Category: politics
Town of Greece v Galloway
Yesterday the Supreme Court heard arguments over the question of public prayers at town board meetings in Greece, NY. Chris Christie and other election results dominated the news but it will be interesting to see how the Court ultimately rules. Here’s a few photographs from outside the court:
Virginia Gubernatorial Race- Election Day
It’s Election Day in Virginia. The republicans have managed yet again to offer the voters a candidate out of touch with so many Americans, especially women. Ken Cuccinelli, a staunch anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, social far-right gubernatorial candidate for the GOP is still behind Terry McAullife, but the numbers are tightening.
*UPDATE: Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe wins, but it was a tighter race than most predicted.
Drones and civilian deaths
I’m just shaking my head…
“Actually, IDGAS how many. Killing potential enemies is messy”
That was a facebook comment in response to my current animation about human rights groups challenging the Obama Administration over the number of civilian deaths due to drone strikes. Ok, so even if one can’t feel simple human compassion for the deaths of non-Americans, I can’t understand how these people don’t see the impact these strikes have on our standing in the international community. Seems like it would just make the job of “killing potential enemies” harder.
One bad heart away from the presidency
Sundays are one of my regular deadline days. It’s the toughest one for me, especially if it’s a beautiful sunny day and everyone around me is still in weekend mode. I suppose I could do the animation on Friday but I like to watch the Sunday morning news shows to see if there’s some interesting audio to use. However, this past Sunday wasn’t difficult to focus because 60 Minutes was running an interview with Dick Cheney and if any of you are familiar with my print work, the former vice-president is one of my favorite targets. I’m pretty sure I’ve done more cartoons over my career about Cheney than even GW Bush during his two terms.
60 Minutes is on at 7pm in my time zone, so I couldn’t wait until then to come up with the idea but there was a short video clip from the upcoming show circulating online. Most written pieces highlighted that Cheney and his doctor decided to shut off the wireless capability of the implanted defibrillator because of a potential terrorist hacking threat, but I found Cheney’s terse answers to questions about his health problems more interesting. I didn’t know this but apparently studies show that people with severe heart disease can also suffer from memory loss, depression, impaired cognition, and a decline in decision making abilities. Great-the guy who is second in line to the presidency and more than likely the major decision maker in going to war in Iraq can’t differentiate between Saddam Hussein and the guy who ordered the attacks on September 11, 2001.
Dick Cheney’s heart
In an upcoming “60 Minutes” interview, former Vice President Dick Cheney said he had his doctor disable the wireless function of his implanted defibrillator because he was concerned terrorists could hack into the device. I have a feeling Cheney wasn’t only concerned about terrorists when he made this decision.