As I was writing last week's strip -- in particular, the line about George being stoked about the graphics in Madden NFL 06 -- it occurred to me that the effort to make video games hyper-realistic is worthy of a cartoon itself. Readers of this blog already know I am not a huge fan of CGI animation in movies; I think it looks more fake than a lot of low-tech special effects, not to mention soulless. I find these eerily "realistic" video game graphics disturbing as well. There's a good article on Slate from last year entitled "The Undead Zone: Why realistic graphics make humans look creepy":

In 1978, the Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori noticed something interesting: The more humanlike his robots became, the more people were attracted to them, but only up to a point. If an android become too realistic and lifelike, suddenly people were repelled and disgusted.

Interestingly, the author turns to comics theory for an explanation:

As comic-book theorist Scott McCloud points out, we identify more deeply with simply drawn cartoon characters, like those in Peanuts, than with more realistic ones. Charlie Brown doesn't trigger our obsession with the missing details the way a not-quite-photorealistic character does, so we project ourselves onto him more easily.

On top of the realistic graphics, sports video games now offer features like player endorsement and movie deals. Gag me with a joystick!

On a different subject, I recently finished reading James Mann's excellent Rise of the Vulcans, which chronicles the careers of the Bush administration's foreign policy architects. I'm curious about the process that creates these freaks of culture. By the book's end, you can clearly trace the ideological roots of today's fiascos; that most of the Vulcans seem to have "reality issues" is also apparent. You know, I'm so tired of the neocons acting like they discovered democracy. If they're so pro-democracy, why don't they seem concerned with the myriad problems with ours? The lies and deception that lead to a grossly misinformed electorate, the systematic Republican attempts at voter suppression? Nor do these proud, anti-tyranny chest-thumpers seem terribly concerned about the genocide in Sudan. Big buncha flatulent posers, I say.

Hard to believe, but it's been almost two years since Bush delivered that turkey to the troops in Iraq. [UPDATE: Though the turkey was initially reported to be plastic, it was in fact a real turkey -- but a decoration that was not actually served to the troops. The troops ate turkey served from steam trays.] The more time goes by, the more it strikes me that the fake turkey is an excellent metaphor -- well, one of many excellent metaphors -- for this administration.

I'm glad I got a jab at the odious Joe Lieberman in this strip. That man has done untold amounts of damage to this country by lending his jowls of faux legitimacy to the zaniest of Bush's schemes. Every damned day I read about Joe being "encouraged" by Alito's empty assurances, or saying "partisanship" is what's causing the decline in Americans' support for the Iraq war. (To which Joe Biden accurately replied, "it's not partisanship that has caused the American people to leave this war, it's the gap between the rhetoric from the administration and the war on the ground.") It is high time the press stopped calling this guy a moderate and pegged him for the far-flung Bush apologist that he is.

In other news, I've added the "Email post" feature to the blog. I've been meaning to set up a program so people can easily forward the cartoons themselves (right now there's some pretty weak code in place on the current strip page that opens up a message in your e-mail program, if you're lucky). But the blog e-mailing appears to work splendidly.

This should raise some eyebrows, though I can't find much else written about it at the moment.

Judge Alito also mentioned membership in the Federalist Society, the conservative legal group, and in another group, Concerned Alumni of Princeton, founded in 1972 to oppose coeducation. On Tuesday, liberal groups dispatched researchers to look into the alumni organization and Judge Alito's role in it.

The group published a magazine, Prospect, and copies on file at the university library include articles that criticized Princeton for using student health fees to pay for abortions, for tolerating homosexuality and for supporting affirmative action policies.

The magazine also complained about Princeton officials for pressing the university's all-male student "eating clubs" to admit women.

Andrew P. Napolitano, a commentator for Fox News and a Princeton classmate of Judge Alito's who served on the organization's advisory board, said he did not recall his playing an active role in the group.

But a former student, Sally Frank, who filed a 1979 lawsuit to open the clubs to women and became a target of attacks by the magazine, said she was alarmed that Judge Alito "took credit" for the group.

I caught Robert Greenwald's new film, WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price last night, and can tell you it's very well done. It's fun watching all the dyed-in-the-wool Republican types having their Wal-Mart epiphanies. One guy says (and I paraphrase): "I'm all for freedom, I'm against communism and socialism... but there has got to be some regulation." Welcome to the progressive club, bub!

It's a little frustrating to see these people not making any connection between Wal-Mart and the modus operandi of the Bush administration, but that's not what the film is about, and probably for good reason. It's a film about working-class America, and I can only hope it is seen by lots of people who don't normally pay attention to these issues.

Also of interest: the Walton family's underground bunker, complete with helipad!

Find a screening near you.

"We do not torture."

That's what Bush said recently, at the same time Dick Cheney is seeking a torture exemption for the CIA. This statement was so brazenly false, it struck me as transcendent. It wasn't just an ordinary lie; it was an exercise in absurdity. It was as though he stood up there and told the world, "I am a potato." The first thing that popped into my mind was Nixon's famous "I am not a crook" line, which I'm glad I managed to work into the strip. I can only hope this one goes down in history too, as one of the great whoppers of our times.

Another laughable bit of BS came just a couple days later, when Alito "reassured" senators that he (*snicker!*) "respected" the precedent of Roe. This is the same Alito who, we learned today, said the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion. The case could not be more clear-cut. It's time to stop our high-fiving over Bush's growing unpopularity and get to work educating people about this dangerous, out-of-the-mainstream judge.

I've received positive feedback about the coloring the strips, so it looks like something I will continue with as time permits. I've also begun displaying "thumbnails" of the strips here. (a tip of the mouse to fellow cartoonists Mikhaela, Matt, and Brian, who have already employed this toonblogging technique). I did not actually just use the word "toonblogging," did I?

On to Alito. Oh, Alito. That lyrical name inspired me to draw the strip as a poem, even though there aren't really all that many words that rhyme with "Alito." You'd think there would be more. I thought about working in "Hirohito" but couldn't.

If there was any hope that this country might not be completely headed down the crapper, it will be dashed if Alito gets on the court. Roe, of course, will be eviscerated. What concerns me even more is the possible striking down of pollution laws. You have heard about global warming, yes? You should read this piece by Adam Cohen from the New York Times last year, laying out everything that could go wrong (via CampusProgress.org). It is, shall we say, chilling.

A bit of cartoon trivia: the first version of this cartoon, the one that went out to most newspapers, featured a slightly pudgier Alito without glasses. It was based on what appears to be an older photo, which is still often used to accompany articles, though in recent shots he looks thinner and is consistently bespectacled. So I updated him for the web version.

Democrat Tim Kaine handily won the governor's seat in VA yesterday. I think this is the first election in four years where the person I voted for actually won (the last being Gov. Mark Warner). It's nice not having to feel post-election crabbiness for once. Oh, okay, I think the last city council election I voted in worked out okay too. Let's just say the high points have been few and far between.

Unfortunately, the baby-smooching Rob Bell, pictured two posts below, retained his seat as delegate.

From the "American Voices" section:

Record Oil Prices, Record Oil Profits

In the face of record-high oil prices, oil companies made a record $35 billion in profits in the last financial quarter. What do you think?

Harry Dawes, Printer: "We need an incisive political cartoon to take these robber barons down a notch."

Yeah, it is kind of an uphill battle.

We're just two days away from choosing a new governor and other political offices here in Virginia, which means we're knee-deep in baby-kissin' season. This flyer for Republican Delegate Rob Bell arrived at our house the other day, and it features one of the more prominent baby heads I've seen in a political ad. At actual print size, the baby head is over four inches long. I believe it is Mr. Bell's baby.

I'm a little nervous about the gubernatorial election; the last Republican governer we had fiscally ruined the state. Our current guv, Democrat Mark Warner, had to pick up the pieces, and in a remarkable feat, transformed the state into the best-managed in the nation. If the Repubs get back in there, chances are they'll blow all that hard work to hell... sound familiar?