Madtoons

WEAC's Change of Heart

2011-02-10T21:39:00.001-06:00

I must say, I'm really excited that WEAC has decided to change its position on merit pay, evaluating teachers and breaking up the Milwaukee School district. Making sure that our children have good teachers and that those teachers are compensated for their effectiveness not just their longevity is crucial to improving our nation's embarrassing education system.

That being said, it would have been nice if WEAC would have agreed to these reforms because they thought they were effective methods of better educating our children, and not just survival tactics employed to appease the angry conservatives in charge of the state government.

This cartoon also reminds me of one of the reasons I love being a cartoonist. I decided that the cartoon should be something involving a James Bond type scene, with WEAC under duress. Then I got to have the fun debate in my head over what would be the funniest and most visually interesting clichéd evil villain method of dispatching an adversary. In the end, I decided that a shark tank was funnier than a laser beam or a ticking time bomb.

In what other job, other than super evil genius, do you get to make that decision?

We are the champions

2011-02-07T12:09:00.002-06:00

I drew this cartoon last week, and was hoping it would see the light of day (not like the Bucky Rose Bowl cartoon that we had to kill when they lost).

What a great game, and what a great season. I have to hand it to the Packers. I've never seen a team fight through so many injuries and setbacks and play so well and so passionately.

GO! PACK! GO!

And now, I'm taking a break from drawing cartoons about sports. After the last two weeks, as much as I love drawing cartoons about the Packers, I'm just burnt out. I really don't want to draw another cartoon about sports until Opening Day, but we'll see if I can last that long.

In the meantime, I think our new governor should keep me pretty busy.

Smelling the Roses

2010-12-06T10:24:00.001-06:00

Very rarely am I completely happy with a cartoon as a visual piece of art. Usually there is something I wish I had drawn better or composed more elegantly, but had to call it good enough because of the constant pressures of deadline. But I'm quite proud of how this cartoon turned out.

Of course the message isn't exactly hard-hitting political commentary. But visually, the image is simple, I really like how I captured Bucky's pose and I like how few words I used in the cartoon. You might not gather this from how laden with text some of my cartoons are, but a cartoon that makes a point visually, without any words or labels, is my ultimate goal.

Some might have labeled the badger "Bucky" or "UW Football", or labeled the roses as "Rose Bowl," but in this instance, that wasn't necessary. Granted the words "sniff, sniff" appear in the upper right hand corner, but I liked those more for visual composition than anything else.

Plus, onomatopoeia are fun, and sometimes a cartoon doesn't have to move mountains, or carry some weighty political message. Sometimes, a cartoon should just be fun.

The Fat lady is warming up.

2010-12-06T10:22:00.002-06:00

There are several members of Madison's city council who are particularly fond of the sound of their own voices. They like to talk late into the night about overarching philosophical matters.

Since I don't have to sit through these meetings, this usually doesn't bother me. But it's worrisome when they practice this procrastination with a deadline fast approaching.

That's what's going on right now with the Overture Center. Banks and donors have agreed to erase $28.6 million in debt that the art center has piled up, if the city can come up with an operating agreement by the end of the year. But, instead of hammering out the details of how to operate the center, some council members feel it necessary to blabber on and on about the role of the arts in the city.

If a deal doesn't get done, Madison taxpayers could be on the hook for some $6 million in debt payments, or about $70 a household. This is money that individual families don't need, and in many cases can't afford, to spend.

But the bigger danger of not finding a solution is that one of the city's greatest assets could be shut down, which would be a blow to the arts community and a spit in the face to generous philanthropists, like Jerome Frautschi, who bankrolled the project.

Dane County Marijuana Reeferendum

2010-07-24T12:15:00.002-05:00

Like most people in Wisconsin, I believe that people who want to use marijuana for medicinal purposes should be allowed to do so.

Dane County will put the question to the voters in the fall on an advisory referendum (or reeferendum). Dane County supervisors unanimously supported the referendum (that's right all 37 of 'em), and officials expect the about 70 percent on county voters to support the measure.

Now it would be nice if the referendum actually had some teeth, but I guess it's a baby step in the process to give people access to the medicine they want.

I understand that in many states where medical marijuana is legal, the system has been abused. I've heard stories from places like California and Colorado where unscrupulous doctors will give anybody and their dog a prescription for marijuana, provided the patients pays a hefty fee. Some doctors will see hundreds of patients a day.

But at the same time the only thing particularly dangerous about marijuana is that it is illegal. I find stoners and potheads really annoying, but I'd feel safer with a stoner driving in the car next to me on the freeway than with a drunk.

And even though I wouldn't touch the stuff if it were legal, I'm excited that California is looking into legalizing and taxing pot. Advocates think the state will save money on police enforcement, earn money from taxes on pot, and shut down a portion of the black market for drugs that funds the murderous cartels in Mexico.

And I'm inclined to agree.

Earth Day's midlife crisis

2010-04-23T09:40:00.001-05:00

Here is the cartoon I decided to draw for the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. I liked it because it made a good point about the current state of American political discourse. I drew another Earth Day cartoon that I sent off my state-wide and national subscribers and I have attached that toon to this blog post. It’s not a bad a cartoon, but it doesn’t have the same edge.

It is sad that the environment and science itself has become such a partisan political issue. We need to be having a debate about what is the best way to address global warming, not whether or not it is a hoax.

Denying climate change is really a position for political wimps.

It is difficult to decide what is the best method of curbing green house gasses(i.e. what are the roles for the private sector and local, state and federal government, and what sort of mechanism such as cap and trade or carbon taxes are best at controlling carbon). It's much easier to stick your head in the sand and pretend that there isn't a problem.

Deer Hunting and socialsm

2010-04-19T11:28:00.002-05:00

I'm not a hunter, and I was not raised around hunters or wildlife (although wild pheasants used to roam around the vacant lots near where I grew up in Detroit). But since moving to Wisconsin, I've tried to embrace the proud outdoorsman tradition that is so important to this state's identity.

There are many hunters out there who are true conservationists. These folks are excited that wolves are starting to thrive again in Wisconsin, and might reclaim the role as primary predatory to the white-tailed deer population.

But there are other hunters who only see the wolves as a threat. If the wolves cull too much of the already over-counted herd, then the DNR might have to consider rolling back the deer season in November. And certain hunters would rather see the wolves extinct, than to have their excuse to drink beer and play with guns in the Northwoods cut short.

As you can see from my editorial cartoon, I have less respect for these hunters.

Friendly Wisconsinites

2010-04-15T09:07:00.003-05:00

Wisconsin has had the highest response to the Census of any state. Almost 80 percent of state residents have filled out the little forms that help determine where federal funding goes, and how many congressional districts we will have.

This wasn't major news because it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that Wisconsinites were more likely than residents of other state to perform their civic duty.

I'm not originally from Wisconsin, but I've really learned to love my adopted home state. Wisconsinites have a very strong and specific state identity and they take their civic responsibilities seriously (We are also always towards the top for highest voter turnout in national elections).

But the people here are just darn friendly, too. Shortly after moving to Madison from Detroit, I had a stereotypical Wisconsin experience – a lengthy conversation with a person on the other end of wrong number.

And while the big shots from the coasts or Chicago might think the folks here are naive country bumpkins, the world would be a better place if everyone was from Wisconsin.

Health care reform

2010-03-25T23:01:00.003-05:00

I don’t usually draw cartoons on national issues, but I thought this cartoon did a pretty good job of summing up my feelings on our new health care bill.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the Democrats passed a health care reform bill.

It's good that insurance company's can no longer cry "pre-existing condition” and drop paying customers as soon as they get sick. I'm glad kids won't be denied insurance on the basis of pre-existing conditions anymore, and it's good that millions more Americans will have access to health insurance.

But for as massive as this bill is, there is very little in it that will actually make health care cost less and that is the crisis we are facing. Health care is too darn expensive, whether or not you have insurance to pay for it.

This bill needed to include serious tort reform and incentives to end the obscene practice of paying doctors by the amount of tests they order and not by the health of their patients. If you could somehow add provisions like these the bill, it would have been a lot better.

Of course these are conservative ideas, and the GOP was too busy orchestrating the president’s Waterloo and calling everyone and their dog a socialist to seriously help craft good legislation

Edgewater Bracket

2010-03-22T12:50:00.001-05:00

It's in our contract as cartoonists to do a bracket-themed editorial cartoon in March. Well not really, but it feels like that as the editorial cartoon websites are inundated with March Madison cartoons. Some of them are pretty good, some of them pretty lame. I thought this one was pretty funny, but it was hard to fill out all of the slots.

I had about 12 great ideas for matchups, but I needed to fill out 18 slots for a full bracket. I had blank slots on the bracket pretty late into the afternoon on Friday, even after I'd finished drawing the rest of the editorial cartoon.

Luckily, my editor, Scott Milfred, was able to track down Dean Mosiman, the Wisconsin State Journal's city government reporter, to find out who would be an appropriate pairing with "TIF money." Sometimes, it takes a village to draw a funny and accurate cartoon.

Blog updates

2010-03-08T23:00:00.003-06:00

I haven't been updating this blog, because I've been working a blog for the Wisconsin State Journal. Go get out the blog at http://host.madison.com/wsj/opinion/cartoon/. From now on I'll try to post updates on this blog as well.

Here is today's entry:

It’s been fun drawing cartoons about Jeff Wood. Wood is a state lawmaker from Chippewa Falls who thinks it’s OK to drive around town when you're three sheets to the wind or hopped up on pain pills and cough syrup. This is the third cartoon I’ve drawn about him, and I think the meanest (I’ve linked those other cartoons to the blog).

The cartoon is mean because I feel betrayed by Jeff Wood.

I saw an interview with Wood several weeks ago on TV and actually started to feel sorry for the guy. He fessed up to his mistakes and was in the process of confronting his demons. He had publicly said he would not be running for reelection and entered treatment.

That was several weeks ago.

Now, Wood is fighting for his job, and is hinting that he might run again (Wood said his constituents support him and he believes he can be "an example of how you overcome your obstacles rather than let them defeat you."). He is even fighting two of his three DUI charges, saying that it's not his fault because he can't remember the incidents.

The man who at one time was taking responsiblity for his actions, now is trying to deflect the blame and play the vicitm with an eye toward the fall election.

I don’t know how Jeff Wood’s struggle with addiction is going (and for his sake, I hope it’s going well) but as a politician he’s definitely relapsed.

ipad

2010-01-29T09:45:00.003-06:00

With the launch of the ipad, we've entered a new era...of distraction.

Carpe Diem

2010-01-27T09:21:00.002-06:00

Officials from the Great Lake states are concerned about Asian carp (an invasive fish species that can grow up to 5 times the size of other carp) invading Lake Michigan, and eating the natural aquatic wildlife out of house and home. Commercial fishing is a multi-billion dollar industry on Lake Michigan alone and tourism that the lakes generate is a god-sent to struggling rust belt states like Michigan.

Several governors and attorney generals from the Midwest are asking for a summit at the White House to address the issue. The President, whose hometown of Chicago could stop the invasion by sacrificing some shipping lanes and closing some locks, seems remarkably unconcerned about the issue.

YouToon

2010-01-26T13:18:00.002-06:00

Here is this week's Youtoon, send me your funny captions.

State of the State

2010-01-26T12:19:00.003-06:00

Tonight is Governor Doyle's final State of the State Address.

I don't expect him to say anything earth-shattering or fess up to the many mistakes he's made dealing with the state's budget mess.

On a separate note, I really enjoy drawing the politicians behind Doyle during the state of the state. I think they should be holding signs that say "hi mom."

The Cost of Speech

2010-01-25T09:21:00.003-06:00

On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations and unions can now directly fund campaign ads. This flawed conclusion stems from the flawed premise that money is equal to speech, and limiting somebody's ability to spend money on a campaign limits the fundamental right for the super wealthy to speak.

Current campaign finance laws limiting spending don't keep anyone from speaking or voicing their opinion, they simply limit how much money you can spend to make that opinion heard. The first amendment promises a right to voice political viewpoint, but it doesn't give corporations the right to make us listen to them.

As the cartoon suggests, I'm worried that individual voices and opinions will be drowned out by the deluge of corporate and union money on political campaigns.

I ended up drawing this cartoon on the fly and super fast. I drew a cartoon on a change to campaign finance rules in Wisconsin, that became irrelevant after the supreme courts ruling Thursday morning. I drew this cartoon in about 2 hours on Friday afternoon, in time for Sunday's paper.

Welcome Home Troops

2010-01-22T17:03:00.003-06:00

Over 3200 Wisconsin National Guardsman have returned home from a tour of duty in Iraq. I hope that the liberals in Madison will work as hard to make them feel welcomed and help them transition to civilian as they work to end the war.

The reproduction of the cartoon in today's paper was pretty crappy. I likely need to talk to somebody at the Wisconsin State Journal to make sure my cartoons look as good in the paper as they do on the page in front of me.

Boston Tea Party

2010-01-21T14:40:00.003-06:00

Here is a cartoon I finished earlier today on the election in Massachusetts. I thought this was a pretty good image to go the message of the cartoon, and I'm actually kind of surprised I haven't seen more cartoonists with similar ideas.

I really enjoyed drawing the ship. It's a combination of a bunch of vessels I saw online, but it turned out quite nice and has the right feel to it.

Haiti

2010-01-18T13:51:00.002-06:00

This was another cartoon I did on the tragedy in Haiti. I think this is pretty nice and simple image. While there have been some reports of violence, it sounds the people of Haiti are amazingly resilient.

Good luck to the survivors. Our thoughts and prayers are with every Haitian.

Tragedy in Haiti

2010-01-15T10:16:00.002-06:00

As if Haiti didn't have enough problems, now the capital has be devastated by a massive earthquake.

Road Kill equity

2010-01-14T15:54:00.002-06:00

This is a topic that seems like it was made for an editorial cartoon. The state legislature wants people to be able to tag and take home their roadkill. Currently only deer can be tagged and taken home after getting run over.

My editor thought the truck was too high. I think it's funny. I guess all of my vehicles are driven in Hazard county.

Packers Lost

2010-01-12T09:48:00.002-06:00

The Packers got knocked out of the first round of the playoffs. The team scored 45 points and mounted a valiant if unsuccessful second half comeback. But they were sloppy with football and the defense was ineffective. That is not the way to play football the Lombardi way.

YouToon

2010-01-12T00:47:00.001-06:00

Here is this week's YouToon. Please share your funny captions.

Recent Cartoons

2010-01-12T00:17:00.004-06:00

Here are some recent editorial cartoons.

Obama is not worried about Asian Carp destroying the great lakes habitat.
Traffic deaths are the lowest since the government rationed gas in 1944 during WWII. 545 people died on Wisconsin last year. That's down from the highs in the 1970s when over 10,000 people on Wisconsin roads yearly. The numbers are even more dramatic when you consider that today there are over 5.6 million people in Wisconsin. There were only 4.4 million Wisconsin residents in the 1970s and fewer than 3.1 million Cheeseheads in 1944. Keep these stats in mind the next time somebody tries to reminisce about the good old days before car seats and seat belts and everything turned out alright.
Gubernatorial candidate Mark Neumann has thrown out some unlikely proposition of imposing term limit on all of the Wisconsin's elected officials. It's just a ploy to get attention for himself. Even if he were elected governor, he would have no power to impose term limits on the State lawmakers. Only lawmakers have the authority to put themselves out a job. And that's real likely to happen.

Icy Madison Roads

2010-01-06T07:21:00.005-06:00

Wisconsin State Senator Glenn Grothman is putting together a bill that would put the state government in charge of plowing and de-icying Madison's roads. The bill comes in response to the city's inability to get the roads clear after a massive storm dumped over 15 inches of snow in the capital region. Freezing temperatures ensued and through a series of poor decision by city officials, the major arteries in Madison remained nearly impassible for several days after the storm.

Grothman blamed the liberals in the city whose constituency is made up of "people who walk to their job at the co-op." Obviously, Grothman has a sense of humor about the topic which is good, because his proposal is a joke.

Not only does this bill by a Republican have almost no chance of passing both democrat-controlled houses in Maidson, but I doubt the state would do a better job of getting the streets cleared. It was only last winter when incompetence by the state Department of Transportation left hundreds of motorist stranded on I-90 after a snowstorm.

The city made mistakes handling the storm, and amazingly has admitted to those mistakes and put in place in policies to reform those mistakes. Grothman's bill is mostly blusterous hot air.

New Years resolution

2010-01-03T20:45:00.003-06:00

Happy New Year.

Here is a resolution that I'd like to see our state Supreme Court Justices make. The real tragedy is that they have to reform their rotten behavior in the first place.

Special Session

2009-12-17T10:46:00.004-06:00

This cartoon is about a week old, but I never got around to posting it online. The gag is pretty straight forward but my editor loves the character of Jimmy Doyle. I will miss Jim when his term runs out next year.

Believe

2009-12-17T10:44:00.002-06:00

I liked this image. I think it's a little bit sad, and sobering, but I'm not sure the message is razor sharp which, after all, is the point of an editorial cartoon.

Still, I like drawing Santa and Polar Bears, so there.

Stuck!!!!

2009-12-17T10:39:00.002-06:00

I thought this was a great image to describe this unpleasant situation.

DUI Snowman

2009-12-15T09:48:00.003-06:00

State Legislators will likely pass a bill this week to "toughen" Wisconsin's pathetically lenient drunken driving laws. While the legislation hardly sends the message that Wisconsin is serious about cracking down on the scourge of the state, something is better than nothing.

But the problem is, lawmakers likely won't be able to raise enough money to cover the cost of tougher enforcement. They will be relying on fees charged to criminals, which will likely only raise $15 million, and hopefully less (I'm pro less crime). If legislators were serious about raising money to crack down on drunken drivers they would raise the state's minuscule beer tax. But as this cartoon illustrates, they don't have the snowball for that.

Let it Snow

2009-12-09T08:42:00.003-06:00

It is dumping in Madison right now. We have about 15" outside our front door right now. We lost power for a while last night while the storm raged, and we have a tree in our backyard that is being seriously weighted down by at least a foot of wet, heavy snow. Still, since I work from home, I don't think I'm going to get a snow day today.

Edgewater Hotel

2009-12-09T08:34:00.004-06:00

Here is the cartoon, I drew earlier in the week about the Edgewater Hotel in Madison. A developer wants to spend to $93 million to fix up the hotel and add an 8-story tower and dozens of more rooms.

I think it's amazing that in this economy, somebody wants to invest our community. Some neighbors think it will destroy the character of their downtown neighbor. I say they can go jump in a lake.

Downtown Madison belongs to all of us, and I don't think a small group of NIMBY folks should be able to slow down progress. There are lots of benefits to living in downtown Madison. You are close to fine restaurants, bars, intriguing shopping and fantastic cultural institutions. The down side is that you shouldn't be allowed to complain about tall buildings in your neighborhood.

DNR deer count

2009-12-05T11:52:00.003-06:00

There has been a whole lot of hoopla about the DNR count of the Wisconsin Deer Herd. Hunters think the DNR has been grossly overestimating the size of the herd, and therefore has been advocating for unsustainable hunting practices, like "earn a buck" which forces hunters to shoot an antler-less deer, before allowing them to shoot a trophy Buck. Hunters cite the dramatically lower deer kill this year (which was down about 30%), as evidence of the DNR faulty numbers. Of course, the DNR suspended the "earn a buck" program this year, and hunters killed a very few antler less deer. Perhaps the change in policy explains the change in the deer kill.

But the cartoon is still a lot of fun.

Tax Heck

2009-12-04T11:19:00.001-06:00

I thought this cartoon was pretty funny. I like the idea of HECK, some sort of watered down, not so bad version of eternal damnation.

Weekend Cartoons

2009-11-30T19:32:00.003-06:00

These cartoons ran in the State Journal on Saturday and Sunday.

Both are pretty funny, but neither are particularly hard hitting. Also, I need to draw fewer animals. I don't really care for our furry friends.

Update

2009-11-30T12:44:00.004-06:00

Here are the cartoons I've drawn since my last post.

Barrett Runs for Governor

2009-11-18T08:45:00.004-06:00

Here is the cartoon I drew for Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett's decision to run for Governor in 2010.
I drew the cartoon earlier last week, because I had to head out of town for a funeral.

I had two separate captions for the cartoon one in case Barrett declared he would run, and one for in case he decided to stay put. Here is the cartoon that didn't run.
And I was pretty perturbed that Barret waited until Sunday to announce his candidacy. I had stayed up until 3am last Thursday morning drawing the cartoon so my editor could use it over the weekend. I then awoke at 5am Thursday so I catch my flight to the east coast for the funeral. By announcing on Sunday, when there is no one at the editorial desk at the Wisconsin State Journal, my cartoon didn't run until Tuesday, and I stayed up to 3am for no reason.

Consider yourself warned Mayor Barrett, you've gotten my bad side, and now I will relish every opportunity I get to draw a cartoon about you. That's right, don't mess with the cartoonist.

Radioactive

2009-11-16T12:59:00.003-06:00

The issue of using student test scores to evaluate teacher performance has become rather toxic.

It all seems rather silly to me. I understand that teachers should not be evaluated solely on student test results, but test that measure a student's learning progress are essential to evaluating how well teachers are performing, and whether they should keep their jobs. There are thousands of dedicated teachers in this country that are woefully underpaid for the innovative work they do to help their students learn. Likewise there are thousands of unimaginative and apathetic teachers who are concerned more with their next vacation, than they are with how well their students learn. Good teachers need to be paid for their trouble, and bad teachers need to be removed from the classrooms, and there's nothing wrong with using student test scores to help separate the good from the bad.

Edgewater and Library projects in Madison

2009-11-10T10:06:00.004-06:00

Here is a cartoon from today's Wisconsin State Journal.

I usually agree with Ald. Schumacher. I've found him to be pragmatic and he has a healthier dose of common sense than most council members. But he's wrong to delay the Edgewater and Library proposals. Both proposals hinge on cheap construction and material cost because of the recession, and both will cost significantly more money and become less viable as the economy improves.

Michael Schumacher is pretty smart and knows this. He wants to kill these projects.

He should have to guts to say so.

More updates

2009-11-10T09:02:00.002-06:00

Here are some recent Cartoons.

Favre Toon

2009-11-02T09:58:00.002-06:00

Here is yesterday's cartoon about Brett Favre's return to Green Bay. It was a tough game.

Lawton bows out.

2009-11-02T09:51:00.003-06:00

Lt. Governor Barb Lawton unexpected dropped out to the race for Governor last week. Rumors have been flying like beads at Mardi Gras as to what exactly were the "very personal" reason that forced her to quit. Some said she couldn't raise funds, others questions her health and a shock jock even spewed nasty rumor about her marriage. Most likely she was forced out by the Obama administration who wants Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett to run.

But he hasn't made a decision yet, and if he chooses not to run, the Democrats will be up a frozen creek without a paddle.

Last Week cartoons

2009-10-28T10:16:00.004-05:00

I was so busy drawing last week that I forgot to post cartoons here on the blog. Here are the cartoons I did last week.

Beer Tax Cartoon

2009-10-20T09:18:00.004-05:00

This is my most recent cartoon calling for an increase in the beer tax in Wisconsin. I originally had the Tavern League bartender saying both of the gag lines, but my editor thought it was a little too extreme to attribute a line encouraging drunken driving to the Tavern League. I'm not entirely sure I agree with him, but the cartoon is still good and makes a strong point.

State Lawmakers are old and Making fewer laws.

2009-10-15T08:12:00.003-05:00

This story in the Wisconsin State Journal caught my eye this morning. The Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, a conservative think tank, published a report finding that lawmakers are getting older, staying elected longer, and authoring fewer bills.

I'm not crazy about lawmakers getting old and comfortable in their cushy government jobs, but there isn't anything inherently wrong with them writing fewer bills, and I'm surprised that the conservative think tank didn't point that out.

When it comes to legislation, quality is more important that quantity, and often the best policy is the legislation that doesn't get written.

As for how this translates into an editorial cartoon, damned if I know.

Obama's Nobel

2009-10-15T08:05:00.003-05:00

Here is my Obama Nobel Peace Prize cartoon. It's not the best cartoon I've ever drawn but I had fun drawing it, and the cartoon has a different message from many of the Obama/Nobel cartoons I seen on the various blogs and list-serves.

Out of town update

2009-10-15T07:58:00.004-05:00

I was out of town visiting my in-laws earlier this week and didn't get a chance to post the cartoons I drew while I was gone.

Packers vs. Vikings Monday

2009-10-05T10:36:00.003-05:00

The Packers head to the Metrodome tonight to take on the hated Vikings and Brett Favre. Some families in Wisconsin are being torn between loyalty to Favre and loyalty to the packers. Here is the cartoon I did for the Sunday opinion page:

And here is the illustration I did for Monday's front page.

Deer Collisions

2009-10-05T10:15:00.003-05:00

I didn't know we killed so many deer in Wisconsin...accidentally.

Ahmadinejad's security detail

2009-09-30T09:30:00.004-05:00

The Packers' offensive line has been truly offensive, and not in the marching down the field and scoring points way.

Drunk ASSemblyman

2009-09-29T09:49:00.003-05:00

Wisconsin State Rep. Jeff Wood, was pulled over for OWI last week. Apparently he wasn't drunk but, he had been popping pain pills. It's the fourth time he has been arrested for suspected OWI. Ironically he voted with the rest of the Assembly to toughen the state's drunken driving laws, making the the fourth OWI conviction a felony. It's currently a misdemeanor. The Governor has not signed the new legislation into law yet, but he likely will when it gets to his desk.

I tried to point out the irony of the 4th OWI arrest in the cartoon, but the lawyer for the Wisconsin State Journal nixed the sketch. Rep. Wood has not yet been convicted of his 3rd OWI, (it happened earlier this year), and the attorney thought I was overstepping the line by pointing out the Wood's arrest would have been a felony if the legislation he supported had been state law.

Bring the Troops Home

2009-09-25T11:55:00.003-05:00

Afghanistan looks like it is seriously becoming a quagmire for the United State military, but I think we should seriously listen to our generals thoughts on how can stabilize the country, and train the Afghans to protect themselves before we pull our troops out. Our soldiers have fought too hard, for too long, for us to abandon the mission, as soon as it gets difficult.

A Wii bit too much fun

2009-09-25T11:49:00.003-05:00

Sheriff's Deputies in Polk County Florida got caught on tape playing a Wii bowling game at the house they were searching for drugs and other contraband. You have got to be kidding me.

Wisconsin's Most Wanted

2009-09-23T11:15:00.003-05:00

About 12,000 DNA samples taken from the 120,000 or so convicted felons in the last decade are lost or missing. The Attorney General's office and the State Department of Corrections are blaming each other for the mix-up. In the meantime, at least one person has been killed by a convicted felon and suspected serial killer whose DNA was not in the system. For more information check out this story from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/60116757.html

Drunk Driving in Wisconsin

2009-09-22T10:11:00.002-05:00

The Wisconsin State Assembly passed some pretty piss poor legislation to "toughen" drunken driving laws. Wisconsin is still the only state where the first drunken driving offense in not a crime but a civil infraction. Now under the new "tough" laws the first offense is crime, only if there is a minor in the car and the 4th offense (not the 5th) is a felony, but only if the 4th offense occurs within 5 years of the 3rd offense. Only one other state, North Dakota, lets repeat drunks off the hook for a felony until the 4th offense. A third offense felony is pretty standard.

On the bright side, considering that a good chunk of lawmakers have been pulled over after having a few too many, the Assembly didn't loosen the drunk driving laws.

Hoop Dreams

2009-09-21T11:32:00.003-05:00

This is becoming a pet peeve of mine. Every state legislature across the country continues to put off the real difficult budget decision, in hopes that the economy will come roaring back. Legislating isn't all ribbon cutting, and passing resolution honoring the local high school football team. We put our representatives in office to make tough decisions, and the decisions don't get much tougher than deciding how to fix these broken budgets.

I really liked the message I was able to get across with this cartoon. It is a little clunky, and I'm not crazy about having the two panels, but I thought the idea was strong enough to withstand the pedestrian layout.

Awe Nuts

2009-09-21T10:23:00.003-05:00

It was really fun drawing these squirrels up in a tree. I think the cartoon is pretty funny too. It's not the deepest of editorial cartoons, but sometimes it's to draw a nice simple cartoon with a cute and funny message.

Climate Change

2009-09-18T14:57:00.002-05:00

I think I probably should have made fun of hicks in Missouri with this editorial cartoon, but this was probably the last baseball cartoon I'll be able to do this year. And the Brewers need some love anyway.

Recent Cartoons

2009-09-17T14:13:00.003-05:00

I've missed some updates, while I was out of town at a wedding. Here are the cartoons I didn't post.
This is an illustration I drew for the cover of the Wisconsin State Journal Sunday Opinion section.

I like all of these projects, but it seems like ever there was a year to cut back.
I love platform shoes.

This i a simple image, but I loved drawing it from a unique and dramatic angle.

Pink Flamingos

2009-09-03T00:21:00.003-05:00

The Madison City Council voted to make the Plastic Pink Flamingo the city's official bird. As an editorial cartoonist, I really love this city sometimes. The city council is full of crazy characters with crazy ideas, and it' really quite entertaining.

The motion was prompted by a prank from the 1970s when students put over 1000 pink flamingos on the lawn of Bascom Hill, on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Lockerbie Bomber released for Oil

2009-09-02T23:57:00.006-05:00

I was pretty disgusted to hear that the British Government released the Lockerbie bomber as part of a deal to secure an oil contract (check out this story). But that's not as rich as how outraged so many Americans are that a government would something so dastardly, just to get their hands on cheap oil. Hello? Does the War in Iraq ring a bell?

Disney Buys Marvel

2009-09-02T10:13:00.003-05:00

This is just a fun cartoon.

Mercury Marine

2009-09-01T08:20:00.004-05:00

It looks like Mercury Marine, a manufacturer of outboard motors and the largest employer in Fond du Lac, will be closing down their Wisconsin headquarters and moving to Stillwater, Oklahoma. And the Union that represents it's hourly employees in Wisconsin is solely to blame.

The company asked the union to accept some concessions, including giving up a 2% pay raise in the coming years, and requiring new employees, and employees returning from a layoff to accept at 30% cut in pay.

The International Association of Machinist, Aerospace Workers and Morons Lodge 1947 voted against the concessions, and so the company is going to consolidate it's manufacturing efforts at their non-union facility in Oklahoma. Apparently, the union thinks it's better to not have a job, than to withstand the insult of a pay cut.

From what I have gathered from the news coverage of this affair, the union thought Mercury Marine was bluffing, called the bluff, and lost. But it's not just the union employees losing out. Many salaried workers at Mercury Marine's Fond du Lac plant will lose their jobs, and several local Fond du Lac manufacturing firm that supplied Mercury Marine with parts will have find new clients, or (more likely) shut down, and put more people out of work.

A Vick Jersey

2009-08-31T08:28:00.002-05:00

I thought this was a funny cartoon. I got the idea from reading about a radio show encouraging people to donate their Favre jerseys to shelters, instead of burning them in effigy.

Tammy Baldwin holds telephone townhall

2009-08-29T14:43:00.003-05:00

I really liked this cartoon. Even though I think most of the people protesting against health care reform are a few chewies short of a Whitman Sampler, they still have to right to address their congressional representatives. Holding a telephone townhall meeting as, my representative Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, did, is just plain cowardly.

What makes matters worse is that Baldwin has made heath care reform her signature issue, but doesn't want to face her constituents' questions on the issue that she says cares about above all others.

Ted Kennedy

2009-08-26T20:35:00.002-05:00

Here is my cartoon tribute to Ted Kennedy. I thought this struck the right balance on not being overly sentimental, and dealing with the substance and important issues of Ted's life. But I'd like to hear your thoughts.

R.I.P. Ted Kennedy

2009-08-26T08:19:00.002-05:00

Ted Kennedy, the Senate's liberal lion, and the last surviving Kennedy brother died this morning. I'm going to try to draw a cartoon memorializing him today, but I'll have to be careful. I won't be drawing him at the gates of Heaven that's for sure. I'm not entirely sure he'll be there after the accident in Chappaquiddick in 1969, when he left he female companion to die in the car he'd driven off a bridge.

A Hero

2009-08-25T09:48:00.002-05:00

A police officer was gunned down in the line of duty last week in Tampa. I drew this cartoon as a memorial to coincide with his funeral today.

Swine Flu Crossing

2009-08-24T09:59:00.002-05:00

A new editorial cartoon "commenting" on the swine flu outbreak that will probably strike schools this year. It's a fun image, the kind that newspaper editors love. Of course it doesn't really have a hard nosed opinion to it.

Favre the Horrible

2009-08-23T11:28:00.003-05:00

I thought this was a really nice way to depict Brett Favre.

On a side note, I went and looked back at some old Hagar the Horrible strips in some books I have lying around the house. I was really surprised how good some of the early strips were. Today, the strip just seems old and tired, but back in the day, it was quite funny.

Also, this is the YouToon for this week, I'm expecting to get a bunch of responses.

I must say I'm fascinated with Vikings, (the mid-evil pillagers not the stupid football team from Minnesota) and I've really enjoyed drawing all these furry axe-wielding warriors. Thanks again Brett.

FAVRE!!!!!

2009-08-19T08:06:00.001-05:00

Thank you Brett Favre for providing me with endless fodder. This is an illustration that ran on the front page of today's Wisconsin State Journal:

Death Panels and Teachers Pay

2009-08-19T08:00:00.002-05:00

Here are two cartoons.

The first is on the national Health Care debate. I think it pretty darn good, clear and concise.

The second cartoon is on teachers compensation. This is one of my favorite topics and one of the better cartoons I've drawn in a long time. While I'm a liberal in many ways, the teachers union, which insists on keeping incompetent teachers in classrooms, is one of the more evil lobbying groups in America.

Cartoon update

2009-08-18T09:08:00.003-05:00

So these are the cartoons I drew last week, and boy was it crazy. I had to watch Owen for most of the week and the entire the weekend while Tricia was working getting students moved into their new apartments here in Madison.

Nonetheless, I got my cartoons drawn, and the baby didn't kill himself, too much.

Back to school shopping...yeah

There has been a bunch of debate about the obituary cartoons on the editorial cartoonist list-serve. It seems that most editorial cartoonists think these cartoons are a waste of space on the editorial page. I was inclined to agree with them, but this cartoon got more feedback and reader responses than most of the cartoons I do. The response I got from this cartoon, reminded me of a conversation I had with a lady at the park a while back, while I was watching Owen. I told here that I was an editorial cartoonist, and she rattled off her favorite editorial cartoons, all of which were obit toons.

This leads me to believe that readers actually really like these obituary cartoons. The fact that so many editorial cartoonist think they are worthless, just goes to show how out of touch some cartoonists are with their audience. Maybe that's why this industry is in such trouble.

I always loved the bit in Spinal Tap with the amp that goes to 11

I thought this was a really strong cartoon about how we run our education system. One of my friends from college, a school teacher whose spent his career getting under-underprivileged high school students interested in learning, has already purchased the original drawing.

Health Care Reform on a stick and a Youtoon

2009-08-10T10:52:00.003-05:00

Here is the cartoon from Sunday's Wisconsin State Journal.

I thought this was a pretty good image for the issue, and it works nicely because Wisconsin's fabulous state fair is taking place this week. I went to the fair for the first time this year, and ate all sorts of amazing deep fried foods on sticks. It was awesome, but after all that food I'm in some serious need of health care.

Below is this weeks YouToon. Send me you captions and I'll the good ones onto my editorial. The winner will receive publication of the caption in the paper, and a print of the cartoon signed by yours truly.

Recent Cartoons

2009-08-07T07:33:00.003-05:00

Below are the cartoons I've drawn recently.

This is a bit of cheap gag, but it puts the money in perspective.

Trains can be a real pain but this was fun to draw. I applaud our governor for taking the initiative on high-speed rail, but he was an idiot for not taking competitive bids before buying several train cars from Spanish train manufacturer Talgo. There are lots of people in Wisconsin who stupidly think that high-speed rail will be a waste of taxpayer dollars. It behooves the governor not to give opponents legitimate reasons to oppose this vital transportation project.

Wisconsin has no cap on the interest that payday lenders can charge.

Brett Favre to Stay Retired

2009-07-30T07:51:00.003-05:00

It turns out that Favre won't be taking a nice fat crap on all us Packer fans after all. He's decided not to play for the Vikings this year, for now...

Swine Flu and Health Care

2009-07-30T07:45:00.002-05:00

I'm starting to realize that without universal health coverage, attacking the impending swine flu could be quite difficult this fall.

YouToon

2009-07-29T09:31:00.002-05:00

I've decided that I would start posting the cartoons I draw for the Wisconsin State Journal cartoon caption contest called YouToon. Post your captions and we'll see if you can win publication of your cartoon caption and a signed print of the winning cartoon.

Weekend toons

2009-07-28T21:52:00.004-05:00

Here are two editorial cartoons from the weekend that ran in the Wisconsin State Journal. The first is sort of a cheap gag, poking fun at the recent news that the government covered up data suggesting that distracted driving was a bad a drunken driving.

The second cartoon is a pretty good one, attacking the social conservatives in Wisconsin who are opposed to domestic partner benefits.

Granted I think the conservatives have a point that the Wisconsin Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and "substantially similar" unions would make domestic partnerships unconstitutional. But if they win that argument, the conservatives will likely have the entire amendment gutted because of a legal challenge arguing that the current amendment is invalid.

According to our constitution, amendment to the constitution are only supposed to address one particular issue. If a court agrees that this constitutional amendment in fact bans gay marriages and domestic partnerships, than it also must agree that amendment addressing two distinct issues and is itself unconstitutional.

To make a long story short(too late), folks opposed to domestic partner benefits are small-minded bigots whose intolerance is unamerican, and whose children and grandchildren will be forever ashamed of their actions.

Golden Eggs

2009-07-28T21:49:00.002-05:00

I get so frustrated when folks in Madison stand in the way of developments that will provide jobs and an improved tax base to the city.

Union to taxpayers: "Brother can you spare a dime?"

2009-07-22T07:09:00.003-05:00

Here is a cartoon from today's Tampa Tribune.
I love doing cartoons about this topic, but I really wish I didn't have to. I'm not anti-union, but I do believe that when facing a huge budget deficit unions for public employees need to be reasonable. Public employee salaries come from the tax dollars of citizens who work for private companies increasingly don't have unions to protect their salaries and jobs.

Weekend cartoons

2009-07-21T10:19:00.005-05:00

Here are the cartoons that ran in the Wisconsin State Journal over the weekend. My folks were in town so I didn't really get a chance to update things.

The first cartoon, about the wind turbines, is one of my new favorite topics. I really cannot believe that some people are so adamantly opposed to wind turbines. I see them as a serious way to get us unaddicted to foreign oil. And I'd much rather live next to wind farm than a coal fired power plant.

The other cartoon, about obesity in Wisconsin, was a no-brainer. Still I think I had a funnier alternative gag, but my editor preferred the finished cartoon. You be the judge.

Tampa Toon

2009-07-21T10:18:00.001-05:00

Here is a cartoon I drew for the Tampa Tribune last week.
It's funny how quickly insurance companies want to pull out of a area where people might actually have to use the property insurance.

Health Care

2009-07-14T14:47:00.003-05:00

I haven't done many Healthcare cartoons. It's a complicated issue, that I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it. This cartoon doesn't "say" a whole lot but I really like the image. I also had a ton of fun drawing the snakes and the vulture. Let me know your thoughts.
I also found out that the staff with snakes wrapped around it, is called a caduceus, and actually doesn't have anything to do with medicine. The staff with two snakes and the wings is the a symbol for Hermes, and somewhere along the way it got confused with the rod of Asclepius which has only one snake and is associated with Hippocrates and medicine.

Weekend Toonage

2009-07-13T08:37:00.004-05:00

Here are the two cartoons that I drew for this Weekend's Wisconsin State Journal.

The gag is a bit lame, but it works because the Roadshow was in Madison this weekend.

This turned out ok. I really like the drawing, but I thought my original gag was much better, before it got edited for our "family newspaper"

Another Wolf cartoon

2009-07-08T15:58:00.002-05:00

Here is another cartoon about the plight of wolves. I was thought it was cool to add some national content to the cartoon by adding everyone's favorite Governor Sarah Palin. Looking at it now, I probably should have made some sort of gag comparing the wolves getting taken off of the endangered species list, with Brett Favre's propensity to retire and then unretire. But I couldn't resell that cartoon to my syndicate.

Public Enemies

2009-06-30T16:53:00.004-05:00

After months of anticipation, the new Johnny Depp Film, "Public Enemies" will be opening in theaters across the country. Much of the movie was filmed in Wisconsin, and every single person got to be a part of the productions. That's because the movie studio spent a measly $5 million dollars in Wisconsin during production, but received $4.6 million from Wisconsin tax payers in the form of tax credits.

I was hoping to see the movie in the theater this summer, but that might be difficult with an infant at home. I guess I'll just have to wait to rent it on DVD so I can see my tax dollars at work.

Republicans and Iran

2009-06-18T08:51:00.004-05:00

I just read another column by a conservative condemning Obama for not adamantly supporting the protesters in Iran. I've now come to the conclusion that conservatives advocating U.S. involvement in Iran are either monumentally stupid or want this revolution for liberty and reform to fail.

I'm certain that Amadinejad is praying to allah that he can spin this revolution as the evil American empire trying to overthrow his just and pious Islamic Democracy. The last thing Obama needs to do is give him that opportunity.

Sometimes doing the right thing is doing nothing at all.

GM Bankruptcy

2009-06-02T08:20:00.001-05:00

I was excited to learn that this cartoons was posted on CBC's website. You can see it here at http://www.cbc.ca/photogallery/diversions/2285/0/

Windpower vs. Coal

2009-06-02T08:19:00.001-05:00

There is a growing group of people who are opposed to wind power in Wisconsin. They often live near the wind turbines and complain that the wind turbines cause all sorts of medical maladies, like migraines from shadow flicker, and that the noise keeps them awake at night. Other complain that wind turbines are dangerous for migratory birds and others just thing they are ugly and mar the landscape. I think it's important to remind them of the alternative. I also think it's fair to say that most of the people who complain of medical problems, don't have turbines on their property, but live on adjoining property. From what I've heard, not too many people who are being paid to live with turbines on their property have complained about shadow flicker.

Mallards Opening Day

2009-06-02T08:17:00.004-05:00

Beer and baseball go together like summer and baseball, but especially at the Duck Pond, home of the Madison Mallards. There $30 will get you access to the Duck Blind, a special section of the stadium with all you can eat brats, and all you can drink beer.

Sonia Sotomayor and the Wisconsin Supreme Court

2009-06-02T08:17:00.001-05:00

While electing supreme court justices like we do here in Wisconsin might seem more democratic, recent elections have been plagued by big money and nasty ads, that have landed the winning justices in trouble with the state's ethics board.

Cartoons from the weekend

2009-05-27T11:54:00.003-05:00

Here is my weekend update of editorial cartoons. It's kind of strange but I didn't do a memorial day cartoon this year. I'm not sure why, I guess I figured there would be be enough of them around this week anyway.

Instead we have cartoon on development practices in Tampa.
The governor's opposition to a new and improved beer tax. Which seems like a no-brainer to me considering how minuscule our current beer tax is, and how expensive the excessive consumption of beer is for our state' s legal system (i.e. prison, jails, cops and prosecuters who deal with drunks and drunken driving).

And good ol' Brett Favre and the festival celebrating my favorite grilled sausage.
One additional note on the beer tax. From my understanding the tax is based on the volume of the beer rather than on the cost of the beer. This means that if the beer tax increase is 8 bucks a barrel, a $100 barrel of Natural Light would be $108 and experience and 8% increase in price, while a $200 barrel of Capital Brewery's Island Wheat would be $208 and experience a 4% increase in price.

At first this seems a little regressive, but I think it's good considering that more people are likely to rapidly pound cheap beer. It's this binging that then becomes an expensive problem for the legal system, and it should be taxed accordingly.

Smoking Ban

2009-05-22T07:43:00.003-05:00

This is not the world's most provocative editorial cartoon but I thought it was decent gag.

The story of the state wide smoking ban has had an intriguing arc. The fact that the governor signed a bill banning smoking in all restaurant and bars this week was not as big of deal as I expected it to be. I thought there would be a little more clawing and protesting on the part of smokers and tavern owners, but the opposition has been minimal.

Several years ago when the ban first proposed there were some pretty nasty debates about health vs. people's individual freedoms. I don't know if there was less resistance this year because Republicans got trounced in the election, or if there was simply less coverage of the debate, because the newspaper industry is ailing. I hope it is the former. I guess with the overwhelming Democratic majority in both houses, many assumed the ban was a foregone conclusion, and since it has been discussed for several years, people have gotten used to the idea.

Cartoons from last week

2009-05-19T22:44:00.003-05:00

Below are the cartoons I drew last week.

I thought this was pretty good but I wonder if it's a little obscure for the average reader.

This is a silly gag but it's still really funny.
A brewers cartoon, I rarely do these but it was a slow news week in Wisconsin.

Brett Favre is always good for a cartoon, and it looks like it could be yet another summer full of Brett.

Big Tent

2009-05-08T09:17:00.004-05:00

I really thought I hit at least a double with this cartoon.

This really captures how I feel about the GOP. Rush Limbaugh and the other blowhards on the radio, as well as the bible thumpers have made the party unpalatable. I personally agree with much of the what the GOP stood for, personal responsible, individual freedom and free-market solution to societies problems. But I can't tolerate the intolerance that the party spews nowadays, and I think many "old school" republicans feel the same way.

As a side note, yes, the guy labeled "far right" does look like Rush Limbaugh, but I didn't label him as such, because he doens't need me feeding his ego, and the nutjobs like Sean Hannity and Glen Beck are just as bad (but not as recognizable).

Here's the rough draft:

Let's pass an ordinance

2009-05-07T17:34:00.003-05:00

I thought this was a pretty good cartoon. The Madison city council seems to think they can pass a law to solve any problem facing the city.

I think the caricatures of the alders turned out pretty good too. I don't bother labeling the alders in cartoons unless I'm specifically making fun of that person, mostly because the general public doesn't recognize these people anyway.

I try to do the caricatures as an added benefit to insiders who pay attention to the council. The alders pictured are (from right to left) Mike Verveer, Marsha Rummel, Satya Rhodes-Conway, and Brian Solomon.

Barack Obama destroyer of Mass Media

2009-05-07T09:52:00.005-05:00

The coolest hippest most tech-savvy president in the history of our great nation is trying to undermine the free press, and hasten it's demise. Now I'm not talking about what happened during his first press conference when he took questions from Huffington post, and snubbed the New York Times and the Washington Post.

No, what the president has done now is much more subtle and much more dangerous, and what's worse it's masquerading as good government.

You can go to a website, www.recovery.gov, and find detailed and relatively objective information about how stimulus dollars are being spent. The problem is this website wasn't put together by a group of investigative reporters or even some government watchdog group. It was launched by the Obama administration in the name of open government.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm glad this administration (at least in its infancy) is more open than the previous one. But I worry that the youth movement that propelled Obama to the White House and continues to adore him, will start to believe that the job of unveiling government information belongs to the government and not to journalists and the media.

And this is very dangerous for the sake of our democracy.

We function because we have a free press that monitors what government is doing. But I'm worried that Ipod generation, of which I am now a member, might start thinking that protecting newspapers and the good journalism they produce is no longer important because 1) everything you need to know is on Twitter and 2) our savior Obama is completely open and honest.

It's one thing to have faith in your government. It's another to actually believe what they are telling you.

Maybe Obama really is the greatest president this side of Abe Lincoln and will continue to run his administration in an open manner, launching new websites airing his own dirty laundry at every opportunity.

But even if he does, there no reason to think the next guy at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. will do the same, and then, I know I'll miss a good newspaper.

Cartoon Update

2009-05-07T07:37:00.003-05:00

I'm like the worst blogger in the world. Here are the editorial cartoons that I've done in the last week or so.

2009-04-21T19:46:00.003-05:00

Here are a couple of the recent editorial cartoons.
I really like the sequence of this cartoon, and I thought the idea was pretty clever. I've seen a lot of Ahmadinejad as Hitler cartoons since the nutjob gave his hate speech to the U.N. but think this is pretty original. I probably could have done a better job with the execution of the cartoon, but it turned out OK in the end.

I also got to do this nice caricature as well.

Last but not least, I thought this cartoon turned out well, but I need more room to put on those heinous labels that the alty cartoonists hate so much. I'm worried the labels are getting hard to read. It doesn't help that my space on the page is getting smaller with each redesign. My cartoons used to be almost 8 inches wide on Sunday's. Now they are just over four inches wide.