Election Results

This is fairly self explanatory. The president and the Democrat Party were handed a stunning defeat in the 2010 mid-term election. Over sixty seats were lost to the GOP in the Congress. In addition, hundreds of elective offices were lost at the state level. This was a direct result of Mr. Obama, and the Democrat controlled congress' attempt to socialize the country. While they did have some success with their attempt, e.g., health care, and taking over some private industry or companies such as General Motors; this election sent a message that the general population was not in favor of the direction that Mr. Obama was taking the country. What is amazing is that the idealogues didn't get the message. Some of them actually say it is because he did not go far enough. Hopefully they will maintain their delusional thinking so that in 2012 we may rid ourselves of the Mr. Obama and the rest of his merry band of parasites.

Duffy's Megaphone

This bit of silliness came about as a result of the vet giving my dog a collar so that he would not chew on his incision after an operation. He, the dog, also chews his feet, and the vet gave us some medicine for that. I combined the two incidents with the visual of watching Duffy, my dog, wrestle with the collar, and this Kartune was the result. By the way; the collar lasted all of about two minutes before Duffy was able to remove it. Kiss that $25 good bye.

The Obama Doctrine

Well, this is blunt; but sometimes I get tired of dancing around an issue with carefully picked descriptions. Mr. Obama socialized health care, stated that he wants to "spread around" the fruits of other people's labor, and numerous other phrases and examples that demonized private initiative, and praised the collective approach to government, and governing. So far, he has stayed just short of outright professing that he would prefer the communist form of government. Instead, as in this Kartune, he just keeps laying down single pieces to be blended later. Of course he has a right to believe as he sees fit; and since he was elected by the majority of the people, he has a right to govern as he pleases. However, I also have the right to identify and describe his belief system as I see it. Ever since McCarthyism, and later the extreme leftist movement of the 1960's it has become politically incorrect to identify anyone as a communist, regardless of how overtly they profess that doctrine. We have danced around the issue by using the word statist, and socialist, and collectivist. Well, if it has feathers, and walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a communist.

Shovel Ready Project?

After increasing the national debt by over a trillion dollars, (read that as one million, million), so that we could start in on his highly touted "shovel ready projects", Mr. Obama has announced that, well, ...there are no shovel ready projects. Really? None? Hmm. So is the president a liar, or just incompetent? I guess it doesn't matter. Either way, we lose.

Big Game Gun

This is what I call my first attempt at Full Frontal Sarah. I knew Sarah Palin would be a great source of material for a long time to come; so I needed to begin practicing on her look. The mouth is not so good in this one. (of course, for progressives, her mouth is never any good). The impetus for this Kartune is from the 2010 mid-term election, wherein The Tea Party movement is having an enormous impact on the elections. Several R.I.N.O.(es) have been challenged and unseated by Tea Party candidates. R.I.N.O.(es) of course are, "Republicans In Name Only". Sarah Palin, being a maverick type of conservative politician, has been very instrumental in helping to unseat those entrenched candidates who have become so fearful of losing their job that they began to look and act like left wing democrats, or worse, Progressives, Democrat or Republican.

All Thumbs

Here we go again with the racism coming from this administration. Huh!? Ooooooh, now I've done it. I forgot that the race hustling definition of racism says that a black person cannot be racist because racism can only come from a position of power...oh, wait, it's the President of the United States, and the Attorney General of the United States...hmmm, so then that arguement now breaks down. The impetus of this Kartune is the position of the Department of Justice, (read that as, Obama/Holder), that they will not consider claims of discrimination against a white person, because voter discrimination, and other such laws were written for the protection of black people. Really! And all this time I thought the law was supposed to be color blind; well, is my face red.

Two Men, One Vote

How nice that we send our troops around the world to spread democracy, and protect the rights of citizens of other countries, many of whom despise the United States. In the process of creating environments wherein citizens of those countries can cast a ballot, at the cost of many lives of our citizen warriors, we neglect to create an environment wherein our own military personnel are guaranteed that their vote will count in their own country. In the best of circumstances, they are relegated to a bench warmer position in the event that an election is too close to call. This is a disgrace and a scar on the soul of every person who has held or holds public office in this country, and wil remain so until they fix it.

Delayed Signal

This is a picture of a character I created, Obbie Elle. It's from an idea for a strip called, Algae Zero; a place where nothing grows.

A Jerk Knee Reaction.

The operation was a success. Well, it was cheap; and after all, the knee did bend a full 90 degrees; reacted well when struck with a reflex hammer; the patient didn't die, or wind up with two knees on one leg. Best of all we got to put it on our government health care card, which only cost us about fifty or sixty percent of everything we earn. What could be so bad?

Bottom Feeders

Hmmm. My perspective is off a bit in this drawing, but I believe it is right on in the sentiment.

As this summer of 2010 presses on, the main item occupying the news is the Arizona border. This is a very long, and unprotected border between Mexico and Arizona. The Federal Government of the U.S. provides no effective protection of that border, and in fact seem to enjoy the fact that there are so many illegal immigrants from "Mexico" coming into the U.S. Speculation is that the Democrat Party views these illegal immigrants as potential votes. Estimates have run from ten to twenty million potential illegal aliens in the country at this time. An alternative opinion is that these folks are really just a source of cheap labor for American business. Another side of the arguement points to the crime and drug element that is coming into the country with the illegal immigrant population. What we have not heard any mention of is the fact that this becomes an easy place for terrorists to enter the country. Post September 11, 2001 there was extreme angst that the "dots had not been connected" in recognizing the nine-eleven bombers. This referred to connections to mid-east countries, and aliens who were "legally" in this country taking flying lessons, etc. The stories were well documented. We really sounded concerned that our national security folks had dropped the ball. Well, how about having a wide open border, and all but inviting any and all to cross it? I believe we are in for another big castastrophe, and I believe it can and should be placed firmly at the feet of Mr. Obama and his administration. Of course, "I told you so" is going to be of little consequence when yet thousands of American Citizens are once again slaughtered by religious and or political zealots. Maybe a good tactic would be to point out that some illegal aliens might also be killed in such an attack. That might actually cause some concern on the part of the current administration.

The BP Pinata

This is a tough one, however, since I am usually swimming upstream anyway, I'll give it a try. The media and the masses seem to be revelling in the thought of punishing BP for their environmental damage as a result of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. I too think punishment is in order. Here's the but: I think this process of punishment, fines and restitution should be handled judiciously and even handedly. I do not get the sense that this will be the case. The lottery mentality has taken over. The bottom feeders; in this case, the government, the media, the insurance companies, and the attorneys, have arrived. They will posture that they are protectecting "the little guy", when in fact their only concern is to either advance an agenda, e.g. the green movement, or to gain notariety and big fees via commissions and fees, or to get that "big scoop", and maybe even one of those highly prized Nobel thingies, or finally to squash any and all claims, even legitimate ones. Watching Ken Feinberg in a press interview yesterday, brought to mind a huge tic, dug in, and growing rapidly with it's fortunate find of a fat and healthy host.

Charge It Up.

Here we go again. The summer before mid-term elections; the Oil "Spill" disaster in the Gulf of Mexico; Arizona being sued by the Federal Government for daring to do the federal government's job, since the feds seem loathe to do it; and Obama's ratings slipping faster than the housing market. Time to break out the Queen Mother of desparation tactics. Michele Obama was invited to be a guest speaker at the NAACP annual conference/meeting. Interesting that we have not heard anything from this group in years. Suddenly, post meeting, we have what could be classified as a rant from Ben Jealous, the current leader of the NAACP, wherein he is charging the Tea Party people of racism and racist tactics. Really? Interesting. No evidence of this in the news up to this point. Given the massive size and number of events of the Tea Party movement, one would expect that statistically, there would have to be hundreds of incidents just to register a fraction of 1% of the participants in this movement. Yet, there was none in evidence. There was an oblique, and questionable reference to one billboard, which was subsequently removed when objection was voiced, and some "alleged" name calling during a political demonstration in Washington. The media, who are besotted with the Obamas, would have run saturation coverage of any real events, were there any to report on. Silence. Now, suddenly, we have an outcry from the NAACP, following Ms. Obama's visit to the group? There is one point on which I have to acknowledge the Obama administration. They promised transparency, and to be sure, one can see right through them.

Image Consultant

It's the summer of 2010. There is a weekly TV series on HBO call "True Blood". It is about vampires. Vampires also seem to be finding their way back into some movies, and kids venues, so I thought a Kartoon on the topic was in order. Of course with the vampire craze on the rise, so to speak, I guess this fellow did not even need to worry about his image. He is finally in vogue. So much for this bit of silliness.

Something Fishy Here.

Fans, assuming there are any, will recognize this as a Kartoon Makeover. I used the same picture before to comment on a beached whale and suchi. This time it's a new subject, and some added color. We are now at about day 89 or 90 of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Today the coast guard coordinator, Thad Allen, announced that he had about 500 "skimmer" ships at the ready to collect the oil. Very nice. After three months of watching the BP oil leak hemorrhage into the Gulf of Mexico, the Obama team now thinks it's okay to use the skimmer ships and other resources that the rest of the world was offering us on day 3 of this catastrophe. Well, credit where it's due; Obama did not let this crisis go to waste. It gave him a platform to drone on about his green agenda, big business, nasty oil companies, and whatever other idealogic chum he feels like spewing.

Going My Way ?

This came about in the summer of 2010 as a result of the government (Obama administration) to discontinue space exploration. Mr. Obama instructed his newly appointed head of NASA, that his primary goal should be to "help the Muslim nations feel better about themselves" and their contributions to math and science. No, seriously, that is what the NASA administrator said in an interview given to Al Jazeera. One has to admit. that is an odd primary task for the world's premier space agency. Aside from that, someone in government decided that we could get into space by catching a ride with some other countries that are going there.

Show and Tell

This is fifty plus days into the British Petroleum oil leak that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion appears to be 100% BP's fault, however, the inept response by the Obama administration to contain/remove the subsequent damage to our environment was a major cause of damage to our environment, and our ecomomy. I am using inept as a "benifit of the doubt" descriptive term. I am not 100% convinced that this leak was not allowed to become a castrophe for political and idealogical reasons. In the words of Rham Emanual; "Never let a good crisis go to waste". Right!, but I'm the cynic.

Two Old Pros

Since Senator Specter had thirty years in congress, and was in each of the two main political parties (for personal convenience) at different times, I thought he deserved to have two KartunZ dedicated to him.

Clogged Arteries.

This unlikely subject combination came about due to proximity in time. The two topics really had nothing to do with each other. Congress had recently passed President Obama's monstosity of a health care bill, (a couple thousand pages)without even reading it; then there was an explosion of a British Petroleum platform which killed nine workers, and caused a gigantic leak from an oil pipe which was located 5,000 feet deep in the ocean. The "leak" was discharging thousands of gallons of oil per day into the ocean, while scientists tried to figure out a way to stop the flow. Combine those two incidents with a rainy monday and a cancelled golf game, and this Kartune is the result.

Mother's Day 2010

This is just my 2010 tribute to all the moms out there.

Ignorance and Apathy

This is a tribute to my friend Paul, whom I worked with for fifteen years. He loved to tell this joke; so I decided to assign it to a setting.

Reality TV

Well, it's not the Nobel prize, however, this one was actually earned.

It's Just a Game

The Global Warming, (oops, facts got in the way of that phrase).....The "Man Made" Climate Change debate got me to thinking about times when people wanted to drive other pet projects, for example, when ABC, via Connie Chung, decided to attach an explosive to a Ford Pinto to make it explode during a newscast. This bit of pyrotechnic chicanery was necessary because ABC could not get the naughty pinto(es)? to behave according to script without manipulating them. Interestingly, we are now seeing an all out assault on Toyota, and I cannot help thinking, (feeling actually, I don't have any actual data as yet) that we may be experiencing the same kind of nonsense. After all, the government now owns the competition (GM), so it's important that Toyota be the bad guy. Do I really think they are the good guy? No. I just do not trust our media, their motivations, or their one sided political nature. So a real problem gets treated in a manner in which, under other circumstances, it would not. I can't help it. I never used to believe this way, but they are so far gone that it is embarrassing at times.

Practice Makes Perfect

This one is just poking some fun at Tiger.

Liberty Wedding.

President Obama not only wants to preside over this wedding; he wants to be instrumental in arranging it. Word has it he has extensive ties with the groom's attendees.

The 4 C's

This is a new twosome in my gallery. My niece Colleen was married this past weekend, and that got me to thinking about engagements, and weddings, and honeymoons, etc. The net result was this Kartune, which happily, also introduced me to a new twosome. No, not Colleen and her new husband Bill, but the two in the foreground, the two....dare I say it?, BABES. I think we will be hearing more from these two.

Tea Party

The "Tea Parties" were one of the most uncovered events of 2009. They didn't even make it into Time Magazine's year in review. Really?! Not worth mentioning? The main stream media outlets just didn't want to acknowledge their existence, other than to try to marginalize them by portraying them as small fringe groups popping up here and there. There was some physical violence at some meetings, and the press could not jump on that fast enough, until that is, that the cable outlets, primarily Fox News Network, pointed out that the violence was being delivered by union members, (SEIU?)against the tea party attendees. Oops. This is one more example of why the print press, and major news outlets are dying, i.e., going out of business.

Ten Items or fewer

This is one of those petty things that shouldn't bother me, but it does. (Well, "did" actually; now that I have completed a "Kartune" 0n the topic, I feel much better. :) "Kartuning" is my personal form of therapy. No, I didn't actually see this happen, but I wish I had.

Happy Birthday Mr. Reagan

Decided to experiment with a new method of coloring. This is a bit heavy handed on the wall, but it's a first try.

The Dark Ages

As we keep introducing initials in place of words, it shouldn't be long before we have forgotten what the original word was that the letter represents. Of course that was the goal originally, however, I think the unintended consequences will be to dumb down the language to the point that eventually we will be back where we started; just pointing and grunting. Rather than engage in this politically correct nonsense, I think it would be much more useful, and fruitful to use all words in the language, old and new, and to learn their meanings, and to then use other words to challenge, praise, condemn, demean, agree, with whatever is being expressed.

The Tropisms

Other than to note that the weaker organisms are probably more easily influenced; sometimes, commentary isn't even necessary. That side of the street is attractive to those who view history through a piece of PVC pipe, or a straw, because even blinders would allow to broad a vision to disguise the reality of the devastation those regimes have imposed on their societies.

A Pinch of Salt

This idea came to me after President Obama's State of the Union address last night. In a fatuous gesture, Mr. Obama said he was freezing the budget at it's current level for the next three years. This, after first raising it to it highest level in history, and then exempting defence, medicare, social security, and a fourth item that I cannot recall. This left a net result of .58 of 1 percent that could not be raised. This man's cynacism regarding the average citizen's ability to recognize his shell games is stunning.

Air Ball.

Coakley refers to Martha Coakley, the Attorney General of Massachusetts, who decided to run for the vacant seat left by the death of Senator Ted Kennedy. She was challenged by a state senator named Scott Brown, and led the race by over twenty points approximately one month before the election. (That is what one would expect in this very liberal state). Then, as the current administration, and Democrat Congress continued their one sided assault on all things American, Scott Brown began to surge in the polls. By election day he was actually favored by four to six points, depending on the source, in spite of the fact that President Obama flew into Massachussets just two days before the election to lend his credibility, and the weight of the oval office to her cause. Ms. Coakley was soundly defeated with a spread of five or six points, as predicted in the final days of the campaign. Predictably, the mainstream media joined top mouthpiece Democrats in putting the blame on Ms. Coakley for the loss; or in some cases, just dismissing it as local politics. The facts are that Mr. Brown ran very specifically on the issues of the way Health Care, and Terrorism were being handled in Washington. It was a direct challenge to the White House and Congress, and resulted in a monumental defeat considering this was "Teddy Kennedy's" seat, in what many referred to as the most Blue state in the union. The issues, and the total and arrogant lack of regard of the opinions of the majority of the electorate are what defeated Mr. Obama's surrogate, Ms. Coakley. This stunning defeat had less to do with the persona of Mr. Brown, and more to do with the fact that he did an excellent job framing the debate, and articulating the issues.

Cheap Shot

Bee gives new meaning to the term, Food Pyramid. This one was inspired by the trend in America toward a predominantly obese society. (includes yours truly). My weight gain began in earnest in the 1970 - 1980 span when we became obsessed with fat consumption, and red meat consumption. By the way, that was the launch pad decade for the obesity crisis we are experiencing. Later, in the nineties, I watched as a co-worker, and good friend, began shedding pounds. It seemed like he did so right before my eyes. Inquiry revealed that he was on the Atkins lifestyle. I asked him what that entailed. He explained about the low "simple" carb approach. He explained that he could eat vegatables, particularly green ones, as much as he wanted to. He also explained that protein (meat, poultry, some dairy) were also part of the mix. Oh, no. Suicide. I immediately began to harrangue him about what he was doing. Loss of weight be damned, I didn't want to see my friend kill himself. He recommended that I read the book; that's the Dr. Atkins book. No need really. Like most folks in our society, I was much more content to emphatically preach what had been fed to me for over thirty years. (via teachers, the media, the medical practicioners, and many other well meaning sources.) Why should I read something, when small, appetizer size sound bites have served me so well for lo this long? Hmmmm. Except they didn't serve me well. I was gaining weight; had the requisite heart attack, at 42!!, felt sluggish, and had blood metrics (triglycerides, cholesterol, etc. that were off the charts). Then, a few years later, I decided to read this nonsense that Dr. Atkins was spewing. Oops. It made sense. The science of it is clearly explained. It wasn't new science. Just "conveniently" ignored science. Let's give it a try. No small amount of trepidation here, I assure you. Having had first hand proof of what heart attacks feel like, and having subsequently gone through a quintuple bypass, I was not eager for a repeat performance. The result. Weight went down. Well, I guess we knew that might happen. I had observed it myself. What I did not observe in my previous experience, was my friend's blood metrics. Mine improved dramatically. Triglycerides plumeted. Cholesterol fell to acceptable limits. My energy increased. I felt better. Case closed. Then I started thinking about observations in nature. Who are the carnivores, and who are the herbavores. Which ones look fit, run fast, and are alert. Which ones are obese, and sluggish. Hence, this Kartune. (I'll bet you never knew how much went into one Kartune. :))

A salty guy.

Okay, so this time around it's going to be salt. The last time the nanny state was in power (the 70's ?), it was refined sugar. These are the same folks who gave us the food pyramid, which they seem to still be clinging to, and which when any serious tracking and graphing of obesity in America is undertaken, seems to be the launch pad for our journey toward obesity as a nation. So, what am I saying? Refined sugar is good for you? Salt is good for you? No, not really. Everything in moderation...I'm just saying that when government bureaucrats dictate how we should live our lives, it usually does not work out very well.

Clueless

As a result of the crotch bomber, President Obama decided to dress down the Homeland Security department. He stopped short, however, of removing Secretary Janet Nepolitano from heading up that department. He explained to us that it is a systemic problem, and not a person problem. Could this be because he appointed her, and is afraid that her removal would be a reflection on his judgement? There is a follow up Kartune to this one (previous frame). It would all be in this frame, but I'm not sure how to make that happen yet.

Game Day

This is the result of our intelligence community missing the signs of the Nigerian Terrorist, aka, the underwear bomber, which allowed him to board a plane and fly to Detroit. Once above Detroit, in order to maximize the damage his mission would cause, he attempted to detonate an explosive pack that was hidden in his underwear. Fortunately, a Dutch passenger saw the attempt, and intervened, and also the bomb failed to explode, and resulted only in the terrorist buring himself. He was subsequently arrested, and charged, and as of this writing is in a federal prison. The Obama administration is choosing to process this terrorist as a criminal rather than as a prisoner of war.