12/8/98
I've been swamped lately, working on this project for Saturday Night Live -- it's utterly astonishing how much work goes into producing something that's going to be on tv for about a minute and a half, probably at about 12:55 a.m., but that's another story -- so in lieu of a full journal update, here are some responses from the Great Voting Controversy ....
(To recap: A cartoon rejoinder to Biff's never voted (11-11-98) by my talented friend and colleague, Ted Rall. What do you readers think? Is it better to engage a clearly corrupt and unresponsive system in hopes of effecting some sort of change, or is voting an "evil and dumb" act which "only encourage them?" I posted this on the web page and said I would post some of the best replies in my journal.)
12/18/98
My god, what insane times. The first few times Clinton pulled this Wag the Dog shit, I thought, no, even I can't be *that* cynical -- but Jesus H. Christ, *every* time he gets in a sticky situation, the military bombs (or almost bombs) someone immediately. When the Lewinsky story first broke, the U.S. came close to bombing Iraq. Three days after Clinton finally 'fessed up last August, he sent the bombers out to take out an aspirin factory in Sudan. And on the eve of near-certain impeachment ... well, I don't need to reiterate the events of the last two days. This guy is pure evil. When he looks into the camera and assures us that national security is at stake -- how can anyone take him seriously, believe anything he's saying? And to fall back on that same old bullshit about Saddam Hussein placing his civilian population at risk, so that if we slaughter any civilians, it's actually their own fault ... it's maddening. As Howard Zinn points out, there *is* a country which has weapons of mass destruction and has demonstrated the willingness to use them -- and that would be the good old U.S. of A...
And yet, and yet ... the impeachment show trial continues. Clinton is going to be judged by the likes of Henry Hyde, a man who had a five year affair with a married woman, while he himself was married with kids. *Five years*, in his mid-forties, and he calls it a "youthful indiscretion." And according to the papers today, Bob Livingston also turns out to be eligible for the scarlet A.
Aaaargh. Try keeping up with this when you've got a single cartoon a week, which is usually mailed out nine days in advance. I've mailed out three cartoons this week alone (for the single cartoon spot I have in most papers) -- not sure which one you'll read where, but as of today, they're *all* out of date. AND I have to move my studio this weekend, and then I'm going away for Christmas ... so bear with me. I'll get a handle on this at some point.
EMAIL OF THE WEEK
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 12:33:59 -0800 Subject: No truth to the rumor...
BIPARTISAN DENIAL ISSUED TO COMIC STRIP MOTIVATION
WASHINGTON, DC (Reuters) -- In a rare show of bipartisan cooperation, strong denials were issued today by both the White House and by both parties in Congress regarding accusations that recent events in the Capital were merely part of a scheme to provide cartoonist Tom Tomorrow with generous amounts of material to fuel his comic strip, "This Modern World."
"Patently insane", a spokesperson for President Clinton remarked. It's not our job to provide fodder for some cartoonist we've never heard of." "We've seen this Tomorrow character's work," speaker Newt Gingrich echoed, "and we would never stoop to intentionally supplying him with a never-ending flood of mishaps, inconsistent thinking, idiocy and partisan hijinks for the purposes of a radical and irresponsible cartoon. Where would anyone get an idea like that?"
Several accounts have been circulating in the press that, given the events of the last few days, Tomorrow may be faced with converting the weekly strip to a daily just to try and keep up with the amount of material stacking up. While Tomorrow does not have children, he was seen Thursday muttering something about not being able to leave his "kids" alone for any amount of time. Tomorrow spokespenguin Sparky was unavailable for comment, recovering from severe neck strain while shaking his head in front of the teevee for the last 72 hours.