The Republican National Committee is selling “I miss W” t-shirts. Really.
Category: free speech
Spirit of 2014
Editorial cartoonist Etta Hulme has died
Etta Hulme, the cartoonist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has died at the age of 90. Etta was a kickass cartoonist and a hoot in person. Although I haven’t see her for several years, she used to regularly attend our AAEC conventions. I can still picture her smile whenever she walked into the room. 
So much for Mission Accomplished
Islamic militants have captured several cities in Iraq, including Mosul and Tikrit, and are now threatening to take Baghdad. 
The Guardian has a live blog on developing events and BBC News a good piece on the Sunni-Shia divide throughout the Middle East
The Ugly American
America doesn’t like imperfect heroes. We want them to be a comforting stereotype- god fearing, flag waving, all-American character from a Hollywood movie script – instead of real people with real differences who represent more the ideal that the Founding Fathers envisioned.
Since Obama’s Rose Garden announcement of Sgt. Bergdahl’s release, the tone from Washington has completely changed. It’s not the prisoner swap for the 5 Taliban leaders that’s really bothering the politicians and the talking heads; it’s the different looking and different political beliefs of Bergdahl’s father that’s the true reason for the outrage.
On the father, Robert Bergdahl: “He has learned to speak Pashto, the language of the Taliban, and looks like a Muslim.”
Fox News host Bill O’Reilly
“I mean, he says he was growing his beard because his son was in captivity. Well, your son’s out now. So if you really don’t — no longer look like a member of the Taliban, you don’t have to look like a member of the Taliban. Are you out of razors?”
Fox morning show co-host Brian Kilmeade .
“…the sketchy ‘I’m-ashamed-to-be-American’ Sgt. Bergdahl”
Sarah Palin
“The Bergdahl family is creepy. Terrorist sympathizers”
-comment on Sarah Palin’s facebook page
70 years ago: D-Day
Today is the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, France. A couple of months ago I attended a cartoon conference at the Memorial de Caen and was given a tour some of the landing sites. It’s a very beautiful area with sweeping views of the ocean but standing there one can’t help feeling sadness, knowing what took place on the beaches and countryside. If you haven’t yet, read The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan.
(click for larger image)