One of the things I love best about living in Washington DC is the ability to just take a short walk down to the Mall and see the latest museum exhibition. My favorite ones (so far) were the Alexander Calder and Toulouse Lautrec exhibitions at the National Gallery of Art and the Jules Feiffer one at the Library of Congress.
Calder exhibition flyer
Lautrec exhibition flyer
Feiffer exhibition flyer
It never ceases to amaze me when people from the GW Bush administration offer their thoughts about current political events, completely oblivious to the irony of their words today with their role getting us into the Iraq War. Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and most members of the Cheney Family seem to do this on a regular basis…
From the archives (2006)
(click image for Washington Post animation)
I’ve mentioned this here before that I’m a firm believer in the Separation of Church and State. Not because of my religious beliefs or non-beliefs but because I think Separation of Church and State is the best way to ensure that all Americans have the freedom to worship (or not) without intimidation or threats.
I think the Court is missing the point about allowing prayer in government institutions when using the “coercion” argument. The issue isn’t whether or not the actual prayer praises or denigrates a particular faith- it’s whether there should be any prayers at all before a public town council meeting. How about a moment of silence? One could recite the Lord’s Prayer, offer praise to Allah, or just mentally go over your grocery list. I myself would welcome a moment of silence before having to listen to politicians start blabbering.
Just a few minutes ago the Supreme Court ruled that the town of Greece didn’t violate the Constitution by opening their council meetings with a Christian prayer. More on this later but here’s a related cartoon from 2001:
Today is World Press Freedom Day. When I do cartoons about the media I tend to concentrate on the American one and it’s usually to criticize (see previous post). However, there are many journalists throughout the world who are willing to put their lives in danger on a regular basis because they believe in what they do. A free press is indispensable for a free society; it must be protected.