BACK ON THE HORSE After unexpectedly missinga week (out of town for Mother’s Day, followed by a massive project atwork), I return with my latest toon, “American the Glum†[Archive No.0719]. This one is prompted by the latest AP-Ipsos poll showingAmericans from all walks of life feeling gloomy about our nation’sstate of affairs; only 25 percent believe we’re moving in the rightdirection. (I’ve got to wonder if those people have been following thenews.)
SLOW DEATH This week’s cartoon, “HelpMe, I’m Dying†(color version) [Archive No. 0718], is a colorizedupdate of one of my favorite editorial cartoons. When I did theoriginal version in 1993, the Cold War had recently ended and I fearedwe were bobbling our one chance to lead, through example, the world toa better place. While that turned out to be true, the cartoon takes ona much more haunting -- and depressing -- tone when played against thebackdrop of this Bush administration and current world administration.It seemed worth dusting off.
AND THE BATTLE RAGES … The Bush Administration: Incompetent or evil? Or incompetent and evil? Centuries from now, historians will still be debating. For now, I think, my money is on just, plain evil. No one couldscrew up this much without trying. Check out “User Error?†[Archive No.0715] and see if you agree.
A LITTLE HELP HERE Iran, it would seem, wantsthe West to pay attention. Not unlike last October, when fellow “Axisof Evil†member North Korea tested a nuke as a way of saying “Me! Me!Me!†Taking 15 British sailors hostage isn’t quite the same asdeclaring yourself a nuclear power, but it says “escalation†just thesame. Note to Presidents Kim Jong Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: TheAmerican public is trying hard to keep our crazy cowboy of a leaderfrom starting any more wars. Particularly, with you. And your actions really aren’t helping, gents. The current hostage situation was the inspiration for my latesttoon, “A Few Words From Iran†[Archive No. 0713]. With any luck, itwill be resolved peacefully by next week. Let me know what you think.
ANOTHER WEEK IN THE BUBBLE Every week, it seems, theBush administration comes under fire for another scandal, anothercrisis. And every week I wonder: Is this the one that’s finally goingto take this evil stain on U.S. history down? Then I sigh, knowing itjust isn’t going to happen. Bush in his safe in his impervious, littlebubble. All I can do is take some solace in the fact we only have tomake it two more years. Check out “Bubble Boy†[Archives No. 0712a and 0712b] in both B&W and color.
Till next week, Andrew toon@offthewahl.com
And when it comes to this bubble boy, it's all because of his own doing (And yes, nominating someone like Gonzales was his fault.)
As I didlast year, I’ve updated my original Iraq War anniversary cartoon toreflect current U.S. casualty numbers. Congress seems to have a hardtime agreeing on benchmarks for this conflict, but they seem prettyclear to me. It’s been “Four Years … and Counting†[Archive No. 0611], unfortunately.
Solemnly, Andrew toon@offthewahl.com
However, over at , they seem overjoyed by the fact that we "freed" the Iraqi people. But with the constant worry of going outside each day, is that really freedom? Is it really freedom when parents keep children home from school? Is it really freedom when you have to take a gun to the marketplace for protection? Since when did fear equal freedom? Iraqis are not free. They are caught up in a sectarian civil war, and our troops are in the middle of it.
So manychoices for my toon this week: “Scooter†Libby’s conviction. Bush’sdecision to send ANOTHER 4,400 troops to Iraq. Newt Gingrich’sconfession of a Lewinskygate-era extramarital affair. The neglect ofU.S. troops at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. But, finally, Idecided to go with the FBI’s “serious misuse†of the Patriot Act, astory that was sadly underreported over the weekend. As a patriot, itjust seemed like the right thing to do.
Till next week, Andrew toon@offthewahl.com
Excellent cartoon, Andrew -- as usual. Each week, Andrew Wahl of the Wenatchee World newspaper posts an article on this web site.
I made itback to the art board this week, and return with something a littledifferent. This week’s toon, “This Surge†[Archive No. 0709], playswith an extremely vertical format -- to good effect, I think. I alsocontinue to experiment with high-contrast color combinations, namelyblack, white and red. On the business side, some cool news: I’m now set up to sell artprints of any of my cartoons, thanks to my new, online store. Eachprint is professionally reproduced on 11x14 photo stock with a lustrefinish, suitable for framing. They go for $35 each, including tax andshipping, and each is hand-signed by me. If you’re interested, checkout the OtWP Store at:
I think that about does it for this week. Back in seven.
I’m runninga bit late with this week’s cartoon. A trip to Portland for a comicbook convention, a visit to Powell’s Books and dinner at The OldSpaghetti Factory saw me in a much happier place this past weekend.But, when I returned home, a review of world hot spots brought mequickly back down to Earth:
- Iran: The rogue super-power-in-waiting continues to flauntthe international community in its pursuit of becoming a nuclear power.Think Iranian President Mahmoud “Israel Must Be Wiped Off the Mapâ€Ahmadinejad is scary now? Imagine him leading the Muslim side in theworld’s first nuclear-powered crusade. - Iraq: Of course, our ability to do anything about Iran isgreatly curtailed by the debacle in Iraq. The Little President WhoCried Wolf is having a very difficult time finding a taker for anotherhelping of “grave and gathering threat†rhetoric, even if it mightactually be true this time. Meanwhile, conditions on the ground of ourcurrent conflict continue to deteriorate, with insurgents in Iraqadding deadly chlorine gas to their arsenal and British forces packingtheir bags. - North Korea: The news is a bit better in this corner ofthe world, with long-stalled, six-way talks finally producing adisarmament agreement. But haven’t we been here before? One difference,of course, is that North Korea has now actually tested a nucleardevice. And the constant is Kim Jong Il, a leader with even greatertrust issues than Bush. Somehow, I don’t see this one ending well. - Russia: On Feb. 10, Vladimir Putin blasted the UnitedStates’ militaristic unilateralism in what presidential contender JohnMcCain called “the most aggressive speech from a Russian leader sincethe end of the Cold War.†While our attention is focused on emergingnuclear threats, the hardline Russian president continues to roll backdemocratic reforms while sitting on arguably the largest stockpile ofWMDs in the world. Even money says we awake from the War on Terror tofind ourselves dead smack in the middle of a second Cold War.
One constant to all of these situations: WMDs everywhere. Throw inother known WMD players — including (but not limited to) China, France,Great Britain, India, Israel, Pakistan and, of course, the UnitedStates — as well as terrorist organizations like al Qaeda who wouldlove to acquire such weapons, and the likelihood of seeing acatastrophic nuclear, radiological, biological or chemical attack inthe near future seems all but inevitable. This week’s toon, “Just Wait Until the Harvest …†[Archive No. 0708], tries to capture that inevitability.
Back Monday, Andrew toon@offthewahl.com
Thanks for the cartoon, Andrew. We'll look forward to your cartoon next week. Just a side note: Andrew Wahl is a cartoonist for the Wenatchee World Newspaper, and posts one cartoon per week on this site.
NOT SOLD YET, BUT HE’S ONE HELL OF A SALESMAN I mustadmit, Barak Obama’s announcement speech on Saturday gave me chills.Good ones. Yes, he is young. And, yes, he lacks prime-time experience.But, man, he talks one hell of a game. I’m not sold yet — it’s waaaaaytoo early to sign off on any candidate — but I really liked what Iheard this past weekend. His speech was the inspiration for this week’scartoon, “And Now For Something Completely Different …†[Archive No.0707].
Andrew Wahl's cartoons appear each week on The Blue State.
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