My cartoon of Rehnquist at the Pearly Gates

I just drew an editorial cartoon on the death of SCOTUS Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Of course, it's a very tired cliche in the field of editorial cartooning to show the deceased at the Pearly Gates (you may remember every single syndicated cartoonist in America doing the same "Here's Johnny" at the Pearly Gates joke after Carson died), but I just couldn't resist using St. Peter to do a cartoon you probably won't see in your local paper (unless they carry Ted Rall or Tom Tomorrow). So, I don't want to mess with anybody's download time so I'll have to post it below the fold...

I realized too late I should have done it in color. I'm used to doing cartoons my tiny local paper. The weird this is that way more people might see it here. Take the poll and use this as an open thread to speculate on what kind of Hell Rehnquist deserves for disenfranchising voters for decades and getting away with it...

•  Mojo?

  Anti-mojo?

  by Joe Willy on Sun Sep 04, 2005 at 06:18:51 PM PDT

  •  excellent

    very nice.

    by heterodoxy on Sun Sep 04, 2005 at 06:22:37 PM PDT

    •  another good idea would be

      fpr st. peter to be black, rehnquist to be shocked, and peter to say "all these years and you always left one possibility out".

      by heterodoxy on Sun Sep 04, 2005 at 06:23:49 PM PDT

•  not-so-great

  Like most progressives, I despised Rehnquist, but I'm no fan of predicting whether or not someone will get into heaven.

  A much better editorial cartoon, in my opinion, would have Rehnquist arriving at the pearly gates with Earl Warren standing beside Saint Peter saying, "They don't make Chief Justices like they used too anymore."

  by pine on Sun Sep 04, 2005 at 06:19:48 PM PDT

  •  example of lame

    Now that's lame.

    by Carl Nyberg on Sun Sep 04, 2005 at 06:20:53 PM PDT

    •  chill out

      As I said, it's just my opinion.

      by pine on Sun Sep 04, 2005 at 06:33:24 PM PDT

  •  Let's see

    Rehnquist threw the (s)election to Bush;

    • Which allowed tax breaks for the profoundly rich and a war without U.N. support;
      
    • which resulted in 40% cut to hurricane/levee developmehnt, and a lot of guardsmen and equipment sent to Iraq, and incompetent cronies on FEMA
      
    • which led to slow and late response to a cat 4 hurricane
      
    • which led to thousands dead, and the ruination of an American city.

    And, did I mention his excellent early work challenging and intimidating black voters?

    I don't want to play God, but if this guy is not in hell, I don't know why they bothered to build the place.

    by daulton on Sun Sep 04, 2005 at 07:25:33 PM PDT

    •  But that's...

      ...just my opinion. (Give me about 20 years. I may cool off a bit.)

      by daulton on Sun Sep 04, 2005 at 07:26:24 PM PDT

•  Extra Points For

  Making him look kinda like Mr. Magoo. Dante would put Rehnquist with the hypocrites, down around level 6 or 7, I forget. Not as bad as televangelists, but worse than common murderers.

  by easong on Sun Sep 04, 2005 at 06:22:04 PM PDT

•  My favorite part

  I like the "My name is PETER" name tag. Good stuff.

  by logorrhea on Sun Sep 04, 2005 at 06:38:27 PM PDT

  •  That's the Will Elder influence

    Thanks. I always used to read Mag Mazine and was influenced by the way one of their early artists, Will Elder, always used to put gags in the backgrounds he called "chicken fat" that kind of give the reader some extra sustenance.

    by Joe Willy on Sun Sep 04, 2005 at 06:53:03 PM PDT

•  I was expecting it to be in bad taste

  and had my finger poised over the "O" key.  No need.  Very funny and in good taste.

  by MoronMike on Sun Sep 04, 2005 at 06:38:50 PM PDT

•  asdf

  I am so ashamed of myself for voting Pulitzer Prize but I just couldn't help it. I'm not judging but it was funny and paybacks are "hell"

  by ladylib on Sun Sep 04, 2005 at 06:47:16 PM PDT