Comedians, artists and certainly political cartoonists tend to possess an anti-authoritarian, skeptical, irreverent streak. This makes the staunchly conservative cartoonist an especially odd bird.

Which cartoonists dare to criticize their own party? Who seems to literally illustrate GOP talking points? Who are their favorite targets? Who mocks liberals - and who seems to truly hate them? Who’s funny? Who’s independently minded and who’s a hack? Read, and decide, for yourself!

This installment covers the first half of April, 4/1/07-4/15/07. See chickenhawks squawk! See a(nother) manfactured scandal! See creative ways to attack liberals and African-Americans over Don Imus!
Read more »

A federal jury has found Joseph P. Nacchio, the former chief executive officer of Qwest Communications International Inc., guilty of insider trading charges, the Justice Department announced today.

The jury found Nacchio, 57, guilty of 19 counts of insider trading, covering $52 million in stock sales, that were charged in a December 2005 indictment. The jury returned its verdict today following 15 days of trial before U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham, and six days of deliberation. The jury returned not guilty verdicts on the remaining 23 counts.

Nacchio faces up to 10 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine per count at sentencing, which Judge Nottingham has scheduled for July 27, 2007. Nacchio was released on bond pending his sentencing. He also faces asset forfeiture, the amount of which will be determined by Judge Nottingham at a separate hearing after the trial.

The people of the District of Columbia moved a step closer Thursday to gaining voting rights denied to them for more than 200 years.

But the legislation passed by the House on a 241-177 vote faced a veto threat from the White House, which said the bill was unconstitutional.

The bill would increase full House membership from 435 to 437, giving the largely Democratic half-million residents of the district a seat and adding a temporary at-large seat for Republican-leaning Utah. The House has consisted of 435 seats since 1960.

The bill now goes to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., echoing the position of the Bush administration, said it was unconstitutional and he would oppose it.

full story at YAHOO!

Lily Allen - “LDN”

Here’s Lily Allen again. She gave a spirited performance Saturday night, but the sound mix was off.

If I wasn’t so angry and the shenanigans of the Bush Administration, I would have laughed myself silly at today’s testimony by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. After being postponed for two days because of the Virginia Tech shooting tragedy, Senators from both parties appeared to be ready for the questioning to begin.

But was Gonzales? How long does it take in his reported “practice” to learn how to say “I can’t recall”? Of course, he did say it several different ways, so I have to give him credit where credit is due.

For those of us who remember the good old drinking game “Hi, Bob” (the old “Bob Newhart Show” was the subject of the game. Every time someone said “Hi, Bob.” on the show, you took a shot of whiskey), today’s testimony from Gonzales would have sent me to the hospital with severe alcohol poisoning after the first ten minutes.

Gonzales’ answers were laughable. The frustration was beginning to show among the many Senators asking the questions. I heard that the “I can’t recall” excuse was used 55 times in the first half of the hearings before they broke for lunch.

How, in God’s name, could someone who is running the Justice Department have such a horrible memory? At the very least, Gonzales should be let go, fired or impeached for an obvious reason of incompetence. You cannot possibly run such a high office and have that bad a memory.

To my estimation, as I watched on C-SPAN 3 over the Internet, I caught Gonzales contradicting himself at least once during today’s proceedings, enough to throw a perjury charge at him tomorrow morning.

This constant game of hot potato from the Bush Administration leaves me (and I’m sure many others) to conclude that not only is Gonzales lying, but so is everyone else.

Rumor has it that Monica Goodling is negotiating immunity with the Senate in regards to her subpoena. But if she is granted immunity, is she going to spill the beans? Or is she going to kick the truth around like a hacky’sack bag?

This entire chapter in our nation’s history is disgusting. The Constitution has been the subject of an obvious end run by Bush, Rove and Gonzales when a provision was slipped in during the eleventh hour of the renewal of The Patriot Act, by Senator Arlen Spector, who, himself was surprised that he did it.

The truth needs to be out. America is banking on the discovery of who did what and when. Eight prosecutors lives were destroyed and their reputations smeared for political reasons and another step toward a Republican led Fascist Oligarchy.

I am still proud to be an American, living in the greatest country in the world, but I’m now looking at other countries, who must be laughing at the Keystone Kops administration and their continued denial of the rights American citizens. This has to stop and stop now.

Only continued and escalated outrage by the voting public will, hopefully, bring and end to this “Wizard of Oz” scenario and the administration that has been the most corrupt in our brief history.

UNION, N.J., April 19 (UPI) — Former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey, who resigned under a cloud, has a job teaching law, ethics and leadership at a state college.

Kean University in Union quietly hired McGreevey part-time in November, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported Thursday. While the $17,500 annual paycheck is modest, the job could substantially increase McGreevey’s eventual pension by giving him more years with the state.

McGreevey quit in 2004 after almost three years as governor, proclaiming “I am a gay American.” He said he had had an affair with a man he appointed to a state position, while the man in question denied the affair and said he was a victim of sexual harassment.

“It seems to me, Jim McGreevey teaching law and ethics is a little bit like Doctor Kevorkian teaching health maintenance,” said New Jersey Republican Chairman Tom Wilson.

But Kean President Dawood Farahi said that having a former governor willing to work for the university at such a low salary is “an unbelievable opportunity for us.”

Less than a week after the FBI raided the Northern Virginia home of his wife, Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.) gave up his coveted seat on the House Appropriations Committee today amid concerns that he had used that post to advance the interest of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and other allies.

“I understand how the most recent circumstances may lead some to question my tenure on the Appropriations Committee,” the nine-term conservative wrote in a letter to House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio). “Therefore, I feel it may be in the best interest of the House that I take a temporary leave with seniority from this Committee until this matter can be resolved.”

Boehner accepted the decision, saying it “is in the best interest of the House and the American people.”

“John recognizes that if we are to succeed in restoring trust between the American people and their elected leaders, this action is necessary,” Boehner said in a statement released by Doolittle.

Doolittle’s wife, Julie, operates Sierra Dominion Financial Services Inc. out of the couple’s home in Oakton. Since 2005, a Justice Department task force has been looking into payments made by Abramoff and other lobbyists to Doolittle’s wife and the spouses of other lawmakers.

Julie Doolittle has denied wrongdoing.

Friday’s raid of the couple’s house came on the same day Doolittle’s former legislative director, Kevin Ring, abruptly resigned as a lobbyist for Barnes & Thornburg. Ring had been an intermediary in Abramoff’s hiring of Julie Doolittle’s firm as a fundraiser for a charity the lobbyist had founded.

Full story at The Washington Post

A preacher’s wife who claimed her husband abused her was convicted of voluntary manslaughter Thursday for killing him with a shotgun she said fired accidentally as she aimed at him.

Mary Winkler showed no emotion as the verdict was read.

Prosecutors had sought a first-degree murder conviction, but the jury settled on the lesser charge after deliberating for eight hours. She faces three to six years in prison.

If Winkler, 33, had been convicted of first- or second-degree murder, she would have gone to prison for at least 12 years and maybe for the rest of her life. Her lawyers said Mary Winkler’s testimony on the stand was decisive.

“They had to hear it from Mary; there was no other source,” defense attorney Steve Farese said.

Winkler told jurors in powerful testimony Wednesday that her husband, Matthew, abused her physically and sexually, but she said she did not pull the trigger and the shotgun went off accidentally as she pointed it at him.

The prosecution said it was ludicrous to suggest the shooting was an accident.

Matthew Winkler, a 31-year-old preacher at the Fourth Street Church of Christ, was found in the church parsonage fatally shot in his back in March 2006. One day later, his wife was arrested on the Alabama coast, driving the family minivan with their three young daughters.

With a backlash developing against the media for airing sickening pictures from Virginia Tech shooter Cho Seung-Hui, Fox News Channel said Thursday it would stop and other networks said they would severely limit their use.

NBC News was the recipient Wednesday of Cho’s package of rambling, hate-filled video and written messages, with several pictures of him posing with a gun. Contents began airing on “Nightly News,” and its rivals quickly used them, too.

Family members of victims canceled plans to appear on NBC’s “Today” show Thursday because they “were very upset” with the network for showing the pictures, “Today” host Meredith Vieira said.

Virginia State Police Col. Steve Flaherty - who praised NBC Wednesday for coming to authorities first with the package - said Thursday he was disappointed with what the network showed.

“I just hate that a lot of people not used to seeing that type of image had to see it,” he said.

NBC said the material was aired because it helped to answer the question of why Cho killed 32 people and himself on the Virginia Tech campus Monday.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales confronted a fresh call for his resignation from a fellow Republican Thursday as he struggled to survive a bipartisan Senate challenge to his credibility in the case of eight fired prosecutors.

“The best way to put this behind us is your resignation,” Sen. Tom Coburn bluntly told Gonzales, one GOP conservative to another.

Disagreeing, Gonzales told the Oklahoma Republican he didn’t think resigning would put the controversy to rest.

The exchange punctuated a long day in the witness chair at a Senate hearing for the attorney general, who doggedly advanced a careful, lawyerly defense of the dismissal of the prosecutors. He readily admitted mistakes, yet told lawmakers he had “never sought to deceive them.”

full story at YAHOO!

Not giving “the opposition” the chance to play this for all it’s not worth, former Senator and Presidential candidate John Edwards has reimbursed his campaign for haircuts he received.

WASHINGTON - Democrat John Edwards is trying to get out of a hairy situation, reimbursing his presidential campaign $800 for two visits with a Beverly Hills stylist.

Two $400 cuts by stylist Joseph Torrenueva, who told The Associated Press that the former North Carolina senator is a longtime client, showed up on Edwards’ campaign spending reports filed this weekend. Edwards spokesman Eric Schultz said it never should have been there.

“The bill was sent to the campaign. It was inadvertently paid,” Schultz said. “John Edwards will be reimbursing the campaign.”

Full story on YAHOO!

Firefighters, the clergy and others with professional jobs that involve helping or serving people are more satisfied with their work and overall are happier than those in other professions, according to results from a national survey.

“The most satisfying jobs are mostly professions, especially those involving caring for, teaching and protecting others and creative pursuits,” said Tom Smith, director of the General Social Survey (GSS) at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

The 2006 General Social Survey is based on interviews with randomly selected people who collectively represent a cross section of Americans. In the current study, interviewers asked more than 27,000 people questions about job satisfaction and general happiness. Individuals’ level of contentment affects their overall sense of happiness, Smith said.

Entire story on YAHOO!

Although I am one of the very few American citizens who has never watched “American Idol“, I am so incredibly happy that Sanjaya has been booted from the show. At last, some news organizations can get on with much more important stories.

Evidently the fact that this young gentleman has very little talent, it’s almost apparent that the shows’ creators made sure he stayed on the show to bolster ratings. That has been the subject of many a report on new channels.

I don’t mean to turn this into an indictment on America, but there is a war in Iraq, assault on our Constitution and many other much more important things to which attention must be paid. We all have a responsibility to keep informed on what’s happening in government, your state and your local community…much more so than an apparently untalented young man who has played on his fifteen minutes of fame, virtually guaranteeing him another fifteen minutes.

NEW YORK - Sanjaya Malakar, the singer who horrified and captivated millions in his improbable “American Idol” run, was finally voted off the show Wednesday night. When the result was announced, Malakar wiped away tears and got a big hug from LaKisha Jones, the next lowest vote-getter. “I’m fine,” he told Ryan Seacrest. “It was an amazing experience.”

“I can promise you: We won’t soon forget you,” Seacrest replied.

Malakar then performed one last song, “Something To Talk About.” Putting his own twist on the song, the 17-year-old known for his pretty looks and ever-changing hairstyles ad-libbed: “Let’s give them something to talk about … other than hair.”

On Tuesday night’s show, Simon Cowell had slammed his performance as “utterly horrendous.” And for once, the notoriously mean judge was vindicated.

Complete story on YAHOO!

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Defense Secretary Robert Gates slipped into Iraq Thursday to warn Iraqi leaders that the U.S. commitment to a military buildup there is not open-ended.

Gates said the political tumult in Washington over financing the military presence in Iraq shows that both the American public and the Bush administration are running out of patience with the war. He was speaking to reporters in Israel just before his quick flight to Baghdad.

“I would like to see faster progress,” he said, adding that momentum by the Iraqi government on political reconciliation as well as legislation on sharing oil revenue would “begin the process to send a message that the leaders are beginning to work together.”

Full story at Yahoo!

I’ve been watching the hearings as The House Judiciary Committee on the Internet.

It’s so obvious that Gonzales is lying through his “Fredo” teeth, it isn’t funny. Aside from showing some arrogance toward the House Committee members on occasion by being confrontational, I’ve noticed that he is blinking a tremendous number of times and is incredibly fidgety.

Now, this doesn’t mean he’s lying. Maybe he’s nervous. I would be too. But the fact that everyone in this administration regarding the group firing of U.S. Attorneys have invoked the “can’t recall” defense, it is now beginning to appear that someone is so full of feces, their eyes are brown.

It’s disgusting that the United States Constitution has come under attack by the “Bushies”, so much so that the Founding Fathers must be spinning in their graves.

Gonzales’ “can’t recall” defense means one of two things: He is lying or his memory is so bad that he is unfit to serve any longer as Attorney General.

This dog and pony show needs to be stopped right now! As a citizen of the United States, I am increasingly embarrassed by this administration’s disgusting behavior in this and other matters regarding the dirty tricks and obvious tactics to transform the entire government into a permanent oligarchy based on neo-con politics.