David Baldinger - Cartoonist & Photographer

by Carlos Latuff "Whenever Israel faces a public relations debacle such as the Intifada or international pressure to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict, American Jewish organizations orchestrate this extravaganza called the 'new anti-Semitism.' The purpose is several-fold. First, it is to discredit any charges by claiming the person is an anti-Semite. It's to turn Jews into the victims, so that the victims are not the Palestinians any longer. As people like Abraham Foxman of the ADL put it, the Jews are being threatened by a new holocaust. It's a role reversal – the Jews are now the victims, not the Palestinians. So it serves the function of discrediting the people leveling the charge. It's no longer Israel that needs to leave the Occupied Territories; it's the Arabs who need to free themselves of the anti-Semitism." (Norman G. Finkelstein) Read complete interview here: www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=9035

I'm stuck trying to use a free 56K dial up provider for the next week but I just had to comment on some things. Why does cable Internet have to be so damned expensive! First, even though I'm not a big Clinton fan, I do wish the news would stop making it seem as if he threw a huge tantrum on national TV. If these "journalist" jackasses think that what they saw was a temper in action they should have seen me dealing with my five year old back in the 90's. Hell, Clinton never even stopped smiling and his face didn't get red. Can US journalists become even more pathetic and useless than they already are? You wouldn't think so but that is assuming they have some basic talent. From my viewing experience and my personal experience interacting with these people--I must say they are some of the dumbest, most clueless group I've ever encountered. I didn't think Clinton went far enough. He probably has plenty more to say but politics keep him in check. I...

Rough doodle in color and Photoshop. (An idea for Illustration Friday ) A more refined sketch in case I actually do something with this.

(parody)

According to Keith Olbermann : "If the Iraq debate seems especially exhausting, it may be due to the steady erosion of the foundation for any productive debate, facts. Our fourth story on the COUNTDOWN tonight, the persistent lie a link, a preexisting link, between Iraq and al Qaeda. President Bush last week told CBS News, quote, "One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror." Of course, any good boss knows how to delegate the hard stuff. And so the past several days have seen a veritable assault by his staff on what, in any other plane of existence, would constitute consensus reality, the knowledge, known to the intelligence agencies of the U.S., Britain, and Israel, to the 9/11 Commission, to, most recently, the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, and to many of your sharper domesticated farm animals , that al Qaeda and Iraq were not partners, allies, or even friends ." That explains it. There must not be very many of those ...

Too bad I stumbled upon an email from The Independent's Tehran correspondent, Angus McDowall too late. The email ended up in my Yahoo email which I only use as a spam trap. An article was published today about the Iranian public's ho-hum reaction to the "Holocaust" cartoon exhibition. I was pleased to see that I was treated fairly. "The cartoons included US, European, Brazilian, Korean and Chinese entries. However, the US cartoonist David Baldinger said that his drawing "in no way ridiculed the Holocaust". It is best to let people determine what is propaganda and what is not. Most of the time intelligent people know the difference. Sane people, I would think, don't place value on government statements refuting the Jewish Holocaust's historical fact. I doubt Iranian president Ahmadinejad even believes his statements. He is engaging in what I would call "political mooning". A bare ass sticking in the world's face gets a lot of atten...

Keith Olberman slams Bush and the partisan use of Sept.11 for political purposes. Did any of us forget Bush hawking photos of himself on Air Force One on that day to raise funds? I haven't. Transcript: Half a lifetime ago, I worked in this now-empty space. And for 40 days after the attacks, I worked here again, trying to make sense of what happened, and was yet to happen, as a reporter. All the time, I knew that the very air I breathed contained the remains of thousands of people, including four of my friends, two in the planes and -- as I discovered from those "missing posters" seared still into my soul -- two more in the Towers. And I knew too, that this was the pyre for hundreds of New York policemen and firemen, of whom my family can claim half a dozen or more, as our ancestors. I belabor this to emphasize that, for me this was, and is, and always shall be, personal. And anyone who claims that I and others like me are "soft,"or have "forgotten...

Even the smallest of towns are fed up with der hirnlose Führer! This is from a Declaration of Peace signing rally held at the Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg, PA

More boo-hoo victim-hood crap from the most powerful country in the "Middle East." And these people have the audacity to question why Iran would ask, "Why must Palestinians pay for the Jewish Holocaust". They also questioned where the line of free speech stopped in the West. They knew that criticism of Israel is off limits. Continuously, we are told how democratic a nation Israel is but to view the following diatribe against Carlos and to witness this call for his neutralization because his cartoons are critical of Zionism is as Fascistic as anything NAZI Germany could cook up. And then they complain when they are depicted as NAZIS. This is exactly why Carlos draws what he does. I would think that every Palestinian home bulldozed to make more room for Israeli expansion does more damage than any cartoon. Are Israel's public relations representatives falling down on the job? Carlos, I support you and will defend you with all my abilities! David ISRAELI RIGHT-WI...

By Laurence W. Britt Free Inquiry magazine, Volume 23, Number 2. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each: 1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism. From the prominent displays of flags and bunting to the ubiquitous lapel pins, the fervor to show patriotic nationalism, both on the part of the regime itself and of citizens caught up in its frenzy, was always obvious. Catchy slogans, pride in the military, and demands for unity were common themes in expressing this nationalism. It was usually coupled with a suspicion of things foreign that often bordered on xenophobia. 2. Disdain for the importance of human rights. The regimes themselves viewed human rights as of little value and a hindrance to realizing the objectives of the ruling elite. Through clever use of propaganda, the population was brought t...

I have marked in bold the ones I particularly like. 1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night. 2. Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often. 3. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian anymore than standing in a garage makes you a car. 4. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity. 5. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before. 6. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance. 7. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious. 8. A person, who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention! It never fails.) 9. For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program. 10. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip. 11. Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks. 12. A conscience is what hurts when all of your other pa...

I really am not up to writing too much today but I would like to make a statement about my participation in the controversial Iran “Holocaust” cartoon exhibition. There is some concern being expressed about damage to reputations by several cartoonists who submitted work. Below is a letter being circulated throughout cartooning circles making it clear what the motivations were: To whom it may concern: Having participated in the Irancartoon-Hamshari contest, we would like to affirm that we are not anti-semitic and do not agree with the way this contest is being used and manipulated by the Iranian government as a revisionist action, which purpose is to incite Israel and the US. We are professional cartoonists and have participated in many other international cartoon contests. As artists, we are deeply concerned about various issues. The recent war in theMiddle East is one of them. (the heavy attacks by Tsahal (Israel Defense Forces) in Palestine and Lebanon, and the response of the Hezbo...

Carlos Latuff , the brilliant Brazilian cartoonist, did this cartoon for me today. I am certainly glad my wife doesn't spend any time on the Internet. I am sure she would truly have my head for this!