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The Last 8 years and 4 more?

SEPTEMBER 9, 2008
A close-up of the cover.
Meanwhile back in Washington... Just in case any of you haven't noticed, the last 8 years have been a long steep decline for a majority of Americans. The republicans have had control of the White House and have really wrecked this country. Thousands of new tombstones for young men and woman, devastating injuries to survivors from attacks in a war pitched for one cause then flipped for another are it's legacy. The trickle-down theory was tested on America yet again and guess what?... the rich got richer and jobs did NOT grow and incomes did NOT go up. Did it work as pitched? No. So we must all agree that the Bush years were just awful. I did this cover for Mother Jones about a month ago, out right now. At the time I was absolutely sure that America was sick of the last 8 years. The cover story was about the ways to move past these last 8 years. The award-winning creative director Tim Luddy at Mother Jones called with this fun idea of Bush as the Wicked Witch melting with other characters around him; Barack as Dorothy, McCain as the Cowardly Lion and my favorite, Cheney as a flying monkey. I did wonder if having McCain as a Cowardly Lion would be 'leading with our chin' and offered a sketch of him as the Tin Man, squeaking "Oil, oil" but that one was rejected for the Lion. After seeing the cover I see the two asterisks that reveal on page 2 this funny explanation: **As for you my friend, your a victim of disorganized thinking...you're confusing courage with wisdom" -The Wizard to the Cowardly Lion. Brilliant! I can't resist here pointing our to anyone still on the fence in this election that the plan that McCain/Palin have for the next 4-8 years is to continue the Bush tax policy, the social agenda perhaps more focused on ending a woman's right to choose, a carbon-based energy policy of drilling everywhere in American and lying that it will end foreign dependency( it won't) and finally, not a single program to help the middle class of any worth. Ding, dong, the Bush years are almost over but as Bush once warned: "fool me once, shame on ... shame on you. It fool me. We can't get fooled again."
Finally this issue is FILLED with great illustration...Steve Brodner, Mark Matcho, Peter Arkle, Ralph Steadman, Yuko Shimizu, Jason Holley, Harry Campbell, John Ueland, Juliette Borda, and Christian Northeast.
The fun cover
Here is my idea of McCain as a Tin Man...you know, old rusted seeking oil? In the end the solution they had was brilliant!
I loved doing these little paintings
see the two asterisks?
This one was difficult.
Mark Matcho
As mentioned above, this issue is filled with great illustrations thanks to Tim Luddy and the rest of the art department AND the illustrators...forgive the bad shots, but I thought they should be here...
Peter Arkle
Ralph Steadman
Yuko Shimizu
Serg Bloch
Steve Brodner...sorry for the glare
Jason Holley
Harry Campbell
John Ueland
Juliette Borda
Christian Northeast
© 2024 Tim O'Brien