Political Cartoon Blog by Jerry Breen

Have You Seen Polythene Prez? by Jerry Breen

2011-09-13T04:57:00.006-04:00

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

2011-09-13T04:46:00.004-04:00

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!

2011-04-15T18:06:00.005-04:00

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!

2011-03-31T21:29:00.004-04:00

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!

2011-03-28T21:01:00.004-04:00

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

2011-03-28T20:48:00.004-04:00

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.

"Sorry, Wrong Nobel!"

2009-10-31T22:40:00.002-04:00

Saturday, October 31, 2009 - I did this cartoon about a week and a half ago, and posted it to my website and a couple of other places at that time. When President Obama was originally awarded his "Nobel Prize for Nothing", I was as surprised and mystified as everyone else (Obama included). One can only assume that the Norwegian lefties on the committee awarded him the Prize simply for "not being George Bush", as many have said. That would certainly explain the Nobel Peace Prizes awarded during Bush's presidency to Jimmy Carter and, later, to Al Gore, Jr. (over the much more deserving, and now deceased, Irina Sendlerowa of Poland). When the Heene family "balloon boy" hoax happened, I thought it provided a perfect analogy to illustrate the foolishness of the award, which serves only to devalue the Nobel Peace Prize itself. - Jerry Breen newbreen@comcast.net www.newbreen.com/caricatures.html

Whose Money, Ed?!!

2009-10-31T22:16:00.004-04:00

Saturday, October 31, 2009 - This is a cartoon I posted on my website and elsewhere over a month ago. I saw a TV ad promoting the "new, improved" General Motors, under its new management team headed by Ed Whitacre. Ed was proudly displaying one of their new post-government-bailout vehicles, saying it was proof that they were "putting our money where our mouth is!" This after his incompetently-run dinosaur of a corporation had to be bailed out by $50 billion dollars in federal funds! (The noive o' dat guy!) - Jerry Breen newbreen@comcast.net www.newbreen.com/caricatures.html

Kim Jong Il in "White Heat 2"!

2009-06-20T02:39:00.004-04:00

Saturday, June 20, 2009 - As scary as he is crazy, North Korea's psycho dictator is planning big fireworks for July 4th. Even though his country is the poorest nation in the world and his people are starving (human arms and legs are not an uncommon sight in North Korean meat markets), he has devoted his country's resources to the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons for many years. According to Japanese and U.S. intelligence agencies, he's expected to launch a long-range missile toward Hawaii on or about July 4th. Obviously, we would be forced to respond. Since Kim recently renounced the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War, that war has actually officially resumed. So the events of the coming weeks should be a surprise to nobody. If they do surprise you, then you haven't been paying attention to the news. - Jerry Breen newbreen@comcast.net www.newbreen.com

Joe Biden cartoon "Call Me Irrepressible!"

2009-05-26T15:30:00.004-04:00

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 - Here's a new cartoon featuring our new Veep, the irrepressible Joe Biden. (I'm sure there are times when his boss President Obama would like to repress him, but - alas - it's just not possible.) Remember when he faulted Bush's handling of last year's stock market crash, saying that when the stock market crashed in 1929 FDR "went right on TV" and explained what he was doing? Only two things wrong with that - FDR wasn't President until 4 years later, and there was no TV at the time, only radio. (FDR's first TV appearance was at the opening of the New York World's Fair in 1939, and even then more people saw him in person than on TV, since there were only a few hundred TV sets in the country at the time.) - Jerry Breen newbreen@comcast.net www.newbreen.com

Obama's new White House dog

2009-05-09T01:42:00.004-04:00

Saturday, May 9, 2009 - Here's another "new" cartoon, featuring Obama's new "dog" (it bears a suspicious resemblance to the "stimulus package"). I'll have a new
Biden cartoon shortly. Thanks, Jerry Breen newbreen@comcast.net www.newbreen.com

Obama in "Plane Crazy"

2009-05-09T01:31:00.004-04:00

Saturday, May 9, 2009 - This was inspired by the ill-advised decision of an idiot on the White House staff to take pictures of Air Force One buzzing the Statue of Liberty and downtown Manhattan - without notifying anyone! Naturally, it caused widespread panic. (Gee... d'ya think?!) I actually drew this one (like the "White House Dog" cartoon) over a week ago, but didn't get a chance to color it in until now.
I'll try to be more up-to-date next time around. - Jerry Breen newbreen@comcast.net www.newbreen.com

Obama Sells Snake Oil !

2009-04-02T22:37:00.004-04:00

April 2, 2009 - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and President Barack Obama are trying to sell the other leaders at the G-20 World Summit on the idea of government spending "stimulus" packages to boost all the economies simultaneously. Others, led by German Prime Minister Angela Merkel, dispute the value of the "stimulus" tactic. (Although, oddly, Merkel has committed Germany to spending $70 billion to spur its economy, while Brown has so far only committed to spending $28 billion as a stimulus!) ?!? Go figure. - Jerry Breen newbreen@comcast.net www.newbreen.com

Barack Obama calligraphy portrait

2008-11-28T21:17:00.005-05:00

(November 2008) My calligraphy portrait of
President-elect Barack Obama is the latest in a series of unique calligraphy portraits that I've done over the years. Obama's own words, from his eloquent keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, rendered by hand in calligraphy, actually form his portrait! An absolutely unique work of art. Nobody else in the world creates anything like my unique calligraphy portraits. Others in the series are Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Mary McLeod Bethune. Prints are available. Great for presents! Also great for school groups. For an individual 11 by 14 inch print on fine parchment, suitable for framing, just $25 each. For large orders of 20 or more prints, just $10 each. Send a check or money order to: Jerry Breen, 816A Cinnamon Ridge Place, Cockeysville, MD 21030. - Jerry Breen newbreen@comcast.net www.newbreen.com

Obama Star Trek Book?

2008-11-19T03:06:00.006-05:00

This is the cover art for a forthcoming project I'm working on. It's a book called "Dreams from My Sa-Mekh: A Story of Space and Inheritance". The title may remind you of a current best-seller. (Hint: "Sa-Mekh" is the Vulcan word for "father".) It's written by a certain half-Vulcan/half-human Starfleet officer, known only as "(asterisk)". (You couldn't pronounce his real name.) Like Spock, he has always been conflicted about his multiracial ancestry. In this poignant memoir, he confronts these issues and, possibly, goes where no Vulcan has gone before. Faithfully translated from the original Vulcan and profusely illustrated. Coming soon from Alpha Quadrant Press (site of the Breen Homeworld). For news on future developments, just send your email address to newbreen@comcast.net and we'll send updates right to your tricorder. Live Long and Hope! - Jerry Breen www.newbreen.com

President Obama Portrait Painting

2008-11-10T00:30:00.004-05:00

(November 2008) The election is over and the people have spoken.
Perhaps my misgivings about Obama are unfounded and, as my friend cartoonist Tom Chalkley believes, Obama will surprise me and govern like a conventional Democratic administration. I certainly hope that he has a successful term of office, because that's best for the country. This painting of President Obama is the latest addition to my "Gallery of Heroes" at Gerstell Academy in Finksburg, Maryland. President Obama's portrait joins over 175 others in the hallways of the school founded by Dr. Fred Smith. It's possibly the largest collection of portrait paintings by one artist in one place. - Jerry Breen www.newbreen.com (Portrait of President Obama (c) 2008 Fred Smith & Jerry Breen)

Obama & ACORN

2008-11-10T00:14:00.003-05:00

(Oct. 23, 2008) My last political cartoon published before the election.
Someone asked me "You can't really hold Obama responsible for ACORN, can you?" More like the other way around - ACORN created Obama, in a way. Part of the "community organizing" of which Obama boasted was for ACORN. He also represented ACORN in court as an attorney. For years, he volunteered as a trainer for ACORN's voter registration workers. When he ran for the Illinois State Senate in 1996, Obama was a member of a fringe political party, the New Party, which was co-founded by ACORN. Obama's Presidential campaign hired a division of the "non-partisan" ACORN to "get out the vote" in the Democratic primaries. The new director of "non-partisan" ACORN officially endorsed Obama for President! (How non-partisan can you get?) - Jerry Breen www.newbreen.com

Cap'n McCain of the Titanic!

2008-11-10T00:03:00.002-05:00

(Oct. 6, 2008) This cartoon refers to John McCain's unfortunate first take on the banking crisis (which ultimately sank his Presidential campaign). It sounded a bit too much like Herbert Hoover's futile predictions that "Prosperity is just around the corner" in the depths of the Great Depression. Fortunately, this time around, noone is proposing anything like the disastrous Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act, which was enacted following the 1929 stock market crash. (It was the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act that actually caused the Depression, not the crash. There was a bigger stock market crash in the 1980's, but no depression followed, because noone panicked and the economy quickly recovered.) - Jerry Breen www.newbreen.com

The Men Behind Obama

2008-09-15T23:01:00.004-04:00

(September 2008) In this cartoon, I tried to give brief summaries of some of the key formative figures in Barack Obama's background. Quite a group. And I didn't even have room for the Reverend Wright. But you know about him. These guys are much less well known, but they all played a key role in making Obama what he is today. Easily the most objectionable is the unrepentant Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers. Tony Rezko is just another one of those leeches that have infested American politics since Andy Jackson invented the political campaign, campaign donors and the "spoils system" to pay back political donors, way back in the 1820's. Virtually every American politician has connections to people like him. But his presence in Obama's inner circle belies the notion that Obama is a "new kind of politician". The little-known but sinister Khalid al-Mansour is a surprising acquaintance that recently came to light. The venerable long-time New York City Democratic Party stalwart and broadcasting entrepreneur Percy Sutton recently revealed that al-Mansour solicited Sutton's support in helping young Obama gain admittance to the prestigious Harvard Law School back in the 1980's. Both Sutton and Donald Warden (aka al-Mansour) are originally from Texas. Sutton's story is plausible. But it's a little unsettling that someone like al-Mansour would want to sponsor Obama. The least known (and least objectionable) of these people is certainly Frank Marshall Davis. A crusading black journalist who fought against discrimination, segregation and lynching back in the 1940's, he took the 5th before Congress in the 1950's about his Communist Party USA membership and retired to Hawaii. It's typical of Obama's evasiveness about his background that he referred to Davis only as "Frank" and left out the unpleasant Communist business. - Jerry Breen www.newbreen.com

Hillary the Prom Queen

2008-09-06T02:10:00.005-04:00

Here's my take on the "Democratic" Party's decidedly un-Democratic nominating process. Hillary Clinton got 18 million votes in the primaries - more than any Presidential candidate in American history - but she "lost" the nomination to Barack Obama! How? Well, Hillary got 85% of her delegates in primary elections, while Obama got 60% of his delegates in caucuses. For some odd reason, Texas held both a primary and a caucus. Strangely, Hillary won the election by 4% and Obama won the caucus by 12%. How can the same voters in the same state choose 2 different candidates? Simply put, a primary election with the secret ballot is a safe, secure way of voting, while a caucus is a free-for-all, easily subject to fraud, coercion and mob rule. All of which the Obama camp used to their advantage. Even in the primaries, the Democratic Party had a peculiar method of allocating delegates that favored Obama. The apportioning of delegates was not in direct proportion to the votes cast. Election districts that usually voted Democratic in general elections were awarded more delegates than districts that usually voted Republican in general elections. Since inner-city, mostly-black districts (which favored Obama) fit this criteria while suburban districts (which favored Hillary) did not, Obama was awarded a disproportionate share of delegates in state after state! The result was a travesty and an injustice. The Democratic Party should either fix their nominating process or change their name. To call it the Democratic Party is false advertising. (Sept. 6, 2008) - Jerry Breen www.newbreen.com

McCain Cartoon - "The Hat Trick"

2008-09-03T02:31:00.004-04:00

By choosing Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, John McCain clearly hopes to attract disaffected Democrats who feel that Obama stole the nomination from Hillary Clinton (more on that subject in my next post.) The Republicans actually registered the domain name "www.mccainpalin.com" a few weeks ago, as some clever websurfers discovered. (Sept. 2, 2008) - Jerry Breen www.newbreen.com

Obama cartoon - Obamaman's Secret Identity !

2008-08-15T04:38:00.007-04:00

(August 2008) As far back as July 2007, in my most popular Obama cartoon "Obama Been Lyin' ", I wondered why Obama was so evasive and misleading about his childhood in Indonesia. For example, all his childhood friends remember young "Barry" as a practicing Muslim, although he disputes that fact. His records at 2 schools support his friends' memories. So why lie? What was he hiding? Well, now we know! Obamaman was hiding his Secret Identity - as meek, mild-mannered Indonesian citizen Barry Soetoro! - Jerry Breen www.newbreen.com

Political Cartoons of the 70's, part 3 - Ford

2008-07-29T03:45:00.004-04:00

In 1975, after years of fiscal mismanagement under Mayor Lindsay's City Comptroller Abe Beame, New York City went bankrupt under new Mayor Abe Beame. (Yes, he inherited the mess that he created.) City officials begged the federal government to bail them out. President Gerald Ford initially resisted. The New York Daily News summed it up very succinctly (but not very accurately) in a famous banner headline: "FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD". Eventually, the federal government did extend aid to NYC (with strings attached). But most political observers credit that headline with making Ford lose New York State (and the 1976 election) to Jimmy Carter. This was my take on New Yorkers' view of Ford at the time - as a football-helmeted King Kong terrorizing the metropolis. (Note to "The New Yorker": This is how you do a cartoon lampooning how a politician's enemies depict him. The trick is - it's got to be FUNNY. If there's no humor, then there's no satire and no irony.) - Jerry Breen www.newbreen.com

"John McCain - What's on Your iPod?"

2008-07-19T04:58:00.004-04:00

Day in and day out, there's one burning question that reporters pose to every newsmaker - politicians included. That question is - "What's on your iPod?" Surprisingly, most of them, including Obama and even old fogey George W., do have one and they recite a list of their favorite tracks. All except John McCain. Truly a relic from another era, McCain actually grew up in the golden age of radio and admits that he never touches a computer keyboard. So I tried to imagine his answer to the Question of Our Times..... (July 19, 2008) - Jerry Breen www.newbreen.com

Political Cartoons of the 70's - Part 2 - Nixon!

2008-06-25T01:40:00.004-04:00

Nixon in the Dog House! My all-time favorite political cartoon, from around the time of Nixon's resignation from the Presidency in 1974, following the "Watergate" scandal. It refers to another scandal earlier in his career that was resolved by Nixon's famous "Checkers" speech. Briefly - In 1952, when Senator Richard Nixon was running for Vice-President on Eisenhower's ticket, reporters revealed that the candidate had a secret "slush" fund. In a nationally televised speech, Nixon insisted that the money was used strictly for legitimate travel and campaign expenses, never for personal expenses. However, he did admit to receiving one personal gift from an admirer - not money, but a cute black-&-white cocker spaniel named "Checkers". Nixon's little daughters loved the dog, and he swore that under no circumstances would he return it. A silly ploy, but effective. The public response was sympathetic and Ike and Nixon were elected in a landslide. When the Watergate cover-up unraveled, "Tricky Dick" failed to come up with another trick like the "Checkers Speech". Interestingly, Nixon was very affectionate and loyal to the dog that saved his career. In later years, people would often see Nixon spending time with his pet in New York's Central Park. - Jerry Breen www.newbreen.com

Political Cartoons of the 70's - Part 1, HHH

2008-06-24T00:07:00.004-04:00

Hubert Horatio Humphrey, for those of you too young to remember, was a man before he was a Metrodome. A former pharmacist, he became a longtime liberal Democratic Senator from Minnesota, LBJ's Vice-President, the unsuccessful Democratic Presidential nominee in 1968 and mentor to Minnesota's junior Senator (and later U.S. Vice-President) Walter Mondale. This cartoon is from his unsuccessful run for another Presidential nomination in 1972. He lost in '68 because he couldn't disassociate himself from LBJ's disastrous Vietnam War. By '72, after four years of Nixon, we were still stuck in Vietnam, and Humphrey tried to recast himself as an antiwar candidate. But the public didn't buy it. - Jerry Breen www.newbreen.com

Political Cartoons of the 60's, part 2 - LBJ

2008-06-11T21:47:00.004-04:00

This is an abridged version of the episode of my college comic strip "Jasperman" in which the caricature of LBJ appeared. LBJ, in my opinion, is one of the most unfairly maligned U.S. Presidents. Lyndon Johnson 's presidency is remembered by history as a failure because of our disastrous involvement in the Vietnam war. Johnson inherited the quagmire of Vietnam from a series of mistakes by the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations and never found a way out of it. (Neither could Nixon.) On the other hand, LBJ was a courageous longtime supporter of civil rights for blacks - highly unusual for a Southern Democrat in that period. The Democratic Party, in partnership with the Ku Klux Klan, had been openly persecuting African-Americans in the South-eastern U.S for the first 60 years of the 20th Century. Remember, the Democratic Party (which in the 1800's was the pro-slavery party, in contrast with the anti-slavery Whigs and Republicans) invented segregation. The Democratic President Woodrow Wilson segregated Washington, D.C. by executive order, segregated all the departments of the federal government and fired every single black Post Office worker in the Southern states. (Earlier, as President of Princeton University, he had barred any black students from entering the University.) Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt refused to support anti-lynching bills introduced in Congress, as well as Civil Rights legislation. Why? Because he wanted the support of the "Solid South" in Presidential elections. That's why Adlai Stevenson chose the segregationist Southern Democrat John Sparkman as his running-mate in 1952. And that's why John F. Kennedy voted against the 1957 Civil Rights Act! Ironically, only Harry Truman - from the border state of Missouri- and LBJ from the Deep South state of Texas had the courage to oppose the segregationists. Johnson supported Eisenhower's 1957 Civil Rights Act, and refused to sign the 1956 "Southern Manifesto" in support of segregation in the South. As President, LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As a result, blacks (who had historically been Republicans) flocked to the Democratic Party. Where would the Democratic Party be today without this key voting bloc? Probably, out of business. How often today do we hear Jack Kennedy hailed as a Civil Rights hero, and hear LBJ reviled? History can be very unkind. And unfair. - Jerry Breen www.newbreen.com

Political cartoons of the 60's - LBJ

2008-06-11T02:25:00.003-04:00

Let's start this Political cartoon blog at the beginning, by offering some of my early classics featuring some of the giants of that era. We begin with the great LBJ himself, Lyndon Baines Johnson of Texas, a President (I think) unfairly maligned by history. This caricature was not a direct political cartoon. LBJ appeared in an episode of my college comic strip "Jasperman" in 1969, playing the role of a besieged college bureaucrat "Dean Rust" (a pun referring to LBJ's Secretary of State Dean Rusk). - Jerry Breen www.newbreen.com