Have You Seen Polythene Prez? by Jerry Breen

People just can't seem to control some overwhelming compulsion to give Barack Obama awards for no good reason. Remember the Nobel Peace Prize for continuing 2 wars? That encouraged him so much that he got into a 3rd one! Well, now (even though his administration is one of the most secretive ever, and he's the most mysterious man to occupy the Presidency) a group has awarded Obama a "Transparency in Government" Award. In true Obama style, he insisted on accepting the award in an unannounced private ceremony with no cameras allowed. I kid you not! - Jerry Breen www.newbreen.com

A Little Off the Top, Washington Style by Jerry Breen

At the same time that Washington was obsessing over the partisan political squabble over the U.S. government's debt ceiling, even more people seemed to be obsessed with movie idol Robert (Twilight vampire) Pattinson's lopsided haircut. (His character has an interrupted haircut, and he remains that way for the rest of the story.) I thought it was a convenient metaphor for the budget clash, with Republican House leader John Boehner compulsively cutting and President Obama, as usual doing nothing. Jerry Breen www.newbreen.com

Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year!

In the summer of 2010, I did a trio of cartoons which were later selected for inclusion in the 40th annual edition of "Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year" from the Pelican Publishing Company. The first one is a follow-up to the "Doctor Is In" cartoon. As I mentioned, Nancy Pelosi told the Congress to pass the law and then find out what was in it, rather than the other way around, which of course made sense to our elected idiots. So they did it. To everyone's surprise, instead of providing comprehensive medical care supported by government funding, the law required every adult to buy medical insurance whether or not they wanted to. Naturally, the insurance companies thought that was a great idea. Although, when they actually read the law, they found their own reasons to dislike it. So, in his effort to please everyone, Obama seems to have pleased noone. The second cartoon is on the subject of the "Ground Zero" Mosque in downtown Manhattan. The third depicts Obama as the Democratic donkey. I've done caricatures of other politicians as animals before - Richard Nixon as his cocker spaniel "Checkers", Fred Thompson as the proverbial "elephant in the room" and Gerald Ford as King Kong. It's always fun.

March 2010: ObamaCare Joins MediCare & MedicAid!

March 2010: By early 2010, after a year in office, both Democrats and Republicans were characterizing the dynamic-seeming Obama's first year as a "Do Nothing" Presidency. His only (dubious) accomplishment was that he had won the Nobel Peace Prize - apparently for continuing G.W. Bush's 2 wars! Well, all that was about to change. Obama unloaded on Congress a new comprehensive Health Care Bill that was about the size of the Bible (Old and New Testaments, including the Apocrypha)! What did it say? Nobody seemed to know (again, just like the Bible). House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Congress that they had to pass it first, and then we'd all find out what it would do! Not surprisingly, this made sense to our elected representatives. So they passed it and President Obama signed it into law . . .

Tea Party Trio!

I followed up in February 2010 with a trio of collaborations based on ideas from Lonnie Mussell. Like Fred Rodriguez, Lonnie is a Tea Partier from Georgia, and like Fred, Lonnie is in the construction business. (With the never-ending depressed state of the housing and construction sector, I guess it's no wonder that the Tea Party ranks would swell with people from the building trades.)

Cartoon Collaborations

The year 2010 began and ended with collaborations. For starters, in January, I produced this cartoon lampooning Obama's free spending ways from an idea from Fred Rodriguez of Georgia.