Judge Dreddful

The President's press conference last week confirmed for me that now was the time to roll out the following 'toon, especially when he said, "I don't think Mr. Snowden is a patriot ... I signed an executive order all before Mr. Snowden leaked this information that provided whistleblower protection to the intelligent committee or the first time, so there were other avenues available for somebody whose conscience was stirred and felt they needed to question government actions."

Seriously? What avenues would those be? The ones leading to a primo de luxe suite at Club Gitmo? Maybe as a gesture to the human rights crowd, the Administration will let Snowden room with PFC Bradley Manning, so they can swap stories on how good it feels like to be "protected." 

Anthony Mayor Weiner...I Wish Were

The sordid saga continues...and I wouldn't be an editorial cartoonist if I didn't pen at least one 'toon on it, so here it is. That's one "election" I sure wouldn't want to have to observe.Yikes.

Desecrating Trayvon's Hallowed Ground

Trayvon could have been my son. My son could have been Trayvon.

Last Friday, a cold-blooded murderer was set free and now he gets his gun back from a state governed by cold-blooded murderers.

Note to self and everyone else who has children: your sons...and daughters...are not safe in this land of cold-blooded murderers.

Ban handguns now and end racial injustice...and put George Zimmerman where he belongs...behind bars...for life.

'Nuff said.

Woodchuck

I shouldn’t' be picking on Clarence Thomas. There were, after all, four other men who voted to strike down a cornerstone of established civil rights law, Supreme Court Invalidates Key Part of Voting Rights Act. Still, he seems to have an almost pathological zeal in his pursuit to roll back the clock in this country to a simpler time, say 60 years ago, when all was white, I mean right in the world, and everyone knew their place.

His and the other "justices'" decision now gives the Southern states in question the green light to break out their poll taxes from mothballs to re-disenfranchise (if that's a word) people of color unlucky enough to live in their domains. Sure, they'll dress up this blatant effort to rob people of color of their rights as high-minded efforts to prevent voter fraud, and they'll probably use their white hoods and robes to do the dressing.

Fortunately, Attorney General Eric Holder has promised that President Obama and the Department of Justice will vigilantly contest any such effort to suppress voting rights...assuming they’re not too busy assassinating American citizens overseas without any due process or hunting down whistleblowers for revealing unconstitutional US government programs. I'm certainly feeling reassured; makes me feel like partying like it's nine-teen-fifty-nine!

Shagadelic!

I just can't get that awful Austin Powers theme music out of my head - maybe that's because the NSA planted a chip in my brain that plays an endless loop of bad 60's music. Or maybe it's because we're being served up endless malarkey as excuses coming from the power elite about why it's oh so important that the NSA have total access to our every online and telephonic twitch and tweet.

It'll be interesting to see what more Snowden reveals as he discloses bit by bit the USG's efforts to undermine civil liberties all in the name of prosecuting the never-ending War on Terror. I certainly don't feel any safer. Sure, there are bad guys out there, mostly of our own creation. Just look at Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi and Al-Qaeda, and you quickly see how our friends of convenience during decades past easily became our enemies for this one. All in the service of Cha-Ching!, our lucrative military-"intelligence"-industrial complex.

So, please. Let's insist that Mr. Grooviness himself, Barack Obama, and all the other hacks dispense with their sanctimonious, patronizing "Trust us. We're here to protect you" admonishments to us, the pesky citizens who insist on an open debate and greater transparency. Let's get it all out in the open where we can judge for ourselves the merits and tradeoffs of such a policy. Then maybe we'll...behave. Oh yeah, baby! It's shagadelicious!

BFF

OK, OK, OK. Last week I said that the Republicans were hyperventilating when they compared the Obama administration to the Nixon administration. It's my turn to eat a little crow. Mea cupla mea maxima culpa. I was wrong. We should all be hyperventilating and be convinced once and for all the Barack Obama is a fraud and a shill for the military-intelligence complex. Constitutional law professor? What-EVER, dude. He's all about carrying on W's legacy, only with crisper efficiency, greater "Trust us and get out of our way" arrogance and sense of purpose.

As the details begin to trickle out about the PRISM software and the Obama administration's policy of spying on Americans first and asking the FISA courts' permission later it's become painfully clear that the Global War on Terror is here to stay for a while along with its disembowelment of whatever remains of our basic rights as were once enshrined by the Constitution. We're told about needing to make tradeoffs between security and liberty, and sadly most of us appear to be on board with that. And if things get a little messy, well hey - you gotta crack some eggs to make omelets.

Meanwhile, we see Obama and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, coming together around a new model of cooperation. The two most powerful men, leading the nations with the two largest economies, both (now) with a well-established record of running roughshod over their respective peoples' basic civil rights. If that doesn't give you pause and make you wonder...what came first the chicken hawk or the egg?

Barry the Plumber

Let's leave aside the obvious political hysterics of the Republicans over Benghazi, the IRS "targeting" of teabaggers seeking activist welfare (and tax-exempt status)...the Obama administration's criminalization of investigative reporting merits all the criticism and concern that have been expressed so far...and then some.

Having said that, I'm sure the Repubican'ts will be the first to tear up their new ACLU membership cards as soon as a reporter dares to investigate the next Republican excess. That is unless Dick Cheney doesn't somehow order the poor bastard's disappearance so that he can harvest their organs and blood to extend his baneful existence for another ten years.

But back to Obama and his mea no have-a clue-a about the DOJ's unprecedented pursuit of leakers and the journalists who love them. It's pathetic on two fronts. First, he's the boss; he's in charge; and I'm dubious that the Justice Department attorneys who were behind this were somehow just going rogue. Maybe if he weren't too busy freezing out and marginalizing his cabinet members, he might have been more on top of this.

Second, he's a former Constitutional Law professor and yet he shows a dismaying disdain for the damage his administration has wreaked on the institutions of political competition and good governance in its almost vindictive pursuit of leakers. Shame on him and Eric Holder, as long as we're handing out blame for this. Why is Obama so damn concerned about prosecuting journalists when he's been so reluctant to go after the real criminals: half the Bush Administration for its illegal wars and torture and all of Wall Street for tanking the economy 6 years ago?

So while I would never compare Obama to Nixon, as the victimhood-embracing Republican martyrs have been doing, I would say that he's been about as adept in managing his administration's response to leaks as G. Gordon Liddy and the gang were at breaking into the DNC HQ in Watergate. All thumbs and a few screws loose.

Lipstick on Porker

I do so love it when the U.S. military tries to be introspective and thoughtful - a bunch of uber-Alpha males pop on Mary Chapin Carpenter into their iPods and suddenly they morph into Sensitive New Age Guys. Tailhook becomes Talisman, and that swingers' club that passes for CentCom in Tampa, Florida becomes an ashram.

Right....

OK, so the generals and admirals will now be seeking 360 feedback, according to the NYTimes in a very interesting piece yesterday: Conduct at Issue as Military Officers Face a New Review.

I'm sure this is a real "game-changer," and subordinates will feel completely free to tell it sock it to their commanding officers - the same guys, and let's face it, they are mostly guys - who will make or break their careers in the military.

But I guess it's a first goose-step in the right direction for an institution that, as the fortune in the cookie says, prides itself on being all that it can be...in bed.

Better Bread Than Dead

Apologies to all for a two month hiatus. No excuses, and it's good to be back.

Here we go again. In another stroke of political genius - GENIUS I tell you! - the Obama administration has made a beeline to the "center" for its initial negotiating position with the knuckle-dragging crowd, aka, the GOP, for talks on the budget.

Uhm, OK...and they hope to come away with what exactly at the end of this process? Somebody needs to send Barack Obama back up to Cambridge to bone up on negotiation tactics. By beginning with what could only be seen as a worst case end result, the actual outcome of the budget negotiations is likely to be dismal. This initial offer by the White House legitimizes the illegitimate - taking yet another pass on addressing poverty and injustice and equating the value of programs designed to reduce inequality and to promote resilience with those that stuff more resources into the maw of our overfed military-intelligence complex.

The moral bankruptcy of Barack Obama continues. Which chapter are we filing today?

Happiness is a Warm Gun (and Cold Bodies)...in Our Schools!

I'm monitoring the news on the progress of Obama's gun control legislation, and I can't say that I'm all that surprised by the weapons-manufacturer-funded Republican response. Yes, the Lords of War and the lobbyists that love them, i.e., the NRA, are rolling out the very best of their specious arguments to insist that we weaponize schools and all public spaces while we're at it.

Then there's the usual vile nonsense oozing out of whichever orifice that passes for Rush Limbaugh's piehole these days about how African Americans should embrace the weaponized society agenda. Heck, if only civil rights leaders had been packing, they would have enjoyed a quicker more broad-based triumph.

Right...so, let's bring back the Black Panthers, arm them with assault-style rifles and send them over to Rush's place for a little heart-to-heart. I'd like to be a fly on that blood-splattered wall.

But back to the gun-nuts' insistence on weaponizing schools...I'm not so peeved at them as at the Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. Congress who are cowering and already withdrawing support for anything that might put them on the wrong side of the weapons lobby. Do they care nothing for the welfare of our society's most vulnerable members, our children? Clearly not. Do they really believe that more guns are the answer to reducing violence in schools? Probably not. Do they enjoy depositing those campaign contribution checks? Cha-ching!

Kill the Message...'Cause the Messenger is Packing!

So...all of the insider wonketariat and commentators are all crowing about the new "bipartisan" immigration reform legislation being drafted, all part of the GOP's effort to rebrand and remessage itself to appeal more to the very folks they would have happily frogmarched back to their countries of origin. Likewise, the GOP spin-doctors will be instructing their charges to talk less about their wacky notions of legit rape, etc., when confronting the abortion issue. And so and so on and so on...

I, for one, ain't buyin' it. They can remessage and repackage to their little cold hearts' delight, but the message - the actual policies and the values they represent - will remain the same: cold-hearted, divisive, hate-filled, racist, anti-poor, misogynist and anti-gay. There ain't enough lipstick and perfume in the world to that will make that pig any purttier. I'll look forward to the day when the teabaggers rise up to reclaim the vile rotten soul of the GOP, and all of this staged nonsense will come crashing down, scattering the pigs and cosmetics everywhere.

Goddamn Marvel

What can I say? This, along with playing his namesake in the Shining, had to be a couple of is greatest roles. I love Jack Nicholson, back when when he was still acting and not just playing some sad caricature of himself.

Then there's the politics of this so-called Debt Ceiling Crisis. I will give Obama credit for refusing to negotiate with fiscal terrorists, er sorry, I meant House Republicans. Whatever. Meanwhile, he has been seriously considering negotiating by throwing the vulnerable under the bus (again; surprise!) by way of staking out some "centrist" position, which in this day and age is just to the left of the National Review's editorial board's position.

It's all just a bit depressing. Another failure of leadership all made up to look sensible and serious-minded. Let's just roll the tape and click the link...