Cartoonists With Attitude

“History Machine 2: The N.R.A.’s Moments That Would’ve Turned Out Differently“…

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I remember this as far back as the Clinton impeachment when everyone in the GOP actually gave Bob Livingston a standing ovation for his brave act of resigning after being caught having an affair in the middle of impeaching the president for having an affair. It’s quite fascinating, but the kneejerk reaction from right-wingers about another Bush official resigning is that “at least they had the guts to admit it.” As if, you know, they were doing us a favor or something. I’ll leave the indignity of actually having to explain to them why they’re insane to others; I feel my comic shall suffice.

In the “wow, I’m really, really stupid” department, I just noticed this weekend that for the four months the site’s up since the last redesign, I haven’t had a link to the site’s RSS feed up. Well, there is one, and I’ll have a prominent link back up to it soon. And while I was at it, there’s now a LiveJournal feed for all of you LiveJournal folks out there. And within the next few weeks, I’m going to have a mailing list to automatically send announcements about the new comic.

How can you repay me? With money. Buy some crap.

I did an illustration for Campus Progress this week; unfortunately they didn’t post a larger version of the illustration anywhere so I figured why not show it off here. For context, the article’s about the lack of access to colleges for lower and middle-class students.

Seriously, they just don’t.

The only other explanations for this are that Powerline is actually an automated script set up four years ago to publish thousands of comments about how great the war was going and no living being has actually touched its server since 2004, or John Hindraker is actually so stupid he carries a small card to the bathroom reminding himself to wipe because he keeps forgetting.

Every now and then I’ll come across a product that I just have to gush about. While in San Francisco for A.P.E. last weekend, I grabbed a bag of coffee beans at a local co-op to take home with me. Didn’t even really look at the bag, just noticed a sticker that said “Fair Trade” and “Organic Columbia Dark.”

Best freakin’ coffee I’ve ever had. Even the beans smell good enough to make you weak in the knees. Vasquez Coffee Co.… check ‘em out.

Okay, here’s a puzzler that’s been bugging me for a while for you all to ponder over the weekend: I’ve noticed over the last few years with the rise of blogs that bloggers like to title their posts with the old-timey phrasing of “In which ____ does _____.” So, here’s my question: anyone know if that came from one specific origin, and if so, where?

I posted this to Ask MetaFilter the other day and didn’t get very far. The earliest someone suggested it being practically applied was Don Quixote in 1605, but I feel like it must have started earlier than that. Does anyone know? Keep in mind I’m hoping not to get idle speculation here; if you don’t know either, it’s perfectly okay. I’m looking for an actual answer (if one exists) rather than just an extensive list of books/etc. that used this style.

Internet: we use it for important things.

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I was just going to have eight panels of “Spit on your comb. Comb your hair. Repeat.” Then I decided to go with a botched attempt at relevance. All I can add is that Wolfowitz is a terrible person who wouldn’t even be sympathetic if he was attacked by a rogue chimpanzee.

Next Week (for real): Rock n’ Roll’s Hall of Lame-o’s

A moment please for Jack Valenti, who passed away today at 85. A lot of people are probably angry with him for his policies wth the RIAA, but there is a special place in my heart for Valenti, for one reason, and one reason alone, that made a not-too-insignificant part of my childhood bearable. And that reason is the following statement: “Dear Mr. Valenti, I like your cheeks. My home is made of adobe.”

RIP, Mr. Valenti, and all your men wrestling bears for no reason.

Two belated pieces of sad news
• Ward Sutton drew his last weekly “Sutton Impact” strip last week. According to his final cartoon, he’s now busy being tortured at Gitmo. Two years ago I had the pleasure of interviewing Ward for In These Times following the release of his Sutton Impact book collection.
• The New Standard is shutting down tomorrow after 3 1/2 years. TNS was a great and supportive outlet for a lot of cool political cartoonists, including me, Matt Bors, Stephanie McMillan, Keith Knight and David Rees. The archives will remain but there will be no new content.