Musearoonies

The moment I see the light of cartoon day and actually perceive the possibility of whipping out that elusive John Bolton or SpongeBob cartoon, or returning to the Blackbear/Faith series I initiated two weeks ago with one solitary cartoon, Bill Frisk ups and splits with the President on Stem Cell research. Go figure. Guess I'll bail on everything I was planning to do and draw a cartoon inspired by Ed Vitagliano's recent Liberal Media Lashes Out at Christians.
Talking about Harper's magazine and specifically this page on their site; against his wishes the poet e. e. cummings continues to receives full capitalization. I recently gave up this fight, as hardly anyone except the folks at Live Journal take it upon themselves to honor my lower case spelling of 'faithmouse', so deemed because faithmouse is a noun but not a proper one. You may be a 'faithmouse' or I may be, but the actual name of the character is 'Faith'. Explaining this to linkers would make me feel snooty, so I honor whatever it is they do. The number of links to something called 'Faith Mouse' is growing as well, and I'm just as powerless to stop it. Think I'll go make a sandwich.

Toon 7/30/05

Another experiment in my ongoing quest never to hand letter another cartoon for the rest of my life.

Thanks to long time fan Joister from Australia for linking to the cartoon on her blog.

Monday's cartoon will be the completed logo for Stacy Harp's new Writing Right blog, which will also be my goodness another Neverborn toon.

At least, these are my intoontions as of 3 A.M. Saturday morning. If my muse jumps off a pier in the meanwhile I'm very likely to follow.

Toon 7/29/05 so far.

Judge John Roberts toon still in progress. The last panel demands a rework, and the whole thing needs color. If you compare this cartoon to the earlier version posted below you can see that Faith lost the toon to Professor Ferret. She just wasn't fast enough on the draw with a punchline.
Stacy Harp has a new blog at Writing Right, for which I'm designing a Neverborn logo. Here's a preview.

I'd like to thank Mark Nicodemo for the recent kind words of support. Thanks to Dog Gal for posting the most recent Neverborn toon on the Twin Cities Forum at Pioneer Press.

Here's a email forwarded to me from Derek in response to an article about faithmouse on an anti-Christian site, which I believe revealed much more about the writer's attitude towards religion than the content of my cartoon-

Mr. Coyle,
You certainly have a great talent in your ability to write. I am thankful that we live in a country that allows people such as yourself to express your opinions.

That said, I am concerned about the anger in your writing. Anger is a very powerful enemy that can easily destroy the most intelligent amongst us. If there is anything that should have been learned from the last election in November was that the American people are tired of all of the “Hate Messages”. The leaders of the Democrats are quick to point out problems but offer few solutions. They obviously feel they are losing their influence on the average American and will grasp at anything to try and gain it back. Scare tactics and hate are not issues that the American people want to hear. It is not always butterflies and rainbows. However, we need to be a happy medium between that and stepping in horse apples as you walk through the field of life. If there are better plans most will listen. You seem to be a reasonable person who can understand this.

As far as your attack on Christianity I feel I should also address this. Once again, taking into
consideration that we live in a country where people can worship as they see fit. I must point out that the majority in America are still Christian. Now I will admit that there are so called “religious” leaders out there who take advantage of people in the name of Jesus. This fact saddens me as I feel it has done more to drive people away from the truth. You and I both
realize that there can only be one truth. My personal growth as a Christian is based on the desire to be as much like Jesus as I can be. I realized many years ago that I, just as everyone else, am here on this earth to serve God, and to let him use the talents He gave me to fulfill His plan. His existence cannot be denied. All three of the major monotheistic religions in the world recognize that he was probably the greatest man that ever lived. Of course the separation comes that Christians accepting him as the Son of God sent redeem us of our sins and to bring us back to the Father.

What part of “Love thy neighbor as you love yourself” did you not understand in your anger and hate?

It is possible that in the hectic schedule of world today, people have just forgotten that point.

I will let you go about your life now. I will be praying for you and I hope that you find peace with
the rest of your days. May God’s grace and blessings shine on you and your family.

Peace,
Derek
"For He so loved the world..." (John 3:16)

Toon 7/27/05

I was invited by Mrs. Bee of Mom's Who Think to contribute a piece of writing to their forum to serve as the subject of this week's Opinions discussion. I was flattered by the offer, and decided to return favor with what I should really do more of-cartooning. So today's cartoon was drawn specifically to facilitate the discussion at Mom's.

Bring Me The Head of Faithmouse article

Here's an article about Faithmouse which currently appears on Shawn Coyle's End The Christian Right web site. I present it without rebuttal and in it's entirety.

Shawn contacted me ahead of time and told me he very cordially that he was writing this, so please, no nasty emails to Mr. Coyle. I'm very happy to give his site a return link on my dissenters page for his efforts. Shawn also encourages the online distribution of this article, preferably with a return link to his site. I concur.

I believe the article is so over the top it actually works as an endorsement of the cartoon.

Your opinion may differ.

BRING ME THE HEAD OF FAITHMOUSE
by Shawn Coyle

I tossed and turned all night. Sure I could see the irony dripping from Faithmouse.com using cutsie cartoon animals to give a flag-drapped thumbs-up to a rigged war. I could see that to validate Secretary War Pig Rumsfeld with plush toy illustration was surreal. Salvador Dali's got nothing at this level of weird. And the smug strip that liberals "manipulate" the bible is truly a comic coming from a member of the New American Taliban. Could the pot get any blacker? But all that was too easy.
There was something else in this. Something deeper, darker - something elusive. What was it? With the whole world asleep, and this question keeping me awake like an open-all-night marquee, I padded into the kitchen and made toast. I thought about what kind of person is making toast at three in the morning, burning up over the implications of a cartoon? That's when it hit me. The troublesome matter lay not in the what, but in the who. Who would do such a thing? Indeed. I had to find out more.
I wrote to the cartoonist himself, someone called Dan Lacey, and invited him to lunch. While he did not take me up on that, he seemed to be a very nice sort of man, polite and unflappable. Was I looking at just another example of the "banality of evil"? (Hannah Arendt discovered in Adolph Eichmann a dull, balding, bureaucrat, rather than the monster she had expected.)
Perhaps. But I felt there was more. Was he a kind of Charles Schultz with his car radio jammed on right-wing talk radio? On a testosterone patch? A clinical sociopath?
So I started to build a character profile to puzzle it out.
To pull off this level of ironic piety, I reasoned, it would have to be:
A) someone with a philosophy that perfection comes through suffering - especially if some else does the suffering.
B) someone who has been trained since childhood to turn a blind eye to injustice when actions are in their own tribal interest.
C) someone that sees no contradiction with killing civilians to prove that killing civilians is wrong and then throw a parade in your own honor calling it democracy-on-the-march. This someone as well would have to approve "extreme interrogation techniques" to demonstrate that torture is uncivilized, then call it "mission accomplished".
D) someone who believes in command and control and top-down authority with just enough morality to justify any dirty work that needs doing, but not too much that might inhibit doing it.
E) someone with just enough rationality to sustain organizational structures but maintaining just enough mysticism to avoid too close an examination.
F) someone able to partition their mind in such a way as to see bloodletting as spiritual service. For example, the ability to look upon the California Missions as a "monument to faith" (as well as a good school project for the kids) rather than the 18th century gulags they were to native Americans.
H) someone that has identified a method or place in which to have their sins declared "as white as snow". . .
. . .and just as I was warming up to the profile, the answer came in a voice from above: "You've Got Mail!"
It was Dan again: "Faithmouse is certainly 'The Cartoon of the Christian Right', but you may be interested to know that both myself and my wife (who the character of faithmouse is modeled after) are Catholic."
Ca-ching! All the pieces fell together. This guy was a true believer in empire! --Catholicism being the very model, the paragon, the blueprint. Bush & Co. may flatter themselves as "The New Romans", but Catholics learned empire building from the original guys.
We must (I must!) get clear on the fact that to an empire-believer, like Faithmouse DAN LACEY, wars are trivialities, human suffering a given. Deal with it - you have to break a few eggs - etc. Once I got that, all the rest made sense within that frame. And then there's the matter of scale: To the American empire, Iraq is little more than a speedbump, but to the Catholic empire, viewing the human parade from a 2,000-year-old grandstand, Iraqi war dead are just a little smear of bug squat on the windshield of the popemobile. (Papal Diary: "Another day in paradise - seems we're invading Muslim lands - again - yawn.")
I've seen disturbing cartoons before --with material not suitable for children and other growing things-- but for pure moral bankruptcy and intellectual corruption, Faithmouse makes Fritz the Cat look like Family Circus.

© 2005 Shawn Coyle is the Executive Director of EndTheChristianRight.org and the author of "To Hell with Church: Seven Reasons to Quit for Good". Contact him at http://us.f302.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=Shawn@EndTheChristianRight.org

Toons 7/23-25/05

Saturday post.
Judge Roberts cartoon in progress.

John McCain filibuster betrayal/Wedding Crashers toon. First draft. Names are of the 13 other Republicans and Democrats who blocked the constitutional option. Boy, is Jay ticked. A bit sterner here than I intend for the final version.

Toon 7/22/05 and stuff

First off, molto grazie...
-to Anglican Priest and Reverend Daniel Sparks for posting the recent 'Ten Commandments' cartoon on his Miserere Mei blog
-to Chilli at The 522 for posting the recent Neverborn 'Delivery Refused' cartoon
-and to Westminster Theological Seminary student J.D. Foster for posting the 'Pope Benedict XVI On The Riding Tractor' toon of last April 'for all of you who have accused me of getting soft in my conservatism and Calvinism'. Nice to be used as evidence of right wing virility.

I was shocked today to see that Democratic Underground had generated a thousand or so views of my 'Vote Christ/Bush/Cheney' cartoon from last year; shocked because the cartoon features pink Faith before her skin whitening treatments, tail reduction surgery and breast implants. Faith doesn't want that picture passed around anymore than she would want her high school photograph plastered on a billboard outside her wedding reception. Therefore today's cartoon replaces Daily71.jpg, and because I'm feeling magnanimous I've included Christ above my choice for both major tickets in 08. No matter the outcome that's how I truly hope it could be. Christ; merciful, kind, patient and just, deserves to reclaim the top spots. If you listen to the rhetoric from the left, from Howard Dean to Sojourners, from Hillary to George Soros, they all heartily agree, or claim to agree. Of course, the Christ they preach may be nothing more than a front for a regurgitation of Liberation Marxist Theology, a failed philosophy even the ultra-poor of Latin America have abandoned but which seems to be enjoying a vogue amongst those who both own a Che T-Shirt and attend reunions of the Jesus Seminar.

Therefore the inclusion should offend no one. Both sides, claiming Christ, can cooperate to form a complete portrait of the cross, even though the result may be somewhat skewered. We'll fix things up later. Maybe.

I receive an email-

As a gay-rights supporting liberal heathen animated carcass of a human being, I wanted to ask you what you thought about the Karl Rove issue; do you think that he should be punished justly, as any other act of treason should be, or should he stay in office because he devised the well-thought out and justified Iraqi war (which by the way, was a stunning success, it's only lead to 25000 civilian deaths, and that's nothing compared to world war II, right?) or should he be ignored by the media because Glorious Leader Bush has nominated a generic white man judge to fill the spot of someone who was a prototype in her field?
Yours truly, "Hellbound"

To which I writ-

Thanks for the email, Hellbound. If I tried to integrate the current Rove story into the cartoon I suspect it would lead to exactly the same dead end as the 'Delay' hullabaloo before it, and the 'Blair Memo' issue before that one, and the one before that, and that, all of which have blown away after being revealed to be nothing more than belly button lint. The fact that all these crisis have lead to nothing might indeed make for a good cartoon; I can certainly think of a few good ones. I also try not to chase a story if the entirety of the media seems to be doing the same thing; however, if I think I have some sort of 'Christian' angle to add to a conversation I will, although I many times discover that my idea wasn't quite as Christian as I first thought. Thank goodness Faithmouse is only a cartoon.

My main interest in commenting upon the war is to encourage our troops to have faith in God. Christ affords us the basis of true personal liberty, for which He paid the ultimate price (even Bono agrees with me on this one). He's the yardstick I measure everything against (Christ, not Bono). It's true that many service personnel are fans of the cartoon, and I imagine it's because they are encouraged by the message of support. Whether or not you and I would ever agree on the war(s), or even agree on the veracity of your numbers (which no matter pales in comparison with the number of civilians killed in World War II, the alternative to no-War being a world subjugated under the heel of a mad, racist tyrant, something an enslaved Europe didn't want either) our countrymen fighting today for a freer and safer world deserve to know that they are being prayed for by people who view conflict as having both an earthly and spiritual dimension. We pray for their spiritual as well as their physical safety. We even pray for those trying to kill us. That they stop trying to kill us is our foremost prayer.

As for Judge Roberts, he's won praise from the left, right, and middle. Basing the choice of a Supreme Court justice solely upon sex would be sexist, or upon skin color, racist. However, as the President may very well have the opportunity to pick two or even more Supreme Court justices, you may still get your wish for an additional non-white or non-male Justice. So, cheer up! All is not lost.

As for your being 'gay-rights' supporting, you may be interested in my character of Gaybear, who is both a Christian homosexual and a bear. The Faithmouse gang accepts Gaybear for who he is, without beating him around the head with a Bible on any occasion. He appears in a number of cartoons which have absolutely nothing to do with his sexuality; he's just a member of the tribe. The reason they accept him is because he loves Christ more than his own life; the spiritual more than the carnal. I know of many Christian homosexuals in the church who have the same attitude and are personally encouraged by the character. The point here is that everyone no matter how they view themselves can have a personal relationship with Christ. I recommend that you consider the number of Christian and very politically Right web sites who support the cartoon and who are also able to accept the inclusion of the character. If someone's being intolerant, Gaybear demonstrates that it's not the vast and powerful faithmouse media empire.

Again, I hate to admit this, but Faithmouse is just a cartoon. It's just an extended art project, for heaven's sake. It's meant as entertainment, more for myself than anyone else. I don't think anyone should get their socks twisted in a knot over it.

Your email though is typical of many I receive from people who seems to be reacting only to tag lines and not content.

Are you sure you have the right cartoon?

Toon 7/21/05

Faithmouse Historical Society (update overdue).

Hat tip to Charmaine Yoest for giving Faithmouse a plug and posting the most recent Neverborn cartoon, in addition to linking to a post on this blog.
I've received a thank you email from Adam at Rock The Block for putting together the flyer for their Kid's Crusades block parties, which will be distributed to various neighborhoods around New York starting in August.
I'll be personally dropping off some Neverborn TIFF's at Human Life Alliance, which may be able to make use of some of the cartoons in their literature. Following that the original Faithmouse and I will be off to the Scott County Fair, where we'll keep an eye open for Leftist Crop Art and Chickens That Look Like Michael Moore. Oh, and fried donuts, of course.

Toon 7/20/05

A hat tip to Stacy Harp of Mind & Media for her compliment on today's cartoon.


I respond to a forum post-

What exactly is your stance on Harry then? From this picture I gather intellectually little, but that is probably just because it is me. What are they saying? -Stinkysock89

To wit I reply-

Thanks for the question, Stinkysocks.

In China, Harry Potter is wildly popular and Christianity is under horrendous persecution by the State. This fellow is hiding his Bible under a cover of a Harry Potter book. Because his 'cover' has been blown, he's in great danger.

This cartoon also appears today on the Global Chinese Christian Newspaper http://www.gospelpost.com/ under the tagline 'Windy.'

Thirty years ago, this fellow might have hidden his faith under the cover of Mao's Little Red Book. Today Mao is out of vogue while Western cultural ideals are being increasingly accepted, even though China remains an oppressive Communist regime. Who has changed, the west or the east? It speaks volumes (pardon) that the fantasy world of Harry Potter is openly encouraged while Christianity remains a hunted threat.

God bless - on HHSmart Person's 'You Are Unique!'


Meanwhile, here's a comment from Salvage's Hairy Fish Nuts site-

And check out (Faithmouse and Blackbear) -she’s a mouse, he’s a bear, how on earth are they going to make it work? Her hundreds of brothers and sisters will never understand and his parents will just want to eat her. Omnivorous / rodent relationships never work out, I sense this will all end badly.

Hat tips

Tyler Hudgens has posted today's cartoon at his Xanga site, which causes me to believe I didn't completely miss the mark with this toon which I hacked at with a machete until 6 this morning. After benefit of a few hours sleep I believe it must be almost impossible to tell that the book cover reads 'Harry Potter' in Chinese, and the connection between the flying cover and the Bible it was ripped from by the wind must be tenuous at best; I'll tweak these and some other smaller details later this evening.

By the way, the Potter series is wildly popular in China. While the current book is available in English, the Chinese translation by a two gal team won't be available until October. The translations I've seen are two book sets, which is why the book cover is smaller and fits our friend's New Testament. Please note also that all the reading material is appropriately backwards, which is how I normally encroach upon reading materials myself.

This is my first cartoon about both China and Harry Potter. I know a heck of a lot more about China than Potter, after having read zero of the books and having seeing none of the movies. In a few years I may have an opinion regarding the current Karl Rove controversy. I've just recently hatched an idea for a SpongeBob/James Dobson toon which I might get around to in, say, the next four months or so. I hate rushing an idea.

I'm honored to be linked on Loni's Journaling Through The Valley, a blog dedicated to the memory of her 16 year old son Matthew.
Alexa has linked faithmouse by way of a recent Neverborn toon on her 'Birth Story', which can be found at the Blogger address Forest Nymph.
The Global Chinese Christian Newspaper Gospel Post added faithmouse last week. 'Windy' is the tagline they've added to today's toon.
The imaginary Ezekiel Bulver at John Briggs C.S. Lewis inspired Bulverist Online Chronicle has posted the regularly updating cartoon.
I would like to send everyone supporting the cartoons hugs, kisses and cash, but if I tried to do so I'd never find the time to produce new work; that and my wife likes to see me now and then.
So, a hearty thanks here and now to all.

Toon 7/19/05

Almost there. I'll post a revised and final version of this cartoon later this evening.
For those who don't know, anti-Christian government led persecution in China is horrendous.

I should also have the flyer completed for Rock the Block later this evening as well. I plan to make the basic template available on the cartoon site as free clip art.

A new direction

Is Faith going to find a new "friend"?

Toon 7/18/05

I've posted a few revisions of this cartoon over the weekend, but let's call this the final version for now. My modus operandi for the next few weeks will be to switch off between this series and 'issues' toons. So, next a toon about the World Trade Center, then back to the soaps, and so on.

Christian Challenge toon in progress 7/16/05

Poor Timothy. He has no idea that his life is about to be turned upside down in tomorrow's toon.

The 'Christian Challenge' cartoon previewed earlier today (the one about the difficulty of praying for anyone named Joseph Edward Duncan III) remains in process, only with Timothy and Augustine changing roles. Augustine is much too circumspect for what I was about to ask him to do.

Christian Zips

Thanks to the Christian Zips of the University of Akron for posting the recent 'God bless our friends in the United Kingdom' toon on their xanga site.

Now this is onehappy and healthy looking group of Christians.

Up with people, y'all!

Toon 7/14/05 The Cuban Tugboat Massacre of July 13, 1994

Better late than never. This cartoon is specifically about the Cuban Tugboat Massacre of July 13th 1994; I think it's apropos every other day of the year as well.

You can read more about this story at Christus Rex (an excellent Catholic resource site), in addition to this post yesterday by these good guys at Free Republic.

Nice to see Flim Flam Flamingo again, who hasn't shown his beak since the 'Passion' series. I always expect return visits from every character in the cartoon, though sometimes appearances may be separated by years.

Kristi Ann who's been hosting faithmouse since well before Flim Flam's last appearance informs me she's created a new page for the cartoon at her Kristi Ann's Haven.
Travis has successfully had his wisdom teeth removed (no fun). Before doing so he posted a few faithmouse cartoons at his Boy Scout Blogger.

Thanks, guys!

Rock the Block

The 'Neverborn' cartoon from today has been posted in a forum at the pregnancy tracking site Fertility Friend.
I've been asked by Rock The Block to contribute a few items to neighborhood flyers used to advertise their 'Urban evangelism through Gospel rap, hip-hop and street witnessing' block party/concerts in the New York city area. As a person who grew up in Brooklyn, I think that's pretty cool.
I also think it's pretty cool that Democratic Underground has deemed to start a thread about the cartoon, under the heading 'psuedo (sic)-christo-fascist cartoons OR a the mind of the religious right.' Of course, the political Right is now the great American middle-ground. As an example, those who believe in the sanctity of traditional definitions of marriage are now considered members of or sympathizers of that same 'psuedo (sic)-christo-fascist right' a label which in it's unbiased definition encompasses most people, or at least the voting majorities.
It's hot and rainless here in Mn, which is a change from recent wet patterns. Wild raspberries can be found all around our property; we're about a month or more away from the blackberries. The U of M grapes look great, although I do need to unknot them from the woods where they've wildly entangled themselves. Thankfully they're one of the few plants the original faithmouse and I have introduced to the garden which the rabbits show absolutely no interest in.
A toon about Fidel in remembrance of the 1994 massacre at sea will be posted later this evening.

Faithmouse Pro-Life News article

A hat tip to Pro-Life News for posting an article about the cartoon-

Yesterday afternoon before learning of the story I suddenly felt very strongly that I should update my earlier 'Neverstamp' toon, the same image featured in the article, with a variation I had discussed with Stacy Harp of E-Involved at the beginning of the year. When I saw that Pro-Life had picked up on the same image, I recognized it as a sign of confirmation', an 'all system go' signal following a period of searching. I'd shelved the cartoon originally slated for the day (a stinkaroonie, although my heart was in the right place) so although there's a smorgasbord subject matter to choose from, I was still sincerely looking for an image.
Thanks, God! And thanks Pro-Life Blogs.

Toon 7/12/05 Neverborn-delivery refused, return to sender

Sorry, fell asleep...for about 13 hours. The original faithmouse has a cold. Then we had to buy some pansies, as I aced the ones we've had with weed killer (Ortho needs to put their backyard mosquito barrier and weed killer in different colored plastic spray bottles). Life keeps interfering with the vast media empire. Anyway, here's today's toon, which is an expansion on an idea from last year.

Thanks to Agent Tim for posting the recent Ten Commandments toon with extended commentary-

Here's a few new links and cartoon affiliates I'd like to thank-
Church of the Woods -Lake Arrowhead, California, added updating cartoon
Tidbits and Treasures -Nice plug from Barbara, who also has a link to the toon on her 'Entourages' site.
Best of the Net -Italian language site, added toon
Daily Inklings -Elizabeth from the 'Mind and Media' blogroll, who added a graphic link to the cartoon from her site.
Abortion Debate -a few Neverborn toons posted in a recent forum.
Thanks, everyone!

Toon 7/11/05

The pro-British cartoon I intended for today has been delayed forever, mainly because I've already seen so many excellent similar toons (pookie18 at his thread today on Free Republic has posted a number of great ones). Therefore I've decided to move on. There are worthwhile news subjects which haven't garnished one cartoon, let alone thirty.

My notion was to make a comparison between the destruction of Coventry Church in England during WWII with the church at the foot of the World Trade Center. The connect between time and place was to be the subway. A worthy idea, I believe, especially when one considers the number of historic houses of worship destroyed by war. So, another day and for a different reason.

Alan Keyes' Renew America and the faithmouse media empire have coordinated today's press release. If you're visiting as a result of having seen this information, welcome!

I'm working throughout the day to add files to the publicity page, so please check in later in the day for updates. Also, I'll be posting a new cartoon later in the afternoon as well.

Toon Roundup 7/8/05 and a Shuffleupagus

The toons are below, the Shuffleupagus is in progress.
Here are a few heartily welcomed friends and affiliates for the past week.

Just after completing the Ten Commandments toon below at 5 A.M. Thursday I hit FoxNews and learned of the London bombings. So, switcheroo, at least for a day or two. For all of the encouraging and some believe too-friendly cartoons I've drawn over the past year for our Northern neighbor (be nice to your web footed friends) I could spare our staunch ally across the pond a nod during their time of challenge. Monday's cartoon will follow along the same lines, and draws on photo resources the original faithmouse captured in England two decades ago.

The recent Supreme Court decision regarding the Ten Commandments is yet another case of the very foundation of our legal system being subjected to a test it can't help but fail. Anyone can argue successfully that the Ten Commandments is a religious document, as well they should. The point however should be moot, since every law passed by the Supreme Court or any court is at heart an ordinance concerning morals (the Declaration of Independence is itself a moral document, and supremely so)-the question is which set of morals do we hang our hat on. Regardless of one's religious or non-religious affiliation, all substitutes to Judeo-Christian principles of law are subjective and have therefore historically been found wanting. We have their rubble as proof.
While our interpretation of law and scripture may be debated, what is debatable about thou shalt not kill, or steal, or bear false witness? Attempts to assign to the moral code which serves as the conscience of our society a wholly subjective status enhances the power and influence of those already possessing power and influence and who perpetually wish to rewrite the rules to their favor. Is it acceptable for me to kill someone if I can legally demonstrate their life was worthless anyway? Can I steal your property if I can prove it's for the greater good of society?

Ah, the Fourth of July cartoons. I dislike them both. Neither came close to what I had in mind. The solution might be to lighten the copy of the original Declaration of Independence in the latter tune (the real McCoy) and superimpose the 'Death Warrant' script from the earlier cartoon.
Better luck next year.

What happened to the signers of the Declaration of Independence?

The original Fourth of July cartoon has meanwhile transformed into a decidedly Minnesotan offering, and should make it's sometime appearance later next week.

Focusing on the source; always a healthy thing to do. I considered presenting an 'Africa is corrupt' cartoon, but thank goodness a few other cartoonists beat me to it. We can afford to ignore the self-aggrandizement of a few spoiled pop culture stars when the intention of such a large effort is to help those who have nothing. That's Nothing with a really big N.
Just a word here about 'intention.' One of the great advantages of a conservative philosophy is that in the long haul it proves the shallowness of those who promote the sacredness of their intentions over the rational application of Christian principles. Is it Christian to buy that one last drink for your drunken bar friend at two A.M., or to distribute one millimeter of protection to someone who chances presenting a death sentence to someone they love (or should love)? Practical Christians can't give up this ground, but nor should they willing to cede that lofty high place of 'good intentions.' Personal sacrifice without any promise of a return earthly investment is a sign of God's grace, common or not.

Toon Ketchup

I forgot I have a blog again...
As you can see from the sketch above, all of my cartooning work is done by hand. The original is drawn with a red marker (and lots of correction fluid) on graph paper. Very old school, but I'm hooked on nostalgia. I scan the finished drawing(s) and run the pieces through an older copy of Photoshop, making heavy use of the layers palette to separate and then reposition various sections. A heavily detailed drawing such as this will normally take three to five hours, plus roughly half as much time preparing a print-worthy copy and others versions for the web.

And now, a short cartoon exhibition-

Conservatives in Canada have been out of power since 1993, but they shouldn't succumb to glumness: their drought is the U.S. equivalent of only three Presidential terms-two Ronald Reagans and a Senior Bush. Mr. Harpers long and steady presence in the shadow of the Liberals and Socialists is a validation of his relevance rather than a brand of defeat. Mr. Harper political philosophy is clear and dependable. The public knows his mind, and that's to his party's favor. Patience, I say.
Canada Day used to be known as Dominion Day, and the Maple Leaf flag replaced the Union Jacked 'Red Ensign' flag about forty years ago. I should have included Vietnam on the list of conflicts in which U.S. and Canadian forces have cooperated, and may extend this list in a revised version of the same toon.
Even though John Gibson's recent comments have merit (happy un-birthday to Canada and all that) the U.S. also has many friends and supporters up North. The current dearth in relations is comparable to that funky time in American/Canadian relations when the timbits marched into Washington and burned down the White House, or when we used to night raid each other's forts at Niagara Falls and cart away big flags. We got past that stuff too. Better days lie ahead.

I'm not through with this subject; not nearly. I have only yet begun to toon. This cartoon alludes to the non-decision of the same closing session concerning the Ten Commandments. It's a subject to which I certainly owe a toon but can't quite come to a decision. Perhaps we can just go 5-4 on the Commandments as well and leave one as a toss-up.

The first version of this cartoon featured Howard Donkey giving his infamous 'White Christians' statement to a convention of Evangelical Southern Storks. If your goal is to destroy the trustworthiness of a national political party, this would be an effective way of going about the business.