ipad

With the launch of the ipad, we've entered a new era...of distraction.

Carpe Diem

Officials from the Great Lake states are concerned about Asian carp (an invasive fish species that can grow up to 5 times the size of other carp) invading Lake Michigan, and eating the natural aquatic wildlife out of house and home. Commercial fishing is a multi-billion dollar industry on Lake Michigan alone and tourism that the lakes generate is a god-sent to struggling rust belt states like Michigan.

Several governors and attorney generals from the Midwest are asking for a summit at the White House to address the issue. The President, whose hometown of Chicago could stop the invasion by sacrificing some shipping lanes and closing some locks, seems remarkably unconcerned about the issue.

YouToon

Here is this week's Youtoon, send me your funny captions.

State of the State

Tonight is Governor Doyle's final State of the State Address.


I don't expect him to say anything earth-shattering or fess up to the many mistakes he's made dealing with the state's budget mess.

On a separate note, I really enjoy drawing the politicians behind Doyle during the state of the state. I think they should be holding signs that say "hi mom."

The Cost of Speech

On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations and unions can now directly fund campaign ads. This flawed conclusion stems from the flawed premise that money is equal to speech, and limiting somebody's ability to spend money on a campaign limits the fundamental right for the super wealthy to speak.

Current campaign finance laws limiting spending don't keep anyone from speaking or voicing their opinion, they simply limit how much money you can spend to make that opinion heard. The first amendment promises a right to voice political viewpoint, but it doesn't give corporations the right to make us listen to them.

As the cartoon suggests, I'm worried that individual voices and opinions will be drowned out by the deluge of corporate and union money on political campaigns.

I ended up drawing this cartoon on the fly and super fast. I drew a cartoon on a change to campaign finance rules in Wisconsin, that became irrelevant after the supreme courts ruling Thursday morning. I drew this cartoon in about 2 hours on Friday afternoon, in time for Sunday's paper.

Welcome Home Troops

Over 3200 Wisconsin National Guardsman have returned home from a tour of duty in Iraq. I hope that the liberals in Madison will work as hard to make them feel welcomed and help them transition to civilian as they work to end the war.

The reproduction of the cartoon in today's paper was pretty crappy. I likely need to talk to somebody at the Wisconsin State Journal to make sure my cartoons look as good in the paper as they do on the page in front of me.

Boston Tea Party

Here is a cartoon I finished earlier today on the election in Massachusetts. I thought this was a pretty good image to go the message of the cartoon, and I'm actually kind of surprised I haven't seen more cartoonists with similar ideas.

I really enjoyed drawing the ship. It's a combination of a bunch of vessels I saw online, but it turned out quite nice and has the right feel to it.

Haiti

This was another cartoon I did on the tragedy in Haiti. I think this is pretty nice and simple image. While there have been some reports of violence, it sounds the people of Haiti are amazingly resilient.

Good luck to the survivors. Our thoughts and prayers are with every Haitian.

Tragedy in Haiti

As if Haiti didn't have enough problems, now the capital has be devastated by a massive earthquake.

Road Kill equity

This is a topic that seems like it was made for an editorial cartoon. The state legislature wants people to be able to tag and take home their roadkill. Currently only deer can be tagged and taken home after getting run over.

My editor thought the truck was too high. I think it's funny. I guess all of my vehicles are driven in Hazard county.

Packers Lost

The Packers got knocked out of the first round of the playoffs. The team scored 45 points and mounted a valiant if unsuccessful second half comeback. But they were sloppy with football and the defense was ineffective. That is not the way to play football the Lombardi way.

YouToon

Here is this week's YouToon. Please share your funny captions.

Recent Cartoons

Here are some recent editorial cartoons.

Obama is not worried about Asian Carp destroying the great lakes habitat.
Traffic deaths are the lowest since the government rationed gas in 1944 during WWII. 545 people died on Wisconsin last year. That's down from the highs in the 1970s when over 10,000 people on Wisconsin roads yearly. The numbers are even more dramatic when you consider that today there are over 5.6 million people in Wisconsin. There were only 4.4 million Wisconsin residents in the 1970s and fewer than 3.1 million Cheeseheads in 1944. Keep these stats in mind the next time somebody tries to reminisce about the good old days before car seats and seat belts and everything turned out alright.
Gubernatorial candidate Mark Neumann has thrown out some unlikely proposition of imposing term limit on all of the Wisconsin's elected officials. It's just a ploy to get attention for himself. Even if he were elected governor, he would have no power to impose term limits on the State lawmakers. Only lawmakers have the authority to put themselves out a job. And that's real likely to happen.

Icy Madison Roads

Wisconsin State Senator Glenn Grothman is putting together a bill that would put the state government in charge of plowing and de-icying Madison's roads. The bill comes in response to the city's inability to get the roads clear after a massive storm dumped over 15 inches of snow in the capital region. Freezing temperatures ensued and through a series of poor decision by city officials, the major arteries in Madison remained nearly impassible for several days after the storm.

Grothman blamed the liberals in the city whose constituency is made up of "people who walk to their job at the co-op." Obviously, Grothman has a sense of humor about the topic which is good, because his proposal is a joke.

Not only does this bill by a Republican have almost no chance of passing both democrat-controlled houses in Maidson, but I doubt the state would do a better job of getting the streets cleared. It was only last winter when incompetence by the state Department of Transportation left hundreds of motorist stranded on I-90 after a snowstorm.

The city made mistakes handling the storm, and amazingly has admitted to those mistakes and put in place in policies to reform those mistakes. Grothman's bill is mostly blusterous hot air.

New Years resolution

Happy New Year.

Here is a resolution that I'd like to see our state Supreme Court Justices make. The real tragedy is that they have to reform their rotten behavior in the first place.