Osama bin Laden cartoon of thank you letter to Pakistan

First Osama bin Laden cartoon

I was in shock for the first couple of days – I guess we all were – but the main question that nagged at me,  was why the sneak attack without Pakistan’s permission, and how could he possibly live there, in a bustling city, for so long, without anyone noticing? I can honestly tell you that I would have been on the phone to my Councilman, Tom LaBonge, within days of that house built and mysterious people moving in. So I did this cartoon right away, because I don’t like lying countries.

On the radio Wayne Resnick pointed out that the US is being very circumspect about both exclaiming that there is something suspicious about the whole thing, and yet on all the Sunday news shows, they denied that they have any evidence that Pakistan knew Osama was living there. Can’t wait til more facts are in on THAT one.

Interpretation of cartoon

Cartoon caption: Found in [Osama's] compound: some pressed violets, a machine gun, an old-fashioned photo of Osama bin Laden, and a thank you letter on creamy thick ecru stationary, reading: Dear Pakistan, I just wanted to thank you for giving me a home the past few years! Thanks for putting me up…and for putting up with me! I know I can be a handful, but you have always been a gracious host. You rock! Sincerely, your friend and America’s enemy, Osama bin Lad...and the note ends there, with some scattered drops of blood. We can only imagine what scenario took place there, and why the note ended so abruptly.

Since we kept hearing how the Osama team didn’t let electronics in the house, I wanted to use an old fashioned setup. Victorians were big on pressed flowers! And maybe Osama had picked some to give to Pakistan with the note. And I used an old-fashioned Kodak snapshot, from the 50′s or 60′s, as his picture.

Thank you notes are out of fashion now, but always appreciated.

Osama home videos

Also, I finally saw the Osama bin Laden home videos. Unlike the dog video, they were lame, as I expected. Time says:

But one video screened by the Pentagon offers a starkly different portrait of the infamous recluse. The seemingly candid video (above) shows Osama bin Laden sitting on the floor of his compound, watching satellite television. He holds the remote in his hand as he flips through the news networks to analyze the media’s coverage of him, a vain action he was said to engage in often…

Who writes this crap? Vain? Try living in Los Angeles, with actors everywhere you go. (but I love ‘em anyway!) And like everyone reading this doesn’t look themselves up in Google or post pictures of themselves in Facebook! Gah!

But it is not bin Laden’s vanity that has surprised so many web viewers, but rather his physical appearance. He appears frail and unkempt, with a beard that’s gray overall.

I’ve read this description in other sources, too. He doesn’t look frail to me, he looks cold. And, surprise, in Mideast countries they sit on the floor a lot, and they wear blankets and shawls all the time. It’s not enough that we killed the man – now the media wants to keep stirring the pot by saying silly slurs.

Image via Wikipedia - Osama is an author! He wrote this book!

The only thing I see wrong in the video is that the plugs are in a weird place on the wall, and the TV is much too small. Get a life.

More cartoons:

1. Obama found a horse head in his bed.

government shutdown cartoon

NO WAY was any government going to stop. Their last minute drama failed. Such a boondoggle. (Is that the right word? It should be.) But at the link is a  fellow who believes the government COULD have shut down, however.

Sometimes I wish I had a job in the government. So safe, secure, the pension, easy. Of course, you would have to be able to tolerate some rather common fellow workers, but you could just pretend you were in The Office, and having a good time. (That really is one of my favorite shows – at least the syndicated seasons, not this one, which is why a gov’t job doesn’t look so bad now.)

Cartoon Caption: Man and wife. Man is reading a newspaper that says No New News, and he says, What a bombshell! It’s a miracle! They signed a deal at the last minute, so no government shutdown! Wife says, This is why I married the man.

I can explain the cartoon, which is pretty simple, but the wife’s remark is a joke, to entertain myself. She married a pretty silly fellow, but seems happy, doesn’t she? Also, the dog is blue. Remember, a good cartoon is always a puzzle.

New cartoon in Psychology Today. WARNING – not for the squeamish.

No related posts.

Did Media Matters recently mention me, or use one of my cartoons? Considering their leftist bent, I can’t imagine it was in a good way.

Can’t find any answer on Google and the site itself doesn’t have any cartoons (shame!).

If anyone knows anything, please email me or respond in comments. Thanks.

More cartoons:

1. I miss my computer. Backup, you peeps!!
2. Farewell to Lost cartoon.

Dario Castillejos cartoon on WikiLeaks

I was shocked this week, SHOCKED to have an editor at a major book publisher tell me that they don’t publish many books of political cartoons “because they’re too hard to understand, and people feel like their brains hurt.” As I’ve written before, I never read political cartoons myself until a couple of years ago, so I feel their pain, but still…a smart, sexy editor can’t understand a cartoon?!

I can’t explain her mental state, but one problem I had was that I just didn’t follow the news enough to understand the cartoons- and another problem was the cartoonists themselves – messy, scrawling, ink scratching, with symbols and name tags and not a bit of humor, either. But they’re online and colorful now, and if you think of political cartoons as little puzzles, or mind games, you’ll have ever so much more fun with them!

I’m starting this week’s roundup with a cartoon by Dario Castillejos, on WikiLeaks. I like a lot of the foreign cartoonists, for both style and concept – they usually don’t have much dialogue, so they really work on their drawings! Uncle Sam is a rather tired symbol – I’ve never used it, nor been tempted to, in 2 years of doing cartoons – but this drawing of Uncle Sam as a scarecrow is pretty amusing! Oh, look, Mr. Crow has torn out his eye. Gulp. I like this grisly approach, maybe because it reminds me of Scarecrows, a truly scary good movie that I recommend.

Also, I might have missed an ingredient here. Does taking an eye out mean something different in Latin America, where the cartoonist is from? That’s for scholars to figure out.

I don’t think WikiLeaks is very interesting or exciting so far- what was it this time, name-calling? – so this cartoon is a little overdramatic, but it would liven up your paper, wouldn’t it? Thanks, Dario.

I’m not a fan of animation. But sometimes I have dreams where I’m looking at a single panel cartoon and it starts to move. I’m including this cartoon by David Fitzsimmons because he has some interesting movement going on here, and because how can we ever say thank you enough to our military men and women?

david fitzsimmons on veterans day

David has a loose cartoon-y style, but that only emphasizes the straight-backed dignity of this soldier as he goes on his way. Cartoonists never cry, but I may have gotten something in my eye for a moment…

Arcadio Esquivel cartoon on Pope and condoms

Last we have Arcadio Esquivel and a really great cartoon on the Pope and his take on condoms! I laugh every time I look at this! I want to do a cartoon on this subject, too, but Arcadio might have won this game. This cartoon has movement in it, too – the way he keeps jiggling the condom on a stick, and his rather devilish expression – divine!

This cartoon has what is called a limited palette – only 2 colors, instead of the rich reds, etc, others might use on the Catholic Church leader’s vestments. It works.

Come back tomorrow for Part 2!

A big thanks to Cagle Cartoons.com for permission to use these cartoons (except for mine below, which are ALL MINE. :).) If you want to submit your own cartoons for consideration here, feel free to email me here. (JPGs under 200 kb, and only one per week, please!)

My own cartoon this week of gays in the military can be found on Yahoo News (Sorry, no link now. Uclick Gocomics threw away 2 years of my cartoons on Slate, Gocomics and Yahoo News when they kicked me out.), and comments are on GoComics.

don't ask don't tell cartoon

This cartoon on Meg Whitman (no link now) is a teeny bit mean.

meg whitman lost cartoon

My cartoon on the TSA (no link now) and airport irritations.

thanksgiving day with the tsa cartoon

No related posts.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that an orange and white barricade sat on top of a hole in front of Woods’ home. About 10 feet away, there was a tire track near an oak tree in his neighbor’s yard. The tree had a few scuff marks but was largely unscathed.

I’m always interested in news reports of oak trees, especially when a man named Woods is involved.

I like this drawing by Beeler. I don't know what mulligan means.

But this media interest, this intrusive, low-class waitress spewing crapola is so low class! As he said, it’s his personal business! I don’t care if he had an affair, or his wife got mad, and I don’t care if anyone else cares!  A big, meaty UGH.

Isn't this drawing by Cam Cardow similar to the one by Beeler?

But many cartoonists jumped right on it, using every pun and double entendre you could shake a golf club at.

Daryl Cagle has a lot more cartoons over at his place, but here are a few I had comments on.

I like this cartoon best, because it's creative and non-judgmental, UNLIKE THE MEDIA.

More cartoons:

1. Farewell to Lost cartoon.