The Men Behind Obama

(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

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"

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 !

(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

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?"

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!

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