I can't believe the fate of health care reform is coming down to these self-righteous dildos. If they really cared about the pocketbook of the average American, they would support the Obama plan with a public option. Apparently Blue Dog Loretta Sanchez is the only one that gets this.

It seems no is talking about the stealth $6,500 tax on every household that David Leonhardt described in the NYT last week. Yes, little libertarian warriors, we are paying that much more for health care than other industrialized nations. (Leonhardt mistakenly assumes, however, his readers have cushy salaried jobs, asserting "you and I" don't notice our health care premiums coming out of our paychecks. This self-employed reader sure as hell notices the big chunk being taken out of her checking account every month.)

It's time to stop throwing around hollow bromides about "the guv'mint" and start talking about what really works -- to save Americans money, lift a burden off of employers, and put a stop to the senseless suffering, great and small, of millions caught in this crisis.

Paul Krugman has an excellent blog post up about why unfettered private markets don't work for health insurance. It has long struck me as bizarre that we entrust our lives to these entities whose very mission is to pay out as little money as possible!

I've been meaning to post this for some time, but got distracted by my move out West. My friend the talented Mr. Brian McFadden has a new book out called Fun Stuff For Dum-Dums. "Big Fat Whale" is one of the best altweekly strips out there -- I like it so much I blurbed the book!

I just want to say I'm tired of Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats acting like they are on the side of the ordinary taxpayer. Because this ordinary taxpayer is waiting on tenterhooks for a plan she can afford. Obama should have mentioned the huge number of self-employed people for whom health insurance is an absolute nightmare.

Also, if you haven't seen it yet (maybe it's all over TV, I don't know), this is pretty amazing.

This one was inspired by an REI catalog that showed up at my house a couple months ago. I really like REI, and my wardrobe will probably include ever-increasing percentages of their clothing now that I'm within striking distance of not one, not two, but three REI stores. That said, their color naming is totally out of control.

In addition to the "Hopi blue" and "carob/cilantro" mentioned in the cartoon, there is also "eco green," "pistachio/eucalyptus," "pink fever," and "yam orange." And for machismo-minded menfolk: "asphalt gray," "ironworks," "carbon," "Moab," "graphite/steel," "bark/saddle," "sharksin," "aluminum," and simply "tank."

It's hard to narrow them down, but I thought I'd share some of the more entertaining signs and roadside attractions from our cross-country drive last month:

This flyer from the Tea Party nutballs was being stuffed into mailboxes in the Seattle suburbs last week:


Honestly, how hard is it to understand that a public health insurance option for those of us being screwed by private insurance companies is NOT "government-run health care"? Tea Party bungholes aside, I've seen this same intellectual dishonesty from other cartoonists -- people who should know better. I realize the Obama people are up against a wall of BS, but they need to be more aggressive in framing this distinction.

The NYT has a horrifying yet unsurprising article about attitudes toward cell phone use while driving. To me, it seems perfectly obvious that any conversation with someone not in the car with you makes you imagine that person -- you're mentally there with them, even if your eyes are open and pointed in the direction of the road.

2,600 traffic deaths a year are caused by drivers using cellphones. That's nearly a September 11 every year, for a "convenience" almost none of us needed to get through our lives until, what? 10 years ago?

Meanwhile, it seems there's no getting around douchesquirts like this one:

“To me, the death of freedom is far worse than the risk of talking on the phone while driving,” said Carl Wimmer, a state representative in Salt Lake City who successfully fought a bill this year to ban talking while driving.

Note to Carl: people killed by drivers on cellphones aren't free! Related cartoon here.

After watching previews and reading various reviews of "Brüno," I was reminded of my "Heterophobic Humor" cartoon from a few years ago, which featured a wacky, flaming straight guy. I was thinking of posting it here again, and then I thought: why not pilfer from myself and draw a new cartoon specifically about "Brüno"?

I'm sure there are plenty of funny moments in the film, but in 2009, a parody of a flamboyantly gay man seems, well, tired. Especially when you consider much of the flamboyance in real life is itself a self-conscious F-U to the "traditional values" crowd. Want to watch something good starring gay characters? Rent the entirety of "Queer as Folk" -- and as a bonus, look for the episodes with Slowpoke paraphernalia in the background!

The Obama administration hasn't been as progressive in many areas as I'd hoped, but one reason why it's better to have them in power over the Bush administration is the little under-the-radar moves like this one that have a big impact. From the Union of Concerned Scientists:

UCS led other groups in a successful effort urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to resurrect a program for tracking pesticide use on U.S. food crops, which had been halted by the Bush administration. The pesticide use surveys, conducted by the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), provide the only free, publicly available data on the agricultural chemicals applied to crops. Government agencies, environmental groups, academic scientists, and others use the data to evaluate the human health and environmental risks posed by pesticides and compare the amount of pesticides applied to genetically engineered (GE) versus conventional crops, among other purposes. As the first step in restoring the program, NASS will gather data on pesticide applications to fruit and nut crops this fall. If Congress approves the full funding specified in the president's 2010 budget, the agency will resume data collection for vegetables, major row crops, and pesticides applied to crops after harvest.

This actually happened last month, but I'm still getting caught up from my travels.

Hey, I'm back!

While I was at the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists convention here in Seattle last week, Daryl Cagle conducted a video interview with Mikhaela Reid and me. It turned out really well -- plus I'm dressed up all fancy, which doesn't happen very often. Go watch!