Monday, September 30, 2019

Today In Moscow Mitch




As one would expect, Sen. "Moscow Mitch" McConnell is setting up for a quick fix on the likely impeachment of fellow Russian asset Donald "Rump" Trump:
“Under the Senate rules, we’re required to take it up if the House does go down that path, and we’ll follow the Senate rules,” McConnell said. “It’s a Senate rule related to impeachment that would take 67 votes to change.” [snip]
“The Senate impeachment rules are very clear,” McConnell said.
He said, however, that, “how long you’re on it is a whole different matter.”
A day? An hour? A minute?  We'll see how long a Republican cover- up in the Senate takes.

Turns out Moscow Mitch is focused on more important things, saying with all the smarmy cynicism he could muster:
What I want to do is spend our time accomplishing things for the American people."
Like blocking gun control legislation, taking away health care from millions, giving more tax cuts to the rich, keeping our elections vulnerable to Russian interference...  yeah, we know.  Fuck you -- with a balalaika.

Tweet Of The Day -- Breaking News Day (UPDATED)


The floodgates are opening --



UPDATE:  Add another log, this one involving Low Barr prodding foreign intelligence services to help him discredit the origins of the Mueller probe.

BONUS: Meanwhile, the Very Stable Genius is busy melting down:


But remember --




Republican Crime Blotter: Inside Trading Edition



The first Republican Congressman to endorse corrupt and mentally unstable Donald "Rump" Trump for the presidency has agreed to plead guilty to felony insider trading, according to reports. Rep. Chris "The Trader" Collins will appear tomorrow in Federal court to change his plea from "not guilty" to "guilty," after vehemently denying his guilt for over a year. Collins was indicted in 2018 for passing nonpublic information on a drug company's product to treat multiple sclerosis to his son in order to dump the stock they had before it nosedived, avoiding significant losses. The low-information, tribal voters in his Buffalo area district bought his protestations of innocence and re-elected him in 2018. Looking back, he could have shot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue, in the words of his cult leader.

As with so many in the Trumpworld cult, the corruption in in their DNA: the self-dealing, the cheating, the sense of entitlement. In this case, the corrupt Collins faced overwhelming evidence of his crime and will face sentencing soon, with a special election needed to replace him now that he's resigning:



(photo: Sending a complimentary Hackwhackers "soap-on-a-rope" for those awkward prison showers)

QOTD -- What A Fool Believes


"It's not only a conspiracy, it is completely debunked.... At this point I am deeply frustrated with what [Rudy Giuliani] and the legal team is doing and repeating that debunked theory to the president. It sticks in his mind when he hears it over and over again, and for clarity here, George, let me just again repeat that it has no validity. The United States government reached its conclusion on attributing to Russia the DNC hack in 2016 before it even communicated it to the FBI, long before the FBI ever knocked on the door at the DNC." -- former Trump homeland security advisor Tom Bossert, yesterday on ABC's "This Week."  Bossert was referring to the crackpot conspiracy theory that it was Ukraine, rather than Russia, who interfered in the 2016 election and has the hacked DNC server.  Deranged narcissist Donald "The Chosen One" Trump had asked the Ukrainian president to "get to the bottom" of it in his incriminating phone call on July 25 (top of p. 3 in memorandum of call).  Forever the frightened loon, acting in his own best interest and that of his master in the Kremlin.

BONUS:  Distraction alert!  Apparently two of the worst Republican Senators (and that's saying a lot) are pressuring the Justice Department to look into these ludicrous conspiracy theories.  Unfortunately, neither of these slugs is up for re-election until 2022.

Today's Cartoons


(click on images to enlarge)


(Nick Anderson, Counterpoint)


David Fitzsimmons, The Arizona Daily Star)
 
(Tom Toles, Washington Post)


(R.J. Matson, caglecartoons.com)


(Matt Davies, Newsday)


(Marty Two Bulls,  m2bulls.com)


(Randall Enos, caglecartoons.com)


(Phil Hands, Wisconsin State Journal)
 
(Clay Jones, claytoonz.com)


(Dave Granlund, davegranlund.com)


(Brendan Loper, The New Yorker)

Trump Suggests "Civil War" If He's Removed


As the impeachment inquiry accelerates, and new witnesses are expected to testify regarding Trump's extortion of Ukraine, sociopath and Kremlin asset Donald "Mango Mussolini" Trump furiously tweeting unhinged attacks on his pursuers. Just hours ago, he went far beyond even his regular abnormal behavior (e.g., even going beyond his warning that the markets would crash if he's impeached), by quoting a corrupt supporter's view that his impeachment and removal would trigger a civil war:

Granted that the golden-calf worshiping Robert Jeffress is a fierce right-wing partisan hack using religious trappings, Trump's approving quotation of his sinister threat says everything about his cornered, burn-it-down Führer's bunker mentality. The pushback was swift and devastating:






A Republican congressman responds:
Again, there is no "bottom" to Trump's depravity and malignant narcissism.

Monday Reading


As always, please go to the links for the full articles/ op eds.

E.J. Dionne, Jr., nails the imperative of holding nitwit Il Douche Donald "Rump" Trump to account for his latest, public attempt to get foreign intervention in our elections:
Trump’s egregious behavior in trying to bring down Joe Biden by itself encompasses nearly every transgression of his presidency: lies, coverups and the selfish misuse of power; putting his own interests ahead of our nation’s security; and an arrogant and unconstitutional dismissal of Congress’s legitimate authority.
And here is where those who see impeachment as a political mistake miss the point. Pelosi waited until the latest revelations to act because she understood a basic truth: Nothing would be better for our country in the long run — at home and around the world — than a decisive negative verdict on Trumpism from the American people.
But given what we have learned, nothing would be worse for our constitutional system than for Congress to sit by timidly in the face of clear evidence of Trump’s desire, once again, to get foreign help in an election and his absolute indifference to the law or any of his presidential responsibilities(our emphasis)
While the vile Trump and his addled attorney Rudy "Ghouliani" Giuliani were busy trying to gin up a scandal involving the Bidens and Ukraine, there was collateral damage to a distinguished career Foreign Service Officer who apparently wouldn't "play ball" in the scheme:
...[A]s investigations proceed and Americans consider these revelations, they should hold in mind another transgression: the president’s egregious mistreatment of one of the country’s most distinguished ambassadors. Even before the rough transcript of the call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was released, we knew that the administration had prematurely curtailed the appointment of U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch following public attacks on her by the president’s eldest son and by his personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani. Administration officials then falsely claimed that she was leaving her post “as planned.” Now, we also know that Trump went on to denigrate the ambassador in a phone call to a foreign leader, telling Zelensky that “the woman” was “bad news” and vaguely but ominously noting that “she’s going to go through some things.”
The op/ ed goes on to show how Trump and his bootlick Secretary of State Smug Mike Pompeo are systematically hollowing out the State Department and it's cadre of senior professionals, the better to have no push- back when they seek to further Trump's interests ahead of America's.

Russia watcher Julia Davis points out that not only is Trump looking out for his own interests in pushing Ukraine to "investigate" the Bidens, but yes, it's also the usual thugs:
The unconscionable demand for Ukraine to make “a deal” with an invader— which has annexed and occupied its territory and continues to fuel an armed conflict that has claimed more than 13,000 lives—would mean a surrender of Ukraine’s national interests for the benefit of the Kremlin. It would also lead to the lifting of sanctions against Russia for its aggression in Ukraine. Casting doubt on Russia’s involvement in the hack of the DNC server would potentially lead to the lifting of sanctions against Russia for its election-meddling and other malign activities.
Attacking the credibility of Biden, frequently described by Kremlin-controlled state television as “Trump’s most dangerous rival,” would also benefit Putin, who openly admitted that he wanted President Trump to be elected in 2016. That preference remains intact, in spite—or perhaps because—of multiple missteps by America’s bumbling commander in chief. Dmitry Kiselyov, the host of Russia’s most popular Sunday news program, Vesti Nedeli, urged Trump to keep digging in Ukraine for “the sweetest” kompromat of all: “Proving that Ukraine—not Russia—interfered in the U.S. elections.
The pressure on Ukraine to investigate Biden has been not only from Trump, but also from the Kremlin. One of the expectations, voiced on Russian state-television channel Rossiya 24 by analyst Alexander Kareevsky, was that taking down Biden would inevitably lead to the “revelation”—in fact, an outrageous fantasy—that the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was ordered by the Obama administration and carried out by Ukraine, not Russia.
In another fantasy, pundits on Russian state television continually assert that Trump’s impeachment is all but “impossible.” In the meantime, the impeachment fallout is beneficial for the Kremlin, creating a spectacle of unprecedented political turmoil in the United States while placing Ukraine in the untenable position of alienating both parties, as well as the country’s European allies, and distracting from Russian election interference and the imposition of any additional sanctions.  (our emphasis)
This is what you get when you have a compromised Russian asset sitting in the Oval Office, protected by a party composed of spineless, self- serving nullities.

We have to get this mention in concerning the efficacy of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) nearly ten years (!) on:
Poor people in Michigan with asthma and diabetes were admitted to the hospital less often after they joined Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. More than 25,000 Ohio smokers got help through the state’s Medicaid expansion that led them to quit. And around the country, patients with advanced kidney disease who went on dialysis were more likely to be alive a year later if they lived in a Medicaid-expansion state.
Such findings are part of an emerging mosaic of evidence that, nearly a decade after it became one of the most polarizing health-care laws in U.S. history, the ACA is making some Americans healthier — and less likely to die.
The evidence is accumulating just as the ACA’s future is, once again, being cast into doubt. The most immediate threat arises from a federal lawsuit, brought by a group of Republican state attorneys general, that challenges the law’s constitutionality. A trial court judge in Texas ruled late last year that the entire law is invalid, and an opinion on the case is expected at any time from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The case could well put the ACA before the Supreme Court for a third time.
Even with it's flaws, and despite a decade- long campaign of sabotage by Republicans and their unhinged jamokes in the judiciary, Obamacare is saving lives, Medicaid expansion among the most successful provisions.  That means the comfort- the- comfortable, afflict- the- afflicted Republican Party will continue to try to destroy it as long as it's able.

As always, we strongly recommend you check out Infidel 753's excellent link round- up for the best survey of interesting items you're going to find anywhere.  (Be sure to click on to Infidel's link to "oddities about life in the U.S." -- it's pretty revealing.)


Sunday, September 29, 2019

Across The Universe, Cont. -- Crab Nebula Photobomb


(click on image to enlarge)

 
From NASA/ESA, September 24, 2019Citizen scientist spots main-belt asteroid 2001 SE101 passing in front of the Crab Nebula (M1). Colour composition using HST ACS/WFC F550M and F606W filters.

Credit:  ESA/Hubble, M. Thévenot (@AstroMelina)

The Impeachment Inquiry Is A Growth Industry So Far


Public opinion has shifted dramatically recently over the news that rotted- out existential threat Donald "Rump" Trump abused his authority by seeking to leverage military aid to Ukraine in exchange for ginning up a scandal involving Joe and Hunter Biden, as well as subsequent cover-ups by the White House (securing additional damning phone transcripts in a code- level secret server) and by Bill Barr's Justice Department trying to deep- six the whistleblower's complaint.  How's that workin' out for ya?
















See a summary of recent polls here (conducted before the whistleblower complaint was made public!).

Those are good early numbers and solid starting points, but there's plenty of room for growth as the impeachment inquiry is just getting underway.  Testimony or depositions by key actors in the scandal are on tap;  the whistleblower will be testifying soon to the House Intelligence Committee, according to its chairman, Rep. Adam Schiff;  former Special Envoy to the Ukraine Kurt Volker is also planning to appear before three Congressional committees next Thursday to tell what he knows of the pressure placed on the Ukrainian government by Trump and his addled consigliere Rudy "Ghouliani" Giuliani.  The first subpoena out of the box went to smug lackey Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and more are coming in short order. Meanwhile, there's the newsworthy spectacle of Trump bootlicks maneuvering to throw each other under the bus =cough= Pompeo =cough= Giuliani =cough= Pence =cough= Barr =cough=.  Let's see where we are in a month.

QOTD: Trump's Disordered Mind On Display



Writing in The Concourse / Deadspin, writer David Roth looks at mentally unstable sociopath and incompetent schemer Donald "The Chosen One" Trump's incoherence and inability to process information, other than the dreck he gets from his favorite media channels. He burps back what he's seeing and hearing from his manipulating friends on Fux, etc. because his failing mind has the intellectual curiosity and attention span of a small mammal. Here's one excerpt:
"The more worrying part of all this is that there is fundamentally nothing to know about most of what he talks about. Every rank thought-chunk that clears his blowhole is either some legacy beef or bigotry or something Trump learns from his television shows, which feed him attenuated suspicions, a list of ominous what-abouts that hint at some sort of outcome but stop well short of it, and a bunch of leading questions that, by design, cannot be answered. All of this is supposed to shore up a worldview and generate specific political outcomes, but mostly it aims to create a mood—a coiled and claustrophobic sense of being under siege, by someone—more than it does to answer any of the questions it hints at. It doesn’t really add up to anything, but also it can’t; the game is to accumulate. [snip]
Donald Trump is one of the worst people his generation produced, a vain and vicious and relentlessly exploitive nullity. But there is something pitiable in watching him try to defend himself with the weapons he’s been given by the culture that created him. He opens his mouth to answer for what he’s done and finds that these silly, sordid questions are all he has."  (our emphasis)
The whole article is brutally on target and a must read. The concerning part is, now that the impeachment inquiry is underway, that his mind will unravel more and he will do more lasting damage than he's already done to the nation.

Today's Cartoons -- Impeachment Inquiry Edition, Cont.


(click on images to enlarge)


(Dan Wasserman, Boston Globe)


(Andy Marlette, Pensacola News-Journal, FL)


(Clay Jones, claytoonz.com)
 
(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)


(Tom Toles, Washington Post)


(Jim Morin, Miami Herald)


(Mike Smith, Las Vegas Sun)


(John Deering, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)


(Ann Telnaes, Washington Post)


(Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press)


Sunday Reflection


"Truth may be stretched, but cannot be broken, and always gets above falsehood, as does oil above water." -- Miguel de Cervantes.

Author of the classic Don Quixote, Cervantes was born on this day in 1547, and is perhaps the greatest author, poet and playwright in the Spanish language. Don Quixote is the most translated work next to the Bible, and is viewed by many to be the first modern novel.

Trump And Saudis: More Quid Pro Quo



This Wednesday will mark the one year anniversary of the hideous murder and dismemberment of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the direction of the murderous thug Crown Prince Mohammed bin "Bone Saw" Salman. Our intelligence agencies among others have confirmed that Bone Saw gave the order to his security service to murder Khashoggi, who had been critical of him over the years, in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

Despite the trail of blood leading back to Bone Saw, sociopath and corrupt con artist Donald "Rump" Trump has done his best to avoid any criticism of him. As the Washington Post reports, Trump had worked to get Bone Saw back in the good graces of the international community:
"At the annual Group of 20 gathering of world leaders in Osaka, Japan, in June, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, beamed before cameras as he stood center stage between President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a carefully choreographed group photo. He grinned as he sat with Russian President Vladimir Putin. And he shook hands joyously with South Korean President Moon Jae-in after the two countries struck agreements and contracts worth $8.3 billion.
The world leaders’ embrace of Mohammed was a clear signal that the young prince, who the CIA, U.S. allies and a United Nations investigator say is responsible for the savage killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, was being welcomed back, if reluctantly, into the community of nations. And it wouldn’t have been possible without the support of Trump and his secretary of State, Mike Pompeo." (our emphasis)
Bone Saw has been throwing Saudi money around to quiet the outrage over his role in he Khashoggi murder in the time-honored custom of bribery. They've bought billions in military hardware from the U.S. to pursue their war in Yemen. Trump and his family crime organization have also benefitted from Saudi largesse, too, with Trump once bragging that the Saudis spent tens of millions of dollars buying up his overpriced condos, etc. The Saudis have also worked the relationship with Trump's inept and financially shady son-in-law Jared "Mr. Ivanka Trump" Kushner, with Bone Saw once claiming that he had Kushner "in his pocket." Kushner had been soliciting an investor across the Middle East and elsewhere to bail out his family's failed property at 666 Park Avenue.

Perhaps the phone call documentation with Bone Saw that's hidden in the code-level secret White House system would reveal more about this shady relationship. Rehabilitating the reputation of Bone Saw shouldn't be Trump's job, but when your own personal financial interests are involved, it makes perverse sense.

Who You Gonna Call?


Saturday Night Live opened it's new season last night with Trump (Alec Baldwin of course) calling around to his closest pals to get him out of his jam.  A cavalcade of great impressions of awful people:




Saturday, September 28, 2019

Twit Tweet, Thwap -- Huckleberry Gets Schooled


Twit tweet:



Thwap:








We've wondered for some time now what kompromat the Russians have on Huckleberry.  Maybe we'll find out sooner rather than later?


Republicans Kindly Suggest That Rudy STFU



As the Trump-Ukrainian extortion scandal expands, it's obvious that Trump's TV lawyer and deranged conspiracy spinner Rudy "Ghouliani" Giuliani is flailing and failing in his efforts, going so far as to throw Secretary of State Mike Pompeo under the bus over the Ukraine scandal on Fux two days ago. He's long been at the center of the Trump extortion scandal with the Ukrainian government, having been the shadowy muck fabricator that was meeting with Ukrainian officials to extort bogus dirt on former VP Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Those actions, along with felonious con man Donald "Rump" Trump's mob-style "do us a favor" conversation with Ukrainian President Zelensky, are at the heart of the growing scandal. To make matters even more delicious, the corrupt and dishonest Giuliani can't keep his mouth shut and his hideous mug off of TV, as he continues to provide fodder and evidence for the impeachment investigation.

Party-before-country Republicans are increasingly angry about Giuliani, according to reports, with one Rethug lawmaker suggesting that Giuliani "take a vacation" or just disappear from TV so that they can spin their own lies to defend Trump. We fervently want Giuliani to keep digging his hole deeper by stepping up his TV appearances and further incriminate himself, Trump and the enablers around them. That would be patriotic of him.

(photo: He has the right to remain silent, but is incapable of doing so.)

Today's Cartoons -- Impeachment Inquiry Edition, Cont.


(click on images to enlarge)


(John Branch, branchtoon.com)


(Mike Peters, Dayton Daily News)


(Chris Britt, Illinois Times)


(Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press)


(Robert Ariail, gocomics.com)


(Marshall Ramsey, Mississippi Today)


(Steve Benson, gocomics.com)


(Matt Davies, Newsday)


(Pat Bagley, The Salt Lake Tribune)


(Joel Pett, Lexington Herald-Leader, KY)


(Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News)


(David Horsey, Seattle Times)


Trump's Trickle Down Tax Cuts Have Bombed



Added to the mix of major economic blunders by incompetent con man Donald "Only I Can Fix It" Trump, most prominently the trade and tariff war with China and numerous other countries, add the tax giveaway for the one percent and corporations. As reported by Americans for Tax Fairness yesterday, instead of reducing the Federal deficit by a trillion dollars, as robotic foreclosure villain Treasury Secretary Steve "Mnuttin'"Mnuchin promised two years ago, the deficit has grown by $1.067 trillion just in the first 11 months of this fiscal year which ends tomorrow.

It was a classic trickle down / supply side grift to benefit the Republican donor class and corporations, who ended up using the tax savings to buy back stock. The Republicans hoped to con the public by promising more jobs, investment, etc., hoping that they'd notice the slightest increase in their paychecks. What they will also notice in the coming months are Republican -proposed reductions in social safety net programs:
"As the deficit swells because of the tax cuts mostly benefitting the wealthy and corporations, which will cost $1.9 trillion over 10 years, Trump and his allies in Congress are proposing cuts in critical services – Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, etc. – to cover the cost."  (our emphasis)
Some less- swift Republicans have said that quiet part out loud. If Dems can't run on this issue and raise the alarm, then they're guilty of gross political malpractice.

Trump To Russians: Feel Free To Interfere In Our Elections


Another impeachable dereliction of duty:
President Trump told two senior Russian officials in a 2017 Oval Office meeting that he was unconcerned about Moscow’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election because the United States did the same in other countries, an assertion that prompted alarmed White House officials to limit access to the remarks to an unusually small number of people, according to three former officials with knowledge of the matter.
The comments, which have not been previously reported, were part of a now-infamous meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, in which Trump revealed highly classified information that exposed a source of intelligence on the Islamic State. He also said during the meeting that firing FBI Director James B. Comey the previous day had relieved “great pressure” on him.
A memorandum summarizing the meeting was limited to a few officials with the highest security clearances in an attempt to keep the president’s comments from being disclosed publicly, according to the former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.  (our emphasis)
The Trump shakedown call to the Ukrainian president was no aberration.  Covering up this lawless incompetent's treasonous, self- dealing behavior apparently became a cottage industry in the White House.  Understandably, the Russians are now afraid that the substance of Trump's private calls with Putin will be exposed.

As the impeachment inquiry moves forward, getting access to the classified computer system where more damning Trump behavior is likely memorialized must be the highest priority. It's likely to involve a fight all the way to the Supreme Court, unless there's another patriotic whistleblower out there who has the goods.  Let a thousand leaks bloom.

Meanwhile,


BONUS:  In addition to calls with Putin, CNN is reporting on calls to Saudi executioner Crown Prince Mohammed bin "Bone Saw" Salman being tightly held by a White House concerned with the content of the calls =cough= self-dealing =cough= quid pro quo =cough=.


Friday, September 27, 2019

Tweets Of The Day -- Leave Well Enough Alone!!


Original Politico story headline --



"Fucknutsville."   That captures the essence of Trump's world rather well.

Later, anodyne version --



(The article itself, by Fucknutsville Kool Kid John Harris is a typically bad hot take, so no link.)

Cover Of The Week -- "Whack Job"


Next week's The New Yorker cover ("Whack job") nails it:



(Barry Blitt, The New Yorker)

The NRA: Noxious Russian Asset



A report from the Democratic side of the Senate Committee on Finance is memorializing what's largely been known about the National Rifle Rampage Association's acting as an asset of the Russian government. You can read the full report here.  It's key findings:
o  New evidence that the 2015 delegation to Moscow was an official NRA trip meant to demonstrate Alexander Torshin’s American connections to the Kremlin, contrary to NRA statements that it was an unofficial trip organized by individuals merely interested in fostering gun rights in Russia.
o  New evidence that NRA insiders exchanged access to the American political system for the promise of lucrative personal business opportunities.

o  New evidence that the NRA may have violated tax laws that prohibit the use of any organization resources for personal benefit. 
o  New evidence that NRA insiders may have violated U.S. sanctions by meeting with sanctioned Russian government officials and state-linked weapons manufacturers in pursuit of personal business opportunities. In 2018, Senator Wyden asked Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to investigate whether some of the Russian weapons manufacturers the NRA delegation met with have evaded U.S. sanctions by abusing domestic shell companies. He is calling for Treasury to provide a response to his original request.
At the very least, the violation of tax laws should mean that their tax- exempt status should be revoked, which isn't happening while the current crop of gun- humper enablers is in power.  That these rotted- out defenders of the right to massacre innocent people with war weapons were more than willing to trade access to their lickspittle Republican gofers in exchange for "business opportunities" only adds more urgency to the need to expunge all of these creatures from our political swamp.

BONUS:  Joan McCarter has a good read on the long relationship between Moscow/ Massacre Mitch McConnell and the NRA.

BONUS II:  Oh, looky here!  The corrupt circle remains unbroken.

(Photo:  Moscow/ Massacre Mitch McConnell, another Russian asset)

Today's Cartoons -- Impeachment Inquiry Edition, Cont.


(click on images to enlarge)


(John Darkow, Columbia Missourian)


(Rob Rogers, robrogers.com)


(Lalo Alcaraz, LA Weekly)


(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)


(Jack Ohman, Sacramento Bee)


(Steve Breen, San Diego Union-Tribune)


(Drew Sheneman, The Star-Ledger, Newark NJ)


(Kevin Kallaugher, The Economist, London)


(Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press)


(Ken Catalino, gocomics.com)


(Jim Morin, Miami Herald)


(Lectrr, De Standaard, Brussels, Belgium)