Cartoon #254: “Blanton Museum”

Less local than the previous cartoon, this is somewhat of a Texas story, from the standpoint of Texas’ status in the world of art museums.

This Saturday, April 29th, is the grand opening of the Blanton Museum of Art on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. It could have been a cutting-edge piece of architecture, but former Gov. Bill Clements, and other provincial Texans on the UT board of regents couldn’t get their minds around anything as radical as modern architecture. So much for keeping Austin weird.

So we ended up with a so-so art collection in a so-so building. In keeping with the rest of campus, the parking situation is best described as Byzantine. As the Blanton’s parking web page euphemistically puts it: “Here are a number of ways to easily park when visiting the Blanton.”

Cartoon #253: “PISD Track”

This is a local cartoon. Nobody ever said, “What happens in Pflugerville stays in Pflugerville.”

The April 27th Op-Ed in the Pflugerville Pflag will focus on the fact that PISD residents voted for $2,102,911 in bonds to redo the turf and tracks at three high schools, and now the public is not allowed to use the tracks nor the football fields for local events or just waking for fitness.

Cartoon #252: “McClellan Resignation”

President Bush announced the resignation of his second press secretary, Scott McClellan, this morning. During his tenure, it became obvious that McClellan was either lied to by his superiors in the White House, or that he willingly voiced the Bush administration’s lies to the press. That is... when he would answer questions at all without saying he “can't comment on an on-going investigation.”

Cartoon #251: “Special Session 2006”

Gov. Rick Perry’s latest legislative special session started on April 17. The session will be the third called session in two years in addition to the regular session. All ended in gridlock on school finance. Now the legislature is up against a Supreme Court deadline of June 1 to finally pass a school finance plan that is constitutional.

“Scary Movie 4” came in first in the weekend box office. Given the history of the Texas Legislature’s recent failures, this session looks like a sequel:

Perry appointed former state comptroller John Sharp, a Democrat, to draft the Governor’s new plan. Current state comptroller Carole Strayhorn, who is running against Perry as an independent candidate, has been publicly critical of his plan. Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, and House Speaker Tom Craddick, both Republicans, have disagreed with each other, and with Perry, on how exactly to lower property taxes while raising money for schools. If lawmakers do not meet the June 1 deadline, the state will be legally prevented from sending money to its 1,037 public school systems until lawmakers come up with a new system.

Called sessions last 30 days. That leaves time for a 5th attempt before the deadline. Scary.

Cartoon #150: “Rumsfeld Nuts”

I did this cartoon for the 60th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, which produced the famous quote by General Anthony McAuliffe in answer to German demands that he surrender.

As of April 13, 2006, a total of six retired generals had called for Defense Secretary Rumsfeld to resign. Major General Charles Swannack, commander of the 82nd Airborne in Iraq, and Maj. Gen. John Riggs joined the calls for Rumsfeld's resignation.

As of April 9, 2006, four retired U.S. generals had called for Rumsfeld’s resignation. Marine Corps Gen. Anthony Zinni first criticized Rumsfeld in April 2004. He was joined in recent weeks by retired Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold, Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, and Maj. Gen. John Batiste, who commanded the Germany-based 1st Infantry Division in Iraq. Opinion polls show public support eroding for the illegal U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Thought Bubble #46

Question for Gertrude Stein: When there, is there there there?

Cartoon #250: “Leaker-In-Chief”

Scooter Libby said U.S. President George W. Bush okayed leaks of secret CIA intelligence material. The statement from Libby, former senior aide to Vice President Cheney, came in a filing Wednesday by prosecutors in his perjury case. The statement puts the president for the first time at the center of the case that until now focused only on senior aides and Cheney.

The President has repeatedly denounced leaks and kept his distance from the scandal. Bush told reporters in 2003: “I don’t know of anybody in my administration who leaked classified information. If somebody did leak classified information, I’d like to know it, and we’ll take the appropriate action.”

Cartoon #249: “DeLay is Done”

Just before the late local news broadcasts of April 3, 2006, news broke that former Majority Leader Tom DeLay would not seek reelection. The following morning, DeLay announced his resignation from the United States House of Representatives. On September 28, 2005, a Travis County grand jury operating under Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle indicted DeLay for conspiring to violate Texas state election law stemming from issues dealing with his involvement in Texans for a Republican Majority.