Cartoons of the Week, late edition

I didn't get a chance to bring you any cartoons this past weekend - we had a very busy one, but there were too many good ones from last week (and this past weekend) to pass up. Although I haven't been lately, I'll comment on a few of these topics underneath the comics. Enjoy!

Rudy's attempted dismissal of the entire Kerik affair was as ill-advised as it was glib: "I really don't comment on those stories, and it sounds like it's something from the gossip column." The story I'm referring to, in case you missed it, is that a high-placed executive from Fox News reportedly asking Judith Regan to refrain from publicly trashing Bernie Kerik, because it was thought (I say rightfully so) that it would hurt Giuliani's presidential run. Sadly, this story is all too believable. Another argument FOR abolishing the multimedia giants (fat chance) and AGAINST the idea of a Giuliani presidency. Just what we need - another Republican in bed with corporate America, much less the corporate mass media. Hey, Fox has a great deal to lose in this election - they need another GOP hack in the White House, so they can continue their State TV dominance. (Bonus: They might even get more loosening of media ownership regulations under Rudy's watch. Memo to Fox: Attack! Attack! Attack! Hillary had a planted question! [More on that in a minute])

Kerik and Giuliani have a long and storied history: Kerik was Giuliani's driver and bodyguard during his 1994 run for mayor of New York City, and he later served as head the city's bureau of prisons and NYPD police chief, all on Rudy's watch. After Kerik stepped down as NYPD police chief in 2002, he entered into a business partnership with America's Profiteer, joining Giuliani Partners. Giuliani then later recommended Kerik to the Bush administration to head the Department of Homeland Security. It took about five minutes of digging to unearth Kerik's past, which is checkered to say the least (and I'm being very charitable). Now, we're to believe it was all a big mistake? Yea, right. I'll have much more to say on the Rudy-Kerik relationship in the coming days.

I got a tremendous kick out of the accusation last that Hillary took a planted question from a reporter about global warming in Iowa. There are about 10,000 more important issues facing us right now - this is another non-story, but the right-wing bloggers and Hillary haters are foaming at the mouth and licking their chops. Too bad this incident, even if true, doesn't even pass the smell test for Republicans.

How so? This one's too easy. The Bush administration has had so many incidents of planting reporters (most famously, "reporter" Jeff Gannon at a White House press conference), paying consultants to shill on national political talk shows (How ya doin', Armstrong Wiliams?), and other assorted dirty tricks. Most recently, FEMA held a press conference on the California wildfires with little notice, which wasn't attended by anyone in the press. FEMA employees were asking questions that the deputy director of FEMA answered, on camera! (The feed was carried live by several cable news networks.) Those are real stories - the administration in power, using its position to mislead and distort its facts and coverage to the American people.

It's simply outrageous that ANY candidate would plant people to ask faux questions - I don't care which party a candidate is from. But, try this one on - do you honestly find it hard to believe that Karl Rove ever planted anyone at a Gore '00 campaign event, or at a Kerry '04 event? How about those supposed "demonstrations" for president-"elect" Bush in Florida in '00 during the Florida recount? They were bused in by the Republican National Committee. (Read: the Bush campaign) I could go on an on about how absurd this "story" is, and the 15-minute memory span by most voters in America, but I digress.

These two jackasses did as much to undermine civility in our political discourse in the 1990s than anyone else in elected office in the United States, with a nod to Newt Gingrich and Kenneth W. Starr. Yet DeLay continues to run his mouth to sell books, and network shows like The Today Show buy right into it - inviting him on to shill his garbage books that no one cares about. We should all be calling the so-called Velvet Hammer the Velvet Slammer, because that's right where he should be for his dozens of misdeeds. Yet, like Cheney, Bush and Rumsfeld, he escapes justice, because he's insulated himself so well. So be it, but I really wish the whole lot of them were right where they belong - at one of our enemy combatant camps. Here's to wishful thinking...

In your face, Judas John - the laughable Pat Robertson endorses America's Profiteer. So much for your very public ass kissing. I really hope that deep down somewhere, the long-dead straight talker from Arizona feels some sort of remorse for publicly embracing Bush in '04, and earlier this year, the late hater Jerry Falwell at his university of intolerance.

The Obama press coverage has been just a little less laughable than Hillary's, yet he's gaining in the polls in Iowa. Perhaps America will not be fooled by our corporate mainstream media's many characterizations of Obama.

I really wish that this administration would be properly and justly exposed for the frauds they are for repeating over and over Support the Troops. It's amazing what has happened to the military on Bush and Cheney's watch, yet the Democrats are painted as not supporting our thousands of men and women in uniform. I'll scream it for the cheap seats: THE BEST WAY TO SUPPORT OUR TROOPS IS TO GET THEM HOME FROM IRAQ, NOW.

Too funny...

The latest disastrous oil spills in San Francisco Bay (58,000 gallons) and in Kerch Strait off Russia's coast are both proof positive that the oil companies are not to be trusted in environmentally sensitive areas. (Like that's news.) As dissatisfied as I am with the Democratic Party these days - the fact that they have, to date, successfully blocked Big Oil from invading, pillaging and raping the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a major victory for the party.

I can add nothing to this one, other than to shout that it's a sad reality that we must face, yesterday.

Fred Thompson, the say-nothing candidate who is short on ideas, and even shorter on charisma. *DING! DING!* (Cue Law & Order opening here). Relax, Fred - it'll all be over soon, and you can go back to being the faux DA of New York City. We had one intellectual inferior actor as president in my lifetime - we surly can't weather another.

I don't know about all of you, but I feel less-than-safe whenever I fly. It's the lowlight of any holiday when I have to travel. And since we are a bi-coastal family, it's a reality (and let's face it - a danger) that I'm just going to have to live with.

This personifies a good portion of the American electorate. Quick quiz - I recently read that the wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq are now estimated to cost us $2.4 trillion before it's all over. Gee, thanks George. Question - who do you think will pay for it all? It won't be the George Bushes of the world paying higher taxes and suffering from less services over the next 2-3 decades. It's people like you and me.

Quick question - what's now lower - the dollar or Bush's credibility? Good luck trying to answer that one.

B*nds has been indicted for lying to a grand jury and obstruction of justice. Hey very well could spend many years behind bars. My thought? Don't bet on it. There are two justice systems in this country - those who can afford the hired guns to get them off, and those who can't. This guy won't serve a day in jail.

I don't happen to buy into the argument that people like Barry Bonds or Michael Vick are both some sort of victims. If the government wishes to make an example out of these two - so be it. (Although, a small part of me does buy into the argument when it comes to race in the case of Bonds - why wasn't Mark McGuire pursued as doggedly as B*onds?)

When it comes to Vick, few things rankle me more than when I hear people say (like those idiotic cackling hens on The View, and yes, I'm talking to you, Whoppi Goldberg) that Vick is simply a product of his upbringing and environment in the south. That's the most absurd excuse I've heard yet for Vick's inexcusable behavior. After all, that very excuse didn't hold water for racism in the south (and rightfully so).

And black gold is exactly what it is - trading at around $100 per barrel now. We are all feeling it, and it's only going to get worse.

With every veto Bush issues in the face of a Democratic Congress, it further strengthens the argument that when Repubes ruled Congress, they merely rubber-stamped anything Bush wanted, most notably approving hundreds of billions for the War in Iraq. When the GOP ruled Congress, Bush didn't issue one veto, but now that Democrats are in charge of Congress, it seems as if Bush has a veto fetish. Unfortunately, Democrats have caved in the face of most of his vetoes, most notably funding for the Wart War in Iraq. But, they are taking another run at Bush - we'll see if they cave, or if Bush will. More on this in a bit.

This one is so true. I was in a CVS two weeks ago and there was a full compliment of Christmas gaudiness everywhere. I love Christmas, and it's one of my favorite holidays, but even I don't want to celebrate it for 2.5 months every year.

I wonder, though - is the fact that Christmas seems to have dawned just a bit earlier this year, and the fact that retailers seem more desparate than usual for our our depressed dollars another signification of the sorry state of our economy? It's a fair question.