Cartoon: Texas Textbooks

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It's been quite a ride for the last eight (nine?) years but I'm sorry to say that this is my last regular weekly cartoon for "The Boiling Point." I'll explain my decision to retire from political cartooning in my next blog post.

Cartoon: Hollywood's Glass Ceiling

Sorry, meant to post this a little while ago! What a nice surprise that such a well-made film by such a talented director actually won--I was really nervous it was going to be "Avatar" (or way worse yet, "The Blind Side").

Drawn for Women's eNews (temporary link here).

Cartoon: It’s Not Easy Being a Health Insurance Executive

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Cartoon: The He-Cession!

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Only 3% of Fortune 500 companies have women CEOs--clearly that's 3% too many!

Drawn for Women's eNews (temporary link here).

Cartoon: Afghanistan Apology Card #157

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Self-explanatory, I think.

Cartoon for Women's eNews: Relief for Haitian Women

Haiti already had the highest maternal, infant and under-five mortality in the Western Hemisphere and the earthquake (and the collapse of hospitals, including an obstetrics hospital) certainly hasn't helped. In addition to more broad-based relief groups, please also consider giving to women's relief groups such as Madre that are dealing with women and girls' unique needs in the aftermath.

Here's the cartoon at Women's eNews, and below is a permalink (the eNews link expires in a week or so):

(click here to view)

Mikhaela Reid Metro Times (Detroit) Jan 21, 2010 EditorialCartoonists.com

I will add that I received a really disturbing bit of pro-rape (seriously!?) email from a Mr. John Napolitano in response to this cartoon this morning. An excerpt (warning--this is really horrible, so please don't read if it will upset you... it certainly upset me):

But do you understand that the rapist could be another (male) earthquake victim. pushed over the edge from being denied the aid they need?

But most women's advocacy is full of this sort of narrow short sightedness, which does nothing but make another part of the people feel less than equal. I sometimes wonder if this isn't the real aim.

The end result is the furthering of the "Women's Agenda at the expense of Humanity.....

No comment. That really soured my morning.

Cartoon: Screw Blue

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Yes, I'm playing cartoon catchup again--this one ran over a week ago in print. I must admit I've been a bit busy preparing for the arrival of the Cartoonist SuperBaby (as in, Masheka and I are both artists and packrats, and we have to get rid of over 1/3 of our earthly posessions and furniture to make room)...

Cartoons on Haiti coming this week of course.

By the way, you may remember this nameless couple--they've appeared a few times over the last year or so, starting with the election. Maybe at some point they'll get actual names.

Cartoon: Damned Statistics

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For real.

Cartoon: Obama Does Orwell in Oslo

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I wasn't planning to do two "Obama is a Mean Old Warmonger" cartoons in a row but come on... accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo with a speech about how war IS peace? Dude was asking for it...

Cartoon: Urge to Surge 2: Afghanistan!

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This is a sequel to my Iraq Surge cartoon from 2007. Just because Obama sounds so calm and reasonable (and can pronounce nuclear) doesn't make the victims of his bloody endless war any less dead or tortured.

As I was sketching this cartoon Sunday I got a comment from a reader wondering why I hadn't expressed my irritation with Obama lately. I told him it was mostly out of disappointment/avoidance, but this surge thing most certainly required comment.

Cartoon: Roman Polanski's Get Away With Child Rape Kit

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Here's another from a few months ago, originally for Women's eNews (but that link no longer works for some reason).

Cartoon: Bush Era Refunds

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Yes, I'm been slacking on blogging. This is from a month or so ago. More on the Baby Einstein refunds here. And I just realized I made a Baby Einstein joke in this cartoon about "Quick Fixes for Every Crisis" a while back.

Also, you can probably guess what I think of Obama ramping up the war in Afghanistan.

Cartoon: So, what do YOU do?

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There are many ways to spin long-term unemployment.

Cartoon for Women's eNews: Pre-Existing Condition

Starting this month, I'll be doing biweekly cartoons for the fabulous Women's eNews (which will also be debuting a fabulous new website design sometime soon). Here's the first one, "Pre-Existing Condition." For more on this topic, see "Reformers Say Maternity Benefits Make Dollar Sense" and "Push Is On to Cover Prenatal Care in Health Plan"

Cartoon: Bloggers Without Book Deals

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Even though I mock the concept, I've found myself reading and enjoying quite a few of these "one-year blog project" blogs—even the ones with book deals. Such as:

• Julie Powell's The Julie/Julia Project, which became Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen and eventually Julie & Julia: The Movie. If you haven't heard of this one you've been under a rock, and I admit to picking up the edition of Julie & Julia with Amy Adams on the cover and the edition of My Life in France with Meryl Streep on the cover (I was at a train station news stand, ok?). I have to admit the movie half about Julie Powell's blog project left out most of the fun bits—her self-deprecating humor, her friends' romantic mishaps, her rants against Republicanism, the flies and maggots. But whatever, I generally enjoyed the movie and there were no celebrations of high-heeled shoes to be found. I even made cassoulet before going to see it.
  
• Colin Beavan's No Impact Man blog, about to be launched as a book ("No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet...") and a documentary. It's about a New York family who tries to reduce their carbon footprint to as close to zero as possible, even eschewing public transportation, elevators, toilet paper and packaged goods from the farmer's market. It's educational and inspiring, but I worry that the focus is too much on individuals choosing to reduce. Still, at least he rejects green consumerism and silly half-measures and I love the anti-consumption message.
  
• Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. Another inspirational tale about a family, in this case a family on a small farm in Virginia, attempting to eat as locally as possible for a year (including growing and preserving their own produce and raising chickens and turkeys for eggs and meat). Just a book and website, not so much a blog, but it's a similar type of project, and quite eye-opening. I even ordered the 30-minute mozzarella cheese-making kit she mentions. My only gripe was the random rant against vegetarianism, which seemed odd coming from someone who rejects CAFO meats. Even Michael Pollan (guilty of a similar weird treatment of vegetarianism in The Omnivore's Dilemma) has come to the conclusion that it's not enough help to the environment to just eat free-range meat—Americans need to eat WAY fewer meat and dairy products.
  

P.S. I have nothing against tripe or offal (if you're going to eat meat—which I do—might as well make use of every bit) though I doubt they would be palatable in cereal form.

P.P.S. I am quite myopic and did once (accidentally) get the wrong glasses prescription. I went around with what Kurt Vonnegut would call a "whanging headache" all day, bumping into all sorts of fun walls and whatnot. No fun! But not particularly blog-worthy.

P.P.P.S. I got so caught up I forgot to mention the other reasons I loved Kingsolver's book--my grandparents had a farm in Maine, and when I was a kid, my family had a huge vegetable garden and fruit trees and kept ducks and chickens. We had fresh duck eggs for breakfast on weekends and made homemade applesauce, peanut butter, pickles, canned stews, the works.

Cartoon: The Power of Prevention

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This was loosely inspired by a real woman who called into NPR (I think it was the Brian Lehrer show?) to rage against health care reform and a public option. At first she went on some typical rant about how the evil socialists wanted to force everyone to pay for health care for sick, lazy and old people. She followed up with a sanctimonious self-congratulatory bit about how wonderfully healthy SHE was due to her yoga and consumption of organic and local food and how she didn't need health insurance due to her pure diet.

In other words, for her, sick people were lazy and immoral, and getting cancer was their own damn fault. It's not just this random radio caller, either -- I've increasingly heard that argument elsewhere (especially in talk over the "obesity epidemic").

Sure, yoga is awesome, and local and organic food are fabulous, but they aren't marks of moral superiority or magical wards against disease and illness is not a moral failing. (And isn't the local/sustainable/organic food movement supposed to be about building community and protecting the environment and improving worker conditions for everyone... not just an individualistic way of keeping impurities out of your own special body?)

I wanted to scream through the radio. "Lady, ANYBODY can get sick or injured, no matter their age or diet or yoga skill level!" (Anybody can, say, trip inside their apartment, break their foot, have complications, and need six months of tests and treatments and therapy--lucky me I have health insurance!) Also, EVERYBODY ages.

We need affordable, comprehensive universal health care that doesn't discriminate on health conditions, in which everyone shares the risks—and reaps the rewards when they need it.

Your Yucky Body: Embrace Your Shape Edition!

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Seriously, even Vogue has an annual "Shape" issue where they patronizingly allow someone as (*GASP*) huge as Beyonce or Kate Winslet on the cover in addition to their usual sub-zero model roundup... then offer drastic dieting tips... all while mysteriously claiming to promote body acceptance: And don't miss the small print under the "LOVE YOUR BODY! headlines...

I threw in the "Lucy Loser" joke after being enraged by comments in an Entertainment Weekly piece (from the 7/31/09 issue) claiming that the proliferation of "inspiring" weight loss reality TV shows is a public good. Says the Style Network's Coleman Smith:

"Given what is going on with the country with obesity, I absolutely think weight loss is its own category. ... It's enabled us to stop thinking we live in a size 2 world by appropriately embracing real people." (emphasis mine)

Ah, I see. The only APPROPRIATE way to show non-size-2 bodies on TV is to show people trying to DIET DOWN to become a size 2! And this is about HEALTH, not HUMILIATION and RATINGS, right? That's body positivity we can all believe in! This cartoon is part of a series I've been doing for a while now. See also:

• "Your Yucky Body: A Repair Manual" (the original)
• "Summer Swimsuit Spectacular"
• "Designer Dieting"
• "Mommy Makeovers"

For more on fake body positivity, see...

• Marianne Kirby's Daily Beast piece "Really Big Love". (Kirby says of "More to Love": "It’s a one-two punch of acceptance followed by a knockout blow of shame" and that she's "tempted to make up a drinking game around how often the contestants and suitor on the show say 'voluptuous, curvy women.' It would be an easy way to get sloshed.")
• My pal Jenn Pozner, who is live-tweeting a host of reality TV horrors as she writes her book Reality Bites Back.

Update: I've been getting a lot of comments on this post I've had to reject. So FYI, if you are going to leave mean-spirited comments that refer to people as "blimps" or claiming that men only find skinny women attractive, I will reject them.

Toon: Movies for Ladies!

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Cause men! and women! are DIFFERENT! in HILARIOUS ways! More on this topic later.

Toon: Sarah Palin Quits... for Victory!

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This is from last week, of course.

Toon: The American Family Health Plan

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It's a classic.

Toon: Fun Times at the Supermarket

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I'm off to Seattle and the annual AAEC editorial cartooning convention. In the meantime, I leave you with this tasty morsel.

Toon: Barack Obama, Fierce Advocate of LGBT Rights!

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Disappointed, yes. Surprised? Not really.

For more angry venting, you must watch and/or read the bad-ass speech my pal Jaclyn Friedman gave at the Boston Dyke March on this topic. A sampling:

That Presidential Proclamation? It would sure sound sweeter if it were backed up by actual action to end discrimination against gay, lesbian, bi and trans Americans willing to DIE in service of our country's military whims. And it would be more than a little helpful if Obama would stop caving to the religious right and start condemning marriage discrimination, instead of defending it like he did today.

Of course, marriage rights themselves would be a lot less important if quality, competent health care was available to every person in this country regardless of marital status, income, age, race, sexual orientation or gender identity. But who needs universal health care when you've got a shiny proclamation that proves the president knows we exist? He likes us! He really likes us.

Even the HRC is getting feisty about Obama's odd—Clintonian, even!—interpretation of "fierce advocacy."

P.S. Rachel Maddow is so rocking this topic:

Toon: Indefinitive

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I was going to call this cartoon "change I don't want to believe" but Masheka wisely counseled me otherwise. Seriously though, I really wish I hadn't had to draw this (in the sense that I wish Obama hadn't made the awful decisions that led me to draw this.)

Toon: The HETEROmance Wedding Package

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A Tasteful New Tradition for Old-Fashioned Couples!

Inspired by this ridiculous photograph of a couple getting married as part of an anti-gay protest. Can you imagine this couple showing their grandkids the wedding album thirty or forty years from now? "Grandpa, how come you were against equality?"

Some questions about this photo:

• Why are these bigots so damn happy? Does it really give them that much joy to be joined together in matrimony as part of a "screw you" to same-sex couples?
• Why did the NYTimes caption this picture "A protest on Wednesday over the Washington City Council’s vote to recognize same-sex marriages from other states included a traditional wedding ceremony" (emphasis mine)? What part of any traditional wedding ceremony involves gay-bashing signage? That totally wasn't in the wedding planning manual I used...

Two Left Feet: A (Mostly) True Story

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The true part is that I rebroke my foot recently while Masheka was still in his left foot cast. The not-true part is that it was intentional--having a broken foot SUCKS. And HURTS!

Note: I rarely use photo references when drawing myself, but I needed them here--these are quite accurate recreations of how I broke my foot, the giant stack of pillows (complete with cats) I used to keep it elevated, etc. I even donned a wool coat in 80ish degree heat to pose for panel three!

P.S. Yes my foot is all blue and nasty under the cast--or it was last time. I'm sure it will be again when they remove the current cast.

Toon: The C.I.A.: Can-Do Torturers!

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266th time's the charm!

Toon: The Brighter Side of Auto Layoffs

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Drew this the evening that Obama announced his restructuring plan for GM and Chrysler. It was a tough one, because I really did appreciate that Obama wasn't buying into all the anti-union and anti-worker rhetoric that swirls around stories about the demise of the auto industry ("how dare those workers demand fair wages! they're runing America!" etc!)

So I really did debate whether the woman on the right should say that Obama "won't" or "can't" do anything to save the jobs of the auto workers. I started out with "can't", but that made it seem like Obama was somehow helpless and had no power to help workers even if he wanted to. I settled on "won't", because in the end, this situation just sucks for the workers. Rick Wagoner gets a $20 million pension, and they get... crap.

Except maybe a visit from the newly appointed Director of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers.

P.S. See also Kevin Moore's cartoon on this subject, "Lossy Compensation."

Toon: The Friend of My Friend is... (On Transphobia)

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This cartoon has been brewing in my head for a while--it really depresses/irks me that in 2009, there are still numerous people in feminist and queer circles who actually think it is acceptable--even REASONABLE or RIGHTEOUS or FEMINIST--to be transphobic or to "debate" the inclusion of transgender and other gender non-conforming folks in LGBT and women's spaces.

Equality is SO not up for debate, sorry! It's one thing if someone genuinely is a bit confused on proper respectful gender terminology or genuinely doesn't know much about gender identity or transgender issues--it's another if someone has had ample opportunity over a long period of time to ditch their bigotry and emphatically chooses not to.

Anyway, the actual final cartoon came together after a fantastic panel at the WAM 2009 conference, "In/Out of Focus: Gender, Non-conformity and the Media," featuring Jack (Angry Brown Butch), Julia Serano (Whipping Girl), Miriam (Feministing) and Kate Bovitch. I asked the panelists what their opinion was on non-transphobic feminists/activists who continued to be close with transphobic feminists/activists, etc.

Julia Serano's take (and I apologize if I misquote, since this is based on scribbled notes) was that while some people are willing to listen, at this point it's clear that some people just aren't--which is just ridiculous in this day and age. "In 2009 there are very few feminists and LGB folks who haven't been exposed to trans people." Still, "a lot of times there's a lack of calling out. They want to give feminist friends the benefit of the doubt."

But "there needs to a shift from 10 years ago. People should know better."

Jack commented that this has all happened before, and gave the history of the exclusion of queer women from the feminist movement as an example.

And then my handwriting degenerated into illegible scribbles. Still, you get the idea. I'm reading Whipping Girl now and it's fantastic.

Toon: Apocalypse Iowa!

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Even the happiest heterosexual homes will not survive the unstoppable juggernaut of... LEGAL GAY MARRIAGE!

Obviously I drew this before Vermont joined the equality party--they'll get their own cartoon next week. (Maybe something about how it's a short slippery slope to the evils of man/maple-syrup marriage!? But seriously...)

Toon: Jane Reaction

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Toon: The Florists' Rights Movement!

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"Back off lesbos—you're getting gay germs on my gardenias!"

Seriously, this story is FOR REAL. There was a more in-depth piece in the Hartford Courant online, but it seems to be unavailable now, all I can still find is this editorial response.

Toon: Transcendental

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Toon: Possible Positive Economic Side Effect #7

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I read the other day that some governors are thinking of discontinuing the death penalty. Some are against it for moral reasons, but some weren't concerned that it's barbaric, or cruel and unusual, or just plain wrong--they just want to save money. Does that mean they'll plug the chair back in when the economy improves?

I also hear that California may finally do something smart about its criminally overcrowded prison system, and find ways to let nonviolent offenders go. Those three strikes laws don't seem like such a good idea now, huh?

Toon: Hard Times for Haters

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This is a local Massachusetts cartoon about how the hate group MassResistance is struggling to find bill sponsors.

Of course, LGBT organizations are also struggling to find funding in this economic mess. But still, it's hard not to smile when the haters fall on hard times!

Toon: Victims of Gay Rage!

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I am SO sick of those stupid stories. Where's my tiny, tiny violin?

Toon: Tax Cut Success!

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I still can't believe that after the complete and total failure of Bush's economic policies that Republicans still think the stimulus package should be all about TAX CUTS.

But then again, these guys also think that $500,000 is a pitifully low wage for a CEO. I mean, there couldn't POSSIBLY be any smart or innovative business-minded folks who would work for such POVERTY WAGES, right?

Toon: Historic Day

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You get the idea.

Toon: How Health Savings Accounts Lead to Wiser Health Care Choices

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This was of course inspired by my own unexpected trip to the ER when I broke my foot while making a dare-devil attempt to... pull on my boots. Thing is, heath care is not a finite thing you can save for--like a car, or a house, etc. It's something you need insurance for, because you could suddenly and very unexpectedly need a hell of a lot of it. If I didn't have health insurance, all those X-rays and trips to the ER and the doctor would have cost... eeek!

Universal health care now! Etc.

By the way, here's another cartoon I did about HSAs after I first heard the daft idea in a Bush speech: "Too Darn Healthy", and here's one about crappy health insurance in general, "Gold-Plated Health Plans."

P.S. Yes, I'm catching up on cartoon posting, I've been quite indisposed with my borken foot--it got all painful and swollen and I had to keep it way up in the air for a few weeks, not a good position to use the computer in!

Toon: New Year’s Resolutions For Our New Economy!

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This is a little poke at the columns and articles and such that have been praising our crappy economy for making Americans rethink their consumerism and remember "what really matters", etc. Not that I'm not all for an anti-consumerist wakeup call, but... is that really what's happening?

This cartoon was particularly inspired by a ridiculous piece in The New York Times that speculated that some New Yorkers decided to travel to the Hamptons instead of the Caribbean as a way of "cutting back" for Christmas. (actual quote "Somehow, the Long Island chill would have to be made as alluring a holiday destination as the isles of the Caribbean.")

Yes, maybe some middle-class and upper-middle-class people who still have jobs will learn to cut back and stop blowing through credit like crazy... Maybe these lucky folks will spend less than they earn, spend more time with their families. Maybe they'll "make do" with a mere luxury weekend in the freaking Hamptons...

Meanwhile, people on the margins will be making do with a weekend at the homeless shelter.

Toon: The Wall Street Crisis

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A few thoughts, in no particular order, about the crisis on Wall Street and with our economy in general.

First, how exactly is John McCain planning to clean up the greed on Wall Street that he seems suddenly so concerned about? As I recall, he believes in pretty much total deregulation. So I guess his plan involves using magic mind fairies to suck the greed right out of the heads and hearts of these CEOs!

Also, how can he simultaneously claim that the economy is in crisis but that "the fundamentals are strong"? Or that he and Palin are somehow "proven reformers" of economic greed and corruption?

Next, how could Bush possibly still claim that the economy is just going through a minor short-term adjustment?

Finally, please don't misinterpret this cartoon. There are a lot of people who will be affected by the failures at Lehman Brothers and other financial giants besides just the rich bonus getters. But there really is a double standard-there's no stigma on corporate welfare or corporate bailouts. And it's often the wealthy people who benefit most from those bailouts who turn their nose up the most at a little bit of help for struggling Americans and social spending in general.

So while I am concerned about the effect this will have on the economy and jobs in New York and nationwide... I'm really not crying for those millionaire bonus makers who exploited and inflated the subprime mortgage mess (and the luxury cars they may no longer be able to afford) but didn't get a bailout. And yes, I realize that very few of them are likely to actually end up eating barrel-grilled cockroaches--depends on how long this little economic "adjustment" lasts. But a girl can dream.

Toon: Prisoners of President Palin

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It wasn't until after did this cartoon that I found out Palin had tried to ban the book Daddy's Roommate (A sweet book about a kid with gay dads). So an alternate second line in the first panel might be "Reading Daddy's Roommate to my kids." Also, did you read all about her crazy cronyism in the New York Times Sunday edition (sorry that I can't give you a link, but I read it in print due to my RSI and can't really do any web browsing with my voice dictation software to get the link for you). She's an exact clone of Bush! She's the Taliban! She is so not warm and fuzzy!

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.

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.