Random Reagan Thought

Let me be the first to say it: the former president will likely die soon, and will unjustly be lauded as the man whose profligate spending brought down the Soviet Union and created the economic boom of the ’80s. Of course, neither of these assertions are true. The Soviet Union, as most experts will attest, had been economically undermined by the CIA for years–my favorite operation involved dumping millions of dollars in cash in Moscow restrooms to destabilize the ruble. If anything, Chernobyl was the final straw. As for the ’80s boom, what boom? Sure, a tiny percent of super rich enjoyed growing incomes during the decade, but the ’80s were a period of increasing disparity of wealth. Poor and middle-income people did not benefit under Reagan; quite the opposite.

Bottom line; Reagan was a stupid, vicious scoundrel who deserved prosecution for his role in Iran-Contra and October Surprise. He hurt America by turning its people against each other, by turning them selfish. He shan’t be missed, and he shouldn’t be mourned.

I’ll be away from the blog until Monday.

Today in Vegas

I’ll be signing my books and giving a talk with slides of my cartoons today in Las Vegas. The book signing is from noon to 12:30; the discussion starts at 3:15. You should also come see Tom Tomorrow, in the same place, at 1:45.

Location: Liberty Point Complex, 200-280 South Green Valley Parkway, Henderson, Nevada.

Washington DC Radio

I’ll be on Washington DC radio station WMAL, AM 630, tonight at 11 pm to discuss the censoring of cartoons, Aaron McGruder’s “Boondocks”, and “Doonesbury.”

Vegas Valley Book Festival

I’ll be speaking about and showing my cartoons, and answering questions, at the Vegas Valley Book Festival in Henderson NV tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 24th, from 1:00 to 2:30 at the CCSN West Charleston Campus, in the D Building Auditorium.

No, I have no idea where that is, but I’ll get there somehow.

Did I Call It or What?

Last week, on October 16th, I did a cartoon called “Presidential Swap Comics,” that guessed what would happen if GWB and FDR switched places, i.e., Bush was president at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack. So imagine my surprise to read that our own little Piehole went to visit Pearl Harbor his own bad self!

From the AP:

White House officials drew parallels between Japan’s sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 with al-Qaida’s attack against the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. The campaign against terrorism was the main theme of Bush’s Asian trip, and he reminded the world not to let down its guard.

Indeed, as I pointed out in my cartoon, had Bush been in FDR’s place he would have ignored the real threat – Japan – the same way Bush has ignored the real military threats to American security, the real Axis of Evil – Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, North Korea. Perhaps he would have attacked countries that, like Afghanistan and Iraq, posed no danger to us, and instead gone after Mexico and Bolivia. What a meathead – I still can’t believe his gang of dumb-as-rocks neocons has missed the opportunity presented by 9/11 to cozy up with Iran and Turkey – our natural allies in the Muslim world.

But that’s Bush for you – attack the meek, run away from the strong. A typical bully, and a damned dumb one at that.

The Complete Far Side

Behold, it is here: the ultimate collection of cartoons by Gary Larson, whose “Far Side” revolutionized comics. “The Far Side” brought irony, non-traditional drawing styles and dry wit to the daily comics pages and inspired a generation of cartoonists, including yours truly, to try new approaches to the form. And now, for a mere hundred bucks, you can own an OED-thick collection of every single Far Side strip, a thousand of which you’ve never seen in another collection.

Many of the previously uncollected strips aren’t quite as funny as the ones you’ve seen in the calendars, T-shirts and older collections. But they’re still damned great, and they provide a better-rounded picture of the strip and its artist than the “greatest hits.” And there are a few gems you probably haven’t seen.

I would never go so far as to call a book that weighs 22 pounds “essential,” but this one is about as close as it gets.

Oh, the Irony

From today’s Associated Press:

On Wednesday, [North Korea] branded as “a laughing matter” Bush’s offer of a written pledge from five countries not to attack if the communist nation scraps its nuclear weapons program.

En route to Australia, Bush reacted to Pyongyang’s dismissal with a shrug. “This requires a degree of patience,” Bush said during a 35-minute session with reporters aboard Air Force One. “Kim Jong Il is used to being able to deal unilaterally with the United States. The change in policy is that he must deal now with a number of nations.”

“He has been saying he wants a security guarantee. We’re all willing to sign some sort of document — not a treaty — that says `we won’t attack you.’ But he needs to abandon his nuclear program and do so in a verifiable way.”

“A degree of patience”? For a country that has nukes and has threatened to turn the West Coast of the United States into a feiry, irradiated pit?

Iraq, of course, didn’t have nukes. Didn’t threaten the U.S. Wasn’t a danger to us…at all. Which is why we attacked. Because, in the end, Bush is every bit as much of a goddamned coward as he was when he ducked the draft back in 1972.

An aside: Some conservatives have written me to ask why lefties–the term should be retired in favor of “people who can both read AND think”–didn’t hold Clinton accountable for his draft-dodging the way we’re all over Bush for his. Here’s the answer:

Because, dumbasses, Clinton dodged the draft for a war he was against. Bush dodged a draft he was for. It’s called hypocrisy.

Brian Lehrer Show, WNYC Radio, New York

If you’re in New York City and near a radio, you may want to know that I’ll be talking about my book “To Afghanistan and Back” and the war in Iraq with WNYC’s Brian Lehrer tomorrow morning, Wednesday, October 22nd, from 10:05 am to 10:25 am.

Went Back to Ohio…

…and had a great time. Thanks to Sally Windle and the students at Lima Senior High School for a look at a vibrant school populated by an intelligent and diverse student body. For the rest of you, I was there yesterday talking about my cartoons, showing some slides and enjoying a great back-and-forth during the Q&A session.

The only sad moment for me was talking to an aspiring art student who came back from a visit to an art school in Pennsylvania dejected, not because he didn’t get in – he did – but because he couldn’t afford the tuition. Something’s very wrong with a country that allows its young people’s dreams to be shattered for lack of money…especially since we have no lack of money.

The Curious Tale of Khalid Sheikh Mohammad

As the Administration’s tangled web of Iraq war lies unravels, today’s government-sourced report that Al Qaeda official/CIA prisoner Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, doubtlessly hanging upside down in some stinking cell somewhere in South Asia minus a substantial amount of blood, murdered Wall Street Journal Danny Pearl surely rates a mention for the questions that it provokes.

Like:

Since when is the CIA authorized to hold prisoners? Why hasn’t Mohammad, if he was really involved in planning 9/11, been charged in a US court? Why not a military tribunal? What about the extreme likelihood that the US government is torturing the poor bastard? Or are we no longer a nation of laws?

And:

Could it be that the Bushies, unable to lay their greasy paws on Osama or Saddam, have decided to inflate the purported importance of the second-tier Al Qaeda prisoner they DID manage to snare?

For all we know, the very same guy who planned 9/11 for Osama is the same guy who slit Danny Pearl’s throat. Who knows? Anything’s possible. But that’s the point: we don’t know what’s going on because our government, paid by our taxes, refuses to tell us.

This ain’t America, folks. What it is, I’m not sure I wanna know.