Responses to "Shallow Grave," part 4 (see part 1, part 2 and part 3)

Yet more letters I wanted to share. Sara-Jane writes from San Francisco:

I loved your cartoon 'Shallow Grave' on GWEN ARAUJO. I am a pre-operative transsexual living in San Francisco. I want to have my reassignment operation within the next few years. I am going to get my masters in social work at San Francisco State next year. I want to work as a social worker in our communities. I too am very very very ANNOYED with the mainstream media's incorrect misuse of pronouns! They are mere pawns of the corporate whore monsters who pull their strings! Gwen was a beautiful young transsexual woman, who wanted to make our world a prettier place by becoming a makeup artist. She deserved to be treated better by the media. Why she is not with us anymore, makes me cry soooo much. I can go to sleep and know there will be a tomorrow, sadly she can no longer do this. THIS PISSES ME OFF!!! Those who took her young life deserve to face KARMA to it's fullest. I must say I do not feel I am a vengeful person, however in this case I make an exception! Once again peace and love to you, and thank you for doing this for Gwen. When it is my turn to leave this earth, I know I will see her spirit and soul. I did not know you Gwen, but I love you and miss your presence here with us.

Phoebe is from Boston:

I also just wanted to say "thank you" for your cartoon "shallow grave" about the horrible death of Gwen Araujo. Her death hits close to home because I am also a younger M2F Transsexual and I face possible violence and harassment as a part of my day-to-day life, even though I "pass" very well. I hope that through efforts like yours we can educate the public and get people to understand that we're people... not things, and our lives are painful enough trying to correct the mistake nature made (being born the wrong gender) without others hating us simply for existing.

The following letter comes from a transsexual woman who is also a mother (i.e. she has had custody of her son throughout her transition from male to female):

Honestly, my greatest fear is not the very real possibility of being murdered, but that i will become an issue for others... like, focus on the family and gay lesbian task force will someday collide over me, and every detail of my life (and my son's life) will be bandied about on morning radio and trash tv...

Finally, I got a letter from another cartoonist, self-described "fabulous transgender gal" Gina Kamentsky. Gina does a lovely biweekly autobiographical strip "T-Gina" (soon available in print under the tongue-in-cheek title "Gratuitous Hot Shemale Action"). You can start reading with "Coffee, 'T', or Me?", "T-Gina Gets Real" or "The Innocent Have Been Changed to Protect the Names".

Happy Halloween, Boondocks-style

I don't know how many of you already read the Boondocks on a daily basis, but if you haven't seen today's comic, you're missing out.

Taking Action Against Deportation

Those of you who've seen my cartoon about the forced deportation of Cambodian refugees might recognize the family in the lower right corner of this poster, courtesy of SEADep (Campaign Against Southeast Asian Deportation) at API ForCE (Asians and Pacific Islanders for Community Empowerment). Anyway, I got a nice letter from some folks at SEADep about the cartoon asking if they could use part of it in some of their literature, so I was of course happy to see this image.

Although this particular poster is for a rally in Florida, there will be "sister actions and fax jams in Oakland, CA, New York, Philadelphia, Madison, WI, Lowell/Boston, MA, Providence, RI, Long Beach, CA (Nov 7) and other locations. For more information contact seadep@apiforce.org."

"Your children are not safe"

Some thoughts from Michael Moore on why we're still not safe despite the capture of the sniper(s).

Numbers Game

I'm really not sure what investment the New York Times has in making it sound like not many people went to anti-war protests this weekend, but their article on the D.C. march ignores the march itself and suggests only that there was a disappointing turnout of "thousands."

Make that a 100,000, according to news outlets such as The Washington Post. And to folks I know who were there--they might not have been able to count all their fellow protestors but I believe most people can tell when a crowd is larger than 4,000. I was personally unable to go, much to my chagrin, so you will have to accept this second-hand report from Alternet.

Odds and Ends, cartoons, cartoon download link

I'm going to be in New York this weekend and out of touch by computer until Monday, so I just wanted to post these odds and ends before I left:

Higher-Res Version of Shallow Grave: If you're an individual or group that would like to use the cartoon and need it this weekend, you can download a 300 dpi black & white TIFF version from this link. However, please do drop me an email anyway, as I would love to know what/where your group is and how you're using it. I got another very nice email from Community United Against Violence out in the Bay Area, who used the cartoon at an event commemorating Gwen, especially important as Fred Phelps (of www.godhatesfags.com) and his crew showed up to picket her funeral (because he's so glad she's dead, that's the kind of guy he is).

A few good cartoons: I just wanted to share a few of my favorites from this week. So please see today's Boondocks for a strip about Bush and his daddy, and these cartoons by Lalo Alcaraz and Tony Auth regarding the sniper and living in fear.

Some good news: This seems to be rare lately so it's extra-important. Anyway, check out this press release from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force on the amendment to Boston's anti-discrimination ordinance that recently passed the City Council. With the amendment (which the mayor promises to sign) it is now no longer legal in Boston to discriminate on the basis of gender identity or expression--in other words, you can't be evicted or fired or kept from using the bathroom because someone doesn't think you're enough of a "real man" or a "real woman." (This adds Boston to a growing roster of places in the US, such as Cambridge, MA and the entire state of Rhode Island).

Superbush? You're kidding, right?

Some time back I did a very sarcastic cartoon portraying W. as "Superbush." Well, apparently the Republican National Committee really wants people to think he is a superhero, as evidenced by this bizarre Flash animation on their official web site (a response to a bizarre Flash ad from the Democratic National Committee). It's hard to believe the Superbush ad isn't some kind of bizarre joke, but it's for real. (Both ads were brought to my attention by August at Xoverboard).

Responses to Shallow Grave," part 3 (see part 1 and part 2)

Yet more nice letters, which I can't begin to say how much I appreciate! ... Thanks to search engines, I've been getting a lot of visitors from all over the country, not just Boston.

Dr. Debra Witter, MD is from Newark, CA (Gwen's hometown). She writes:

Thanks for your cartoon. As a pediatrician in Newark, CA where Gwen's murder took place, I have been incredibly saddened by this crime and like you, amazed that the press is unable to honor Gwen's determination and courage to be true to herself.

Rick is (I believe) from the San Francisco area:

I am not a member of the transgender community (except in spirit), but I have learned a lot in the past several years thanks to trans-activists. I was beginning to think I was crazy when it seemed to me that these reporters just weren't seeing the same things I was. Finally I found your site and it confirmed that they are wrong and we are right. In spite of the pronouns which (unfortunately) the family used, Gwen was a young woman and not a boy in a dress.

Responses to "Shallow Grave," part 2

Since I posted those nice letters regarding my cartoon on the murder of Gwen Araujo, I've gotten some more that I'd like to share.

Saja (who I believe comes from San Francisco) writes:

thank you so much for your piece "shallow grave". all week i've been composing "trans 101" type letters to various media outlets that have reported on gwen's death with erroneous and transphobic language. and i'm struggling to be articulate and make a well-reasoned argument for why a girl should be called a girl, but i keep wanting to scream "why can't you just get it?" along with a slew of profanities. just thinking about her death, and the countless other transpeople we've lost to violence or suicide, makes me feel desperate and like i have no words left in me. so i had to write to you and say thank you for just getting it.

The following nice letter comes from Sindee (again, from San Francisco):

My name is Sindee Nakatani. I'm a pre-op TS from Osaka, Japan but currently living in San Francisco. Your cartoon strip puts into words/pictures what I've been feeling when I see the sad news reports of Gwen. I was very very moved by it. Thank you so much for your kindness and understanding regarding this matter. Keep up the great work!

From Denver, Colorado:

i don't know what else to say. i just read shallow grave. and the transgendered sewing circle of denver colorado says thanks.

And Nick (again from San Francisco) writes: thank you so much for expressing so much that the trans community has been feeling. i thought shallow grave was beautiful and well done. i wanted to write and ask your permission to reprint it and leave copies around places. i've been trying to created/find something that expresses the pain i've been feeling over gwen's death and the lack of respect she's been given, and this has hit the nail on the head. i would be greatly honored if you granted me permission to do this. and i would probably distribute it around the SF bay area.

I of course sent him a high-res black + white version of the cartoon, so if you live around there, keep your eyes peeled. I've also received nice requests from Community United Against Violence and a university group to use the cartoon on posters. As I mentioned in my bio, I am very happy to let people use my cartoons free of charge for a good cause, just write to me first so (a) I know what that cause is and (b) I can send you a higher-res copy of the image (gifs don't look so good printed out as is.) But if you know of any professional (i.e. paying) publications that might be interested (a local TBLG newspaper, for example), I'm into that, too.

And in response to a few questions I received, you definitely don't need my permission to post the cartoon on your wall at work or send it to your friends (please send it to everyone you like!) I just want to know if you're using it on a large scale so I can send you higher-res B&W files.

And again, I can't say how much I appreciate all the nice letters.

Responses to "Shallow Grave" + Bereavement Fund

In just the one day since I posted my cartoon on the murder of Gwen Araujo on my website, I have received more (and more moving) responses than to any other cartoon I've done. The following email comes from Caitlin (who I believe hails from Massachusetts):

Thanks for the write up on Gwen. The fact that the media insists on using *inaccurate* pronouns when reffering to her is extremely irritating. As a 'male' to female transsexual myself, I can relate to the fear, pain, and anxiety she must have felt in those last few minutes ( not fully of course ). Our very existence is fraught with peril at almost every turn and when faced with ignorance and bigotry, dark days seem far darker.

I also received a nice letter from Dawn in Newark, CA (where Gwen lived):

i can't tell you how touching it is to see this strip. i'm a bisexual woman living in the same city as Gwen; i'm only a few years older than her, we went to high school together. it's such a heartbreaking thing for me - it's just nice to see a positive reaction to this and your strip is definitely one of those positive affirmations. thank you so sincerely

Jeff (who I believe is from Cambridge) simply says: You ROCK.

Getting these kinds of letters really means a lot to me, and reminds me why I want to be a cartoonist so much. So thanks so much to those who wrote to me, and keep the letters coming. I read all mail, and generally respond to all mail (except for hate mail, which I thankfully don't receive much of).

Bereavement Fund for Gwen's family

If you would like to donate money to a memorial fund in Gwen's name, the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition has set up a Bereavement Fund. The money is forwarded to the Eddie Araujo, Jr Memorial Fund and the money goes to Gwen's family (to assist in funeral expenses, etc).

New Cartoon Regarding the Murder of Gwen/Lida Araujo

My third cartoon for The Boston Phoenix, "Shallow Grave," on the murder of Gwen Araujo I mentioned a bit back. Just a warning, folks--this one is DEPRESSING. For more information on how you can help honor the memories of victims of hate crimes against the transgendered, please see The 4th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.

So I almost exploded with happiness yesterday...

...when I received my first complimentary copy of the Funny Times with one of my cartoons ("Eviction Notice") in it! This is the second time (the first being the Boston Phoenix) that any publication has actually paid me for my work, and most excitingly, my humble little cartoon is right next to cartoons by Ted Rall, Tom Toles and Dan Wasserman.

Just in case...

...you haven't already seen it, Tom Tomorrow's latest cartoon really shows the uh... bravery and resolution of Congressional Democrats.

No Respect for the Dead: the Double Murder of Gwen Araujo

The most depressing thing on my radar right now is the brutal murder of a 17-year-old transgendered girl from California named Gwen (or Lida) Araujo. If this story sounds unfamiliar, it's because you probably heard it reported in USA Today as "Slaying of transgender boy haunts city", in the New York Times as "3 Are Charged in Death of Boy Who Dressed in Girl's Clothes", or in the Los Angeles Times as "3 Charged in Beating Death of Boy, 17, Who Lived as a Girl." You probably heard the murder victim referred to as "Eddie Araujo" a "17-year-old boy who dressed and lived as a girl."

This type of news coverage is no way to condemn the murder of a young woman killed for her gender identity. But it's nothing new. The same thing happens over and over again in reports on the murders of transgendered men and women. When transgendered African-American woman Rita Hester was stabbed to death in Boston several years ago, even the local gay paper, Bay Windows, reported it as the death of "William 'Rita' Hester" and insisted on calling her "he" and not "she." Even after Boys Don't Cry, reporters refer to Brandon Teena as "Teena Brandon."

This is, of course, all complicated by the fact that often family still use the old pronouns. But although Araujo's mother still referred to Gwen as her son, she has no intention of burying her in a suit. As USA Today reported: "Anyone who knew him and loved him called him Gwen," Guerrero says. "I'd get phone calls: 'Is Gwen home?' It's nothing that he hid from me. I bought him his jeans, his little tops and makeup, everything... . I'm going to bury him in the prettiest dress I can find... . With makeup. His tombstone will say 'Gwen.' "

The only news outlet I've come across that got the pronouns right in the Araujo case was The Advocate, who reported in their article that "Police affidavits say that Northern California 17-year-old Lida Araujo was murdered after friends discovered at a party that she was a biological male."

It won't bring her back. But at least it doesn't dishonor her memory.

On the whole Columbus/genocide/smallpox/holidays thing

Last week I suggested that we need to find a better reason to get Monday off from work than genocide and smallpox, and that there are plenty more worthy holidays to celebrate than Columbus Day, such as National Coming Out Day (though ideally I think we'd also have days of mourning for the American Indian Holocaust and African American Holocaust). In response I received the following email from Joshua Day, who respectfully disagrees:

The historic facts behind Columbus' trip and the slavery he encouraged cannot be disputed or put aside in any way. I concur that slavery certainly is deplorable. Yet, to say or imply that Columbus intentionally brought smallpox upon the population of the peoples or North America is revisionist hindsight. Bear in mind that the medical community in 1492 was very barbaric... . Columbus was not aware of how smallpox was spread or how it could be treated or prevented. It would not make sense for him to intentionally decimate the group of people that he intended to enslave.

Certainly it wouldn't make sense, but it hardly makes him seem like a nicer guy! And when the Indians didn't produce enough gold or prove to be docile enough slaves, he had no compunctions about torture or slaughter. In his essay "Columbus and Western Civilization", historian Howard Zinn writes:

In his quest for gold, Columbus, seeing bits of gold among the Indians, concluded there were huge amounts of it. He ordered the natives to find a certain amount of gold within a certain period of time. And if they did not meet their quota, their arms were hacked off... .Samuel Eliot Morison, the Harvard historian who was Columbus’ admiring biographer, acknowledged this. He wrote: "Whoever thought up this ghastly system, Columbus was responsible for it, as the only means of producing gold for export.... Those who fled to the mountains were hunted with hounds, and those who escaped, starvation and disease took toll...

Morison continues: “So the policy and acts of Columbus for which he alone was responsible began the depopulation of the terrestrial paradise that was Hispaniola in 1492. Of the original natives, estimated by modern ethnologist at 300,000 in number, one-third were killed off between 1494 and 1496. By 1508, an enumeration showed only 60,000 alive...in 1548 Oviedo [the official Spanish historian of conquest] doubted whether 500 Indians remained.

... .What the Spaniards did to the Indians is told in horrifying detail by [Dominican Priest] Bartolome de las Casas, whose writing give the most thorough account of the Spanish-Indian encounter... . [He] saw soldier stabbing Indians for sport, dashing babies’ heads on rocks. And when the Indians resisted, the Spaniards hunted them down, equipped for killings with horses, armor plate, lances, pikes, rifles, crossbows, and vicious dogs. Indians who took things belonging to Spaniards--they were not accustomed to the concept of private ownership and gave freely of their own possessions--were beheaded, or burned at the stake.

But although many Indians died from forced labor, starvation or outright murder, Zinn notes that the majority were killed by diseases to which they had no immunity, such as smallpox and typhoid fever. Personally, whether or not Columbus deliberately intended to kill the people of Hispaniola with smallpox seems somewhat irrelevant in view of his general conduct, as I don't feel any more inclined to celebrate the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Indians just because not all of them were intentional.

Further, even if Columbus didn't deliberately use smallpox as a weapon against the Indians, others who followed him in his colonization of the "New World" certainly didn't hesitate to. For example, the town of Amherst, Massachusetts is named for the Lord Jeffrey Amherst, who is believed to have deliberately given smallpox-infected blankets to Indians as an early form of germ warfare (see documentation) during the French-Indian War.

But to return to Joshua's email, he says that he wouldn't march in a gay pride celebration: I do not judge homosexuals bisexuals, or transsexuals for their way of life. I know a few and I count them among my friends even though I am the farthest thing from homosexual that there could be. However you would never find me supporting a gay pride/ coming out parade...

Now, I'm not exactly sure what it means to be "the farthest thing from homosexual that there could be." But I do understand that not everyone wants to march in a gay pride parade (though I personally feel that people who don't are missing out). And I have no illusions that Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender & Supporters Day would ever become an official federal holiday in the current political climate. My point was that I would rather see a world in which America celebrated gay rights instead of genocide. But to allow Joshua to conclude:

To acknowledge the fact that Columbus discovered the country in which we live, which established the government which enables people to go on gay pride parades (under current moral standards, whether that was the intention of our Founding Fathers or not) does not celebrate every aspect of who he was or what he did. We cannot whitewash history and pretend that he was not who he was. To make it quaint or acceptable is atrocious; but it should be acknowledged that as far as history is concerned, whether there were Indians or Vikings there first, Columbus has a valid and important place in our history. George Washington owned slaves, yet we celebrate his birthday. Thomas Jefferson owned slaves, yet we all acknowledge his giant contributions to freedom. Abraham Lincoln may have freed the slaves but is on record as saying that freeing slaves was a secondary objective to preserving The Union..yet we celebrate his birthday. Therefore, we should also observe Columbus Day.

I certainly agree that we shouldn't whitewash history and make things seem nicer than they are. But Columbus Day is NOT a day on which America pauses and candidly examines its own tangled history. It's a day for big parades and a week's worth of lessons in elementary schools about the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria, and how Columbus "discovered" America (how you "discover" an already-populated hemisphere is of course never quite explained).

Honestly, I'm pretty ambivalent about slave-owners George Washington and Thomas Jefferson as well (as important as they are to US history), and I don't smile or cheer or buy cars on President's Day. I understand it's not a very popular position. But for me personally, celebrating Columbus Day would be like dancing on the graves of millions of Indians, whether they were killed by bullets or bacteria.

But instead of ending with my ranting I thought I'd switch things around and end with a poem. The following quote comes from "Inside Dachau," a poem by brilliant writer/filmmaker Sherman Alexie (if you don't know who Sherman Alexie is, go find out, you'll be glad you did):

4. the american indian holocaust museum

What do we indigenous people want from our country?
We stand over mass graves. Our collective grief makes us numb.
We are waiting for the construction of our museum.

We too could stack the shoes of our dead and fill a city
to its thirteenth floor. What did you expect us to become?
What do we indigenous people want from our country?
We are waiting for the construction of our museum.

We are the great-grandchildren of Sand Creek and Wounded Knee.
We are the veterans of the Indian wars. We are the sons
and daughters of the walking dead. We have lost everyone.
What do we indigenous people want from our country?
We stand over mass graves. Our collective grief makes us numb.
We are waiting for the construction of our museum.

Whoops!

In case you hadn't noticed, Mark Fiore (who has been producing weekly Flash-based political cartoons for some time now) is the latest addition to Salon.com's already fabulous set of progressive picture-makers (namely Tom Tomorrow, Keith Knight and Ruben Bolling). I've got to write a paper now, so check out his latest game/cartoon/thing, the Whoops-O-Matic ("Hit Saddam Where it Really Hurts... the past!")...

More thoughts on the lesser of two evils issue

Apologies that I've been a bit lax on the blogging, but I've feeling ill lately and have spent most of my time lying on the couch with the boyfriend watching baseball and old episodes of Star Trek Deep Space Nine. At any rate, a few blogs ago I brought up the "lesser of two evils" business, and wanted to see some other people's takes on it: do you intend to vote for the candidate you like, or against the candidate you hate? I posed this question to my Aunt Elissa and Uncle Damien this weekend, but their response was a bit too colorful for this space. Basically, they really hate Nader and are not too pleased with people such as myself who voted for him--their feeling is that you have to be pretty priveleged and well-off to not be worried about the very real economic hardships that Republican candidates inflict.

The other side comes from faithful Mikhaela.Net reader Philip Pangrac, whose advice regarding the Greens is "Just Do It":

Re: choosing between Greens and Democrats, it's no choice for me, I vote Green. For several reasons:

1. The Green party better represents my own opinions than the Democrats.
2. I don't worry that Green party members will roll over for conservatives once they get elected.
3. I hate hate HATE the "lesser of two evils" argument as a way to justify betraying yourself.
4. The Democrats have had almost 21 years (a full 21 this next Tuesday) to win me over and they haven't.
5. I don't buy the bullshit belief about this being a two party system.
6. The Democrats have made it clear they don't need me or care to win my vote, so I don't need them.
7. It's just plain right to vote your beliefs.
8. Possibly most important: the Democrats roll over because they know most voters don't vote and those that do (and are liberal) will vote for them anyway because they're afraid of Republicans/feel guilty/don't bother thinking about voting for other parties/etc. If we voters were to grow a collective spine and leave the Democrats high and dry, then the Democrats would change. But since most votes continue to vote status quo, it'll never happen soon. Voting Democrat will hinder change and voting for a third party will help advance it.

Also, I did vote Nader, and I never regretted it. Always remember that (1) Gore did win in '00, even though (2) he almost completely fucked up what should have been one of the easiest victories in polictical history, Ralph Nader or no Ralph Nader. Just read tomorrow's (10.13) Boondocks as a reminder of part one.

A compelling argument... but as I said before, I'm still planning to vote for O'Brien in the Massachusetts governor's race, a vote made slightly less distasteful by her recent statement that she supports gay marriage. (Meanwhile, Romney is busy explaining why he gave to a university with anti-gay rules, and why he called homosexuality "perverse" in a 1994 address)

Happy Genocide Day

When I turned on the news this morning to see a report on controversy over New York City's Columbus Day Parade, I expected the debate to be over whether Columbus Day should be a day of celebration or mourning (as I mentioned before). But no--apparently the issue was whether allowing actors from the Sopranos to march in his parade would be insulting to Italian Americans. Personally, I'd much rather be associated with actors who play television gangsters than a historically real greedy genocidal maniac. As usual, Lalo Alcaraz sums it up perfectly.

The OK, the Bad, and the Worse

So elections are approaching, and along with them the dilemma that left-leaning voters face every November: bite your tongue and vote for a centrist Democrat, or vote for a worthy Green Party candidate (if there even is such a candidate!) with no choice of winning? But the dilemma is made even worse by the disgusting display of spinelessness among those many Congressional Democrats who recently voted for Bush's war resolution. The following email comes from New York resident Nick Karpowicz:

I was wondering, do you still plan to vote for centrist democrats in the future? I'm up in the air on it. I voted for Gore out of fear of Bush, and I've always voted for Greens only if there was no contest. Right now, though, I'm really disappointed with Hillary Clinton and I'm having trouble seeing the point in voting for someone who will agree with me on minor issues but not when there's a huge decision between right and wrong. I just find it troubling that I had no opportunity to vote against this war, since the all of the viable candidates I could pick voted for it. It makes me wonder if representative Democracy can really function how it's purported to. On one hand, voting for the Democrat will keep the Republican from doing awful things, but it also encourages people to lean to the right since the left has no other choice. It's enough to make me consider voting for the Light the Goddamn Voting Booth On Fire party.

I should probably note here that yes, I voted for Nader in 2000, and no, I don't feel guilty--I was, after all, voting in Massachusetts (though that doesn't seem to matter to my dad, he's still NOT PLEASED about it). But with the Massachusetts governor's race between centrist Democrat Shannon O'Brien and monstrously nasty Republican Mitt Romney (see my cartoon "Dream Date Mitt") ... I find myself saying "Well... at least she supports civil unions. She's prochoice (though she didn't used to be). She doesn't seem to be in bed with big business." But O'Brien also hasn't made an effort to appeal to minority voters, whereas long-time community activist Mel King described Green Candidate Jill Stein as "the only one that makes issues of racism and social justice integral parts of her campaign." The following is an excerpt from the Bay State Banner's report on low minority voter turnout in the primaries:

As is often the case, blacks in Boston voted to the left of the Democratic party’s more conservative choice. “We vote our interest,” said veteran political activist Louis Elisa. “Just because we don’t always vote for winners doesn’t mean we’re not voting the right way.”

...Black voters are now faced with a choice between a conservative Democrat and a Republican, as was the case in the 1990 general election between former Governor William Weld and John Silber. If O’Brien fails to energize the black community, as did Silber in 1990, she may lose an important swing vote — a loss that cost Silber the election.

Elisa says the O’Brien campaign represents a challenge for people of color. “You’ve got people who are holding their nose and dealing with the situation,” he said.

Which I suppose, is what I will do--hold my nose and vote for O'Brien. Sigh... anyway, I'd be interested to hear how other people are dealing with this, so feel free to let me know. And yes, in case you're wondering, the John Silber mentioned in the Banner article is the same wacko social conservative John Silber I did this cartoon about.

Republican Draft Dodgers

A new cartoon by Ted Rall that I thought I would share.

Happy Holidays

But on a more positive note, today is National Coming Out Day (a holiday to celebrate gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and their straight allies), a much more worthy holiday than say, Columbus Day (a holiday to celebrate smallpox and genocide). For more information on anti-Columbus events (and the rationale behind them), check out the Transform Columbus Day, or read Howard Zinn's historical essay "Columbus and Western Civilization" (courtesy of Z Magazine, the print edition of which is full of great cartoons).

Totally Spineless

So, as expected, the Senate overwhelmingly decided to pass the "Let Bush Do Whatever He Wants" resolution. This from the Globe:

''This is not an ideological debate. This is a debate about the sober business of responsibility in the face of danger,'' said House majority leader Dick Armey, Republican of Texas.

I don't even KNOW what to say about that one. I don't see how sober and responsible it is to bow to Bush's bullying to avoid jeapordizing upcoming elections.

A pleased Bush lauded Congress for its votes, saying the actions send ''a clear message to the Iraqi regime: It must disarm and comply with all existing UN resolutions, or it will be forced to comply... ''There are no other options for the Iraqi regime. There can be no negotiations,'' Bush said. ''The days of Iraq acting as an outlaw state are coming to an end.''

Whereas the days of the U.S. acting as an outlaw state are just getting on a roll.

Of course there were dissenters... ''I'm sorry to see this day,'' said Senator Robert C. Byrd, Democrat of West Virginia and the leading opponent of the resolution in the Senate. ''I have been in the Senate 50 years, and I never thought that I'd find a Senate which lacked the backbone to stand up against this stampede, this rush to war.''

...but unfortunately not nearly enough of them.

Here's how the votes went down with Massachusetts reps in Congress: Capuano, Delahunt, Frank, Neal, Olver, Tierney, McGovern, and (Ted) Kennedy voted against the resolution. Lynch, Markey, Meehan (who represents my hometown of Lowell, argh!), and presidential hopeful John Kerry, on the other hand, got down on their knees and licked Bush's boots.

Though you wouldn't know anything about this resolution--which will likely lead to thousands of U.S. and Iraqis dead (many of them civilians)--from turning on the cable news this morning, which is currently just showing images of the interstate amid mindless speculation by newscasters about the sniper shootings.

As a postscript

Reader Philip suggests that "outlaw" is not the right word, and I would have to agree with his email: I think the US is acting more like a vigilante than an outlaw. We're using our might to take out criminals. I could probably make a connection between this and any superhero, but I don't think the Bush administration is anywhere near the level of Superman, Spider-Man, etc. when it comes to using their powers responsibly. This is about oil, it's about swaying public opinion, and it's about upcoming elections (both this year's and 2004's)

And speaking of Bush not being Spiderman, I hope you all saw Ruben Bolling's cartoon "The Amazing George W." (because "with great power comes great responsibilitude!")

A Warm Welcome...

... to anyone reading this blog who got my website address from the print edition of The Boston Phoenix. This is the very first official day of www.mikhaela.net, so please bear with me on any technical difficulties. And please feel free to let me know if you enjoyed the cartoons, I'm still very new to this whole cartooning-for-a-real-newspaper deal, and I like getting mail. And if you REALLY like the cartoons, it probably wouldn't hurt to let the Phoenix know, too.

Just a warning about the blog: some of the links in the archives are probably out-of-date, as I often link to news websites (like the NYTimes) who only post their articles for 15 days before charging for them.

New Cartoon in the Phoenix, Dream Date Mitt!" This cartoon (my second for the Boston Phoenix!) is of course about Mitt Romney, Republican candidate for Massachusetts governor. It probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense unless you've seen his disgusting campaign ads. So please check out both the Ann Ad and the Work Day Ad on Romney's media clips web site (at least until November). And if that isn't bad enough, you can watch Bush make a speech about how great Romney is.

Gee, Bush wouldn't want to let a few OLD disabled veterans get in the way of his NEW war...

As the granddaughter of a disabled veteran, I found this news item particularly appalling. Apparently, Bush has threatened to veto a defense spending bill that will provide additional pension benefits for disabled veterans because it might interfere with the new "war on terrorism" and bombing Iraq. According to this morning's Washington Post: "We simply cannot continue to add ever-expansive obligations to the defense budget," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said in a letter to the conferees, who could decide the issue this week. "This would divert critical resources away from the war on terrorism, the transformation of our military capabilities and important personnel programs such as pay raises and facilities improvements."

You gotta love these people. They are more than willing to spend billions (desperately needed for social services, the fight against AIDS + HIV, education, health care... and so on) to send American kids off to get maimed or killed in Iraq and "the war against terrorism," but when it comes to the kids they sent to get maimed or killed in Vietnam or Korea years ago, they suddenly get budget-conscious.

My grandmother Melba (the disabled veteran referred to earlier) said she was so mad when she saw that article that she pitched the newspaper across the room.

New Cartoon: Badges of Dishonor

Now, I also happen to have some other reasons that the military shouldn't recruit on college campuses, but that doesn't make "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" any nicer. "Badges of Dishonor" is timed to coincide with a protest against JAG by Harvard Law School's LAMBDA group.

A Different Kind of Regime Change

I know a lot of folks hate cartoonist/columnist Ted Rall, but I'm certainly not one of them. And man, do I ever wish I had written this brilliant column. Along the same lines, check out this important breaking news from The Onion: "Bush Seeks UN Support for 'US Does Whatever it Wants Plan'."

Jeb's Drug Double Standard

Hands down, my most popular cartoon has been "Eviction Notice," on the subject of Jeb, Noelle, drugs and double standards. But I of course wasn't the first person to weigh in on this (in fact, I got the inspiration for the cartoon from Nation columnists Patricia Williams and Katha Pollitt) nor was I the last. So, check out Aaron McGruder's take. There was also a nice cover image on this week's Weekly Dig (a small new Boston paper), but unfortunately they don't have it reproduced very large on their website. The text (spoken by Jeb) reads "Don't worry, Noelle sugar! Of course YOU won't have to go to jail... why, you're WHITE!!" (see full article "Orphaned by the Drug War")

Man, I hate cartoons like...

...this one by Arizona Republic cartoonist Brian Fairrington. Seriously--how many more labels and cliches could fit in one little rectangular inksplotch? More to the point, I totally disagree with his metaphor of unilateral bombing as cure for terrorism. Personally, I can't think of anything more likely to create terrorism...

"You are the opposition party, but you do not oppose. For the sake of staying in power, you are told, you must not exercise the power you have in the matter of the war..."

This statement (from The Nation's recent open letter to Congress) is, of course, directed at that sorry class of invertebrate known as the Congressional Democrat (see Aaron McGruder's take on this). How true this all is was brought home to me this morning when I opened the Globe to find that of the 12 Massachusetts representatives in Congress, only 7 are definitely voting against the the recent resolution to give Bush the authority to attack Iraq. In Massachusetts. Among those undecided is Lowell's Marty Meehan (who I voted for, no less!), which I find terrribly disappointing.

Senator Kennedy (who I also vote for) has thankfully been pretty direct in his opposition. Following are some quotes from the speech he made on Monday:

...The life and death issue of war and peace is too important to be left to politics. And I disagree with those who suggest that this fateful issue cannot or should not be contested vigorously, publicly, and all across America. When it is the people's sons and daughters who will risk and even lose their lives, then the people should hear and be heard, speak and be listened to... . It is possible to love America while concluding that is not now wise to go to war. The standard that should guide us is especially clear when lives are on the line: We must ask what is right for country and not party.

... There is clearly a threat from Iraq, and there is clearly a danger, but the Administration has not made a convincing case that we face such an imminent threat to our national security that a unilateral, pre-emptive American strike and an immediate war are necessary.

Nor has the Administration laid out the cost in blood and treasure of this operation.

With all the talk of war, the Administration has not explicitly acknowledged, let alone explained to the American people, the immense post-war commitment that will be required to create a stable Iraq.

The President's challenge to the United Nations requires a renewed effort to enforce the will of the international community to disarm Saddam. Resorting to war is not America's only or best course at this juncture. There are realistic alternatives between doing nothing and declaring unilateral or immediate war. War should be a last resort, not the first response...

Now, I don't agree with the whole speech, especially the bit where he declares that the war in Afghanistan was justifiable. Still, it's much better than the "Yessir-Mr.Bushsir-whateveryousaysir" coming from most of his colleagues.

"We will not leave the future of peace and the security of America in the hands of this cruel and dangerous man."

Resident Bush, as quoted in the NYTimes. Unfortunately he was talking about Saddam Hussein and not, say, himself.

Veterans against the war

Don't have much time to blog this morning, but I thought I'd give this link to Veterans for Common Sense, where veterans of the Gulf War and other conflicts (like, say VIETNAM) who question Bush's Iraqi ambitions put in their two cents. And for the record, my grandmother Melba (a Korean war veteran) thinks Bush is an (insert-nasty-insult-of-your-choice-here) for sending people out to die for his pet cause (i.e. OIL).

The real threat to human life on this planet

And I'm NOT talking about Saddam Hussein. If the Bush admin didn't have their heads up their... noses, they'd spend at least $10 billion on fighting AIDS instead of building bombs. According to this cheery Globe article:

HIV and AIDS are on the verge of exploding in five of the most populous nations in the world and could produce an estimated 50 million to 75 million cases by the end of the decade in those countries alone, according to a National Intelligence Council report released last night.

"Cases" of course refers to people living with AIDS, not those dead of it. Accordingly the article goes on to note that: "A UNAIDS report, released in July, predicted that the pandemic could kill 70 million people around the world over the next 20 years."

So what might actually get the US to do something about this? Predictably enough, the answer is not "compassion" but "oil":

Of the five nations cited in the study, the greatest impact in coming years could be in Nigeria and Ethiopia - two countries considered strategically important by the administration. In particular, Nigeria is looked to provide stability in the region as well as a growing source of oil for US markets... . The report concluded that the impact of the disease could mean the countries will become ''seriously weakened states and is likely to reduce their ability to continue to play a regional leadership role.' OK, that's enough for this morning, or I'm going to end up with carpal tunnel again.

Well, at least we won't be seeing any BombIraq golf balls... In somewhat more hopeful news, the government has finally suggested that perhaps it isn't such a good idea to allow drug companies to give doctors drug-emblazoned golf balls, notebooks and trips to Bermuda: Aggressive marketing is the norm in the industry. For years, drug makers have treated doctors to free Broadway plays, weekend trips, expensive meals and other lavish perks. Many companies have rewarded middlemen, or pharmacy benefit managers, for putting their products on lists of recommended drugs, known as formularies. Some companies have also rewarded doctors and drugstores for switching patients from one medication to another. and John M. Rector, senior vice president of the National Community Pharmacists Association, said, "Pharmacy benefit managers increasingly take payments from drug makers, with the result that patients are switched from a product that might be the best prescription drug for them to a more expensive brand-name product."

Now, I say "suggested" because the warning doesn't have the force of law, and I don't really trust the same department of Health and Human Services that came up with this lovely rule to enforce it to the necessary extent. Still, it is an encouraging step.

Because really, anyone who insists that the drug companies have anyone's interests at heart but their own is either DELUSIONAL or PAID OFF. These are the same companies who won't allow generic versions of AIDS drugs to be manufactured for the millions of people infected with (and dying of) HIV/AIDS in Africa, because it might interfere with their copyrights or patents!

... As a side note, those drug-emblazoned pens and notebooks don't just show up in doctor's offices--the companies also donate them to say, public schools in need of supplies. I remember the elementary school my dad taught in a few years back had tons of such "donations"--resulting in second-grade bathroom passes with Rogaine® at the top, and fourth-graders doing their homework with Prozac® pens.

Gosh, why would BOMBING interfere with diplomacy?

For those of you who don't already read the NYTimes, check out this juicy little first paragraph, from an article entitled "U.S. Is Dismissing Russia's Criticism of Strikes in Iraq": The Bush administration today brushed aside criticism from Russia that intensifying airstrikes by American and British warplanes on radar and antiaircraft installations in Iraq were interfering with the diplomacy aimed at averting war.

I find it strange that the Bush administration has begun to insist that no, really, it really does want to try diplomacy but IRAQ JUST WON'T COOPERATE, DAMMIT! I actually heard Bush on TV insisting that he wouldn't put American lives at risk unless he had good reasons.

Yeah, right. Good reasons such as "I just feel like it" and "Saddam was mean to my daddy."