick up a newspaper, even for free. They often leave them lying around, even at journalism schools, where they are distributed gratis.

I don't have a better idea, except to repeat, again, the following: the loss of daily newspapers is a significant threat to the future of our democracy. It is far too important to be left in the hands of a bunch of clueless media moguls and their "chief innovation officers."”

Support Barry

2008-07-14T16:54:03+00:00

No image today, just addresses. These New Yorker e-mails are getting bombed by the Low IQ Club, canceling or threatening to cancel subscriptions. PLEASE HAVE YOUR SAY in support of strong graphics in media and Barry's work.

talkofthetown@newyorker.com

shouts@newyorker.com

newsbreaks@newyorker.com

PS: Dig this e-mail I just got from someone:

Hello,
While I appreciate your talent, and I know that it was the editor's decision to use your cartoon, I find the latest cover of "The New Yorker" too strong and too intellectual for the great majority of Americans. It would have been better to use your cartoon inside the magazine. If the purpose of "The New Yorker" was to generate controversy, and more interest in the magazine, that has been successful. Perhaps you would like to share this email with your editor.

Frugal Gourmand of the Day

2008-07-10T14:35:24+00:00

At the G8 Summit the other day Gordon Brown and the rest of the gang discussed the current food crisis in which people are dying across the globe as over 100 millions tons of grain are being diverted to biofuel production. 150 million people could now drop below the poverty level. Mr. Brown had publicly warned people to be more careful about food waste! Then the G8 folks ordered in . . . an extravagant 18 course dinner including caviar, lamb, sea urchin. Maybe they left Haiti a few doggie bags.

Chen Smoker of the Day

2008-07-09T00:33:10+00:00

How should we impeach you? Let me count the ways. Here’s the latest.
Cheney’s office deleted from an EPA report mention of the consequences of Global Warming. This was revealed by a former EPA official, Jason Burnett (now supporting Obama). More than a year ago, the Supreme Court directed the EPA to determine whether carbon dioxide emissions endanger human health and welfare and, if so, begin to regulate it under the Clean Air Act. (If you turn your computer upside down you’ll see the Times Mag cover of Sunday with the chilling Nigel Parry shot of Rush (himself a famous source of greenhouse gas.)
STORY

I Met the Walrus

2008-07-05T20:21:07+00:00

In 1969 Jerry Levitan then 14 years old, found his way into John Lennon’s room in the King Edward Hotel in Toronto, with a tape recorder. Lennon, patient and generous (traits that would one day, alas, prove expensive), gave him a wonderful interview. Here is the brilliant animated short film made from that tape. Illustrated by James Braithwaite (L), directed by Josh Raskin (R), with Jerry today (my age). This film shows the way for illustration in doc film. A sublime thing indeed. Here’s to supporting more such work, and finding our own unique ways to it.

click

HOMO IRAQTUS

2008-07-03T19:51:55+00:00

Wait till you see the fireworks Mr. Missing Link & Co. are planning for the people of Iran (and it’s the people, you know, who do the dying in aerial attacks). Evidence we want to ignore, like the last time, abounds. Let’s see if we can act differently now, having learned the hard way.

TWO MONTHS TO AIRSTRIKE, IF YOU PLEASE. Click here.

SY HERSH IN NEW YORKER: THE WAR ON IRAN HAS ALREADY BEGUN Click here.

THOSE LOVABLE DEMOCRATS ARE . . . WHAT???? ON BOARD??? Click here

Finally, RESIST!!!!!!!!!!! Click here.

Humanoid of the Day

2008-06-30T09:55:19+00:00

Wall-e Chaplin. This weekend I caught Wall-e. Aside from the clear achievements in animation (or whatever you call this now) it’s a powerful piece of social satire; I think, a fitting bookend to Modern Times. In that film, 72 years ago, Charlie Chaplin warned of a world in which machines will crush humanity. In Wall-e, the job is accomplished. Humans, who have turned the earth into a huge toilet, have turned themselves into flaccid non-entities. And the one vestige of humanity survives miraculously inside . . . a machine. Pixar and Andrew Stanton deserve all the kudos they will get for this Bush-era-perfect film.

The War is Over

2008-06-26T13:53:41+00:00

Or so it would seem by the coverage we have been getting on the corporate media. “Since the start of last year, the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a part of the nonprofit Pew Research Center, has tracked reporting by several dozen major newspapers, cable stations, broadcast television networks, Web sites and radio programs. Iraq accounted for 18 percent of their prominent news coverage in the first nine months of 2007, but only 9 percent in the following three months, and 3 percent so far this year.”
STORY

Meanwhile the dying goes on, as in this horrifying scene from a few days ago., in which a suicide bomb disrupted an Iraqi Council meeting in Sadr City where the US soldiers acted as unwitting human shields. This man, Qasim al-Sudani, was injured but probably saved by the 4 Americans, one Italian and six Iraqis who were not. One was a State Department worker, the fourth to die in Iraq. In Mosul, a policeman and a child were killed. In Southern Baghdad the chairman of the local council was shot down with 9 bullets in his chest as he opened his door.
STORY

McCain and Co. are happy to say “we’re winning!”, where there is no objective and no clear way out. McCain seems to be hoping for an assist form bin Laden. He is definitely not getting one from this ad from MoveOn.org:

Fruitcake Ward Leader of the Day

2008-06-25T16:12:43+00:00

So Obama holds quiet meetings with evangelicals like Billy Graham’s son. That’s too much for Dr. James Dobson who launches into an attack on Obama’s abortion stand, calling his position the result of a “fruitcake” interpretation of the Constitution. Could Dobson, who has said he’ll never vote for McCain under any circumstances, be seeing a kindred spirit in Obama? I suspect that the fruitcake voting bloc must be huge!
STORY

Persona of the Day

2008-06-24T01:37:18+00:00

Bush’s wiretapping bill which, incredibly passed the House, is going to be voted on by the Senate. Passage is expected there too. Granting the telecom corps immunity from spying on us covers up the Bush gang’s fingerprints on the crimes and also okays it for future presidents. Very bad. Tell your senators to respect the law. Somewhere Nixon is smiling. Sometimes it seems he never left.

A good Times editorial of last week:

Mr. Bush v. the Bill of Rights

Let ‘em hear you:
http://www.truemajority.org/StopFISA

Naked Campaign #21: By the Numbers

2008-06-19T06:52:02+00:00

If Obama takes all the Kerry states he will still need 19 more electoral votes. Where will he get them? And where can McCain get them back? Here's our electoral GPS.

Person of the Day

2008-06-18T08:31:01+00:00

Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani, don of an Afghan/Pakistani terror network. He is responsible for recent suicide bombings, a relatively new development in Afghanistan. He runs a network of madrasas and terrorist groups including Al Qaeda. He is protected by the government and by the US, as you can see by this very revealing few graphs from yesterday’s Times piece:
“Asked in 2006 why the Pakistani military did not move against Maulavi Haqqani, a senior Pakistani intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that it was because he was a Pakistani asset.

Maulavi Haqqani has by now become so powerful in his redoubt that a Western military official who has worked in both Pakistan and Afghanistan said the problem of going after him was that the Pakistani military was not capable of taking him on and feared failure if it tried.

Pakistani forces accompanied by Americans raided a mosque owned by Maulavi Haqqani while searching for him in North Waziristan in 2002, but since then he has been largely left alone.

One Western military official said there was an unspoken agreement between Pakistani and American officials that United States Predator drones would generally be used in the tribal areas against foreign Qaeda members, rather than Pakistani or Afghan targets, like the Haqqanis.”

So here it is, the corrupt, incompetent and lying Bush foreign policy in a nutshell. Four thousand soldiers dead, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, a shredded constitution and world reputation later . . . here’s our war on terror: chasing the fighter we created in Iraq and cutting deals to ignore them where they had been before 9/11. And get the final graph, a quote by him:
“We will fight them with patience,” Maulavi Haqqani says on the DVD. “This is not a battle of haste; this is a battle of patience. If a strong animal fights with a small and weak animal, the big animal uses all its power, not against the enemy, but against itself.”

Person of the Day

2008-06-13T20:48:16+00:00

Tim Russert 1950-2008. Here’s to Tim. A vibrant voice in US politics. His contribution was big and will be deeply missed.

The Birth of Obama

2008-06-02T23:31:05+00:00

In this stylized take, the Clintonhead is the chrysalis or incubating host for the emerging living Obamathing. June bug, butterfly or gnat? Anyway, those ears are spread and flappin' free at last.

Nose of the Day

2008-05-30T11:24:34+00:00

The Hitler Business isn’t what it used to be. Mahmoud Ahmadiejad got a swift kick in his jihad this week when his chief rival, Ali Larijani was elected speaker of the Iranian parliaiment by a landslide. Too bad. It’s a loss to the McNeocains of the world as well as to the world of illustration. Where will we find another like him? So crazy-ugly-crazy. Ali loves nukes too, however, but doesn’t seem to be a mental patient and apparently is okay with talking with his enemies. TIMES STORY>

McNugget of the Day

2008-05-29T17:51:02+00:00

Scott McClellan, former chicken, reincarnated rooster, crowing up the sun . . . which blasts light, as it was destined to do, on the most sludge-laden White House of all time (the fact that he, McChicken, was responsible for much of it, notwithstanding). The Bush administration, seen to be a lock-stepping death machine, still in lock step, responds by saying they are “puzzled”. No doubt. That stuff can really clog your brain. PS: Er, fraud . . . impeachable, eh?

Egg Salad of the Day

2008-05-28T10:43:52+00:00

The full-frontal foreign policy debate gets hotter everyday. McCain thinks there are votes in attacking Obama as “anti-war”. These new pieces for The New Yorker are about where that connects with Bush and how that winds up conferring bona fides on Obama in his nomination fight. The print piece is an homage to Diane Arbus’ Boy With the Straw Hat. The movie is our special recipe for egg-salad. Hanoch Piven calls it "disgusting". Serge Bloch agrees. Well, none of these people have actually tasted this. Maybe that's a good thing!

Click above to watch

Jeff's Story

2008-05-26T20:31:13+00:00

This Memorial Day remembering Marine Lance Cpl. Jeff Lucey who was lost to his family, friends and the rest of us fighting the war that stayed in him after Iraq. The anguish, pain and suffering resulting from this war continues to afflict 300,000 veterans every day. One hundred twenty take their own lives every week. To a very great degree vets are left to their own devices to cope with this and related illnesses. These American patriots need to be put at the top of the list, shown the way out of PTSD to the mental health services they desperately need. Jeff’s pain was unrelenting, although hidden. He did relate his stories in letters. He claimed to have been ordered to shoot two Iraqi soldiers at point blank range. He anguished over their age and the moral depravity of war. He took their dog tags and wore them himself. He took his own life June 22, 2004.
Here's the story in a local Massachusetts paper

What Must They Be Thinking?

2008-05-23T14:40:05+00:00

Two weeks from tomorrow, June 7, is the opening of “Raw Nerve” at the Norman Rockwell Museum in beautiful Stockbridge, MA. God knows what America’s best-loved illustrator would say about this alien invasion. Director Laurie Norton Moffatt and curators, Stephanie Plunkett and Chuck Sable may have to answer for a lot in the next life, but have been a perfect delight to work with in this one. Drawgers and non-Drawgers extremely welcome all summer (drop me an e- if you’ll be in the area that night).

Disasters of Nature and Conscience

2008-05-22T18:33:34+00:00

I know most of us have already given to Chinese and Burmese relief (such as can get through). A photo by Li Gany of a trapped Chinese boy moved me to paint it. And put up one more port for support:

RED CROSS

SAVE THE CHILDREN

Hopes and prayers indeed to save them from catastrophes natural and man-made.

Brankrupt Political Philosophy of the Day

2008-05-20T03:51:51+00:00

Two good articles this week in The New Yorker and The Nation on the end of the line for Conservative dominance in American politics. Comfort food for us told-you-so’s, regardless of who wins the White House. I did the one illustrating the very good George Packer piece and my buddy Victor Juhasz (one of the most gifted narrative artists anywhere) was plowing the same field over at The Nation (his is much funnier). The loss for the Conservatives is expensive. Think of all we’ve had to experience for people to start to wake up. Maybe they’ll stay that way awhile! Here’s to that.

Person of the Day

2008-05-16T11:01:40+00:00

Did you catch yesterday’s especially idiotic speech in Israel by The Bush calling Obama an appeaser, comparing him to Neville Chamberlain, for advocating diplomacy with Iran? Bush, who made Iran much stronger in the Mideast by destroying its enemy, Iraq, should talk. He is the Iraq Civil War’s, Iran’s nuclear program’s and international jihad’s warm, moist host.

Last night Chris Matthews outed one of the Bush Boobocratic Echo Chamber, a Kevin James, LA talk jock, who, according to Wikipedia, was a federal prosecutor and entertainment lawyer. What school could this person have gone to? This to me symbolizes the history and reality-free lunacy of the Bush gang. Watch as they go down in flames. Education is coming . . . but at great cost.

Person of the Day

2008-05-15T11:22:48+00:00

Travis Childers, Democrat, who handily won a key Mississippi Congressional seat Tuesday, which has been a long-time Republican seat . . . in a district that went for Bush by over 60% in 2004. This is the 3rd such loss for Republicans who are justifiably dreading November. Why is this happening? Well, click below. A no-brainer.

Naked Toast

2008-05-12T15:24:25+00:00

Hillary we hardly knew ye. While she was focusing on the old game, I think the game changed. She and Bill had an idea this campaign was going to be an extension of the previous ones. And events kept showing her that it was another animal, one she, nor we, had ever seen before and all pundits and insiders got consistently wrong. She was wrong on running an incumbent-style-campaign. She was wrong on being able to paper-over her war vote. She was wrong on whether political pandering would look like, well, pandering. And wrong on a “Southern Strategy”. We are watching a new politics occurring, and so is she . . . from a distance.
Click image to watch

Garnish of the Day

2008-05-09T08:25:25+00:00

Care for some Parsley with that Mac?

The Exacto of Justice

2008-05-08T04:11:07+00:00

Let 'em know that copyright creates culture. We make the work, it belongs to us, we make more. Let them beware the Exacto of Justice . . . which you can wield with fearful skill by clicking THUSLY.
(PS: Brad should know that his coalition extends to the substantial pro-copyright Left.)

Person of the Day

2008-05-06T08:59:56+00:00

Sami Al-Haj, an innocent al Jazeera camerman who was held for over 6 years at Guantanamo Bay under the inhumane conditions he touches on in his statement from his hospital bed in Sudan. I suspect that this is the image of America that the world takes away from the Bush years.
SAMI AL-HAJ: [translated] I’m very happy to be in Sudan, but I’m very sad because of the situation of our brothers who remain in Guantanamo. Conditions in Guantanamo are very, very bad, and they get worse by the day. Our human condition, our human dignity was violated, and the American administration went beyond all human values, all moral values, all religious values. In Guantanamo, you have animals that are called iguanas, rats that are treated with more humanity. But we have people from more than fifty countries that are completely deprived of all rights and privileges, and they will not give them the rights that they give to animals.

For more than seven years, I did not get a chance to be brought before a civil court. To defend their just case and to get the freedom that we’re deprived of, they ignored every kind of law, every kind of religion. But thank God. I was lucky, because God allowed that I be released. Although I’m happy, there is part of me that is not, because my brothers remain behind, and they are in the hands of people that claim to be champions of peace and protectors of rights and freedoms.

But the true just peace does not come through military force or threats to use smart or stupid bombs or to threaten with economic sanctions. Justice comes from lifting oppression and guaranteeing rights and freedoms and respecting the will of the people and not to interfere with a country’s internal politics.

Witch-Hunter of the Day: Daniel Pipes

2008-05-02T05:08:12+00:00

Self-appointed Arab witch-hunter, Daniel Pipes organized the right-wing attack machine against Debbie Almontaser, principal of the Kalill Gibran International Academy in New York, which has 60% Arab students. She was ultimately fired by the city based on zero evidence. In a very patriotic test of democracy vs. fascism, democracy has lost. Joseph McCarthy and his blacklisters have won . . . and have a new set of Pipes. Here's the piece in the Times last Sunday.

Strange Fruit

2008-04-30T21:18:08+00:00

Another Fine Mess You've Gotten Me Into

2008-04-25T05:07:00+00:00

In last week's NY Times a great photo by Loao Silva showed Capt. Logan Veath trying to negotiate with Iraqi soldiers who were abandoning their positions. Ummm, does the whole army look like Kramer?

Pennsylvania Polka-Dots

2008-04-23T03:51:47+00:00

With Pennsylvania keeping the muddle going, we can look back at how we got there. This piece on the debate and the latest Naked Campaign movie track the fun, content-free road to the White House. Click to watch.

Rupert Hurls

2008-04-21T19:36:04+00:00

Hope you all can see the My Wall Street Journal by Tony Hendra and many of our friends. It's been mysteriously missing since its debut last week. so grab a copy when you can. This film on Youtube may explain why or, as I suspect, it's another parody. Fun in any case. In this drawing Rupert is upchucking Tony and Rick Meyerowitz, his fellow Lampoon alum. PS: This pencil is for Leo.

The Naked Campaign: McCain's War

2008-04-09T14:24:37+00:00

Yesterday and today we've seen the now routine spectacle of Petraeus and Crocker coming to Washington to tell the Congress and the rest of us to butt out of their war-thing. Surprisingly, the Congress, even the Republicans, yesterday, shouted back, Hell no! This from Dowd today:

"They arrived on the heels of the Maliki debacle in Basra, which made it stunningly clear — after a cease-fire was brokered in Iran — that we’re spending $3 trillion as our own economy goes off a cliff so that Iran can have a dysfunctional little friend.

Not good news, given Ahmadinejad’s announcement that his scientists are putting 6,000 new uranium-enriching centrifuges in place."

And there sat McCain, strapped to this war. Here's our film about that. Click on Winnie to watch.

Person of the Day

2008-04-08T16:39:20+00:00

1.    Mark Penn leaving the Clinton campaign at the precisely wrong moment (for them).
2.    The steady drip, drip of previously committed Clinton super delegates to Obama.
3.    Clintons financially tapped out in PA, with BO can spend like mad.
What does this feel like to you? The huge Outlook cover in the Post on Sunday gives it the big wink.

Heston's Gun Control Criterion Met

2008-04-07T16:06:06+00:00

Saloogie with Chuck's gun!

Person of the Day

2008-04-04T06:00:51+00:00

Disgraceable Yoo. John Yoo, attorney, US Justice Dept. A new Yoo memo has come to light that links Gitmo and Abu Ghraib torture with people at the highest levels of the Bush Administration. Read the Times story from yesterday. Also do not miss this brilliant Frontline: BUSH’S WAR, totally watchable online. As you watch this steady blow-by-blow account of the fraud of Iraq, note the staggering number of crimes of omission and commission by Bush and Co. If there were a true Justice Department Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld would all be serving their country, safely and humanely, in jail.

Person of the Day

2008-04-01T14:20:09+00:00

Julio Diaz, whose amazing story on NPR’s Story Corps shows how creativity can change reality. This idea can be applied by anyone, anywhere. All we need is a bit of practice. And Mr. Diaz is a very fine teacher. (This piece is better heard than read).
Click:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89164759

The Naked Campaign: Three-Legged Race

2008-03-26T18:07:06+00:00

How a marathon can be made up of very small, halting steps.
Click on image to watch.

4000 Persons of the Day

2008-03-25T20:39:01+00:00

To commemorate the 5th year of this war and the 4000th US death, The NY Times today carried stories of a few who perished, told in their own words. It was deeply moving reading. What can an illustrator do? Well, he can draw, and maybe help carry these words back to the folks at home. Here’s to all of them and the wisdom that may come o this pain, as Aeschylus said, by the awful grace of God.

Pvt. Ryan Hill, Keizer, Oregon, killed January 20, 2007:
“I try not to cry. I have never cried this much my entire life. two great men got taken from us way too soon. i wonder why it was them in not me. I sit here right now wondering why did they go to the gates of heaven n not me. I try everynight count my blessing that I made it another day but why are we in this hell over here? why? i cant stop askin why?”

Sergeant Ryan M. Wood, Oklahoma City, killed June 21, 2007:
“WHAT THE HELL AMERICA??

“What the hell happened?” any intelligent American might ask themselves throughout their day. While the ignorant, dragging themselves to thier closed off cubicle, contemplate the simple things in life such as “fast food tonight?” or “I wonder what motivated Brittany Spears to shave her unsightly, mishaped domepiece?”

To the simpleton, this news might appear “devastating.” I assume not everyone thinks this way, but from my little corner of the earth, Iraq, a spot in the world a majority of Americans could’nt point out on the map, it certainly appears so. This little piece of truly, heart-breaking news captured headlines and apparently American imaginations as FOX news did a two hour, truly enlightening piece of breaking news history. American veiwers watched intently, and impatiently as the pretty colors flashed and the media exposed the inner workings of Brittany’s obviously, deep character. I was amazed, truly dumbfounded wondering how we as Americans have sank so low. To all Americans I have but one phrase that helps me throughout my day of constant dangers and ever present death around the corner, “WHO THE [expletive] CARES!” Wow America, we have truly become a nation of self-absorbed retards. ... This world has serious problems and it’s time for America to start addressing them.”

Specialist Daniel E. Gomez, Army medic, killed July 18, 2007:
“A few days ago I realized why I am here in Baghdad dealing with all the gunfire, the rocket attacks, the IEDs, the car bombs, the death. I have only been here going on a month and a half. Already I have seen what war really is... but officially its called “full spectrum operations.” No I don’t down Bush, he is my CinC, and I think he is doing an good job with what Clinton left him. I don’t debate why we are involved in Iraq. I just know why I am here. It is not for the smiling Iraqi kids, or the even the feeling of wearing the uniform ( it feels damn good though :) . I am here for the soldier on patrol with me.

But why are you there in the states. Why are you having that nice dinner, watching TV, going out on dates..”
Here is his letter to his girlfriend, to be read in the event of his death:
“Hey baby. If you’re reading this, then something has happen to me and I am sorry. I promised you I would come back to you, but I guess it was a promise I could not keep. You know I never believe in writing “death letters.” I knew if I left one for my folks it would scare them. Then I met you. We were supposed to meet, darling. I needed someone to make me smile, someone that was an old romantic like I was. I was going through a very rough time in Iraq and I was startin to doubt my mental state. Then one day after a patrol, I go to my facebook and there you were...

I can’t stop crying while I writing this letter, but I have to talk to you one last time, because maybe the last time I heard your voice I did not know it would be the last time I heard your voice....

I Love You. Go be happy, go raise a family. Teach your kids right from wrong, and have faith, darling. I think I knew I loved you even before I met. I love you, Katy. * Kiss * Goodbye”

Seething Disaster of the Decade

2008-03-19T15:48:46+00:00

This week's events are perhaps a fitting commemoration of 5 years of the Iraq War. As McCain might say if he were to have a sudden epiphany about this war: "We are screwed, my friends."

Person of the Day

2008-03-15T04:52:40+00:00

Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. On the menu: Barack o' Lamb-a, smothered in green sauce. Allow to stew awhile. Get the fork.

Person of the Day

2008-03-13T16:41:10+00:00

Gerbil Fermishbaugh. Geraldine Ferraro and Rush Limbaugh had an interesting meeting of the minds this week. She, with her Limbaugh-like racist rant and he with his ringing Hillary “endorsement” (to “bloody-up Obama”). Everybody loves the Clintons!!!

Naked Campaign

2008-03-12T16:18:56+00:00

This one's about tipping points. When does the game change? And when doesn't it? Click on the weeble to watch.

Person of the Day

2008-03-11T17:37:04+00:00

It’ll be sad to see Spitzer go. Any one of his face fields (huh?) would be enough for anyone by themselves. Counterclockwise: A: his skull is the capitol dome, B: the nose is the car driving his “date” down to DC, C: his massive chin as a big piece of cheese and D: The large flapping ear: his poor, haggard (and probably lethal) wife. This is such a sad story. We caricaturists sometimes just have to force ourselves to deal with these things. We’re so misunderstood. Let me be. I’ll be all right.

Person of the Day

2008-03-10T13:35:18+00:00

John McCain. Fight fan, ringside waiting his turn, who, suddenly put in mind of George Bellows’ Stag Night at Starkey’s, starts to envision the Ashcan for the Democrats. Biff, pow and bam.

Person of the Day

2008-03-07T06:47:10+00:00

Patrick jb Flynn, this year’s winner of the Richard Gangel Award at the Society of Illustrators (to be given March 28 at the SI). This award, for distinguished achievement in design, with special appreciation for illustration and illustrators, has previously been won by Fred Woodward, Steve Heller and Rita Marshall. Nice company. This award has extra meaning, as I see it. Patrick devoted his career at the Progressive to the idea of advancing illustration as important political commentary. He worked tirelessly to protect artists, giving them more freedom and getting greater results. He was continually helping young artists along and giving established ones the chance to experiment. In fact, his defense of illustration ultimately cost him his job at the magazine. To us he is one of our own. So here’s to you, Patrick. In a time of potential political reawakening your work reminds us of a standard that you set that we can all still reach for.

Persons of the Day

2008-03-06T01:57:01+00:00

Latest political endorsements: Tony Rezko for Obama, George W. Bush for McCain, Amy Poehler and SNL for Clinton. If you're having a clown endorse you it's much better to have a professional.

Persons of the Day

2008-03-03T19:06:19+00:00

Yesterday's piece in the Washington Post is pretty sobering. Talking of an all-out Mid-East war, where one home-made rocket hits Israel who then moves troops into Gaza. Then Syria, Hezbolla and Iran start attacking. So here are Abbas and Olmert apparently close to a deal: negotiated peace with a 2-state solution. But the rockets did come in killing 3 Israelis. Israel then, in response, leveled part of Gaza with a one-ton bomb killing over 100 men, women and children. Palestinian journalist Mohammed Omer reports burning flesh, limbs, fingers lying everywhere. The UN secretary general has denounced the raid as “disproportionate”. Eight years of indifferent, incompetent and ideological policy making by the US has contributed this. Sometimes fingers don’t point, they just stare.
And , PS, today Ahmadinejad makes his grand entrance into Iraq. Thanking Bush all the way.

Person of the Day

2008-02-29T15:53:09+00:00

General Bam hits the beach. If he makes it he will negotiate heavy incoming Left and Right. In The Nation Jeremy Scahill exposes his Bushy commitment to long term Iraq involvement as well as to Blackwatery contractors. In today’s Times we see the gathering looney right wheelhouse starting to churn. He needs to get to the right (as opposed to the Right) side of the war and the military industrial complex (remember them?). And stand up and tell the truth.

Person of the Day

2008-02-27T05:11:15+00:00

Well, she's nailed the bipolar vote.

The Naked Campaign: Lost at Sea

2008-02-25T14:38:21+00:00

So happy to collaborate with Celine Dion in this one.

Person of the Day

2008-02-22T16:12:59+00:00

The Grey Lady, The NY Times. On a day when the Times is the talk of the town and illustration is as well, here's a bit of under-reported news. Important and worthy of discussion among us.
The news the New York Times doesn't deem fit to print is their decision to slash their art budget by 30%, effective immediately. This means that from now on illustration will be done for the paper at next to no pay. Bad times in the biz are reflected in other ways too--the photo budget is being cut and there is a hiring freeze as well. Kelly Doe, Science Times AD, has been making anguished phone calls to artists to tell them the news. Does the Times feel it can replace us with stock photos? 'The grey lady' will get even greyer. How smart is it to try to attract and keep readers in the internet age with a product that relies on organizing information in a strong visual package by cutting off access to a key option for powerful visual communication? Will the paper start looking like the web: a sea of indistinguishable choices? I do not believe this will stand. I believe that Pinch and Co. will feel how sad an affair the Times will be without art. But until then we will feel this. To survive we will have to be even more resourceful than ever. Please comment: interested in your take on how, as an industry, we can make our voice heard about this.
BTW, what was that annual art budget compared to that mega-million dollar architectural masterpiece they built on 8th Avenue (which now seems like a huge tombstone)?

Person of the Year

2008-02-21T06:14:46+00:00

The returning writers (bless 'em). Here's what one or more of them brought to Letterman the other day. I had to draw this.
"Experts believe that now that Fidel has resigned, he will either be succeeded by his brother, Raul, or by his idiot son, Fidel W. Castro."

Person of the Day

2008-02-20T06:35:59+00:00

Ski Wisconsin! Buy lift tickets online and save.

Person of the Day

2008-02-20T06:30:37+00:00

Person of the Day

2008-02-19T16:13:40+00:00

Did you see where Bush in Tanzania, confronted by Obamamania says he thought the excitement was for him? Understandable. Here's the story from CNN.

Person of the Day

2008-02-13T19:05:38+00:00

In the wake of Obama’s 10-in-row sweep, cutting, for the first time across all demographic lines came this from Newsweek’s Howard Fineman, spoken in the wee small hours last night on MSNBC:
“It is highly unlikely that Hillary Clinton is going to finish the primary season with a lead in pledged delegates. It is virtually impossible. The goal for her is to somehow lessen the difference in the number of delegates to like 30-200. If it’s a small number, this may be a pipedream, they will argue that they can use the super delegates to make up the difference. But the bigger that number is the more difficult that is to do . . and risk the storm inside the Democratic party.” It’s time for Hillary to get out the knives for Bam. More likely, the voters will get out the fork.

The Naked Campaign: It's a Mad, Mad. Mad, Mad Election

2008-02-07T13:27:47+00:00

Here’s a kind of Super Tuesday wrap. This tie between Clinton and Obama is actually looking bad for her. She’s going to need to do something to change this game! As Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen point out on Politico.com Hillary is staring these factors in the face:
1-    Obama actually got more delegates on Tuesday. 14 more. His momentum is real.
2-    Obama was tied in the popular vote, very different than polls of just a few weeks ago. This shows his surge.
3-    Obama carried 6 more states than she. And they were diverse; especially impressive was bellwether Missouri.
4-    Hillary lost the money race in January. He raised $31 million and she only $14 million. That’s a 2-1 margin.
5-    The calendar will be very Obama friendly for now. He’s got caucuses (which have been great for him), big African American turnout places like the Potomac primaries and his home state of Hawaii. Her next big shots are Ohio and Pennsylvania in a month or more.
What will Bill do?

Click here to see the movie

The Naked Campaign

2008-02-06T05:20:43+00:00

It’s been an amazing Super Tuesday. It may be very early till we know all the numbers. Here’s some California dreaming with some pens and scissors:

The Naked Campaign: Clash of the Titans

2008-01-31T04:58:20+00:00

Sometimes it looks as if the campaign were being dominated by spectres of campaigns past. Here's our latest for The New Yorker.
PS: Way to go, John Kascht!

Dead Vampire of the Day

2008-01-30T02:58:02+00:00

Let us pause and note, among other news of the day, the proud work of the good people of Florida who have banished from public life (for the foreseeable) Rudy the Impaler. Never to be mayor or president . . . or to ever again publicly turn Ground Zero into a grotesque banquet hall. Down he goes and how wonderful to watch. Die, Dracula, die.

The Naked Campaign: Odd Couples

2008-01-22T13:05:26+00:00

Marge Simpson is to Obama as Homer is to . . . Well, anyway, here are some variations. The filmmaking here, by Gail Levin, is more deliberate, less frantic, which I’m liking better. And the Dri-Erase gets a rest. Hope you like.

Artists Against the War Panel

2008-01-20T06:49:21+00:00

This Weds. at the Society of Illustrators, 7PM, a panel on art and press censorship in wartime. The Media: the First Casualty in Iraq. $10, free to students with ID. It will also be broadcast live at societyillustrators.org. Not that talking about this syndrome will stop its recurrence. But understanding it may help us better survive the next assault. Hope to see y'all
Christian Parenti is an American investigative journalist and scholar. His most recent book, The Freedom: Shadows and Hallucinations in Occupied Iraq (2004), is an account of the US occupation in Iraq. Parenti has also reported from Afghanistan, Iraq, Venezuela, and Bolivia.
Steven Heller, designer, author and co-author of many works on the history of illustration, design and ways they intersect with the world at large. His output numbers some 80 titles plus many articles in periodicals on design. Art here by Edel.
David Wallis contributes to The New York Times Magazine and the Washington Post. He is the editor of Killed Cartoons: Casualties from the War on Free Expression (W.W. Norton)..
PS: ONE YEAR FROM TODAY IS DC SANIFLUSH DAY. DON"T FORGET THOSE RUBBER GLOVES!

Person of the Day

2008-01-18T06:38:12+00:00

Ronack Obraga. I think he looks more experienced now. I don't know, what do you think? Is this a deal breaker or what?