THE WEEK IN EDITORIAL CARTOONS
This weekly diary takes a look at the past week's important news stories from the perspective of our leading editorial cartoonists (including a few foreign ones) with analysis and commentary added in by me.
When evaluating a cartoon, ask yourself these questions:
- Does a cartoon add to my existing knowledge base and help crystallize my thinking about the issue depicted?
- Does the cartoonist have any obvious biases that distort reality?
- Is the cartoonist reflecting prevailing public opinion or trying to shape it?
The answers will help determine the effectiveness of the cartoonist's message.
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The Final Option: Hitler's diabolical backup plan!
Ruben Bolling, Tom the Dancing Bug, see reader letters in Salon magazine
NOTE
As usual, I'm having HTML problems. When I tried to post the diary at 6am, it showed one error. Unable to find it, I'll post this diary piecemeal section-by-section so as to zero in on the error. There are 18 sections in this diary, #1 - #18 plus the diary poll.
Please bear with me. Thanks.
I've posted the complete diary. Section #2 would not allow me to use blockquotes for text. Not sure why.
Introduction
Editorial cartoonists loving controversy is akin to politicians loving campaign donations. If, as it is often said, money is the mother's milk of politics, cartoonists thrive on confrontation and dealing with taboo social issues. Many cartoonists have the ability to portray policy issues in a manner which give the best of newspaper columnists pause. In that sense, it was a great week for it produced some superbly creative cartoons which tackled head on the issue of persistent racism.
Former President Jimmy Carter's blunt assessment that racism was a prime motivating factor behind the irrational attacks by some on President Barack Obama's healthcare reform proposals -- a benign issue if ever there was one for it foreshadows the shape of things to come -- stung quite a few conservatives. Predictably, perhaps, most elected Democrats shied away from commenting on this explosive issue.
The Healthcare Debate and Racism
Chris Britt, State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL), see reader comments in the newspaper
The Birthers, Deathers, and Teabaggers' march on Washington, D.C. -- exaggerated attendance figures aside -- received a great deal of attention. In particular, I would point towards the superb animations by Mike Thompson, the editorial cartoonist for the Detroit Free Press, whose brilliant analysis exposes the incoherent nature of such manufactured protests. Civility became a big issue last week with strange outbursts by rapper Kanye West and tennis star Serena Williams. Coming on the heels of Joe Wilson's unprecedented "You lie" outburst in the hallowed halls of Congress during a presidential speech the week before, many cartoonists decried the loss of decorum in public life.
Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press, see reader comments in the TN newspaper. Cartoon submitted by Sandy on Signal and she thought that "Bennett created a firestorm with this one" in her community
After months of acrimony, there was bipartisan consensus on one particular healthcare proposal: for very different reasons, both Democratic and, unsurprisingly, Republican members of Congress expressed grave reservations as Senator Max Baucus unveiled the U.S. Senate Finance Committee's healthcare reform bill. The titans of Wall Street, with their huge appetite for greed and government bailouts, came under withering attacks by cartoonists. The announcement by Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, that the economic recession was over was greeted with a great deal of skepticism.
Dwane Powell, Raleigh News and Observer
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Are these editorial cartoons representative of the country's mood as a whole? This is something I've been cognizant of ever since I started writing this weekly diary. It is probably true that while many of the major cartoonists -- including, among others, David Horsey, Mike Luckovich, Tom Toles, Jeff Danziger, Tony Auth, Signe Wilkinson, Clay Bennett, Pat Oliphant, and Stuart Carlson -- have mostly liberal beliefs, they aren't afraid to mock Democratic politicians. This list of cartoonists by political ideology will give you a fairly good idea of their ideological leanings. I decided to take a closer look at where these cartoons are published and here is what I found this past week.
There are a total of 130 cartoons in this weekly diary from traditional newspapers (90 cartoons from 30 states), syndicates and independent cartoonists (37), photographs (2), and from foreign newspapers (1). Of the cartoons from state newspapers, 18 states voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 Election while 12 supported John McCain. Clearly, this explains the anger emanating from these red states for there is a severe "cartoon deficit." Don't wingnuts have any sense of humor? The 37 cartoons from media syndicates and independents are probably printed in several of these 30 states. As far as I can remember, I've never seen cartoons from publications in the following states: Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Granted these are sparsely-populated states but if you live in one of them, please email me cartoons that are published in local newspapers and magazines (other than from syndicated cartoonists) and I'll start including them in this diary.
Hope you enjoy the below selection in a particularly cartoon-rich week. Thanks.
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1. CARTOONS OF THE WEEK
Like an Old Sidney Poitier Movie
Lloyd Dangle, Troubletown. Dangle is referencing the 1967 movie In the Heat of the Night in the above cartoon and one which starred Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, and Lee Grant. It won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor.
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The Matter of Race
Few politicians, if any, ever truthfully discuss the sensitive subject of race relations in this country. The very few who do are immediately tarred with "race baiting" by the far right and accused of being incapable of appealing to the better angels of our nature. The worst such wingnut offenders amongst us are ever-so-eager to operate in President Barack Obama's imaginary post-racial America as if it gives them license to hide behind the egregiousness of their closeted or openly racist attitudes. The more vehement their denials when fingers are pointed at them, the better the chance they are guilty of practicing precisely what they pretend to condemn.
Former President Jimmy Carter is one of those statesmen who has almost never shied away from speaking the truth. Whatever may have been his shortcomings as our 39th President (although, not unlike President Harry Truman, I believe that history will view him more favorably in the long run), there is little doubt that the man oozes integrity, compassion, and morality. A deeply religious person -- never one, though, to impose his beliefs on others -- his exemplary life as perhaps our best ex-President ever exempts him of being accused of possessing ulterior motives other than having the country's best interests at heart. Of that, there can be no doubt.
Rob Rogers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
It came as no surprise to me that when President Carter spoke out calmly yet forcefully against the destructive forces aligned against progress in the Healthcare Reform debate and described their anarchist behavior as being largely rooted in racism directed against the country's first African-American president, the denials and other reaction from the Rightwing was utterly predictable. It is telling that no major elected Republican official has seen fit to criticize anyone in their party's political base, no matter how perverse, bizarre, and frightening the behavior. Their silence over these past few weeks speaks volumes about their beliefs and attitudes. And, the simple fact is that truth hurts and even more so when the source of such criticism has impeccable integrity and moral authority in matters of race. Growing up as a son of the South when Jim Crow laws were still vigorously being enforced and most African-Americans denied even basic rights to which they were legally entitled to as citizens, Carter, to paraphrase U.S. Supreme Justice Potter Stewart, recognizes racism when he sees it, phony protestations by many Republicans nothwithstanding.
It is perfectly understandable that, given his temperament and collaborative rather than confrontational style, President Obama prefers that discussion of this issue not deflect attention away from the problems at hand. Given the magnitude of the unprecedented domestic and international challenges that he inherited as a parting gift from his predecessor, obviously his focus, along with the Democratic Congress, has to be on implementing his policy agenda rather than being sidetracked by divisive social issues. Most of his supporters recognize that political fact.
To lead effectively, however, means having to make tough choices. Columnist Ellen Goodman pointed this out in the Boston Globe
For me, the real Obama moment of this back-to-work season wasn’t the speech before Congress or Wall Street. It was in the Virginia schoolhouse when a ninth-grader asked him a question that had nothing and everything to do with his presidency: "And if you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?"
The president was not about to choose Lindsay Lohan. Nor did he pick Abraham Lincoln. His answer was Gandhi...
The country liked a man who fashioned himself as a healer. And yet there has always been this underlying anxiety. Can you be a healer and a politician? If you try to mediate an ideological divide, do you just end up in the crossfire?
President Carter, on the other hand, is under no such constraints. His task was to give voice to concerns that had been on the minds of many progressives for at least several weeks. Removed from elective office for almost three decades and freed from the burdens of balancing various constituencies including being mindful of any manufactured political storm that the opposition party might unleash, he did what we have come to expect of him in recent years: he spoke his mind.
For recognizing the truth and articulating it as only he could, we owe him a debt of gratitude.
Bill Day, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Lalo Alcaraz, LA Weekly
Rush Limbaugh and Race
John Cole, Scranton Times-Tribune
David Cohen, main.nc.us/cartoons
Abell Smith, Fighting Words
R.J. Matson, St. Louis Post Dispatch
Steve Sack, Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Tony Auth, Philadelphia Inquirer
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Note: I'm having a hell of a time formatting Section #2, even after checking it a dozen times. So, I've made it "vanilla" in terms of format.
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2. Telling It Like It Is: Was President Carter Right?
Tim Eagan, Deep Cover
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Bob Englehart, the editorial cartoonist for the Hartford Courant, basically agrees with President Carter and in a brilliant rant summarizes the reasons why wingnuts hate Barack Obama: "He's black, he's liberal and he's a Democrat." He is careful not to lump all conservatives as haters but states that the idea of hate is at the heart of today's conservative philosophy, particularly among its prominent radio and television talk show hosts
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Contemporary conservative politics is all about hate. There is no "loyal opposition." There is only the opposition who wants to kill, destroy and wipe out the other side. Anyone who disagrees must be extinguished, crushed like an ant...
They (conservative radio talk show hosts) give legitimacy to conservative hatred. They popularize it. They make it part of the national fabric. They have harnessed the energy of that part of our population that is nursing a grudge. People with dashed dreams, bitter in their defeat, jealous of those who are better off but too proud to say it, people who have to feel superior to somebody, anybody. So many people are angry to be out of work, or afraid to be out of work, afraid of the next minute, the next hour, forget the next day.
The conservative squawk show hosts can nurture that national bitterness into a mob's hatred against anyone not like them. They find strength in irrational beliefs. They oppose for the sake of opposition, not because they have something better. They organize panic into a franchise that keeps them wealthy and above the fray while the fray nurtures their lifestyle. Look at the leaders and you will see the followers.
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David Fitzsimmons, Arizona Star
Bill Sanders, http://sanderscartoon.blogspot.com
David Cohen, main.nc.us/cartoons
Dan Wasserman, Boston Globe, see reader comments in the newspaper
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Wasserman sees the presence of racial bias as clearly as anyone among the cartoonists
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Listening to Limbaugh, Beck and their echoes in right-wing political circles, it's harder and harder to avoid the conclusion that there is a racial component to their apoplexy. Rush's paranoid tirade about Obama and the school bus beating is Exhibit A.
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Matt Wuerker, Politico
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3. Joe Wilson: The Aftermath and Apology
David Cohen, main.nc.us/cartoons
Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press, see reader comments in the newspaper
Pat Oliphant, Universal Press Syndicate
R.J. Matson, St. Louis Post Dispatch
Steve Benson, Arizona Republic
Jeff Danziger, New York Times Syndicate
Jim Morin, Miami Herald
Bill Schorr, Cagle Cartoons
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4. Wingnuts Descend Upon Washington, D.C
John Darkow, Columbia Daily Tribune
Mike Thompson, Detroit Free Press, see the large number of reader comments in the newspaper
Mike Thompson, the Editorial Cartoonist for the Detroit Free Press attended a town hall meeting for his Congressman in the Detroit area at a high school. This is an excellent example of the incoherence of the wingnuts' message when they showed up in Washington, D.C. last weekend. He analyzes below the anti-Obama signs being carried by birther and tea party types and does a terrific job exposing their hypocrisy in making good use of government-provided facilities where they congregate to, you guessed it, rail against government! The second panel below is a video editorial by Thompson in which he wades through this "sea of intolerance" to capture the flavor of this meeting. It is a must-see.
NOTE: FLASH PLAYER REQUIRED to View the Below
It's a Scream -- excellent video editorial by Mike Thompson
Refine Your Sign
Jim Day, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Tom Toles, Washington Post
Matt Bors, Idiot Box
David Cohen, main.nc.us/cartoons
Chan Lowe, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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Lowe tries to understand the source of all this anger by conservatives
Some say our anger stems from fear. Fear that "they" have taken away our country, and that we’ll lose what’s left of it if we don’t mobilize to snatch it back.
If they have, where have they taken it? If our guns can stop their act of larceny, what direction do we point them in? Who are "they?" If "they" are really Big Government, how do we contain it? Do we go down to the federal courthouse and shoot out the windows?
You know what we need? We need scapegoats. What’s more American than finding a scapegoat? That’s it -- let’s focus on people who don’t talk like us, look like us, or think like us. Let’s start with that guy who wasn’t even born here, yet acts like he’s running the place.
August J. Pollak, Some Guy With a Website
Mike Keefe, Denver Post
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5. Healthcare Reform: The Baucus Plan Gets Ridiculed
Bruce Plante, Tulsa World, see reader comments in the newspaper
Ben Sargent, Universal Press Syndicate
Tom Tomorrow, This Modern World, see Letters to the Editor in Salon magazine
Tony Auth, Philadelphia Inquirer
David Fitzsimmons, Arizona Star
Jeff Danziger, New York Times Syndicate
Steve Benson, Arizona Republic
R.J. Matson, Roll Call
Nick Anderson, Houston Chronicle
Jeff Danziger, New York Times Syndicate
Dan Wasserman, Boston Globe
Stuart Carlson, Universal Press Syndicate
Nick Anderson, Houston Chronicle
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6. The Republican Party: Still Floundering
Robert Ariail, robertariail.com
Robert Ariail, robertariail.com
Jeff Danziger, New York Times Syndicate
David Cohen, main.nc.us/cartoons
Shurtleff fires at Bennett for applauding Obama
Race for Virginia Governor
Nate Beeler, Washington Examiner
Mark Streeter, Savannah Morning News
Dave Granlund, Politicalcartoons.com
Matt Davies, New York Journal News
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7. Barack Obama: On the Rebound?
Tom Toles, Washington Post
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Do his political opponents hate Barack Obama because he is an 'unabashed liberal?' David Corn thinks so
It must painfully frustrate right-wingers to watch Obama pull this off. It must drive them nuts -- the way that Ronald Reagan aggravated liberals with his ability to drape hard-right views with folksy popular appeal. While trying to win over independents and moderates on Wednesday night, Obama offered up a full endorsement of liberalism. And it worked. No wonder conservatives can't stand the guy.
Mike Scott, NewJerseyNewsroom.com
Tom Toles, Washington Post
Jeff Koterba, Omaha World Herald
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8. Wall Street Shenanigans: One Year after the Bailout
Ed Stein, edsteinink.com
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Stein explains in simple terms the State of Wall Street one year after the most expensive bailout in U.S. economic history
A year later, and the folks who gave us the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression are back at it. You’d think that the debacle would have given them at least a small does of humility, but no. Having been bailed out with hundreds of billion of the public’s money, they’re rewarding themselves for their financial brilliance with huge salaries and bonuses,and are already busy creating the next generation of bogus investments. Nothing like the next stock market bubble to raise the spirits. Meanwhile, Washington is still dithering over reform, with nothing of real consequence expected anytime soon.
Jeff Darcy, Cleveland Plain-Dealer
David Horsey, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, see reader comments in the newspaper
Steve Breen, San Diego Union-Tribune
Bill Sanders, sanderscartoon.blogspot.com
Matt Wuerker, Politico
Pat Oliphant, Universal Press Syndicate
Ben Sargent, Universal Press Syndicate
Jim Morin, Miami Herald
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9. The Economy and the Environment: Tied Together
Mike Thompson, Detroit Free Press, see reader comments in the newspaper
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Can economists ever learn to empathize with people? Thompson pulls no punches when he criticizes Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board for failing to do so
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke wasn’t trying to be callous when he spoke about the economy recently, but his remarks came off sounding about as warm and empathetic as a Siberian blizzard...
For people outside the sphere of wealth and power that Bernanke inhabits, a recession isn’t about charts and graphs. For most Americans, there’s nothing technical about a recession. For these people, a recession is about telling your kid there’s no longer any money for ballet lessons and sleepless nights spent worrying about losing one’s home after being laid off. And all the "technical" economic data in the world won’t convince people in Michigan, a state with a tops in the nation 15.2% unemployment rate, that things have gotten better.
Bernanke’s comment demonstrates just how isolated the two Americas have become from one another.
Jim Morin, Miami Herald
Marshall Ramsey, Clarion Ledger (Jackson MS)
John Darkow, Columbia Daily Tribune
Mike Thompson, Detroit Free Press, see reader comments in the newspaper
Bruce Beattie, Daytona News-Journal
Bob Englehart, Hartford Courant, see reader comments in the newspaper
Dave Granlund, Politicalcartoons.com
Jimmy Margulies, New Jersey Record
Pacific Ocean garbage patch worries researchers
Tim Eagan, Deep Cover
Rob Rogers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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10. Foreign Affairs: Afghanistan, Missile Defense, and Ahmadinejad Speaks
Joel Pett, Lexington Herald-Leader
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Congressional Democrats are not thrilled at the growing U.S. commitment to Afghanistan. President Obama, on the other hand, sees no parallels between Afghanistan and the quagmire that was the Vietnam War, as has been suggested by many newspaper columnists lately
President Obama rejected comparisons on Monday between the war in Afghanistan and the conflict in Vietnam a generation ago, but he expressed concern about "the dangers of overreach" and pledged a full debate before making further decisions on strategy.
Asked whether he worried about repeating the fate of President Lyndon B. Johnson, who declined to seek re-election in 1968 as a result of the turmoil over Vietnam, Mr. Obama replied: "You have to learn lessons from history. On the other hand, each historical moment is different. You never step into the same river twice. And so Afghanistan is not Vietnam."
Jeff Danziger, New York Times Syndicate
Matt Wuerker, Politico
David Fitzsimmons, Arizona Daily Star
Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press, see reader comments in the newspaper
Matt Bors, Idiot Box
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Bors sees no end in sight for the War in Afghanistan
The war in Afghanistan is becoming increasingly unpopular. There doesn't appear to be an endpoint. Yet there is no no movement against the "good war." We've been there eight years and we'll be there eight more.
Ed Stein, edsteinink.com
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Stein applauds Obama's change in policy re: missile defense
Finally, an intelligent decision about missile defense. The Bush plan to place an anti-ballistic missile shield in central Europe was a bad idea from the start. It was supposedly designed to thwart an Iranian long-range missile threat. The only problems were that Iran doesn’t have long-range missiles and probably won’t for some time to come, and the technology didn’t work. That it infuriated Russia was not a good enough reason to spend the billions it was going to cost, and it gave Russia a handy reason not to take more responsibility for helping thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions. That Obama’s decision is sound and backed by the Pentagon won’t stop the howls of protest from the proponents of the system in the defense industry and their congressional allies. Let them scream; it’s the right decision.
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Paresh Nath, Khaleej Times (UAE)
John Sherffius, Boulder Daily Camera
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The Goverment of Great Britain severely criticized Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for once again repeating that the Holocaust during World War II was a myth
Britain on Friday slammed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's dismissal of the Holocaust as "abhorrent as well as ignorant", saying the remarks were "not worthy of the leader of Iran".
"President Ahmadinejad's repeated denials of the Holocaust are abhorrent as well as ignorant. It is very important that the world community stands up against this tide of abuse," said Foreign Secretary David Miliband.
Ahmadinejad said the Holocaust was a "myth" as he addressed the annual Quds Day rally in Tehran, reiterating comments that have previously sparked outrage around the world.
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Gary Markstein, Copley News Service
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11. Uncivil Behavior: Kanye West, Serena Williams, and Joe Wilson
Bob Englehart, Hartford Courant, see reader comments in the newspaper
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Englehart is skeptical of manufactured apologies
If reporters are going to disregard the rules, it'll come back to bite them in the end. The hind end. If an interviewee can't trust a reporter, then the reporter is going to find it impossible to get information. There are only a few things a reporter has to work with. Integrity, accuracy and trust are about it. Lose any one of those things and your career is over.
Having said that, on the record or not, I'd like to see the president identify more jackasses. I saw Kanye West's "apology" the other night on Jay Leno's new show. As West was struggling to keep his composure and seeming to be contrite, I began to believe him. Then, when it turned out to be a prelude for a big musical act, I felt used.
Who knows what the truth is in Hollywood. I think the whole apology thing was put together by some overpaid publicist. There is so much money involved with these people that I don't think even the stars know what's true and what is BS.
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Vic Harville, Stephens Media Group (Little Rock, AR)
Kanye West, meet Rep. Joe Wilson
Chris Britt, State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL), see reader comments in the newspaper
Matt Davies, New York Journal News
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Davies wonders if greater internet use has contributed to growing incivility in society
Many commentators are saying the internet has coarsened the national discourse, while managing to lump Serena’s, Kanye’s and Wilson’s childish public behavior in with that thesis. I’m not so sure. For starters they weren’t anonymous, so they are at least accountable for their incivilities. And the fine art of protest is a venerated American tradition.
Still, never before in the history of humanity have so many individuals had a voice. Why then are they all so damn cranky and mean? (Posters to this blog excluded, of course...)
Joe Heller, Green Bay Press-Gazette
Walt Handelsman, Newsday
Jeff Stahler, Columbus Dispatch
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12. Immigration Issues: Xenophobia on the Right
Beck Pest
Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune
Preventive Pruning
Matt Davies, New York Journal News, see reader comments in the newspaper
Steve Sack, Minneapolis Star-Tribune
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13. ACORN: Ignoring the Real Nuts
Chan Lowe, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, see reader comments in the newspaper
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Lowe points out that wingnuts are focusing on ACORN for obvious reasons
For sheer entertainment value, the idea of a couple of young people posing as a hooker and her pimp in order to run a sting on a major community organizing operation can't be beat.
The U.S. House of Representatives, in distancing itself from this little bit of theater, immediately voted to yank ACORN's federal support dollars...
Anyway, we all know that there's a secondary reason the Right is foaming at the mouth over ACORN. The tax issue is one thing, although I never hear them grousing about U.S. companies that headquarter themselves abroad in order to avoid paying federal taxes.
No, it's really because in the woolly public mind, ACORN is associated with Barack Obama, as if it were some wholly-owned subsidiary of the Obama campaign.
Well, that's how politics is played, although rarely in such a coherent, focused way.
It's a slippery slope, and the Progressives aren't exactly fools. I'm looking forward to some counterscams. It's all mother's milk to a cartoonist.
Rob Rogers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Chris Britt, State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL), see reader comments in the newspaper
Slingshot
Nick Anderson, Houston Chronicle, see reader comments in the newspaper
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14. Sports: Talking Baseball, Football, and Basketball
Rob Rogers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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The Pittsburgh Pirates have had losing seasons for 17 years in Major League Baseball. It is the longest losing streak for any sports team in professional sports, including the National Football League, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, and Major League Baseball.
Mike Peters, Dayton Daily News
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Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News, the longest-tenured beat writer for a Major League Baseball team, is retiring after the 2009 season. He has covered the Cincinnati Reds baseball team since 1972.
New England Patriots Cliffhangers
Dave Granlund, Politicalcartoons.com
Signe Wilkinson, Philadelphia Daily News
Phil Hands, Wisconsin State Journal
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15. We Don't Need No Education
Gary Varvel, Indianapolis Star
Steve Greenberg, Freelance Cartoonist (Los Angeles, CA)
Bill Schorr, Cagle Cartoons
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16. The Return of Jay Leno
Kerry Waghorn, Universal Press Syndicate
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Jay Leno is back with a new prime time comedy show
The mystery is over: Jay Leno's new prime-time comedy hour debuted Monday night, garnering underwhelming reviews across the blogosphere and almost 18 million viewers. Indeed, the show closely resembled Leno's old "Tonight Show," with few of the promised new elements in sight.
About 17.7 million Americans tuned in for Leno's new show Monday, according to early numbers from Nielsen Media. Roughly 5 million used to regularly watch his old "Tonight Show."
Now, the $10 million question: Once the novelty has worn off, how many viewers will watch night after night?
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17. R.I.P. Jody Powell, Patrick Swayze, and Mary Travers
Air Force One, November 2, 1980: left to right, David Rubenstein, Chris Matthews, Hendrik Hertzberg, Jimmy Carter, Jody Powell. (White House photograph)
Former Chief Speechwriter for the Carter White House Hendrik Hetrzberg (a columnist with the New Yorker magazine now) remembers his friend and colleague Jody Powell who passed away at the age of sixty five. Powell served President Jimmy Carter as White House Press Secretary from 1977-1981
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One of the disappointments of the aftermath of the Carter presidency -- and there were many, political and personal (I was his chief speechwriter) -- was that Jody Powell didn’t go back to Georgia and run for office. Jody had the kind of unaffected charisma that wins elections. His warmth, sociability, and trustworthiness, to say nothing of his unthreatening but keen intelligence, would have made him an influential senator, the kind who can make deals and make them stick. And while he wasn’t the most tightly organized guy in the world, he had leadership skills that would have made him just as good a governor.
Mark Streeter, Savannah Morning News
Patrick Swayze
Kerry Waghorn, Universal Press Syndicate
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Actor Patrick Swayze died at the age of fifty seven after succumbing to pancreatic cancer
Though it was not his first film or even his breakthrough -- he'd already had that three years earlier with "Dirty Dancing" -- my favorite memory of Patrick Swayze came in 1990 with the romantic thriller "Ghost" with Demi Moore: He played a man whose love was so strong that, despite being gunned down in the street, he refused to leave this life until he knew she was safe.
Like countless other women around the country, I suddenly wanted to buy a potter's wheel, slip into a guy's oversized white shirt and work with clay, the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody" playing in the background.
Steve Benson, Arizona Republic
Mike Peters, Dayton Daily News
Tim Jackson, Madison Times
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Remembering Mary Travers
It's no exaggeration to say that Mary Travers and the trio of Peter, Paul and Mary took folk music from the coffeehouse to the mainstream, and helped spread a message of peace and harmony around the world. Their recordings also proved that folk music could be commercially successful.
Peter, Paul and Mary's music won five Grammy Awards and scored six Top Ten hits, eight gold and five platinum albums. They also introduced millions to the music of Bob Dylan, and turned "Blowin' In The Wind" into an anthem of the 1960s' protest movement.
link
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18. Final Thoughts
Finally, Chris MacNeil is an extremely talented artist who posts here on Daily Kos under CMacNeil. If you or your organization can use his services, please feel free to contact him at chris@cmacneil.com. Take a look at his excellent website to familiarize yourself with his portfolio.
Chris MacNeil, cmacneil.com/polit.html, cartoon forwarded by Renee
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Disclosure: I do not have any financial relationship with Chris. I was recently made aware of his cartooning and illustration work and thought that it would be a good idea to highlight his talents.
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A Note About the Diary Poll
R.I.P. Mary Travers, 1936–2009
Jeff Koterba, Omaha World Herald
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Singer Mary Travers of Peter, Paul, and Mary died last week at the age of seventy two. The folk group's popularity in the 1960's coincided with the gradual buildup and eventual hot war raging in the jungles of Vietnam, where hundreds of thousands of American troops were based in support of a dubious concept in foreign policy circles. Blind American adherence to the Domino Theory in the Cold war contributed to millions of deaths and its uselessness fully exposed when after the 1975 Fall of Saigon in South Vietnam, Communism did not spread throughout Southeast Asia and beyond as was firmly believed by many of our political leaders at the time.
The Vietnam Era produced some of the more memorable songs in music history, many still popular with generations that came later. From Peter, Paul, and Mary's rendition of Bob Dylan's 'Blowin' in the Wind' to Marvin Gaye's cry for help in 'What's Going On?' to John Lennon's 'Imagine,' peace and anti-war protest songs are forever etched in our memories from that turbulent period in our history. Conservative songs in support of the U.S. military -- such as the 'Ballad of the Green Berets' by Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler -- competed with anti-war songs like 'I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die' by the San Fransisco group Country Joe and the Fish and the openly defiant song 'I Ain't Marching Anymore' by Phil Ochs. By the time the bloody Vietnam War had ended in 1975, protest songs had largely triumphed in defining the war as a wasteful exercise in futility.
John Lennon by Kerry Waghorn, Universal Press Syndicate
Of the songs listed in the diary poll by several legendary artists, all are from the era which simply came to be known as "The 60's." Difficult as the choices might be, you have to choose one.
An illustration of the domino theory as it had been predicted in Asia
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The Vietnam War continues to haunt America into the 21st century. Like a familiar old tune on the radio, it remain a part of American memory that comes alive a
