Veep Contenders: An exclusive peek at McCain's top picks!

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Because I couldn't resist doing a retroactive poke at world-class segregationist, gaybasher and AIDS-funding squasher Jesse Helms. Also, I hate Mitt Romney. And John McCain, of course.

Mikhaela and Masheka and CWA on the BBC!

The BBC Radio 4 documentary, "Phill Jupitus' Comic Love" aired this morning in the UK. You can listen to it here (note that the link is only active for a week). The half-hour documentary features luminaries like Steve Bell and Garry Trudeau, and the bit about me and Masheka and Cartoonists With Attitude starts at around 22:20.

Toon: Currency After the Collapse

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Note: Yes, I know iPhones will be useless in post-apocalyptic America. Also, there's a little homage here for all you Repo Man (the movie) fans.

Toon: Defenders of 1913!

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This cartoon probably seems a bit obscure if you don't live in Massachusetts (or possibly New York). Basically, although same-sex marriage has been legal for Massachusetts residents since 2004, out-of-state couples have been out of luck—until now.

An archaic 1913 law still on the books prohibited couples whose marriages were not legal in their home states from marrying in Massachusetts. The law (which ex-Governor and wouldbe Vice President Mitt Romney was a big fan of!) was likely designed to prevent out-of-state interracial marriages.

I drew this cartoon when a repeal was being considered. Since then the Senate has repealed it and now it's up to the House. It's believed that thousands of New York residents would get married (and spend their wedding dollars) in Massachusetts. Good riddance to bad legal rubbish!

Toon: Obama Defends His Patriotism...

...and takes a big old step to the center, Clinton-style. Yuck. As a big fan of the separation of church and state, his proposal to expand Bush's government funding for faith-based programs has me particularly pissed off. After the Bush years, I want LESS religion in my politics, not more, thank you very much!

Obama does say he won't allow govt-funded religious groups to discriminate based on religion in hiring. But he says nothing about sexual orientation or other non-federally-protected categories. I really hope he's not ok with funding organizations like the Salvation Army that outright refuse to hire gay folks.

I told you I was finding all his change talk a lot harder to believe in. Blech.

Before anyone freaks out on me: calm down, I'm not saying there's no damn difference between Obama and McCain. McCain is a horrible right-wing conservative, and nothing is going to stop me from voting for Obama. And I hope to hell he wins. I just wish I was voting for a real progressive, not a pandering free-trade-loving "bipartisan" Clintonian centrist.

P.S. The sad thing is, I didn't think I'd ever have to draw an Obama-critical cartoon (except for the one I did a while back about how none of the candidates but Kucinich supported marriage equality). And I certainly do plan to spend most of my ink this election season going after McCain. But I was just SO MAD listening to the way Obama was talking this week that I couldn't hold back.

Toon: QwikBaby "Baby Plant" Seeds!

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For a country that trumpets its "family values," the U.S. comes up laughably short on parental leave. We've been the worst industrialized country in that department for a while, as this piece in USA Today detailed in 2005:

Out of 168 nations in a Harvard University study last year, 163 had some form of paid maternity leave, leaving the United States in the company of Lesotho, Papua New Guinea and Swaziland.

The pitiful Family and Medical Leave Act only guarantees 12 UNPAID weeks of leave (for workers at larger companies.)

Companies have discretion to offer more leave (and pay for leave) if they choose to—but fewer and fewer make that choice. A recent study by the Families and Work Institute found that "far fewer employers provide full pay during the period of maternity-related disability, today at 16%, down from 27% in 1998."

It's part of a national trend towards cost-cutting and crappier workplace benefits (of course, these things should be provided by the GOVERNMENT, but gosh, that might be too SOCIALIST). More details here and here:

"I had my son on Thursday and, on Monday, I had to go back to work," said Selena Allen, a 30-year-old mother who was working at a non-profit agency near Seattle when she had a baby five years ago.

No paid maternity leave for Allen meant leaving her premature son, Conor, in the hospital for weeks without being able to care for him.

"I was an emotional wreck, I was devastated, but in order to feed my family, I had no other option," Allen said.

P.S. On a feminist note, I of course support a good long period of paid parental leave for parents of any gender and sexual orientation (including adoptive parents!), not just maternity leave or leave for heterosexual couples. I certainly don't want to encourage any policy that implies childrearing should be women's work, or that only women should stay home with kids, etc. Just to be clear and all...

P.P.S. A reader on Flickr notes that my cartoon reminds him of a creepy-sounding Czech movie called Otesánek (Little Otik). Eeek! I'll have to check it out.

Toon: Trend Tracker, Summer Style Report

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The main inspiration for this was KMart's ridiculous "True Love Waits" pants, which I discovered via Feministing. Also, I really am concerned about the sinister evolution of the high-waisted pant.

Toon: Political Dads with Lesbian Daughters: A Field Guide

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Oh my goodness, Deval Patrick is just too awesome—and apparently the awesomeness doesn't fall far from the tree. The newish governor of Massachusetts has been fighting for LGBT rights since long before his brave teenage daughter came out to him as a lesbian, too, which makes this story even cooler. Also, the Bay Windows interview with Patrick and his daughter ("With love and pride, Governor Deval Patrick’s daughter comes out publicly") in which Gov. Patrick tears up made me tear up like the sentimental woman I'm usually not.

And yes, this was a Father's Day- + Pride Month-themed cartoon, I'm just posting it late.

Change I'm Finding Harder to Believe In

I knew that whole optimism over Obama thing couldn't last. What's with this falling all over himself to be as centrist as possible these days? Supporting FISA? Speaking out for the death penalty? WHAT?! Why Barack, why? Yes, I know I'm unfashionably late to the Obama disillusionment party, but I've been a bit too busy being interviewed by BBC Radio 4 (seriously!) and other such excitement to update you all on my political grumpiness.

Toon: And now for a brief moment of sunshine...

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Longtime readers may find this hard to believe, but when I heard Obama would be the nominee, I TOTALLY had a brief moment of optimism... which was only compounded when I heard California had gone for marriage equality and that New York Governor David Paterson had decreed that California/Canada/Massachusetts marriages would be legal in New York.

Seriously, I was upbeat and smiling and dancing around my apartment for nearly a MINUTE before I remembered that the economy is collapsing, the planet is warming and we're all DOOMED.

Also, I like drawing (and wearing) stripes and spirals. That is all.

Toon: Lesser-Known McCain Campaign Slogans

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My first McCain caricature. I have to admit the dude is fun to draw, if not nearly as handsome as Obama. THAT DOES NOT MEAN I WANT HIM ELECTED.

Toon: Rich folks are feeling the recession — just like us!

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My heart bleeds. And apparently so does Brian McFadden's, because he did a great cartoon on a similar topic the same week, "Hard Times for the Rich."

Mikhaela's K Chronicles Quasi-Cameo!

Another thing I've been meaning to blog for a while. I was getting my weekly Keith Knight fix on Salon and I realized I was IN THE K CHRONICLES CARTOON about "Love Is..." for April 9. Well, part of me was--Keef drew his fridge, and his fridge was adorned Save the Date! magnet from my wedding last year, so if you look closely at the top of the first panel, you can see the lower half of my face and neck and one of my trademark big round bead necklaces.

Speaking of Keef, have you heard that he's now doing a hilarious DAILY comic strip called The Knight Life? Tell your local newspaper so you don't have to go through any more Keef withdrawal EVER AGAIN.

I also think I should have more cameos from my friends and family in my cartoons. I've drawn my dad into my cartoon twice but my mom deserves to be a star too!

Ted Rall Looks Forward to the Free Future

(click here to view)

Ted Rall Universal Press Syndicate Mar 24, 2008 EditorialCartoonists.com

I meant to post a link to this fantastic cartoon ages ago. Folks need to stop drinking the Wired magazine "Isn't it GREAT that everything is going to be free?" Kool-Aid. Ted's cartoon is a great response to wealthy outfits like the Huffington Post that only pay freelance writers and cartoonists ("content providers") in "exposure"--only regular staff get actual money. Last time I checked, my landlords didn't accept "exposure" as payment, and not everyone can sustain a cartooning habit with witty T-shirt designs or book sales. (Personally, I had fun putting out my book collection, but I basically broke even on it.)

That said, considering how rough sales for political cartoonists were at the MOCCA Art Fest this year, I think I had better go design some witty T-shirts.

Toon: Hipster Hobbies of Tomorrow

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I don't actually know if anyone really knits from human back hair, though there are books available about how to knit from spun dog and cat hair.

I'm not hating on crafts or DIY culture, by the way--quite the opposite. I'm obsessed with making things--I love to knit and sew, and I obsessively read Craft and Readymade and a whole host of sewing, knitting and crafting blogs. I love that there is a resurgence of interest among youngerish people (i.e. 20s, 30s and younger) in knitting and sewing stylish and modern garments and accessories. I love browsing on Etsy and going to the Renegade Craft Fair and the Bust Craftacular and I love the Stitch & Bitch knitting books.

What I AM poking gentle fun at is how many weird hoops some craftsters jump through to give crafts with a fuddy-duddy reputation an "edgy" or "subversive" makeover. Like knitting skulls onto things or making fauxhawk hats. This often results in a sea of lookalike "subversive" projects all made from the same exact pattern.

But whatever. That's still better than purchasing a mass-produced skull-adorned product at the mall. And if a knitted skull is what it takes to get someone to pick up some yarn, then more power to them.

The real point here is that I just wanted to do a cartoon about crafting because I'm sick of the elections.

Marriage Equality Victory in Caliornia!

The California Supreme Court has ruled that prohibiting same-sex marriage is unconstitutional!

Toon: Americans Go Splurge-Crazy With Their Stimulus Checks!

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Of course, I'm lactose intolerant and I don't own a car--so I'm buying an extra quart of rice milk!

But seriously--these stimulus checks are such a joke, especially the idea that we should spend them on crap we don't need, like fancy appliances or big-screen TVs. Considering rising food and gas prices and the housing crisis and rising unemployment and health care costs and stagnant wages, the amount of debts so many Americans are in, that one-time check is going to evaporate real fast.

A one-time stimulus check worth $600-$1,200 isn't going to do much for folks facing foreclosure--it probably won't cover even one missed mortgage payment. Though with the average American family in something like $9,000 worth of credit card debt, it could be a nice start towards becoming debt-free.

I'm planning to give some as-yet-undetermined portion of mine to a deserving charity (probably one helping with the global food crisis, like Oxfam America). The rest will go to savings or the hungry open maw that is the cost of attending cartooning conventions.

Clinton equates "white" with "hard-working"

I know I said I was totally over the primaries, but now I'm even more disgusted and fed up. Barry has the details and a commentary roundup.

Toon: City Bike Safety Essentials

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Riding bikes in Manhattan (or Brooklyn) for that matter is too damn dangerous, because cars just don't respect bikes, whether in or out of lanes. In a city trying to go green, bikes should take priority. I pretty much stick to riding my bike to Prospect Park (so I can ride around within the park) because I'm just too damn scared. Sigh...

Random Harold and Kumar Love

I don't care what the critics say, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Harold and Kumar, and I don't think the second movie was any less funny than the first. That is all. It's pretty much the only movie out that I've seen recently, as I can't really see myself watching that Sarah Marshall thing or that Baby Mama nonsense. And I'm sorry, but I have no interest in Iron Man (Dark Knight is another story, but only because of Heath Ledger).

How's that for a nuanced cinematic analysis? Clearly I need to stick to cartooning.

Toon: Again. And Again. And Again... (Sean Bell)

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This is a followup to my post about the families of the victims of police brutality killings forming a sad fraternity. The New York Times reported that at Sean Bell's wake, the mother of Patrick Dorismond was heard crying out: “Again? Again? Again?”

There were some protests throughout the city today, but the detectives are still off the hook. And it's hard to believe the story will ever change.

My previous cartoon about the Sean Bell case (with a very similar theme) is here.

R.I.P., Mildred Loving

You've probably all heard about this already, but Mildred Loving (of the famous Loving vs. Virginia Supreme Court case that legalized interracial marriage) died last Friday. Here's a snippet from a much-quoted recent statement by Ms. Loving, "Loving for All", made on the 40th anniversary of her landmark case:

Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the “wrong kind of person” for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people’s civil rights.

I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about.

On Sympathizing With the Killers

The outrageous Sean Bell verdict is still weighing on my mind. And I am getting really, really sick of people in the media and in person falling all over themselves to have sympathy for the undercover detectives who shot an innocent black man 50 times.

They say it is SUCH a hard job to be a police officer. It is just so SCARY. They were just SCARED, and DISORGANIZED. The implication is: wouldn't ANYONE be SCARED of an (innocent unarmed) black man?

We always hear this after incidents of police brutality. dNa sums it up at Racialicious ("On Sean Bell: fear is cause for slaughter only when victim is black"):

The Bell verdict will only cement the NYPD’s indifference to wasting black life. They simply aren’t held accountable. All they have to do is say they’re “scared”, and the media sympathizes, because they’re scared of us too.

You know, if being a cop is such a hard job, why not take one of those nice easy jobs?

Like the EASY job of being the mother or father of a (murdered innocent unarmed) black man?

Like the EASY job of being the fiancée or daughter of a (murdered innocent unarmed) black man? (see above photo)

Or the EASY job of being a little black boy who will someday grow up to be an innocent unarmed black man?

Doing a search on some of the history of police brutality cases in NYC, I came upon a moving NYTimes piece ("Police Shooting Reunites Circle of Common Loss") about the way that the families of the victims have formed a friendship network based in shared pain, and the Sean Bell funeral was cause for a painful reunion:

“I don’t know what I would have done without them,” Mrs. Dorismond, a Haitian immigrant who came to New York at 18 to study nursing, said of the relatives of Amadou Diallo and others who died in encounters with the police. “Nobody can understand that pain but me, Mrs. Diallo and the others. When it was my turn, everybody came.”

They had come and been there for her, rushing to her side to introduce themselves — at her son’s wake, at his funeral, at the protests on the streets. Amadou Diallo’s mother, Malcolm Ferguson’s mother, Nicholas Heyward Jr.’s father, Abner Louima himself.

Save your sympathy for the real victims, please.

Toon: Primary Fever

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More like Primary Fatigue. Really, all I do want to talk about is Battlestar Galactica. I don't want to hear any more of Hillary trying to prove what a bomb-hungry hawk she is, or Obama going out of his way to sing the praises of bipartisanship (otherwise known as "letting Republicans have their way"). Nor do I want to hear anything any more of those gazillion weird racist smears and internet rumors going around about him. And I especially do NOT care about flag pins.

50 Shots and an Outrageous Verdict

Morning outrage: the police officers who shot (and killed) an unarmed young man on his wedding day got away with murder. They shot Sean Bell 50 times but were declared not guilty on all counts. Business as goddamn usual--the police get away with killing another young black man, on the excuse that they were "scared" and "confused" and "disorganized."

Here's my original cartoon about the case, and a much older cartoon on police brutality.