Friday Funday: Spring Break

While the staff here at The Daily Felltoon has a few more years under our collective belts than the average high school or college student, we're following in their footsteps these next two weeks, and taking a nice spring break.

Frankly, we think after the winter that both Nebraska and Washington, DC experienced, we deserve to have a little time in the sun, to travel about and not be pressured with deadlines.

Of course, for those of you who know us well, you also know our staff members won't be entirely staying away from work. They're not the kind of people to sit around and do absolutely nothing.

Paul will post a few new cartoons at PaulFellCartoons.com over the next two weeks, and online at our Facebook site as well. So if you're in need for new content, Paul will still be delivering his great cartoons over the next two weeks - just not as many of them as usual.

Amy of course will be working at her day job, and taking care of her toddler - which as any mother can tell you, is a full-time job all on its own.

Shawn will be doing a bit of traveling, as well as helping set up our newest office in Florida.

Yes, you read that right - we'll be adding a third location to the offices of your favorite e-mail publication.

We think a more broad scope on the world is a valuable thing, and with his day job relocating, Shawn had a chance to help us expand our view as well.

We're still planning on focusing mostly on issues from the Heartland, as we know most of our readers come from Nebraska and the surrounding states, even if some are located halfway around the world.

We're also still looking for more ways to expand, to bring in more revenue (as we think governments at all levels should also do), and potentially more voices, and to add requested features like "Share This" tags that will make it even easier to share your favorite Paul Fell Cartoons with your friends.

In short, we're growing again, as we think everyone should continue to do, at any age.

Of course, with that comes some growing pains - like not having our daily reminders in your e-mail box for two weeks. To make sure you stay well-informed, we recommend you click daily on some of our favorite news sources, like the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Al Jazzera, and BBC News.

So, in short, we're going on vacation. We'll be taking a bit of time to enjoy the sunshine, and to do a bit of traveling these next two weeks - but we know you'll be with us when we get back.

Plus we've got sunscreen, and we'll have a few drinks, so we think overall, we'll be fine.

Roaches Can Be A Real Bear

When the Citizens United decision came down from the United States Supreme Court a little more than a year ago, we warned that a proverbial Pandora's box had been opened on the subject of campaign financing. We likened it to cracking open a roach motel.

We were far from the only ones to say similar things, on either the left or right.

With that idea in mind, it's actually somewhat refreshing to see the action that the Nebraska Legislature took on Wednesday to force some light onto the subject on campaign finance activities in Nebraska.

For those readers who missed the story, unanimous, bipartisan, first-round approval was given to LB606, a bill introduced by state senator Bill Avery, a former political science professor. This bill, if passed would force outside groups who attempt to skirt Nebraska's campaign finance laws to publicly disclose their spending, if they attack or support candidates directly, or distribute campaign advertising within thirty days of an election.

For our readers who don't know Nebraska very well, in the past the state has often hedged towards bi-partisan or non-partisan politics. For example, in Nebraska, voters can even register officially as "Non Partisan" or "NP", a designation at least one of our staff members has chosen for most of the last 20 years.

State Senator Avery is also a registered "non-partisan", yet there have been accusations thrown his way that attempt - and fail - to appear to make him out to be some kind of liberal who is intent on attacking Nebraska's campaign finance system.

This isn't a surprise to us, either, unfortunately.

The main group that Sen. Avery is attempting to force to do business in a more open fashion is a right-wing group known as "Americans For Prosperity", funded in part by the multi-billionaire Koch brothers. If the groups that the Koch Brothers support have proven anything over the past few years, it's that they'd be willing to call Mother Theresa a whore to her face if they thought it would help make them more money. Sliding a few more dollars towards those who oppose a simple state senator from Nebraska should be a piece of cake for groups like theirs, compared to the political battles they've fought in the public eye over the past few years.

It is interesting to note that zero - meaning not a single soul in the Nebraska legislature - voted to do what the Koch Brothers and "Americans for Prosperity" wanted, and kill Sen. Avery's bill, in this round.

We'd like to say that will be the end of this issue - but the actions of AFP and the Koch Brothers in the recent past have shown they believe everyone and everything is for sale, including elections.

Would full disclosure of who funds which nasty mailer or advertisement change the minds of all that many people? We're not entirely convinced it would.

It is the RIGHT thing to do in politics, however, so we are 100% in favor of that.

For now, we'll be glad at the turn of events in the Nebraska Unicameral, and we hope state Sen. Avery's bill becomes law. As most of us know, nothing makes the cockroaches run and hide like a little light.

Stuck In The Middle With You

When news crossed our desk yesterday evening that Rand Paul - not RON Paul, but RAND Paul, Mr. Aqua Buddha himself - is considering a run for president on the Republican ticket, we had to take a moment and shake our collective heads.

It's not that we think everything President Obama does is great. We've been critical of him more than once here, and we expect we'll be critical of him again as time goes on.

We're also not so blind as to think that Mr. Obama is politically invincible. There are some polls that say he's got a tight race ahead. Still, the only polls that will really matter are the ones the voters will head to in the autumn of 2012. If the rest of America is too busy bitching, sniping, or whining to be bothered to vote, while the only people who show up to vote are folks whose family tree resembles a telephone pole, then yes - those other polls could be right, and we could see Mr. Obama losing.

Of course, that would also require the current GOP to put up someone as a candidate for president in 2012 who has his/her dignity intact, who isn't insane, and can still garner both the nutjob vote and the quiet, sane, traditional Republican vote.

Since Ronald Reagan is long gone, and the image of him that many on the right keep trying to deify never really existed, we'd say that right now the Republican lineup for presidential candidates looks more empty than a cross-country skiing trail in Nebraska in July.

Still… there are more than a few folks on the right who appear to be feeling around for hats to throw into the ring.

We doubt Rand Paul will actually run for president in 2012, although former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty did kind-of announce this week. Mitt Romney is almost certain to run - although since he passed universal health care in Massachusetts when he was governor, he's certain to lose the corporatist right. And since he's still a Mormon, he'll also lose the nutjob right. So he'll never win the nomination either way.

Then there's Mike Huckabee, who has lately seemed like he's been trying hard to lose the nomination. Even conservative pundit/columnist George Will called Huckabee a "vibrator" recently - and we're certain that wasn't an accident.

We're not going to mention some of those on the right who have uttered the whispers of longing for the Presidency, like Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana, or former Sen. Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania. There are obvious problems with both men that will keep them from running - or winning.

If we keep looking, we run into the seriously crazy part of the Republican field of hopefuls. No one knows crazy quite like Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, and Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi needs to put away his white robe and pointy hat before he thinks about seriously entering the race.

We haven't even mentioned two of the biggest political washups who somehow have found ways to appear successful. One was responsible for losing Congress for the Republicans in spectacular fashion in the late 90s, and one is a half-term governor who more people in her own party hate than love, according to recent polling.

We're not saying it's impossible for the GOP to find a candidate to run against President Obama in the 2012 Presidential Race. What we will say is what we've been warning Republicans about for many years now: You will never find a candidate who will satisfy all the different fanatical factions in your base AND have that person be someone who can win over enough moderates and independents to win the general election.

If nothing else, the upcoming presidential race should be a never-ending gaffe-fest.

Vice President Biden, eat your heart out.

Superman And Magic Bullets

We're probably not going to give you any answers today you didn't already know. But we may generate a few questions - for you and for us - by the time we're done.

That tends to happen when we discuss a subject that we're all heavily invested in, like education.

The documentary film "Waiting for Superman" was recently released on DVD and we recommend you see it, if you haven't already. While we don’t agree with everything this film says about education in America, we agree fully with its general idea: that America needs to do something to improve its educational system, right away.

Unfortunately, in the ongoing race to the bottom in state and local budgeting, many folks remain myopically focused on teachers' unions as a drain on state and local budgets. They never seem to look to those in schools who eat up a far greater share of educational budgets - namely, the administrators and their fat salary and compensation packages.

The Omaha World Herald began a short series last weekend on school administrators  – or to use their term, "school CEOs" - throughout Nebraska. If Nebraska voters think they're getting worked over on paying for teachers, we're willing to bet their eyes popped out of their heads when they saw what Nebraska school administrators are earning.

It isn't just a Nebraska issue, however.

From California to New York, and everywhere in-between, school administrators often earn some shockingly large pay and benefit packages these days.

We're not saying what many anti-administrator/pro-teacher advocates do. That is, that administrators don't do nearly the level or intensity of work that their paychecks would make you believe they should earn. Just as there are great teachers who should be paid more, and lousy teachers who should be paid less (or simply not teach), there are many kinds of administrators as well. Some of them do work that could never be paid highly enough, wearing more hats than a hat rack, and often in districts we'd never want to teach in or even live in.

Of all the things "Waiting for Superman" teaches those who watch it, one of the most important takeaway lessons should be that there is no magic bullet, no one solution that will fix all problems.

For example, there is a school in St. Paul, Minnesota that has NO administrators, and it works fine - for them. There are schools with multiple Principals, and some of those work well too.

What doesn't work, though, is the fact that as states and cities try to cut their budgets - too often by demonizing and firing front-line professionals in the classroom - many of those same districts continue to turn a blind eye to the comparatively ridiculous salary and benefit packages they provide some of their administrators.

One look at the administrator salary and benefits list, when compared to the average salaries and benefits of Nebraska teachers, should tell even the most fervent school administration supporters that something is weighing the system down - and it isn't pay and benefits for teachers, union or no union.

If politicians and school administrators are going to be honest about their budget homework, they need to consider ALL the variables in the problems that confront them. If they refuse to do so, they'll just be spinning their oars. Meanwhile, education in America will continue to be up the creek, without a paddle.

This Is Not A New War - Or A New Perspective

For all the howling from the left, and the unhidden gleeful mischaracterizations on the right, the actions that President Obama directed the U.S. military to take over the weekend regarding Libya, were something that U.S. presidents, from BOTH parties, have missed the opportunity to do for many, many years.

We're not saying President Obama should put together another "Why We Fight" film series like those that were used to ramp up public support of World War II. However, we think Americans on both sides need to step back, look, and listen to the facts regarding the United States involvement in Libya, before they start hollering.

Of course, this is America, so our plea for getting the facts first has already fallen on deaf years.

From the right, there are already folks jumping up and down, trying to blast their propaganda about President Obama's motives in a vain attempt to paint him with the same brush as his predecessor. Their desperate attempts to twist the facts in order to defend George W. Bush's unnecessary invasion of Iraq are sadly obvious to anyone with basic brain function. There are no U.S. military troops on the ground in Libya, nor are there plans for American troops to take that role, but the right-wing media echo chambers will be in full cry this entire week about how this is "Obama's New War". That's in spite of the reality that this is a U.N. effort, led by someone other than the U.S.

Sadly, the situation on the left is no better.

On the far left, they're listening to the histrionics of the right, and beginning some of their own. The militant anti-war crowd is furious at Obama - as they would be at anyone who used military force for anything more authoritative than tossing teddy bears and tulips. What they really fear is American military involvement in yet another war, especially after the disastrous misadventures in Iraq and Afghanistan that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rove got us into. We understand their concerns and fears - but Libya is not Iraq, now matter how much their political polar opposites wish it were.

The simple truth is one that neither side seems willing to hear.

America is providing missile support, and a couple of Stealth bombers, as well as intelligence, and other various types of support to the French, British, and Spanish, who have taken the lead roles in enforcing the U.N. no-fly zone over Libya. For those who spent much of the early 2000s dismissing the French as effete sissies, they should be happy to know that the French are the ones now doing most of the bombing and heavy lifting in Libya. This is primarily because Americans currently will not tolerate our country's participation in helping Libya's "quest for democracy", thanks to the degree that our nation is still involved in Afghanistan and Iraq.

For those on both sides of the aisle who have for years - for their own reasons - criticized America's role as World Cop, they should understand that the need for such a position will never disappear, even if America no longer holds that title. Throughout history, the British, French, the Holy Roman Empire (basically Germans), the Spanish, the Romans, the Greeks, and the Egyptians have all played the role of worldwide enforcer.

In order for America to step back from that role, someone else must be allowed to step forward. If we don't want to forever be locked into the role of supercop, it is in our own best interest to support other countries that do take the lead in actions like stopping a crazed dictator from committing genocide on his own people.

Because America has made commitments to stop the kind of violence now occurring in Libya, we agree that America must help in some way, to stop Gaddafi's destructive behavior.

The role that President Obama and his advisors like Sec. Clinton have chosen for us to play this time in Libya achieves that goal, without getting America involved in yet another all-out war. Obama's actions are exactly the right role for the U.S. at this time - a fact that won't make either fanatical conservatives or liberals very happy.

Friday Funday: Strange Days Indeed

There comes a time of year for most people in temperate climates when folks realize Spring has actually begun to arrive, and it isn't just a cruel tease before more miserably cold weather returns.

For us, we notice it when our staff members leave buildings without the perfunctory cursing, under their breath or otherwise.

We each look forward to the beauty of spring foliage; the cherry blossoms in our DC location, and the goldenrod and cottonwood trees in Lincoln. We also keep coming back to the fact that the more things change, the more other things stay the same.

We're planning a few changes of our own, soon - although it won't be anything that will result in any serious changes for you, our readers.

There are challenges involved in these changes though, and that may mean a few days away for us, both from the drawing board and the computers.

Still, our overall mood as we head into this weekend is one of relative positivity.

We're not the only ones who seem to be feeling it.

There's a cat in the neighborhood of one of our staff members, who has been less than cordial this winter. This pretty orange and white tabby would sit, huddled against a building or near a car, looking cold and uncomfortable but not unkempt or otherwise homeless. All winter long, she'd watch our staffer hurriedly shuffle from car to house and back again, with a stare that seemed to be filled with jealousy for our warm coats and homes. She'd occasionally come around our vehicles - we'd see paw prints in the snow - but she'd never get closer to us than a few car lengths.

Then something happened recently when the weather really seemed to break, and began to turn warmer.

At first this neighborhood cat would saunter past our staff member's driveway, near the car but not too near, whenever we'd come or go. Then a few days later, she came closer yet. Finally, this semi-feral cat began greeting our staffer every time the door opened, rubbing up against our legs, purring, and patiently waiting to be petted.

The cat's mood appears to have changed, as has our own.

By the way - did we mention this staff member is generally a dog person?

Springtime certainly puts something into the air (other than the irradiated particles we may find this year) that can change even the most dogged traits we each carry.

Whatever it is that's making us feel this way, we hope you also get a whiff of Spring this weekend.

Tsunami Of Stupid

While today is indeed St. Patricks Day (and we hope you remembered to wear green today), for millions of teachers and students across the country, it's just another school day.

It's also another day to wonder if they'll have jobs - or teachers - next school year.

From California to New York, from Texas and Arizona to Ohio and Pennsylvania, state and local governments have painted themselves into the kind of political corner on the twin issues of taxes and schools that we've been warning of for years now. We understand from both sides of the classroom how important great teachers are, to both our individual futures and to our future as a nation.

Sadly, as a country, America constantly complains that our children are not growing up to compete well against young adults in other countries. Yet when reports are released - like the one released this week, from the Programme for International Student Assessment - that say we should pay teachers more and respect them more, the response from state and local authorities across the country seems to come from the idiots at the back of the class: they say, "It's not a revenue problem, it's a problem with teacher pay."

We could respond like some of the more aggressive teachers we've known, and try to use words to beat that kind of stupidity out of people. We could simply continue to throw facts and further studies at our readers which support our position, as well as common logic.

Unfortunately, we doubt that would help.

From Michigan to Kansas, and Florida to Pennsylvania, the reason for these cuts has become as obvious as a tidal wave. Kids and teachers must suffer, so that big business and corporations can get their tax cuts.

There are people who have memory issues, who simply can't learn because their ability to remember things has been seriously compromised. We understand that kind of medical issue exists and feel a great deal of sympathy sympathetic towards people afflicted with such conditions.

However, we don't believe that's the problem with politicians and legislators across the country.

We believe that these politicians are so hubristic that they don't believe corporations will do to them what corporations have been doing across America for many, many, many years.

Corporations will eventually almost always threaten to leave a community if they're forced to pay more in taxes - even if that means simply paying their fair share as a member of the community. Asking them to do otherwise is asking a tiger to remove its own stripes, or asking a scorpion not to sting.

Corporations are not in the business of educating students or directly valuing education. They are in the business of making money. Spending money on anything - be it taxes, wages, or capital improvements to increase worker safety - is an action that works against that goal. If we keep that in mind, it's obvious that corporations will threaten to leave if they're forced to pay more. As history has shown, some of them will take their jobs and leave, whether their taxes are cut or not. Some won't.

Local and state governments need to remember: their job is not to coddle businesses to the point where they hurt their own citizens. The job of government is to make sure their state or their community provides an environment that wise businesses and corporations will choose to locate in - complete with well-educated workers. If some corporations choose to leave, others can always be brought in.

Kids will always need high-quality education, regardless of whether there are corporations in their communities.

Of course, if you were lucky enough to have good teachers back in the day, you probably already knew that.

Is There Anything To Worry About in Japan? Yes. And Here Too.

We must admit; we've been pushing off this commentary for the better part of a week now, for multiple reasons - including that the more research we did, the less we liked what we found.

In short, there is a great deal to worry about regarding the combination of natural and man-made disasters going on in Japan. Thankfully, most of what you've been hearing from the fearmongers in the media aren't the things you need concern yourself with. For example, Godzilla won't be crawling from the waste tank of one of the affected power plants any time soon.

What you SHOULD be worrying about are the reactors here in the U.S., and how vulnerable they really are. What's more, you should know that the U.S. government, for the most part, already knows how dangerous many of the nuclear facilities around the country are.

Unsurprisingly, the nuclear reactors in the U.S. that are most at risk of going through something similar to what is going on in Japan were reactors that were cheaply designed, and cheaply built. In fact, 23 reactors in the U.S. are of the same design as the reactors now failing in Japan - the G.E. Mark 1 design.

We spoke with David Lochbaum, Director of the Nuclear Safety Project for the Union of Concerned Scientists, as have many of our colleagues in the media recently. Mr. Lochbaum is an expert who continues to sound the warning that nuclear power plants in the U.S. are vulnerable, and that steps need to be taken to reduce the risks involved with nuclear power. He confirmed that our worries are more on target than the hype many media outlets are pushing, from both the left and the right.

We all understand the growing hunger for electrical power, both here in the U.S., and around the world. Neither we nor Mr. Lochbbaum - or in fact, most scientists who have thoroughly studied nuclear power - seem to think nuclear power should be completely removed as an option for future power needs.

That being said, before considering it any further, we need to take care of the disasters waiting to happen that exist in our communities already. We need to repair - or get rid of - those facilities that cannot be made substantially more secure. We need to find a proper and effective way to dispose of or reuse nuclear waste. And it's worth saying a second time that we need to do ALL of these things before we even consider any further nuclear power development.

You've heard it said by us a thousand times: anything worth doing is worth doing well. Nuclear power, in general, has not been done well at all.

The nuclear disasters going on in Japan right now could have been avoided. Better plans could have been established, better facilities built, better disaster scenarios implemented. As many have said, the reactors survived both the earthquake and the initial tsunami wave. What they did not survive was the failure of those who were supposed to be responsible, and instead chose to take higher short-term personal gain, while everyone else in society got stuck with the real tab for nuclear power mismanagement.

In the future, we doubt that will happen again.

For now, if the question is, are we are concerned about the issue of nuclear power being safe? The answer is still yes.

If the question, however, is: "Are we running out and buying iodine tablets because of what's going on in Japan?" No, we're not.

There is no magic pill any of us can take to fix the problems that stretch before us.

Chicken Little, Big Turkey, And The Chinese Disaster

As we promised yesterday, we're beginning to dive a bit deeper into the disasters in Japan today - though we're still going to push a deeper discussion of nuclear power off one more day, as we wait to see a bit more stabilization of the situation in Sendai. Simply put, we need more research into such a complicated subject.

We also are treating this story with a bit more respect as we almost feel an obligation to offset the actions of others in our broader media community.

To say that some members of the media have been treating the multiple ongoing disasters in Japan with less respect than the circumstances call for is both sad and unsurprising.

For our part, we'll continue to refer you to the Japanese Red Cross, to Google's people finder, and to any other aid organization you think is worthy and able of taking your assistance, and passing it on the people in Japan. God forbid any combination of disasters ever befalls our nation at the same level of destruction and devastation like the Japanese people are now suffering.

It's that same wish not to add insult to injury that makes us choose our words more carefully when we discuss this catastrophe. Not everyone in the media follows our lead.

We don't often lend any pixels to seriously discuss the more obnoxious members of our media fraternity because, frankly, we think they embarrass and defile themselves more than enough without us having to point out their flaws in further detail.

Yet some in the infotainment media did just that yesterday, for reasons that still escape us.

We would hope that if a cataclysmic event like what is going on in Japan ever happened here in America, that media personalities in other countries would never insinuate that maybe GOD was sending these disasters to kill our people - as Glenn Beck did already, or as Pat Robertson did last year with Haiti, and Jerry Falwell did with 9/11.

We would hope that the Japanese or European versions (if, God forbid, they actually exist) of Rush Limbaugh would not say that some segments of the media were hoping whatever our disaster was got worse, with "a nuclear meltdown" or some other heinous action.

We're aware you've probably heard similar comments by these sad media windbags over the years. You may even have heard them so frequently that you now ignore them, as with the taunts of schoolyard bullies who no longer have any power over other kids. If that's indeed the case with you, we applaud you for being able to ignore the screeching fearmongers.

The size and scope of the right-wing media megaphone far outweighs anything comparative on the left these days - so not everyone finds it easy to ignore that much hatred and vitriol.

In the midst of a massive destructive event like what's happening in Japan right now, the proper thing to do is urge help, look at what may have caused the problems, and investigate what might be done to prevent another similar tragedy elsewhere. With a catastrophe like this, it's what they call in the Navy an "All hands on deck" event. This is not the time for partisans on either side of the political divide to be blasting vile hatred, or blaming others - even in jest - for such destructive natural acts.

Yet some of our media brethren have chosen to do just that.

If some right-wing media followers wonder why so many on the left look upon their media heroes with such distain… In the face of Japan's suffering, today's commentary and links should be all those wondering need to have their questions answered.

Disasters, Real Or Imagined

Among the things we did this past weekend, we watched, listened, and read about the multiple disasters going on in Japan over the last several days. To say things in Japan are hellish right now is an understatement of massive proportions. It began with one of the top five earthquakes ever recorded by the USGS, followed by multiple nuclear power disasters, and as some kind of cruel cosmic cherry on top, a volcanic explosion in Southern Japan.

Our hearts go out to the people there, and we recommend that if you haven't done something to help those poor folks, that you chip in now, at somewhere like the Japanese Red Cross or another aid organization.

With all of those horrors happening in Japan, you might think we'd focus our commentary today on nuclear power, or the folly of man trying stop Mother Nature.

We'll leave that for tomorrow.

Today, we wanted to point out a difference we'd noticed in the short transition between the middle and end of last week, surrounding the media coverage of so-called major events.

In case you missed the links we provided last week, there were a couple of personnel turnovers at NPR of high-level NPR staff members after a hidden camera video and editing hack job was released last week. This video was obtained by a convicted criminal, who is also a far-right wing propaganda blogger. For at least a couple of days, it was a hard story to miss, as many of our colleagues in the media fell over themselves to cover a story we felt wasn't that significant.

Some in the media covered the NPR story as though it were almost as important as the disasters in Japan. While the coverage level wasn't exactly equal, it was too often disappointingly close at some media outlets we monitor.

That, in a nutshell, is the problem.

The first thing that ANY legitimate media - and especially NEWS media - should have done when the partisans on the right first began pushing the NPR scandal story as major news was look to what the source of the video was. That it came from a young extremist right wing activist, already convicted for an attack on a Senator's office, should have raised red flags. That this guy also has been caught attempting to commit sexually oriented blackmail on a national news reporter in order to fabricate another ideologically driven media frenzy, should have set off red lights and sirens in every legitimate newsroom.

Even with all the evidence damning the creator of the video, a respectable editor would have looked over the raw video footage to see if the activist's claims were true. Shockingly, this time the activist made the raw footage available - and even right wing sources, upon seeing the footage have admitted there was no real disaster or crime committed by NPR's now-former executives.

It is sad - and stupid - that two NPR execs felt they had to dump their own careers due to the highly biased coverage engineered by right-wing propagandists. The facts prove there was no need for NPR or its leadership to hang themselves out to dry - or worse.

There was also no need for other, more legitimate media outlets to give as much coverage to the NPR non-event as they did. As the very real and very sad events in Japan sadly continue to prove, there are plenty of disasters that occur every day that deserve far more media scrutiny than an executive or two at NPR shooting off his/her mouth in private.

That some media organizations have given nearly equal time to both the NPR tape and the events in Japan - while nearly ignoring many other substantive stories - is proof that at least one of the real disasters going on right now is the state of the "news" media itself.

Funday Friday: Positive Perspective

The ground doesn't appear to be the only thing thawing out recently, both here in America and around the world.

The news stories we've been featuring here and talking about elsewhere have been catching not just our eyes and ears, but the attention of a great number of people.

There have been stories that have made our heads spin - like the Supreme Court ruling that the Westboro Baptist "Church" (or any group like them) can demonstrate at military funerals. There have also been stories that burn us up - like the continuing attack on workers by people who have no idea what the history of labor really is.

Some of these stories have gotten a number of you and more than a few other Americans riled up across the country.

That's good.

We think that some of these stories SHOULD be getting your attention, making you get off your backside, grab your coat, and getting you to become active in your community, no matter how old you are. Get involved! Be passionate! Be informed! Be educated!!

These are all blessings that Americans often take for granted that we so often forget not everyone in the world has.

In fact, most people don't have the same experience we do.

We're not saying "America is the best place in the world, for everyone!" It IS a great place - and we're all generally happy we live here. It works well for all of us.

However, things could be so much worse for our staff, our friends, our families - even you who are reading this right now.

We could live in the squalor of refugee camps in Somalia - or in the prison camps of China.

We could all be stuck in North Korea. As citizens.

We could be living in the earthquake shattered shell of Christchurch, New Zealand - or in the earthquake and tsunami affected areas of Japan.

We could be pinned down in the drug cartel battleground regions of Mexico - or we could be in the true war zones of Afghanistan or Pakistan.

But we're not. [Most of us, anyway. For those serving overseas? Thank you.]

We're not saying the stories we tell you daily through cartoons or commentaries aren't important. They are, and if they weren't, we wouldn't place so much focus on them.

That being said, things could be so much worse - for most of you reading this and for us as well. So this weekend, we hope you take a moment to count your blessings and be grateful for what you have.

Come Monday, were sure we'll have more stories of dumb people doing stupid and/or evil things. The list never seems to end.

Think of it as job security for your Daily Felltoon staff.

Things That Go Bump In The Night

"What we've got here is failure to communicate…"

There's a reason that cowardly legislators and childrens' monsters often have some of the same characteristics.

Those characteristics were on full display last night in the state of Wisconsin, as the Republican controlled Wisconsin Senate made a serious collection of grave errors. The Republicans there decided to violate the spirit, if not the letter of their own laws - as well as the will of the people of their state - and use a slimy, underhanded maneuver to jam through Gov. Scott Walker's illegal and immoral attack on the rights of workers.

In short, the Republican party in Wisconsin has now declared war on the working people in their own state.

We don't expect the working people of Wisconsin will sit idly by and quietly collect signatures for recall. Indeed, they already stormed their own capitol building last night, after the heinous vote. It would not surprise us if there is violent reaction over the next few days - or worse - aimed at the eighteen Republican state lawmakers, or anyone who supports them. We do not condone violence - but we also, in no uncertain terms, condone the actions of Scott Walker and the Wisconsin GOP followers who supported this heinous action. This standoff is fast becoming a ticking time bomb.

We're willing to bet that by the time these words reach your screens this morning, there will be legal challenges - and quite possibly more - happening all over Wisconsin. Our bet is that any serious physical violence will begin on the Scott Walker side of the trenches.

There continues to be all kinds of attacks on worker rights and union rights alike, from Idaho, to Iowa, to Ohio, and more. We thought our point last week - and the points of Wisconsin voters to their leaders - had been made clear. In fact, our original intention today was not to focus further on this subject. We were planning on continuing our discussion from yesterday, about America's addiction to oil, and letting the long, slow, safe process of negotiation work itself out in places like Wisconsin.

However, as our opening quote hints, there are some people you just can't reach.

That fact became brutally clear earlier on Wednesday, when Wisconsin Senate Majority leader Scott Fitzgerald - one member of an entire family installed into positions of political power in Wisconsin - went on Fox "News" and confirmed what everyone with sense already knew:  this battle has never been about the budget.

Fitzgerald said, "If we win this battle, and the money is not there under the auspices of the unions, certainly what you’re going to find is President Obama is going to have a much difficult, much more difficult time getting elected and winning the state of Wisconsin."

We don't think we have to say how monstrous Fitzgerald's quote is - or how completely against the spirit of democracy and justice his attitude and the attitude of those who support him are. In the light of reason and justice, neither childrens' monsters nor cowardly legislators usually survive long in their same frightful state. That's part of the reason we began our commentary as we did today.

The other reason we began as we did - with the quote we chose - may not be what some of our readers might think. We'll admit that quote is from the movie "Cool Hand Luke", about a prisoner who refuses to submit to the system. But that's not why we chose that quote today.

Those words are also the beginning lines of a rock and roll song by the band "Guns N' Roses". The title of their song?

"Civil War."

Knee Jerks And Plain Old Fashioned Jerks

Virtually everyone has been talking about it, if not grumbling about it for a while now - and we have to count ourselves among that group.

"It" of course is the price of gasoline, and it's not going to get better any time soon.

We're not sure everyone understands completely the economic relationships involved between what you pay at the pump and what's going on in the world. We thought we'd give a quick breakdown to you today, and help you to understand exactly which oily person or group is sticking it to you as you fuel up today.

For starters, the price you pay at the pump has significantly less to do with factors like the uprisings in Libya or Egypt, or how much it costs the oil companies to pump oil from a deep sea well versus one that's just off shore in Alaska.

In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, the five biggest importers to the U.S. are Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and Venezuela. The U.S. continues to have solid relationships with both Canada and Mexico, and has a long-term - if not odd - relationship with Saudi Arabia. The U.S. also enjoys a stable relationship with Nigeria, and a relatively stable - if not always friendly - relationship with Venezuela.

In short, world instability - or distance - isn't why we're paying more.

The price of a gallon of gas has little to do with supply, either. Yes, India and China are using more oil and more petroleum-based products. But many of their major suppliers aren't the same as ours. The real cause of price increases at the pump have so little to do with the supply of our oil that opening the U.S. Petroleum Reserves really wouldn't do a thing to help - and might even hurt - the price we're paying when we fill up our vehicles.

The largest single reason the price of a barrel of oil is going through the roof - as reporter Johnathon Fahey touched on in the Washington Post on Monday (too gently, in our opinion) -  is the speculators. In other words, the usual group of Wall Street gamblers is screwing things up for the rest of us again. We saw this same game played by these jerks in 2008, when oil prices spiked near $150/barrel, right before the bottom fell out of the economy.

In answer to your unasked questions, yes; the Administration DID recently attempt to put curbs back on speculators through the new CFTC. And yes, Wall Street has tried to fight those restrictions which likely would have led to the re-regulation of the energy trading industry, and probably lower prices at the pump. Those two things being said, it remains true that the energy trading industry is basically unregulated, which means higher gas prices for us all.

Now, we're not saying the guy or gal running the Quick-E-Mart down on the corner near your house may not be partially to blame. Both our Lincoln and Washington, DC locations are in the top 15 highest margin cities in the U.S. where retailers can sell gas. Some retailers, fearing the speculators will get crazy and bet their wad all at once have indeed jumped to knee-jerk price increases lately. To them, we can only say, your time will come.

To everyone else, we simply note, as we have from time to time previously, the single biggest fight our nation faces over the next 50 years won't be water (we have oceans on both sides of the country, and plenty of lakes in between). It won't even be a fight with another country.

The fight we face is with ourselves, to break our collective addiction to oil.

It will take more than a simple kick in the pants to get us past that battle.

There's One In Every Crowd…

If there's one activity all of our staff members all enjoy doing, it's people watching. At the mall, at a sporting event where the outcome is obvious, at a church - if we've got a comfortable seat and a spare moment, there's a built-in entertainment center in virtually every crowd.

One thing we've all noticed over the years is that if you watch a crowd long enough, there's usually at least one person who's trying too hard to get the attention of someone else.

Maybe it's a lovesick teenager, primped and primed far more than they should be for the main event happening in front of them. Maybe it's someone older trying too hard to pretend the years haven't truly touched them. And, of course, there's always at least one person who is trying too hard to impress everyone with their clothes and jewelry and accessories.

Sadly, this kind of desperate plea for attention also seems to be the driving force behind many politicians these days. From Mitt Romney's recent claims that he shops at Wal-Mart, to the actions of extremist governors like Scott Walker, to the spate of insane bills proposed by state level legislators like Nebraska's Mark Christensen.

In case you'd missed it, Senator Christensen has been pushing forward some legislative proposals recently which have been unusually crazy, even for him. These bills include LB 516, nominally designed to allow teachers to carry guns in school - which has been panned by everyone from the Huffington Post on the left to The Christian Science Monitor on the right. They also include LB322, a version of a South Dakota bill which would have been used by some on the far right to legalize harming or killing abortion providers.

Christensen's latest stinker of a bill is LB654, a bill better known as the "Birther" bill. "Birthers" represent a group of people who, for whatever reason - racism, ideological brainwashing, intellectual incompetence - can't accept the fact that our current President is not only a man of color, but was born legally in our 50th state. Christensen's bill would attempt to create standards unique to Nebraska for someone filing as a Presidential candidate. Those standards are not in the constitution and they're unnecessary.

We understand that maybe Sen. Christensen is feeling a bit pressured by some on the extreme fringes of his party. Maybe he's got his eye on a bigger political prize than state senator, and feels he needs to pad his legislative resume with some deep appeals to certain extremists with large campaign donation accounts.

Whatever his reasoning, we frankly think he's trying to hard to be something other than what his constituents thought he was.

Maybe he should simply go back to being the kind of legislator who is better known for sensationally effective legislation, instead of the kind who is known more for sensational headlines.

Mess With The Bull: Harvesting The Results Of Rovian Politics

We began noticing nearly a month ago that - although it's only 2011 - there has been significantly less talk about the 2012 Elections than was the case four years ago. Yes, there's been the inevitable speculation surrounding individuals who never have the courage to run - or would simply quit if they ever did win because the job is too tough. Actual candidates who have the courage to step up and announce, however,  have been few and far between - and we're ok with that.

The fact is though, for those people who are involved in the area of media and politics - and that includes us - we do have to begin looking at factors that are molding the upcoming political contests next year.

One of the components that is shaping the vote at all levels in 2012 is what pundits are calling the hispanic factor.

We're not saying that all persons of hispanic background vote the same way, any more than all African-Americans, or all "White People" (who are really many different ethnicities). Each voter is an individual, and ethnic groups do not vote as blocks. That being said, statistics prove there are larger correlating factors within certain ethnic, racial, social, and economic groups than across the American public as a whole.

What the latest poll on hispanic voters and the 2012 Presidential race says isn't positive news for the Republican Party. The GOP's recent history of heavy pandering to the racist, nativist, fringe elements on the American political right looks extremely likely to come back and bite them in the backside next year. And their future beyond 2012 doesn't look any better regarding the latino vote.

The census numbers in places like traditionally Republican-heavy Nebraska bear that out. Over two-thirds of the population growth in the State of Nebraska over the last decade came from latinos. Most of the population growth occurred in and around Nebraska's larger cities, Omaha or Lincoln - cities which already lean toward Democratic voters. The likelihood that the hispanic population growth in those areas will fuel more wins by stronger Democratic candidates in Nebraska next year seems all but certain.

The national poll released in February, and conducted by impreMedia and Latino Decisions, seems to only further reinforce that position. It points out that hispanic Americans of all types overwhelmingly do NOT vote for or with Republican candidates, or for Republican causes - but they aren't necessarily voting in favor of Democratic candidates or causes either. Hispanic voters are often simply voting AGAINST Republicans.

This continued appearance of support of left-leaning politics by hispanic voters isn't because President Obama or Congress effectively and properly tackled immigration problems in the last two-plus years. On the contrary, immigration reform is an area where members of Congress failed to accomplish the goals the President set out for them - and an area where they will almost certainly not pass any effective legislation before the 2012 vote.

The reason this trend is continuing is because at every opportunity to change the historical perception of the Republican Party from an exclusively rich, white, male-dominated political group, the GOP hasn't budged. Instead, those nominal Republicans who have fringe ideas, sometimes bordering on racism, have been allowed to take control of their party's reins of power, and force GOP party-line support for issues like Arizona's race-baiting and questionably legal anti-immigrant bill.

The GOP can't say it's never been warned about hispanic voters and other immigrants being turned off by their political policies over the last decade. We've said it before, as well.

You reap what you sow.

Enjoy the harvest in 2012.

Friday Funday: Spring Cleanup? Already?!

While the calendar does say March, we realize it's technically too early to truly be talking about Spring, without potentially bringing on one last freak blast of Winter.

We're so sick of Winter this year, however, that we're willing to take the risk.

With the above freezing temps in both of our main locations, and and little bit of springtime weather in the air, we've decided to do some cleanup today, answer a couple e-mail questions from our readers, and pass along something we think you should see, before we all officially head slowly and steadily into the season of spring.

First, the questions.

We've been asked recently, more than once, where you, our readers, can see the previously released Daily Felltoon cartoons, after they slide off the Daily Felltoon page - or away from the pages of media sources like NPR - and the main page of PaulFellCartoons.com.

Once a Daily Felltoon cartoon slides off the main page of PaulFellCartoons.com, it goes into the monthly archive, in the "Editorial Cartoons" section, under "Artizans Toons." Each cartoon there is grouped by month, and has its own URL. You can find your favorite cartoon, copy and paste the link, and send it to anyone.

Along that same line of thinking, we've also been asked recently if we're still looking at adding a tool to each cartoon, which would allow you to click on it, and post your favorite cartoon in Facebook or Twitter or other social networking programs.

The short answer to that second question is, yes - we're still planning on that. Our web guru has been getting settled into his new job recently - and now his job is moving locations. Thus he hasn't exactly had a lot of extra time to add more functions to the website. Still, the groundwork has already been laid for adding a sharing tool to each cartoon, and we'll be seeing if Shawn has time to add that function before summer arrives.

Finally, something we think that more people should see.

An animation from a company known as Cognitive Media was passed around by a few people we know a few weeks ago. It features the voiceover work of acclaimed journalist, author and political activist, Barbara Ehrenreich. It's an animated piece, based on a presentation given by Ehrenreich for The RSA, in January 2010, about optimism and unemployment - and the limits of optimism on the economy and unemployment. Frankly, we think you should just watch the animation yourself, whether you have gainful employment right now or not, and see what you can learn from the video.

We're aware that things appear to be getting better for a growing number of Americans - the economy, the jobless rate, the weather, and more.

We just hope you don't mistake a false day of improvement - in the weather or otherwise - for a wholesale instant change. Things are getting better for most people, slowly and patiently, just like the changing of the seasons.

The best way to enjoy the new improvements in the world is to clean up your own life now, so when things really do blossom, you'll be able to have the time to enjoy them.

'No Other Way': Crocodile Tears And Other Lies Kids Won't Believe

It's amazing how stupid some adults think kids are.

No, we're not talking about Charlie Sheen. For all the "news" he's made lately, he seems to be a surprisingly good father in some ways. At least when he put his kids in their car seats he didn't lie to them, and tell them he'd see them tomorrow.

Political hacks attacking workers and unions, however, don't seem to be as bright, or have as high an ethical standard as Charlie Sheen.

While continuing to lie to Wisconsinites and other Americans about what his real goal is in Wisconsin, Gov. Walker this week released his state budget for 2012 which contained $834 million worth of cuts to his state's public schools.  Walker continues to claim that he's doing what both Wisconsinites and Americans want. However, the overwhelming facts - including the latest poll from the Wall Street Journal - say Americans strongly oppose attacks on unionized workers, meaning Walker's words are just more lies.

His state's GOP-led Senate also quite obviously doesn't seem to care about the desire of the people to find an effective compromise. A GOP-ONLY group of Senate Republicans passed a resolution in the Wisconsin state senate Wednesday that will now fine the senate Democratic lawmakers $100 for every day they miss in the legislature after the first two absences.

Ohio's GOP-led state Senate didn't do much better, passing a bill Wednesday that would gut the collective bargaining rights of public workers, and attempts to strip away their right to strike - a right we've already noted in previous commentaries that has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in other states.

It isn't that we lack concern for the budget problems of the states or that we have no empathy for states, legislators, and governors who face massive budget deficits created during the last decade. We simply have no patience for those arrogant imbeciles who seem to think that if they wield a bigger ideological hammer, they can still force a square peg into a round hole of a smaller size.

We've quoted Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes on this issue previously:  "Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society." And so they are.

Nowhere, in any legally binding document in this country, does it say that businesses and the wealthy are exempted from paying taxes which would keep roving bands of homeless people from killing said business owners. On the contrary, taxes are levied, as Justice Holmes noted, to keep things running that maintain a civil society.

There are those that believe the wealthy should pay more in taxes - including us. We have also said, however, that before more taxes are imposed, states - like Wisconsin - should be FAR more responsible in collecting the taxes they say they already impose, but really don't.

We're not against the idea of budget cutting, and we've made that clear in the past. We've also made it crystal clear that we think ideas that unions and workers have continued to support - like being willing to contribute more to their pension funds - aren't necessarily bad.

The idea that is truly bad is the one that insane conservatives are continuing to chase - that the budget problems of America's states and cities can be solved exclusively by cutting spending far beyond the point of sensibility, while continuing to drive tax levels below what they were 20, 30, 40 or more years ago.

They are robbing from the futures of our children and lying about it the whole time. From our perspective, they are doing so unwisely. Some day those children will be adults and vote - and will be taking care of the parents and grandparents who robbed them blind, and then lied and cried about it.

It's Time For Muammar To Go Write His Book

Even as the attack on workers continues in the U.S., there are places in the world where the conflict has gone beyond words and now includes guns, bullets, and people dying in the streets.

The nation of Libya now definitely qualifies as one of those places.

Most Americans haven't given Libya a second thought over the last 15 years. If they did, it was likely a thought that invoked a comment like, "Isn't that the country run by that crazy dictator dude that was such a thorn in the side of the Reagan administration?"

While that thought may technically be considered correct, it's not exactly a winning Jeopardy answer. In fact, we're confident in saying that description of Mr. Gadhafi is significantly lacking in the specifics regarding the man who is currently losing control of the country of Libya.

There was a time not that long ago, where Muammar Gadhafi was considered by many in the Western World to have been mostly reformed, especially after his actions during most of the last decade.

The Libyan people, however, have been unhappy with him for quite a long time. An unusually long time, in fact.

Gadhafi is one of the longest serving dictators in history, and according to Renard Sexton of FiveThirtyEight.com, Gadhafi's overall despotic track record recently earned him the mocking title of "Best (or Worst) Dictator In History." To say he's been less than kind to his own people would be the understatement of the century.

Because of that track record, with the recent political upheavals throughout Northern Africa and the Middle East, those familiar with the region and the country aren't entirely surprised at Gadhafi's fall and likely ouster (which could happen at any time, now.)

With the suspension of Libya's membership in some UN committees, a public plea by the United Nations to evacuate Libya, and suspension of diplomatic ties with most other countries, we tend to agree - it's only a brief matter of time before Gadhafi will likely be relieved of the title "Brother Leader and Guide of the [Libyan] Revolution." Whether his people will stop at removing his title, or will continue on to removing his head is something only they know, for sure.

We just wonder why people like Muammar Gadhafi think abusing their own people to gain personal fortune for themselves and their buddies, while cramming their own ideological dogma down the throats of everyone else, at the same time they are violating their own laws to keep their people out of the halls of power, is considered acceptable behavior.

After all, it's not like Gadhafi's the governor of Wisconsin, or anything.

No Magic. No Tricks. Just Common Sense.

The levels of both vitriol and stupidity in politics these days all across the United States continue to amaze us.

The events in Wisconsin, Indiana, and elsewhere have begun to go far beyond farce, and squarely into the realm of "What the hell are they doing?", and "Who the hell do they think they are?"

For example, in order to further discourage the remaining protestors inside the Wisconsin statehouse from staying any longer, the Wisconsin governor had the ground-floor windows to the capitol welded shut on Monday - so that food and other supplies couldn't be brought in to the protestors. The governor also had the Wisconsin State Patrol block access to the statehouse building, both of which are unconstitutional actions by the governor according to his own state's laws.

We don't see what's so complex about understanding the task at hand at virtually all levels of government in order to properly fulfill both the needs and the wants of the people and the fiscal responsibilities of the government.

In a word, it's called "compromise."

Indiana's GOP legislative leaders, while still being slightly less arrogant than their Wisconsin counterparts, are doing something some Republicans across the country still refuse to do these days: talking with their counterparts in the other party. While their legislature is not yet officialy negotiating, the lines of communication are open between the two sides - and that's a starting point.

New York City Mayor Bloomberg, long known to be fiscally conservative, wrote an op-ed in the New York Times on Monday that - while not saying what all of us would like to hear - proves he's willing to negotiate with the unions in his city.

President Obama continues to display his leadership on compromise. He spoke at a bipartisan meeting of governors yesterday and announced that his administration is now supporting the Wyden-Brown waiver program for states on health insurance reform - something that truly tackles issues Republicans have said are a concern to them.

Back in Wisconsin, the governor is still giving ultimatums that in the end, he can't enforce.

We're aware that some politicians have dug themselves an ideological bunker, one they insist they're going to stay in until they die or completely get their way. For those partisans who support that kind of political zealotry, any officeholder who deviates from the proscribed dogma is blasted and trashed in the blogosphere, in public - and in the next primary election.

For voters who haven't yet lost their sanity, the actions of Wisconsin's Republican governor continue to turn them off. In the latest polling done in Wisconsin, even Republicans are turning away from their out-of-control chief executive.

We think it's important to note that we think everyone has some redeeming value, even if that value is small. No one is completely worthless. We also think every American has an incredibly valuable role of being a well-informed, well-educated citizen.

That being said, if you or the politician you support can't seem to remember that compromise is the soul of good government, then - as an American citizen - you really aren't worth a hill of beans.