Graphic Grandeur (Asymmetrical Warfare Edition)

 

The question must be asked:

Cartoon by Clay Jones.

Vital Viewing (Lost Causes Edition)

 

There's nothing worse than the end of a romance.

Except for maybe war, debilitating illnesses, natural disasters, famine, molestation, homelessness, political corruption, environmental destruction, genocide, etc.

But I digress:

Oh, so sad! Is there any way a positive spin can be put on this?

Tomorrow is another day.

1939-2026

Senate Minority Pride

 

You may have heard the Trump administration removed a rainbow flag from the Stonewall Inn, the site of the famous LGBTQ uprising ("the hairpin drop heard around the world" as journalist Dick Leitsch put it) and nowadays, per President Barack Obama, a national monument, a good thing until you realize that Obama is no longer president, and the man who is can do, or thinks he can do, whatever the hell he wants with a historic landmark. Still, his lackeys put in charge of running the National Park Service felt they at least should give a reason--thank you for that! --and the reason given is that "only the US flag and other congressionally or departmentally authorized flags," can be flown on "NPS-designated flagpoles." Well, then, the solution to that is to somehow make the rainbow flag authorized.

That's where Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) comes in. Like a lot of old guard Democrats, Schumer has been criticized for blinking when confronted with the threat of imminent dictatorship. Well, it looks like he might have been administered some eye drops recently. Schumer and U.S. Representative Dan Goldman (also D-NY) have introduced legislation making the rainbow flag a congrssionally-approved flag that can be flown at national monuments, including, and especially, Stonewall. Way to go, Chuck! Still, there's a rub. As the title of this post indicates, Schumer is Senate Minority Leader. The GOP control both houses of Congress. So you need bipartisan support, and let's face it, Schumer may occasionally blink, but those Republican eyes are epoxied shut. Thus, passage seems unlikely, but not impossible. Life is full of surprises. Just ask any NYPD cop who happened to be at the Stonewall on June 28, 1969. 

 

Vital Viewing (The Living Daylights Edition)

Rise and shine! It's the beginning of a brand new day!

OK, that's fine for the homefront, but what about our boys overseas? How should they greet the day?

As different as these two morning scenes are, they're both very well-choreographed.

1931-2026

Somebody

 

 

 

It's said Martin Luther King Jr was a bit leery of the man and hesitated some before finally bringing him into the fold. Jesse was a bit of a showboat, a bit of an attention hog. And so he was. I mean, he was everywhere, and in the thick of everything for a while, one of the most public of public figures of his time. And like anybody, no matter how smart or how serious or how well-meaning, who spends too much time in the public eye, he could seem buffoonish at times. For all of that, I'm glad he was around for all these years. As the country turned to the right...and more to the right,,,and more to the right still, Jackson reminded us that there was still such a thing as a Left. And not just the African American Left either. By the end of the 1988 Democratic primaries, Jackson had won 11 primaries or caucuses and had received 6.9 million votes. At least some of those 6.9 million voters must have been white! Michael Dukakis eventually prevailed, but that eventuality took a lot longer than any pundit expected. It would be another 20 years before a black man running for president made that strong of a showing again (in fact, that later black man did even better.) Jackson never ran for president again, and seemed satisfied in role as a gadfly, a political provocateur. Well, I'll take Jackson's brand of political provoking over God-knows-what we got now. 

And wouldn't you know it? Jackson was a bit of a poet! I leave you with some of his more memorable rhymes

Hope for the brains instead of dope in the veins.

It doesn't matter if you're black or white, only if you're wrong or right.

If my mind can conceive it, my heart can believe it, I know I can achieve it.

1941-2026

 

Origin of Speciousness

 

OK, OK, let's all try to keep an open mind about this.

Hmm...They don't look like apes to me. Do they look like apes to you?

Not that there aren't apes in our future. After all, this remains a distinct possibility:

The Obamas just won't be the ones who bring it about.

Under the Radar: Thurl Ravenscroft

 

Actor and singer Thurl Ravenscroft was born on this day in 1914 (he died in 2005.) What, you never heard of him?

How 'bout this guy?

Yes, that's Ravenscroft's voice coming out of Tony's mouth. As for his vocals being "augmented", well, watch, and especially listen to, him in 1980s interview:

I sense not all that augmentation was needed.

One notable credit was oddly missing in that interview (perhaps because for years it went, again oddly, uncredited), so I'll include it here. First, some background: 

You see, when Chuck Jones (right) set out to turn a book by Dr. Suess (left) into a TV Christmas special, he wasn't content merely to have top-notch animation. He wanted it to be musically top-notch too, and so to that end hired Thurl to sing this now iconic song:

Sounds like he's describing an ICE agent.

Graphic Grandeur (Inalienable Wrongs Edition)

 

There's a new sheriff in town, so to speak. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino having been sent into exile, it's now Tom Homan's job to rid Minnesota of undesirables. But where to find them?

Cartoonist Mike Luckovich suggests he start here:

Lost in Frost

 

Almost looks like fog, doesn't it?  

Graphic Grandeur (Star Force One Edition)

 

 

You can fret about what went on at Davos all you want. As for myself, I worry more that...

...Earth may soon be paid an unwelcome visit by otherworldly beings!

Cartoon by Matt Reuter

Vital Viewing (Another Nice Mise-en-scène You've Gotten Me Into Edition)

 

Comedian Oliver Hardy was born on this day in 1892 (he died in 1957.) Here's a 1950 TV interview he did right as he was about to set sail for France: 

The interviewer makes mention of Hardy being part of a famous comedy team, so without further ado, let's see that comedy team in action:

Uh...That's not the comedy team I had in mind.

That's more like it, pilgrim!

In 1956, two of the funniest men who ever lived got together one last time to have their picture taken, though you'd be forgiven if you didn't immediately recognize the one on the right. So what accounts for Oliver Hardy's gaunt appearance? It seems the comedian, spooked by a mild heart attack he had suffered in 1954, went on a crash diet, shedding a whole 150 pounds. However, in a letter to an acquaintance, Stan Laurel speculated his longtime comedy partner had cancer. We do know that a series of strokes felled Hardy about a year after this photo was taken. At least the master of the comic reaction was able to give us one final feat of foolery for the camera.

Quips and Quotations (Naturalized American Film Auteur Edition)

 (Originally posted on 12/8/2014. I've made a slight adjustment to the title--Kirk)

I’m not against the police, I'm just afraid of them.

--Alfred Hitchcock.

Graphic Grandeur (You Don't Know Dickens Edition)

 

And then there was Venezuela...

Cartoon by Clay Jones