Bin Laden and stuff…

So I had totally planned to write up an entry about DOCTOR WHO today and then last night happened. I can’t write an entry about Doctor Who within hours of Osama Bin Laden finally being found and killed. I won’t bore you with my feelings on the issue beyond “Yay! Woooo!”, I figure everyone’s got their own thoughts and most are offering them (some of mine are probably still in the Twitter feed on the right of this blog). Instead I thought I’d post two pieces of artwork. The first is the painting I was working on the morning of September 11th 2001. So when anyone asks where I was on September 11th, my answer is down in the art department at Sacred Heart University, working on my first watercolor painting.

My first watercolor painting: a portrait of Archie Bunker

Either later that same semester or early the next, 9/11 became part of the curriculum. In my Graphic Design class, we were given an assignment to create a 9/11 memorial stamp. A lot of students were focusing on the Towers, I wanted to do something different.

9/11 memorial stamp created in Photoshop

9/11 Stampsheet

I Heart New RNC Chairman Michael Steele

I love you, Michael Steele. For those who haven’t heard, the new RNC Chairman has made it his mission to create a new hip-hop image for the GOP. No, seriously. While there are plenty kinds of crazy flowing from the near powerless Republican Party right now, Steele’s is the best kind because it’s incredibly entertaining.

 Obviously, creating a new GOP with hip-hop appeal is essentially an impossible task and not just because the party is devoid of any African Americans in prominent positions (other than Steele himself). As the brilliant Melissa Harris-Lacewell pointed out on THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW last week, hip-hop is largely about being authentic. Is there any profession that screams “inauthentic” like politician? Perhaps lawyer, but that’s it. Neither political party could ever brand itself as the party of hip-hop for that very reason. Nonetheless, I can’t wait to see how Michael Steele tries to accomplish this. It’s sure to be spectacular.

Melissa Harris-Lacewell had another insightful, and kinda geeky, quote when breaking down Steele’s election as RNC Chairman. It seems especially appropriate to share here given the banner for my blog. Here’s the quote:

“[The Republicans are] thinking Barack Obama is Superman, so what they needed to do was get some Kryptonite. Kryptonite comes from Superman’s own planet, so they went to “Planet Black Guy” and they said how do we get somebody from “Planet Black Guy” who can neutralize Barack Obama as [...] a unifier? This is their Barack Obama.”

Now as a huge comic geek myself, I’m going to take this analogy a bit further. I think Michael Steele may not be Kryptonite, but rather, Superman’s fellow Kryptonian, General Zod. The Republicans tore Zod out of his Phantom Zone prison, thinking the only way to beat Superman was with someone who was from his own planet and had all of the same powers. What they didn’t realize at the time was that Zod was batshit crazy. The Republican party has already lost control of their Zod, but unlike Superman, President Obama has no reason to try and stop Michael Steele because Steele is only going to help to destroy his own party.

Or, if you prefer an apt quote from the Batman universe, here’s one from Alfred Pennyworth (to Bruce Wayne) in THE DARK KNIGHT: “You crossed the line first, sir. You squeezed them, you hammered them to the point of desperation. And in their desperation they turned to a man they didn’t fully understand.”

Any bets on how long it takes before Michael Steele makes “Why so serious?” the new catchphrase of the GOP?

A Brand New Day

I haven’t posted anything since the inauguration of President Obama and, mostly, I blame that on giddiness. Seriously, I’ve been too happy to type. It’s been difficult sitting still. I constantly want to jump around and do cartwheels. It’s a welcome change from the last eight years.

Anyway, I’m now working on some new blog posts that I’ll have up soon. One on my favorite comic book series of 2008, another one about geeks on TV, and another on the new best night of television. (Not necessarily in that order.)

Also, a big thank you to Brea Grant for posting my speedster art on her blog and linking back here. She is tremendously cool for doing that.

George W. Bush’s Not-so-excellent Adventure

Anyone else getting the impression that George W. Bush has finally realized he’s going to go down in history as the worst President ever? Not only that, but with this “Bush Legacy Tour” and his “Exit Interview” press conference, I’m beginning to think he’s trying to model his presidency after the film “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.” He now knows his presidency has been an abject failure, but he’s thinking maybe if he aces the final exam, history will give him a pass. The problem is he doesn’t have a time-traveling telephone booth. Side note: How wrong is it that I can imagine the President of the United States sitting in the Oval Office and actually saying, “Man, I wish I had that magic phone booth, then me and So-crates could fix all this.”

I wonder when the realization hit him? I have a feeling it was on the night of November 4th. Was it the sight of Americans rejoicing in the street after Obama won? Or was it the scenes from around the world with crowds of elated individuals waving American flags and for once the flags weren’t on fire? I’m not sure when the exact moment was that the bubble around him finally burst, but I’m fairly certain it burst that night. It had to show him the American President is not automatically hated around the world. George Bush had not inherited their disgust, he had earned it.

Shortly after election night, the Bush Legacy Tour began. The American people were treated to interviews with nearly every member of the Bush Administration. And each Bushie was doing their best to spin the travesties of the last eight years into something positive. With the tour going about as well as the one documented in the film “This is Spinal Tap” (which staffer delivered the “Stonehenge” moment is debatable), the administration decided to trot out Laura Bush to spew the talking points. She, of course, had the highest approval rating of the bunch. Sadly, not even the First Lady could successfully execute the President’s “Bill & Ted” strategy. Neither the press nor the American people were buying it.

This set the stage for George W. Bush’s “Exit Interview” Press Conference. The President’s demeanor could only be described as that of a petulant child. He would try to make a point, and when the press corps rightfully didn’t buy it, he would throw what resembled a tantrum. But what reaction did Bush expect to get when he claimed his administration’s response to Katrina was not slow? Or when he listed his biggest disappointments in office and he didn’t mention starting the Iraq War, but instead just listed not finding any weapons of mass destruction and rolling out that huge “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” banner? Apparently, the President had not considered the fact that both of those “disappointments” were entirely avoidable if he hadn’t gone to war with Iraq in the first place. In fact, most of Bush’s regrets revolved around PR. It was as if he didn’t regret any decisions he had made, he just regretted how his administration had marketed them to the American people.

Now I understand a President’s need to try and shape his legacy. Unless you’re a robot or Dick Cheney, you’re going to care what people think of you and how history remembers your Presidency. I can understand why Bill Clinton would fight to frame his 8 years in office as more than a punch line about a BJ and a stained dress. My problem with President Bush is his poor decisions effected more than just him, his administration, and his family. His decisions led directly or indirectly to the deaths of thousands upon thousands of Americans, as well as countless more Iraqis. And when Bush comes out and tries to alter the history of his Presidency like this, I believe it’s an insult to all those who were killed because of his decisions. It’s an insult to the families and friends of all those people who died.

So now that President Bush has tried his “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” strategy and it’s failed, I think it’s time he moved on to “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey.” That’s right, it’s time for George W. Bush to go straight to hell.