The Artist's Statement Project; Part 2

This kind of Artist statement represents a collection of artworks, rather than just one. Seniors and Independent-Study Art students should do this if they are preparing a portfolio to submit to art colleges or university Art departments.

People who like an artist’s work generally want to know more about the artist. Artist statements are effective marketing tools. It helps make a connection between the artist and their audience. In putting your art into words you might also find that some of your ideas which didn’t entirely make sense to you become more concrete. Your writing might even open new paths in your thinking and take you in new artistic directions.

This definitely worked for me.

Artist’s Statement for a Body of Work

CIVICS; Faces in History

INTRODUCTION & OVERVIEW

When I began teaching 8th grade Civics in 2011, I wanted to decorate my classroom in a way that would be patriotic and engaging. I also wanted to reassure students that it was okay that an Art teacher was teaching a Social Studies class (I have a double-major in K-12 Art and 7-12 Social Studies). Over the last two decades of teaching, I’ve frequently drawn on presidents and other historic figures for drawings and paintings. I simply gathered them up and hung them up. That first year I even had students try to name as many of the people featured in the paintings on a worksheet for extra credit!

THEME & CONCEPT

Benjamin Franklin has an amazing line in the Broadway musical 1776. John Adams, fighting to keep a statement opposing slavery from being removed from a draft of the Declaration of Independence warns Franklin that if they don’t address issue of slavery from the onset, posterity will never forgive them. In an effort to get Adams to compromise with delegates from the South, Franklin tells him, “That's probably true, but we won't hear a thing, we'll be long gone. Besides, what would posterity think we were? Demi-gods? We're men, no more no less, trying to get a nation started against greater odds than a more generous God would have allowed.”

A basic premise of democracy is that leaders are servants of the people who elect them. The promise of America has always been that any kid could grow up to be President. What fascinates me about great men as a Civics teacher, as an artist, and as a citizen, is that they’re just men. Perhaps of great ability, power and experience, but never the less just men. Full of faults, imperfections, vulnerabilities and personalities. My hope is always to portray the faces of Presidents and protest leaders as human faces. Faces that could be your cousin or uncle or neighbor or friend. I hope whether its Truman or Gandhi or Lincoln, that viewers can see that there is a real person behind the face.

HIGHLIGHTS & PROMINENT PIECES

The Two Cowboys Two paintings which I tend to hang next to each other are an 8”x 8” oil on panel of Arizona Republican Senator Barry Goldwater and a 14”x18” gouache on canvas of Texas Democrat, President Lyndon Johnson. The paintings contrast each other not only in size and format but also in mood and style. Goldwater is more detailed and has more angles. He’s also more comfortable and confident. Whereas Johnson has more swooping curves and seems almost unfinished. Meanwhile his face seems more weary and jaded. These two paintings in many ways reflect many of the differences and tensions in our country.

BULLY! One of my all time favorite works is a 9”x12” tempera on matte board, monochromatic, orange,  impressionistic interpretation of Progressive/Republican President Teddy Roosevelt. This was painted quickly based on a photograph of the president laughing heartily. I think it captures the exuberant personality that Roosevelt was known for. Since we share a first name, I’ve always had a special affinity to him and with this painting.

KING This acrylic on paper in teals and black started a long relationship for me with Martin Luther King. I’ve always been an admirer of the activist and have tried several times over the years to paint him. Two or three oil pastel paintings haven’t made me as happy as this earlier work. A couple of years ago, I managed a larger, more detailed and developed piece which I gave as a wedding present to a friend who lives in Washington D.C. This early painting is more close-up, more intimate and probably better reveals the worry, sacrifice, deep intelligence and seriousness of his cause. Like the Teddy Roosevelt painting, this is one that has become an old friend. I think I’d like to have it hanging in whatever office, studio or classroom I occupy as long as I’m teaching, writing or painting.

STYLE & AESTHETICS

I never realized that I even had a style of my own until I hung several of my paintings together on the wall of my Art classroom this Fall. Looking at nineteen years of paintings I’d done with classes or as examples for classes, it finally manifest itself to me. It may may just be my own Attention Deficit Disorder, messiness or stubbornness- but my work seems to be very passionate, expressive and maybe just a little rough-hewn. I’d like to think that  I’m a shaggy lummox like a bison or a bear. Unkempt yet majestic. Simultaneously humble yet proud. Inglorious with dignity. In other words, quintessentially American.

INFLUENCES

Art History students and aficionados can probably recognize the influence of the neoexpressionism of the 1970’s and 80’s. I’m not sure if this is because that was the era in which I grew up or if its because of the strong German expressionist influence on my professors at Concordia College in Seward, Nebraska.

If I had to name my favorite painters, I’d probably rattle off names of pop artists like Wayne Thiebaud and Jasper Johns; the venerable regionalist Grant Wood, and Native American master John Nieto. But my work doesn’t really seem to look like any of theirs. Frankly I think my paintings remind me more of Jules Feiffer, Johnny Hart and Bill Mauldin. That’s probably because from ages 12-38 it was my dream to someday make it as a professional cartoonist.

Years ago a student told me that I teach History classes like their Art classes and my Art classes like they were Social Studies. So maybe I get my wired crossed a lot because I can definitely see how my cartoons are influenced by Grant Wood and Wayne Thiebaud and my paintings are more like Bill Mauldin or maybe even Charles Schultz or Matt Groening.

PROCESS TECHNIQUE & RATIONALE

Students who watch me painting often say something like “how do you DO that?!!”

Inevitably the teacher in me wants to either painstakingly explain to them the process of observing, analyzing, comparing and contrasting visual-spatial placement and proportions and then recording those observations and analysis. But I  know it would bore them to death.

That same teacher in me also wants to point out every single flaw in my painting, hypercritically explaining how their awe is misplaced because of how weak my technique is or how inaccurate the features are compared to the photograph I’m using. But I hate to devalue their experience, even if I don’t think I deserve whatever admiration they’ve just given me.

So I encourage them by offering that “you can do it too, you just have to keep practicing and listen to what I try to teach you,” yet not bother revealing all of my magician’s secrets.

Ultimately it is a sort of alchemy. Certainly there’s the trained artist’s way of perceiving and translating those perceptions into visual language, but there’s also a great deal of responding to and expressing about the subject matter. What they mean to me and how I feel about them. What I admire or disdain.

Too be sure, its not just about the artist and the subject. The painting itself makes its own decisions too, just like our children do. Or in this case maybe a better analogy would be to say that sometimes politicians break party-ranks and vote their own conscience (something I admire about Teddy Roosevelt).

Finally, you the viewer, bring your own experience to every painting too. Eighth graders who have no idea who Goldwater, Johnson or Roosevelt were often have vastly different reactions to my paintings than adults.

So there are four of us collaborating on each painting; artist, subject, painting, and viewer- each lobbying for our own interests. Hopefully we all make compromise and meet somewhere other than where our preconceptions would’ve taken us alone. That’s in the nature of democracy too, isn’t it? Together, whether in tension or harmony, we’re something very different than any of us would be left to our own devices. E Pluribus Unum, from many- one. Long may it be so.

Yes, I do blame W.

Obama kept us from slipping into a worse depression than the 1930's but Republicans keep blaming our economy on him. They want make Obama and Democrats look like whiners for blaming it on Bush. HELLO??? Are we whiners for blaming the tides on the moon or sunburn on spending too much time outside without sunscreen?

• Massive irresponsible tax cuts for the richest 2%
• Which were not rescinded after the worst terrorist attack in history
• Which was used as an excuse for a massive, unprovoked invasion of a country totally unresponsible for those attacks
• Which raised the deficit and the debt even though it was paid for off the books
• Which put Social Security, Medicare, & Medicaid in jeopardy
• Which we ARE "entitled" to because WE pay for it through payroll deductions
• MEANWHILE gross negligence and probably collusion in the name of ideological deregulation allowed massive speculation and misleading and unethical practices in the financial and mortgage sectors.

WHADDYA MEAN this is all Obama's fault? How can you possibly NOT recognize that it was the fault of George W Bush's policies and his administration?

Am I frustrated with Obama's not being able to bring about ALL the change and hope he inspired in the last election? A little, until I remember the deliberate, overt, and coordinated efforts at obstruction by Republicans. Senate Majority Leader McConnell and Rush Limbaugh made no secret that the primary goal of the right was to block the President and make him fail. Too bad that that effects ALL of us, the entire nation. How is it that this kind of choosing party over the "general welfare" and "more perfect union" not considered treasonous? 

Worst of all is how they accuse Obama of being negative and divisive when that's been THEIR propaganda strategy since at least 1988! Every time he bent over backwards, capitulated and genuflected to try to find consensus- Speaker Boehner and the radical Congeress refused to budge, instead claiming that compromise was weak and immoral.

Even if I didn't agree with, appreciate, or appreciate what President Obama's policies, accomplishments, and objectives- I'd admire him just for putting up with them.

Almost there

I'm not quite sure what else I need. I don't want to go too far, but it hasn't told me that it's finished yet.

Day Three

It will be interesting to see where this painting takes me tomorrow. I know that it's not where it needs to be just yet. I know his eyes need to be darker. At least I'm getting some serious layers, range, contrast, and density- these are what a monochromatic painting should demonstrate. Check in tomorrow afternoon to see what happens.

Obama should look to Franklin D. Roosevelt, not Abraham Lincoln

I'll be honest, I took this from Thom Hartman's blog http://campaign.constantcontact.com

In his Madison Square Garden Speech on October 31, 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt showed the spirit that President Obama needs today. Obama is facing the results of a Republican depression like Roosevelt, not a revolution like Lincoln.

"We have not come this far without a struggle and I assure you we cannot go further without a struggle.

"For twelve years this Nation was afflicted with hear-nothing, see-nothing, do-nothing Government. The Nation looked to Government but the Government looked away. Nine mocking years with the golden calf and three long years of the scourge! Nine crazy years at the ticker and three long years in the breadlines! Nine mad years of mirage and three long years of despair! Powerful influences strive today to restore that kind of government with its doctrine that that Government is best which is most indifferent.

"For nearly four years you have had an Administration which instead of twirling its thumbs has rolled up its sleeves. We will keep our sleeves rolled up.

"We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace - business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering.

"They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.

"Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me and I welcome their hatred.

"I should like to have it said of my first Administration that in it the forces of selfishness and of lust for power met their match. I should like to have it said of my second Administration that in it these forces met their master."

King needs history lesson about New Deal

From the Omaha World Herald; MIDLANDS VOICES
Facts are against New Deal’s foes

BY JIM BECHTEL

The writer, of Omaha, teaches at a local community college. He holds a master’s degree in modern American history.

In a Feb. 6 Midlands Voices essay, U.S. Rep. Steve King, (R) ­Iowa, echoes claims made by Wall Street Journal editors and Public Pulse writers: The New Deal is a bad model for Presi­dent Barack Obama’s recovery program because it failed. This is untrue.
Historian David McCullough warns that amnesia is as harm­ful for a country as it is for an individual. Let’s remember the realities.

In the first place, the New Deal consisted of many parts, including bank deposit insur­ance (there were 4,004 bank failures the year before it be­gan, zero the year after), Social Security, unemployment com­pensation, accessible Federal Housing Administration mort­gages, a minimum wage and the Glass-Steagall Act, which sepa­rated risky investment banking from commercial banking. (This was later rescinded, to our current misfortune.) Because it was so successful, the New Deal was overwhelm­ingly endorsed by Americans the first chance they had. In the 1934 midterm elections, the Re­publican Party suffered its worst defeat since its founding. Some haven’t gotten over it.

Then, as now, collapse meant private investment had dried up, so public investment had to fill the gap. Public workers built New York City’s Tribo­rough Bridge and Lincoln Tun­nel and the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. They went to work on 2,500 hos­pitals, 45,000 schools, 13,000 parks and playgrounds, 7,800 bridges, 700,000 miles of roads and a thousand airfields.
The University of Nebraska at Omaha has a grand old build­ing, built by the Works Pro­gress Administration, that is still in use three-quarters of a century later. Now called Arts and Sciences Hall, you can see it at the northeast corner of the campus as you drive down Dodge Street.

It’s ironic that the South has become the core of the Republi­can base. History texts note that the modern South was born as a result of New Deal pro­grams. For example, the Ten­nessee Valley Authority, cham­pioned by Nebraska’s own U.S. Sen. George W. Norris, brought progress to many parts of Ap­palachia. Cheap electricity from its hydroelectric plants sparked the rebirth of Mem­phis, Tenn., and Atlanta.

With millions of workers re­building the nation’s infra­structure, as President Obama proposes doing, the unemploy­ment rate dropped by nearly 43 percent [I had "an average of five perect a year"] from 1933 to 1937! This is a simple fact of record.

Now, unemployment did bounce back up in 1937 when President Franklin D. Roose­velt, listening to conservatives, thought the economy had re­covered enough that he could cut social programs. This “turn to the right,” as it has been called, taught him a lesson. He resumed the stimulus pro­grams, and unemployment re­sumed its steady downward march.

Congressman King claims that the Depression was the “result” of the New Deal. This defies logic: A “result” must, by definition, come after its cause. The New Deal was launched in response to 25 percent unem­ployment. You can rewrite his­tory, but you can’t make time run backward. As the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan used to say, everyone is entitled to his own opinions, but not to his own facts.

And yet, right-wing publi­cists like Amity Shlaes persist in claiming the New Deal failed. How do they get away with it? Simple. They say “tem­porary jobs in emergency pro­grams” don’t count. That is, if your paycheck came from the WPA, then building that grand old structure at UNO was somehow not a “real” job.

Never mind increased pride in being usefully employed or the new shoes for the kids and the food on the kitchen table. Forget the grocer’s smile; ig­nore the decrease in human suffering. The jobs must be erased from history because they fly in the face of fervently held ideological dogmas about supply-side economics.

It seems like the obstruction­ists in Congress would rather sacrifice the common good to their “Invisible Hand” mythol­ogy and subordinate the public interest to partisanship.

End of Supply-Side selfishness and short-sightedness?

"Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age...

...I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: They will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things (1 Corinthians 13:11). The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness." ~BHO Inaugural address Jan 20, 2009

In other words, it's time to stop being selfish and short sighted and "Man-up," put on our "big-boy pants" and start looking out for our common best interest, not our personal comfort. High time. I say to this Amen.

Steve King would be rolling over in his grave, if he were dead

An Inaugural special

How ya like me now?

I know this is three or more months old, but when I read it I thought it was really cool. He's always been one of my favorite country singers (and song writers) but I have to admit, after 9/11 I leaned more toward Alan Jackson's "were you there" than to Toby's "but an American boot up your ass."

Toby Keith Praises Obama, Says He's A Democrat

RYAN PEARSON | August 19, 2008

Barack Obama is getting praise from Nashville, courtesy of one big, patriotic country star.

Toby Keith, perhaps best known to non-country audiences for his post-Sept. 11 song "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue," says he's a Democrat, and was impressed by the senator from Illinois.

Keith has said in the past that the 2002 song _ which included lines aimed at the Taliban like "we lit up your world like the Fourth of July" _ was more patriotic than pro-war.

Asked while promoting his new movie "Beer For My Horses" about the role of patriotism in the current presidential election, Keith replied: "There's a big part of America that really believes that there is a war on terrorism, and that we need to finish up.

"So I thought it was beautiful the other day when Obama went to Afghanistan and got educated about Afghanistan and Iraq. He came back and said some really nice things.

"So as far as leadership and patriotism goes, I think it's really important that those things have to take place. And I think he's the best Democratic candidate we've had since Bill Clinton. And that's coming from a Democrat."

Come let us reason together

I got another one of those emails this morning that claim that Obama is not just a Muslim, but also the Antichrist. This time I think my response is a little less vitriolic, tying to "speak the truth in love," and as usual, hit "reply all." This time someone send me back another email saying "I don't need to be preached to." Ever hearing and never listening, whatchyagonna do? But God says that His Word will not return to Him empty. People will believe what they want to believe. God help us.


"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear..."
~1 John 4:18

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me." ~Jesus (John 14:1)

You want to vote against someone because of their stance on taxes, abortion, or the war, by all means, it is you duty to vote your conscience, but please, don't let your vote be decided by desperate last minute rumors and lies driven by fear or anger.

An anti-Christ is anyone who takes attention away from the true Christ.

Check out 1 John 4:1-3 (the same John who wrote Revelation)

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world."

Obama publicly acknowledges Jesus as his Lord and savior.

Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit." ~1 Cor 12:3

Please, prayerfully consider what emails you send, and what you believe and who (and in what spirit) they sent it to you. Or at least please take me off of your list of people you forward these things to.

I for one am praying that God will heal our country from the huge rifts being caused by how polarizing this year's election has become.

"But I tell you:Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" ~Matthew 5:44

Seems to me that whether your perceived enemy are Liberals, Democrats, Obama, or Muslims or Muslim extremists, our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces and the way to take captive hearts and thoughts is not by traditional dirty politics or letters to the editor or angry emails, but by prayer and by turning the other cheek, going the extra mile, giving them the cloack off our back (Matt 5:38-48)

In Jesus' hands and with His love and peace (Philippians 4:7)
Your brother in Christ and fellow American who respectfully disagrees with you.

Crass comment cuts off debate

In case you didn't hear, last week Rev. Jesse Jackson was waiting to be interviewed on FOX and whispered his frustrations with Presidential Candidate Barrack Obama, including a pretty graphic and gruesome description of how he'd like to neuter the Illinois Senator.

It really is unfortunate that the focus from the left will be that Fox is practicing shabby journalism and that the focus from the right will be that Jackson must be a hypocrite for using such vulgar language while complaining that a Black political leader would encourage personal morality and responsibility in the Black community.

It's sad because one of the important differences between Republicans and Democrats is the emphasis of the right on individual morality (sexual orientation, drug use, abortion) and the emphasis of the left on collective/societal morality (justice, poverty, war, corporate and government responsibility, environmental stewardship).

Both are legitimate and both are important, but both sides seem to argue past each other, discount each other's concerns and even accuse each other of being somehow amoral or even immoral when in fact both camps are have deeply held "values."

As someone who majored in History at a Lutheran university, as someone who's faith and country are both very important to him, I think that these is things which we need to be able to discuss openly and civilly.

Recently a prominent Black pastor commented on this balance (or imbalance):

"My appeal was for the moral content of his message to not only deal with the personal and moral responsibility of black males, but to deal with the collective moral responsibility of government and the public policy which would be a corrective action for the lack of good choices that often led to their irresponsibility,"

This pastor's concern is that lecturing people that they need to be better parents or get a job or stay away from drugs or stop listening to Gansta Rap isn't needed as much as addressing the problems of institutional racism, housing and job discrimination and the failures of education and government to provide equal opportunity to minorities. You may not agree with him, but in essence, he's saying, "stop picking at the specks in other people's eyes and worry about the log in our collective national eye (Matthew 7:1-6)."

One side wants to prevent abortions, the other wants to help parents be able to afford to keep and care for the babies they have. One side wants to incarcerate young men who commit crime or sell or use drugs, while the other wants to provide a better education and a better chance for those young men to get a decent job and feel valued by and involved in something other than a gang.

One side is reactive, the other side would like to be proactive. One side wants to prohibit sin, the other wants to actively do good. Both have their own idea of how to make "Thy kingdom come."

It's a never ending debate. Way back in the 16 and 1700's political philosopher John Locke believed that all men were created equal and capable of self government while Thomas Hobbes believed that we're all selfish and in conflict and need to be governed forcibly. Both sides are partly right but both sides are missing half the picture.

Whichever side you agree with, it's about time that we recognize that the James Dobsons and John Haggees do not represent ALL Christian thinking. Not all liberals and progressives are atheists bent on debasing all our traditions. I'll betchya anything that when you die and go to Heaven, youíll be surprised by how many different political viewpoints are represented by the other people there.

Both Republican Mike Hukabee and Democrat Obama have shown that Christians are concerned about more issues than white, Fundamentalist Southern Baptist extremists may like to admit. Of course we also have to be careful to not assume that the likes of Jesse Jackson and Jeremiah Wright represent all Black people let alone all Black Christians.

Like it or not, if Jesus were here today, he'd probably be cavorting with freaks and sinners (Mark 2:14-17). Granted that's not to say that He'd condone any of their sin, but I for one think that His grace, love and forgiveness are messier than Jerry Fawell's Moral Majority would approved of.

The new, younger faith talk focuses on helping the community (Matthew 25:39-46), whereas the traditional "family values" talk of the last 30 years or so has been much more focused on how America is going to Hell in a hand-basket (Romans 1:18-32).

It's too bad that we can't "come reason together (Isaiah 1:18)" and find out how we can work together instead of accusing each other of being bad, wrong, evil, or a tool of the Devil all the time. I know, I know, who am I to talk when I draw cartoons like last week's that throw Dr. Dobson's words about Obama back at him? But that's what cartoonists do.

That pastor who made the statement about wanting Obama to deal with "collective moral responsibility?" ... Jesse Jackson.

If only he had had the manhood to say it that way BEFORE Fox caught him saying it in such a base, offensive manor, maybe then he could've castrated the arguments of his opponents instead of emasculating his own credibility.

Another quote that may be read in history books

"America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past. Our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love.

The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth. This was the moment—this was the time—when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves and our highest ideals."

~Sen Barack Obama, 6/3/2008

Happy St. Pat's

May your St. Patrick's day be filled with Audacious Hopes!

Confession is good for the soul

It’s hard for me to be hopeful. I am Winnie the Pooh’s friend Eeyore the donkey I wish I were more upbeat, but I just have so much cynicism, that I can’t overcome my skeptical, critical, bitter, melancholy nature. This drove my wife crazy at Disneyland.

I tell you this because I want to join the hope band wagon, I really do, but I have to tell you, I’ve had this tremendous fear that the forces of nature have a way of squelching hope, no matter how audacious.

That was yesterday, but today, hope springs eternal. Like a daffodil breaking through the snow, I was given a glimpse of a glimmer of that light of liberty on that torch that John Kennedy once spoke of as being passed between generations.

I received a confession from a repentant sinner that hinted that our once glorious democracy could find redemption. I received an email.

It was an email from a young Iowan living in Washington D.C.

“Can I just say that I am so disgusted with this race and so ready for it to be over?” My friend began, then the confession came, “I have gone from admiring Clinton for being such a strong, independent, and smart woman, to wishing that she would just admit defeat and give the Democratic Party time to heal before the general election.”

I hear ya, I hear ya. The now infamous "is Obama a Muslim" libelous viral email? According to the Huffington Post it was sent out, not by some right wing nut case racist, but by an Iowa county chair volunteering for the Clinton campaign.

“From what I understand from all the analysis being done and articles being written,” my friend continued, “the only way she can win is to be cunning and manipulative wooing superdelegates to her side and reinstating the Michigan and Florida delegates.”

That’s what they say. The “Delegate Math” just doesn’t add up for Hillary. She’d have to win all of the remaining primaries and caucuses by wide margins to win without Michigan, Florida or superdelegates.

I’ve tried to compare superdelegates to the Senate and legitimately elected delegates are the House of Representatives, but that may be too generous. Basically back in the 70s when the caucuses and primaries became more important to electing a party representative, the party power players in the smoke-filled rooms wanted to hold on to some vestige of power, thus 20% of the party convention delegates are uncommitted, VIPs like Senators and Governors.
Oh, don’t get too sanctimonious about it Republicans, you have them too. You just don’t call them “superdelegates.” You have 463 unpledged delegated who play the same role as the superdelegates. They are there to ensure that a tie, or at least post-third round voting, doesn’t make the party look like a joke. Of course, it’s back-firing. Superdelegates seem to be making a joke out of the Democrats and the convention is months away.

“At this point, it seems that she is out to win this for herself with no regard for what is best for the party and for the country,” my friend complained. “It's a bit disgusting.”

One conspiracy theory suggest that she wants McCain to win, do poorly for four years, so that she can run again in 2012, whereas if she concedes to Barack, it may be eight years before she can run again.

“I wish that I had supported Obama,” my friend shared with me, “and hope that I get the chance to vote for him in November, It's hard to spit those words out, but it's good for me to be reconciled with this error and the guilt I feel.”

That’s the difference between us “bleeding hearts” and people with no conscience. Do you think that the 8-10% of Hillary's voters in Texas who were just following Rush Limbaugh’s orders feel guilty? Do you think they have regrets?

The very fact that my friend, and I do consider all Hillary supporters friends, repentant or not, the fact that this friend can see the error of their ways gives me hope.

God knows if Hillary actually manages to purloin the Democratic nomination it will either turn another generation off to politics or spawn an angry change movement. How sad that the Clintons, who got started in politics to oppose the politics of usual of the Johnson/Nixon era have become what they once held in such contempt.

Rep. Steve King (R) of Iowa's 5th District strike's again!

Last night on the local news, my idiot Congressman ACTUALLY said pretty much just what I wrote above about Barack Obama. I was so incensed that I HAD to draw this cartoon.

For God's SAKE, will somebody PLEASE get this guy out of office! Clarence Hoffman, since you're stepping down from the State Assembly, why don't you challenge this numskull for your party's nomination!?! PLEASE!

Of course, due to plumbing disasters, we're temporally living with my inlaws while our home undergoes repairs, so I am without PhotoShop till I go back to school on Monday, so I'm posting it pretty raw. If I use it for the PRESS for March 20, I'll obviously rework it some- but then the incident will also be 2 weeks old, so who knows if I will or not.

Click here to see more of my cartoons about Steve King

Be sure to visit www.kingwatch.org

Republicans for O!

RepublicansforObama.org is a grassroots organization founded by proud party members who all share one important trait— we are Americans first and Republicans second. (Even if it is a close second.) Collectively, we have campaigned, worked for, and voted Republican all our lives, but recognize that our Country needs a new kind of leader at this time. While there will always be important issues on which thoughtful Americans will disagree, there are others that cannot be up for debate— our economic prosperity and our standing in the world.

Senator Obama has rejected the politics of division and the win-at-all-costs attitude that has hurt our ability to move forward as a nation. While we as Republicans will not always see eye to eye with a President Obama, we know that his politics of competency and unity will lead to a stronger America.

Yes we can

Stop purpetuating email propaganda

The Truth About Obama’s Faith
(by Obery Hendricks)

Everyday there seems to be some new outrageous charge leveled at Barack Obama. One of the most pernicious is that he is a Muslim who is dishonestly masquerading as a Christian. This charge is so malicious - and so untrue - that it is time to set the record straight.

Barack Obama has never been a Muslim. He has never attended a Muslim school. From about age eight to age nine Obama lived in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country on earth, with more Muslim schools than one can count, yet his parents chose to enroll him in a secular, non-religious school comprised of teachers and students of all faiths. Nor can it be said that during his brief sojourn in Indonesia that his worldview was tainted by Islamic extremism; when Obama lived there, the practice of Islam in Indonesia was still among the world's most moderate.

(Read the whole article)

Obama answers questions on issues

Photos by Ted Mallory

Barack responds to questions, challenges
at town meeting Saturday

By Ted Mallory

DENISON, IA- Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama responded to several questions from an audience in the Denison High School Gym, Saturday March 31.

Obama stopped short of saying he’d revoke the No Child Left Behind law, but he did say that he’d make sure the law fully funded the mandates it requires.

“No Child left the money behind,” he complained. He believes that “schools are dealing with children who are uninspired and unmotivated and teachers who are underpaid.”

He also said that he thought that rather than purely standardized testing, students progress should be measured based on what level the student begins at. He’d also like to see an emphasis put on early childhood education since children learn more between birth and age three than at any other time.

Obama addressed concerns about NAFTA and CAFTA. He pointed out that he voted against CAFTA and believes that the burdens and benefits of trade need to be balanced so that workers and farmers don’t get the short end. He opposes allowing corporations to receive tax incentives when they move off shore. He believes that the U.S. needs to enforce the rules of treaties so that other nations don’t dump their products on U.S. markets without opening their markets to American goods. He also said that it is important to hold trading partners to basic labor and environmental standards.

The Illinois Senator explained that the United States spends 50% more per capita on health care than any other nation in the world. He feels that it is important to emphasize preventative care. It is far more cost effective to treat diabetes than it is to amputate limbs lost to the disease. He suggested that one way to lower costs is to pool resources. He proposed opening the same Federal health insurance program which Senators and Congressmen receive to all Americans.

One woman complained about the removal of a monument to the Ten Commandments from a federal judge’s court in Alabama and expressed fear because churches in other countries were accused of hate-speech crimes because of their teachings agains homosexuality.

Obama explained that he was a Christian and invited listeners to visit his church on the South side of Chicago. He explained that he does not believe that Christians are unduly persecuted in the United States, but rather, judging by the attendance at Washington prayer breakfasts among other factors, he felt that the faith was flourishing. He noted that the founders, while believers themselves, believed that the government should not impose any one interpretation of religion on its citizens. He also thought that it was in the best interest of churches not to get “entangled” with the government and thereby risk watering down their message or having to wrestle with red tape.

Obama expressed his support for voluntary prayer groups and Bible study clubs in public schools. However, when it came to a judge, he said that it was important that non-Christians not be made to feel that they were not entitled to the same level of justice that Christians are in the American system. Click here to read further comment on my Pirate Prayer Blog.

When asked about America’s nuclear stock pile, Obama pointed out that even the likes of former Nixon National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has proposed eliminating our entire nuclear arsenal. Senator Obama agrees with many Generals that we could the number of nuclear weapons from the tens of thousands we have now to just one thousand, and save at least $13 billion dollars without sacrificing national security.

“We spend more money on defense than the next thirty countries combined,” he explained. He wants to more vigorously peruse the principles of the Non-Proliferation Treaties that the Bush administration has allowed to all but die, which includes seeking to prevent other countries from gaining nuclear weapons while helping them find peaceful energy sources. He pointed out that in the future, the enemies which the U.S. will face are more likely to be terrorist groups than nation-states, so it is vital to contain the spread of nuclear weapons before they fall into the wrong hands.

Finally, Obama boasted that he opposed the invasion of Iraq from the beginning and proposed that the U.S. begin bringing its troops home on May 1, 2007 with the goal of being completely out of Iraq by March 31, 2008. He promised to use the $100 billion dollars a year currently being spent on the war to rebuild our military which has been strained past the breaking point and to improve the care and treatment of U.S. veterans and their families.