The New Democrats

Al From, former head of the Democratic Leadership Council, tells the story of the rise and fall of them Dems, through their triumphs, setbacks (that bordered on roasts) and precarious resurgences. It’s not exactly news; the 1980’s were a major move to the right in White House policies, especially with regard to labor, ecology, and social supports. However, we didn’t exactly “lose” any freedoms. Abortion remained legal, the right to privacy was respected, and in sharp contrast to present-day Capitol Hill bickering, Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill, stalwarts on opposite ends, actually worked together.

From the get go, Al From makes it clear that the Democrats had little chance in the 1980’s. Jimmy Carter failed against Reagan, Mondale was a weak candidate, Dukakis faired no better against Bush, and then there’s Gary Hart, Ed Muskie, Hubert Humphrey, Eugene McCarthy, George McGovern, all of whom had too many slip-ups in their campaigns. I also wonder if the Mondale-Ferraro campaign would’ve succeeded if Geraldine Ferraro had been the presidential candidate? Did sexism in the Democratic party put her on second chair? As for the Dukakis-Bush campaign, the comedians had a field day. Forget the thing with the tank, that was obvious. I’m talking about Dukakis criticizing Bush’s environmental record, only to have Bush say “look at your home state, governor, Boston’s harbor is a disaster zone!” There’s no way the Democrats could’ve recovered.

The best part of this book is the chapter called The Road Block, where he stresses a realistic view of the Dem-GOP debate. Bush would’ve won regardless in 1988, because Dukakis messed up and Jesse Jackson scared off a lot of people with his divisive speeches on the “haves” and “have-nots,” making it look like he wanted to punish those that “had.” As for Bill Clinton, he was a new breed-Rhodes scholarship, born dirt poor in Arkansas-he knew how to play both sides. As comedian D.L. Hughley says in his book I Want You to Shut the Fuck Up, Clinton was “the blackest president ever, a big fat junk food loving redneck.” Clinton was book smart, but he was also street smart.

I would’ve liked to see more about the “tough liberals” who were still in power during the conservative 80’s. You still had Tip O’Neill, Hugh Carey, Daniel Moynihan, Thurgood Marshal, Albert Shanker, and Bella Abzug. You also had Republicans, who despite their conservativism, respected personal rights. Al D’Amato believed in the right to privacy, Giuliani was pro-choice, pro-gay, and anti-gun, and Reagan and Bush didn’t exactly roll back civil rights. Even Strom Thurmond, the notorious segregationist, didn’t make any strides in banning abortions or pushing the death penalty.

I also fault this book for ending with Bill Clinton. What about the George W. Bush era? Rights were definitely being rolled back in the last decade. What does the author think about Obama’s platform, and what about the more conservative states today? Regardless, let’s keep in mind that when it came to foreign policy, Reagan kept us out of costly wars. Grenada lasted a week; Libya was bombed but not invaded; the Marines were pulled out of Lebanon after the barracks were blown up. Reagan was advised not to “cut and run,” but he refused, on the grounds of “we don’t babysit a civil war.”

Read the book Tip and the Gipper: When Politics Worked. There was a time when American knew the value of compromise. Today our politicians have become like the Zax from the Dr. Suess book!

The Graphic Cannon Volume 3

I looked at the contents table and saw Rudyard Kipling’s If. Drawn to it I was, because I’d gone to middle school in the UK and was schooled on Kipling’s verse (not as popular in the USA.) The chapter was shocking; it was illustrated with Frank Hansen’s wild cartooning, like something out f Ren & Stimpy. His wild style is the opposite what Kipling, a paternalistic upper-class English imperialist, would want to illustrate his writing. The teacher who drilled Kipling into me was your typical Wackford Squeers kind of Englishman, and I would’ve loved to show him this version of his idol’s poem. It would’ve ruined his day.

The Graphic Canon is both reverent & irreverent, supportive & subversive. Over 70 stories, essays, excerpts, and poems, are illustrated by some of today’s most lauded cartoonists. There is no greater tribute than this, for who could illustrate Jean Paul Sartre’s work than Robert Crumb, the great American weirdo and Francophile? For Kafka’s story, Sikoryak turns Metamorphosis into a Peanuts parody called Good Ol’ Gregor Brown, starring Charlie Brown as the perplexed Gregor Samsa and Lucy as his sister Grete. He wakes up to find himself turned into a giant cockroach, and says “good grief, what’s happened to me?”

But I must also confess a slight disappointment. Animal Farm is illustrated with photo collages, and it lends an air of disturbing, creepy imagery, but it falls short. I would love to see Dave McKean illustrate animal farm with his bizarre collages, as he did a great job with Mister Punch back in 1995. Other than that, the book is great. There’s a version of The Woman From Wood’s Edge by Edna St. Vincent Millay, charmingly illustrated by Jay Kolitsky, and it evokes Victorian British innocence with just the right amount of naughty rebelliousness.

Shahnameh

“Beautiful artwork” I said to myself when I first opened this wonderful book. Shahnameh is full of breathtaking Persian artwork on every page, and the illustrator Hamid Rahmanian combines samples of traditional art using photoshop to illustrate the story. For example, the image of Jamshid on his flying throne, held aloft by demons and winged women, shows how older imagery can be enhanced through modern technology. The same image of the king is used several times, each with a different background.

The story of Shahnameh is a traditional Persian folk tale. A man named Jamshid reigns as the king for 300 years, and becomes incredibly vain. He says “I have banished sickness, I have transformed the world, and nobody can challenge my preeminence.” His nobles rebel against him, no longer convinced by his conceit and hubris. It kind of reminds you of the Arab Spring, does it not? An aging dictator, once seen as great, now seen as a thief. No king can claim “divine right” forever, because you can’t fool everyone all the time.

I am not an aficionado of Persian mythology myself, so I might easily have missed this book in the store. The illustrations are beautiful, no doubt about that. But the book’s size and weight are somewhat prohibitive. I wonder if it might have done better as a four-part series.

Willy Nilly

The jokes in this book could’ve had the anthropological irony of Gary Larson’s The Far Side, but they don’t, so these cartoons are not going to appeal to adults. If the author and illustrator want to go farther with this, they need to stick to gags that are animal-based, and keep in mind that these are armadillos.

Willy Nilly is based on author David Brehm’s observations of armadillos in Texas, and drawn by DNA productions alum Paul Claerhout. The cartoons consist of hijinks of two Mutt & Jeff style tinhorns engaging in all manner of stupidity. The strips are funny, but they need work. Armadillos are to texas what squirrels and pigeons are to NY; agile and fearless pests who will raid your lunch bag on the city park benches. They’ll be funnier if the jokes stick to the kind of things Armadillos do, and make them less like people.

I can just picture the two creatures eating a sub sandwich, while an irate parent glares at her NY Yankees shirted kid, who says “but you do the same thing back home with the pigeons!”