Michael Jackson

A lot happened during the past week, but my American informants assure me that the death of Michael Jackson was what dominated their screens and riveted their Media interest.

With others around the world, I used the Internet to tune into a streaming video "feed" of the Memorial.

But as I watched, I couldn't shake the idea that no one had loved this talented and tormented person enough to get him into treatment. And the televised ceremony seemed, to me at least, to be an uncomfortable attempt to cleanse all of us of guilt ...even those of use who were just guilty of being amused and entertained by his increasingly bizarre and freakish appearance.

So what do YOU think?

Submit To:→Digg it   →del.icio.us   →Technorati Favorites

Presidential Commandments (1989)

Today's Golden Oldie is from June 07, 1989.

The previous Golden Oldie I posted was also from twenty years ago. It was called "Collision Course". The "story" was about having to face a cold, aloof, and angry American President who was set on a collision course with our tiny ship of state.

I must admit that I don't exactly remember what happened that summer of '89. But it read like a cliff-hanger and I wanted to see what happened next! So I found the next 'toon and put it up today. It's a King Solomon cartoon. I use him to represent the government of the Jewish State in a broader sense than the particular administration at the time.

The punchline that Bush is burning is more than a biblical joke about him being angry. The subtext is that his pronouncements are meant to be received by us as if they were commandments like those that were given on Mount Sinai.

Maybe I'll keep posting these Summer of '89 cartoons to see how it developed. What do you think?

Submit To:→Digg it   →del.icio.us   →Technorati Favorites

Iranian Repression

Today's cartoon, and the current repression in Iran, are expressions of "the Jews as the Canaries in the Coal Mine" syndrome.

The concept is that we are the first group to suffer the lethal effects of the poison spread by by repressive mass movements, but not the last. That, so the theory goes, makes us a convenient warning sign for others ...assuming that they're watching us being choked by the poison!

Submit To:→Digg it   →del.icio.us   →Technorati Favorites

Collision Course (1989)

Today's Golden Oldie is from 1989.

It was summer, twenty years ago. Then, our "Right Wing" Prime Minister was Yitzhak Shamir. The U.S. President who, back in 1989,intended to fix the Middle East by leaning on Israel and appeasing his oil-rich friends in the area was George H.W. Bush.

Yes, twenty years have gone by and another iceberg is looming on the horizon. And yes, we're headed on another "collision course".

Submit To:→Digg it   →del.icio.us   →Technorati Favorites

Obama's Filter

The digital world has opened up a flood of people to people communications. Blogs, which were cutting edge last week now seem almost staid and old-fashioned. And if there's a tsunami of info, how easy to delete stuff with a click of the mouse.

You'd think that Barack Obama, America's first "digital" President would have found a way to respond to the pitiful Internet calls for justice coming out of Iran ...other than hitting the delete key, that is.

Submit To:→Digg it   →del.icio.us   →Technorati Favorites

When Bernie Burned Us

Bernie Madoff' Ponzi scheme has left many of our charities, philanthropies, and NGO's in pieces. At a time when we could least afford it. Not having any advice to give, I decided to go for a laugh.

So did I get a chuckle out of you?

Submit To:→Digg it   →del.icio.us   →Technorati Favorites

Presidential Poker (1977)

Today's Golden Oldie is from May 30, 1977.

The Menahem mentioned in the first panel of the cartoon was Menahem Begin, Israel's then Prime minister. "Zbigie" (the off-screen kibbitzer) was Zbigniew Brzezinski ...who was, at the time, Jimmy Carter's national security adviser.

I did the cartoon when it became obvious that the American President had stepped in to negotiate for the Arab states. Sigh. As it was then, so it is now.

President Obama has been deluded into thinking that he can bring "Peace" by negotiating for the Arab states.

I wondered how he came to that disastrous conclusion ...until I discovered that Obama had chosen Zbigniew Brzezinski to advise him on Middle East policy!

Yikes!

Submit To:→Digg it   →del.icio.us   →Technorati Favorites