This Sarah Vowell piece on Teddy Kennedy and Pell Grants made me reflect on my own life. I was raised by public schoolteachers, watched lots of public television (Sesame Street, Electric Company, 3-2-1 Contact), attended public schools from K-12, attended one of the top public universities in the country (couldn't afford the private ones even though I got into them), and worked at the library of said public university for several years to support myself while I began my career as a cartoonist. In other words, I AM THE PUBLIC OPTION, BABY.

This one had more of a traditional editorial cartoon feel to it, so I decided to try my hand at cross-hatching and make it look a little old-school. That stuff is a pain to color, though, so I think I'll stick to my usual style.

As source material for this cartoon, I used this handy timeline on the NYT website showing the history of U.S. health care reform efforts. Worth checking out.

I'm about to go on vacation, so this ends Health Care Awareness month here at Slowpoke. I drew the next few cartoons ahead of schedule -- something I did not think I was capable of. Posting may be a bit irregular here, but we'll see.

While Googling images of bustles for an upcoming Slowpoke cartoon, I came across this Australian steampunk blog containing the lyrics to Sir Mix-a-Lot's "I Like Big Butts" -- had it been written in the 1880s:

The courtiers like big bustles and they cannot lie.
No gentleman doth deny.
When a fair maiden strolls in with a diminutive waist
And a bustle in your face...

There's more.

After posting this cartoon, I came across a quote by Bill Maher suggesting that the public option "sounds like a toilet at the train station." I would like to note that I arrived at my restroom interpretation independently, and that this proves I should be paid Bill Maher money.

While Googling images of bathroom stalls -- there aren't quite as many as you think -- I came across this public restroom in Paris, which may well be the worst bathroom I have ever seen. Coincidentally, I am going to visit Paris for the first time soon, and I sincerely hope I do not encounter a facility like this. (The second panel is the result of reading a bit in the Rick Steve's guidebook about the French healthcare system.)

A couple other minor details: I have always empathized with John Hodgman in those PC-vs.-Mac commercials, so I'm not entirely sure this marketing campaign would work. But it's worth a try. Also, after I drew the tough guy in the last panel, it occurred to me that he looks like an Evan Dorkin character.

My alma mater, the University of Virginia, has done a very flattering piece on me in the alumni magazine. There's also a nicely-produced three-minute video in which I discuss my "process" (if you want to call it that).

I see my assertion about Antonin Scalia and the Rumpist School of Thought has made its way into Wikiality, the "Truthiness" Encyclopedia.

I normally avoid making cartoons as straightforward as this one -- more show, less tell -- but dammit, I wanted to get to the point about these town hall nutbuckets. As someone forced to deal with health insurance on the individual market (yes, that's sort of me in the last panel), I can tell you from personal experience that the for-profit market is BS. Reform is not just about helping "welfare cases." It's about helping lots and lots of people who work for themselves (and everyone, by bringing down costs). Ask a freelancer about health insurance sometime. You'll get an earful of swear words you didn't know existed.

The guy in the second panel is loosely modeled after William Kostric, the slightly wild-eyed dude who showed up at a town hall in New Hampshire with a gun strapped to his thigh. The Brits think we're crazy; check out this Daily Mail header:

Only in America: Gunman waits outside town hall meeting for Obama - and police say it's OK

Of course, since then, many people have shown up packing heat. I guess it's supposed to symbolize "freedom." But I like the freedom of going to political events where people don't have assault rifles.

Great blog post written by an octogenarian woman.

And what’s all this crap about killing your grandmother? Are you people honestly that stupid? This has become less an argument about healthcare reform and more a statement about our failed education system.

VERY true.

Last week I was snacking on Oh Boy! Oberto Teriyaki Turkey Jerky, and in a state of deep jerky delicto, tweeted about how much I enjoyed this product. Lo and behold, within a few hours, I was being followed and retweeted by the Oberto twitter feed. We had a nice little exchange about product placement fees, in which they offered to give me free jerky if I get one million twitter followers and mention Oberto. (Get busy, people!)

Then, yesterday, I was tweeted at by Jerky Dot Com, who politely disagreed that Oh Boy! Oberto is the best jerky. Jerky Dot Com sells not only turkey jerky, but ostrich, elk, and alligator jerky. I'm kind of amazed at the Twitter-savviness of these makers of dried meat snacks. Just a little Web 2.0 anecdote for y'all.

As the ink was still drying on this one, Sarah Palin came out with her colorful "death panels" interpretation of Obama's health care plan. Then, after posting the strip yesterday, I found out that Neil Cavuto's show on FOX News actually compared the Obama plan to Soylent Green, complete with video clips from the sci-fi classic. Apparently the last two panels of this cartoon did not go far enough in satirizing their targets. I feel almost trite saying this, but once again reality has gotten so extreme, it's difficult to parody.

Now I see in Tom Tomorrow's latest, Glenn Beck is urging his viewers not to go on killing sprees. I'm afraid the next few years could get ugly, folks. Or that is to say, even uglier.

Maybe you've seen this already, but I just found it today. Via The Daily Beast via the Philadelphia Inquirer:

I've already railed plenty against using cellphones while driving, so I'll leave that commentary to my previous blog posts. But that quote by Utah state representative Carl Wimmer really stuck in my craw. If banning cellphones while driving represents the "death of freedom," then chugging a sixpack on the highway should be legal! And "You can't legislate against stupidity." That's a neat little frame used by anti-government types. A problem arises, however, when the form of stupidity in question IS HOMICIDAL. Plenty of stupid acts are illegal for good reason. The same people who are blissfully unconcerned about getting killed by a texting driver would freak out if they knew their airplane pilot was high as a Georgia pine.