unpublished portrait of Barack Obama, 2008.

I've never just posted a video on Drawger without a piece of art I've done, so I've added a crop of a larger piece that is yet unpublished.  This post is NOT about the painting of Obama.



We are living in an historic time, one where we are presented with an erratic and increasingly desperate republican candidate who really has no plan for what his administration would do for the middle class other than the tired old promise of crumbs falling off the table.  On the other side we have a smart and measured democratic candidate with specific programs and a proven ability to deal with issues in a thoughtful way.  No erratic stunts from him, such as picking a frighteningly unqualified running mate, suspending his campaign for nothing, and now starting an announced and already discredited smear campaign against Obama.  The choice is abundantly clear that America needs a change and Barack Obama is the right man for the job. 



In this historic election, there is the issue of race at play that has yet to be effectively discussed in my opinion.  Obama is running as an American, not an African American, but there are still parts of this country that only see race.  It is partly a generational split, but the more insidious issue is what is sometimes called "the Bradley effect" .  This refers to a frequently observed discrepancy between voter opinion polls and election outcomes in American political campaigns when a white candidate and a non-white candidate run against each other.  It's named after Tom Bradley, an African-American who lost the 1982 California governor's race despite being ahead in voter polls.  The Bradley effect refers to a tendency on the part of voters -- black as well as white -- to tell pollsters that they are undecided or likely to vote for a black candidate, and yet, on election day, change their vote. 

One theory for the Bradley effect is that some white voters give inaccurate polling responses for fear that, by stating their true preference, they will open themselves to criticism. This effect is similar to people refusing to discuss voting choice at all. If you state you are undecided, you can avoid being forced into a political discussion with someone highly partisan. The reluctance to give accurate polling answers has sometimes extended to post-election exit polls as well. The race of the pollster conducting the interview may be a factor into voters' answers.



It's sad to imagine this STILL happening in America but it's true.  I hope discussing it causes people to think about the only the ISSUES in the voting booth.

Still, I feel that when politicians discuss race they skirt the issue as to not sound like they are accusing anyone of anything.  Change has to come from us.

I saw this amazing speech earlier today and I was deeply moved by it.  Thanks Edel for showing it to me.  The speech comes from AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Richard Trumka.  He's a third generation coal miner from Pennsylvania who went on to receive  his degree from Penn State and then his law degree from Villanova.  I believe he gave this speech on July 1st 2008.

www.youtube.com/watch

Thanks for giving it a look and pass it on.

The Final Cover

Here is another thing to worry about.  The permafrost in Siberia is melting.

I recently did a cover and opener for Stamford Magazine.  They were really great people to work with.  Hats off to Amy Shroads.

The article was a fascinating mone that detailed the aweful situation in Siberia.  Global warming is effecting and melting the permafrost.  As the permafrost melts, what lies beneath is just starting to decay.  And what is beneath the surface?  Dead animals and most prominently, frozen and rotting Wooly Mammoths.  The stink is sickening because in bogs all over Siberia, methane gas rises and creates a greenhouse effect that traps heat and speeds up he cycle.  One fellow, Sergei Zimov also speculates that the lack of large herbivores such as the mammoths means trees don't get consumed and trampled and these forests are traveling north.  Unlike short grass which is covered by snow in the winter, trees are dark and catch the sun's rays and heat up the area which again keeps the cycle going.  Sergei is trying to use larger animals such as horses to recreate the environment where plants are consumed and the forests are kept in check.

 I am just trying to be an illustrator.  What a slacker.



I did a sketch of a side-view of the earth with a mammoth underground.  This was chosen as in interior and the cover was a more simple and powerful image of a Mammoth. 

I had a blast doing it.  Still, now I have to worry about this?

Think happy thoughts...think happy thoughts.

A close-up of the cover.

Meanwhile back in Washington... Just in case any of you haven't noticed, the last 8 years have been a long steep decline for a majority of Americans. The republicans have had control of the White House and have really wrecked this country. Thousands of new tombstones for young men and woman, devastating injuries to survivors from attacks in a war pitched for one cause then flipped for another are it's legacy. The trickle-down theory was tested on America yet again and guess what?... the rich got richer and jobs did NOT grow and incomes did NOT go up. Did it work as pitched? No. So we must all agree that the Bush years were just awful. I did this cover for Mother Jones about a month ago, out right now. At the time I was absolutely sure that America was sick of the last 8 years. The cover story was about the ways to move past these last 8 years. The award-winning creative director Tim Luddy at Mother Jones called with this fun idea of Bush as the Wicked Witch melting with other characters around him; Barack as Dorothy, McCain as the Cowardly Lion and my favorite, Cheney as a flying monkey. I did wonder if having McCain as a Cowardly Lion would be 'leading with our chin' and offered a sketch of him as the Tin Man, squeaking "Oil, oil" but that one was rejected for the Lion. After seeing the cover I see the two asterisks that reveal on page 2 this funny explanation: **As for you my friend, your a victim of disorganized thinking...you're confusing courage with wisdom" -The Wizard to the Cowardly Lion. Brilliant! I can't resist here pointing our to anyone still on the fence in this election that the plan that McCain/Palin have for the next 4-8 years is to continue the Bush tax policy, the social agenda perhaps more focused on ending a woman's right to choose, a carbon-based energy policy of drilling everywhere in American and lying that it will end foreign dependency( it won't) and finally, not a single program to help the middle class of any worth. Ding, dong, the Bush years are almost over but as Bush once warned: "fool me once, shame on ... shame on you. It fool me. We can't get fooled again."

Finally this issue is FILLED with great illustration...Steve Brodner, Mark Matcho, Peter Arkle, Ralph Steadman, Yuko Shimizu, Jason Holley, Harry Campbell, John Ueland, Juliette Borda, and Christian Northeast.