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.

Worst people in the world!!!

Some fun ones

See more of my weekly political cartoons and my new feature, "Maladjusted," at http://tedstoons.blogspot.com

Lost Highway

Treasures found on a few walks on a chilly March day. See an entire gallery, including some gorgeous but dilapidated barns at http://tmal.multiply.com

Loud and Proud

We finally got around to taking team pictures for Cheerleading this year. I'm pretty happy with most of them. Like what you see? Think about me for your Senior pictures! Gotta make a buck somehow this summer.

See more at http://cheercoach.blogspot.com, better yet, you can see the entire shoot at http://tmal.multiply.com

Pro-Bono Work

I donated my Steve King Cartoon to a Democratic website dedicated to preventing his re-election; http://www.kingwatch.org/bigotry.html

I don't know about the ethics here, I figure political cartoonists are unavoidably partisan if not mercenary, right? I didn't get any money out of the deal (perhaps a counter-productive move, career-wise) but I was just so outraged by King's comments about Obama, that I'm glad to prostrate my skills for the sake of exposing his dark soul (if he has one)!

Plus, what the heck, it widens my exposure- which has to be good in the long-run.

I swear, Iowans are not as dumb or as racist as this guy!

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

Pat Paulson for President

While he was alive, he felt it was extremely important to make his positions and ideas known to his constituents and we’re confident that he would like us to continue to make this information available. Many issues facing America during Pat’s first run in 1968 are still with us today. Some things never seem to change.

http://www.paulsen.com/pat

Sure, he died in 1997, but he can't be any worse than everybody else running, right?

Why aren't we more pissed off???!!!

Apply this column directly to the forehead

On this day (March 6) in 1899, a miracle drug was patented by a pharmaceutical company in Germany. Chemist Felix Hoffman wanted to help relieve the pain that his father suffered due to arthritis. Felix looked to salacin, found in the bark or willow and poplar trees, which I’m sure were both popular around where he lived. Poplar trees are popular everywhere.

Salacin, or salicylic acid worked wonders not just for arthritis, but on headaches. You see headaches are often caused by swollen blood vessels in the brain. Salicylic acid is sold in these handy little pills called aspirin. Aspirin is BOTH an analgesic and an anti inflammatory, in other words, first it kills the pain, then in un-swells those blood vessels so that they’re less likely to hurt when the pain killing effects wear off.

It’s also an anti-coagulant, which means that aspirin thins the blood out, which is why so many doctors have been recommending it to help prevent strokes and heart attacks and lower blood pressure. That might explain why the Bayer aspirin company reports that heart disease prevention now accounts for 37 percent of aspirin use.

23 percent of people are still taking it for arthritis, I hear that! Believe it or not, Bayer barely registers headache treatment at 14 percent I guess that ibuprofen and acetaminophen have taken a chunk out of the headache niche. Ouch.

It’s being used by some to help prevent certain cancers and to treat and prevent cataracts. But beware, like any medication it has dangers and side effects. Since it thins the blood, you wouldn’t want to take too much of it if you’re anemic or a hemophiliac. Too much could give you an ulcer. It can even complicate your acid reflux. Wonderful. No wonder they call it a wonder drug! (note sarcasm).

Pregnant women and small children should avoid taking aspirin because it’s suspected of contributing to Reye’s syndrome, which can severely damage organs, particularly the brain and liver.

Speaking of your liver; like, any medication, you should be careful what you mix it with. An old wives tale said that taking an aspirin before you start drinking would prevent hangovers. Think again. Actually, aspirin increases blood-alcohol levels more quickly and makes the intoxication more severe.

There are plenty of other uses for aspirin that won’t give you an ulcer and are guaranteed to prevent some headaches-

Check with your vet on this but apparently it works to kill pain in dogs just as well as humans. Of course, dogs have a really hard time with child-proof bottles. Be careful, because aspirin doesn’t kill pain for cats, it just kills cats.

Need a jump but don’t have any jumper cables? Drop two aspirin tablets into your car battery itself. The acetylsalicylic acid will combine with the battery's sulfuric acid to produce one last charge.

Teenagers, the salicylic acid is an astringent, that means that it’s good for reducing pimples. Tape on an aspirin the night before the big dance, or crush one into a wash cloth and scrub with it. Some people actually put on an “aspirin mask” to exfoliate their whole face, but it really dries your skin out.

It’s also good for getting rid of calluses and warts tape an aspirin to a wart and kiss it good bye. Try using duct tape. Believe it or not, researchers have found that 85 percent of people who use just duct tape (no aspirin) got rid of their warts compared to only 60 percent of people who got them froze off.

Crush two aspirins and mix the powder in 1/2 cup warm water or maybe some fresh lemon juice. Soak the stained clothes in the solution for a couple hours and you can rid yourself of sweat stains, grass stains, nicotine stains, even eggs.

Fresh cut flowers will last longer if you crush an aspirin in the vase- it helps the plant circulate water easier, just like it helps people’s blood flow. But supposedly, if you don’t have aspirin, a pinch of ground-up Viagra will do just as well. Of course, there are some things aspirin can’t do.

Powerful design

Shepard Fairey is this phenomenal young graphic designer. His recent work includes the movie posters for the Johnny Cash bio pic "Walk the line" and the album cover for the Led Zeppelin greatest hit's box set. His poster for Barack Obama (left) has stirred up a lot of controversy because Fairly bases his style on old Soviet propaganda. He even named his company "Obey," conjuring images of George Orwell's 1984. Creepy, but you can't get away from how cool it looks and how captivating it is. I guess propaganda is supposed to do just that. Anyway, I love his design, although it will certainly be scary if it becomes as much of a cult classic as say the Che Rivera tee-shirt. I couldn't keep my hands off of it, so on the right, you'll see one that I played with. I don't know that I softened it up or not, but I'd love to see what pop artists Andy Warhol and Peter Max would do with Obama. (But I'm pretty sure Obama is a friend of Bill Clinton's).