Candorville Courier has moved to candorville.com

After four years of operating one website for Candorville and a separate one for the blog, it suddenly occurred to me that I've been wasting time. Time spent loading, posting to, and managing both sites is time I'll never get back. So, as of today, the Candorville Courier blog has moved. From now on, it'll be part of the main Candorville website.

What this means for you:

• You'll now see both the current day's comic strip and the blog on the same page.

• When you subscribe via RSS, you'll be notified whenever new comics and new blog entries are posted.

• If you're registered to post on the original Candorville Courier Blogger site, you'll have to re-register on the new Candorville site.

• The new Candorville.com has a brand new discussion forum, where you can start your own discussions, join in on existing ones, post a profile (& picture if you want), and get to know other Candorville readers. You'll have to register separately for the forum (I'd suggest using the same username & password that you use for the main Candorville site, to keep things simple). It was either that, or merge the forum & Candorville database, become an expert php coder, and have to re-code everything any time I update either Wordpress (the Candorville content management system & blog) or Vanilla (the forum software).

In the near future, I'll also be updating the Candorville store with brand new t-shirt designs and posters, but for now, I hope you'll like the new site.

With the time combining the sites saves me, I'll have plenty of time to figure out another way to waste time.

God, I miss the New Jack Swing era

Girls didn't used to need thongs and booty shorts (although the biker shorts didn't hurt). They used to know how to be sexy in big-ass sweaters and ties. You kids get off my lawn!



Back when Hammer had money, Bobby Brown had respect, and Whitney had all her teeth, it was ok to have class.



Well, ok... 2007 was kind of all right. Except for the last 7 seconds (not that I was watching it over and over again to make sure it was 7 seconds, it's just a, uh... a guess), class came back for a visit:

I thought I told you kids to get off my lawn!

Obama on Race in America

This speech is about far more than the Reverend Wright controversy. If I were a gambler, I'd bet this'll be shown in social studies and history classes for the next 50 years.

Thank God for Culture Clash, example #28,987

Dead people endorse Hillary Clinton

The Obama campaign apparently isn't the only campaign racking up endorsements. A couple days ago, Chris Dodd, his former primary competitor, jumped aboard the Obama train. The train made a stop in Georgia today, where super-delegate John Lewis, civil rights icon and former Clinton supporter, climbed aboard and switched his super-allegiance. But those endorsements pail in comparison to the coup Clinton pulled off. She managed to win the endorsement of dead Texas governor Ann Richards. They're not sure whether they can also win the support of Harriet Tubman, but anonymous Clinton insiders are optimistic they can count on Rosie the Riveter to help sway the crucial fictional character vote.

I really don't know how the Clinton campaign does it. Bunch of geniuses, over there.

Clinton set to disprove "Brazile Rule"

Hillary Clinton today continued her efforts to prove you can totally screw up a Presidential campaign even without the involvement of Donna Brazile. It's an ambitious goal, by the way, considering Brazile has been involved in a losing Democratic campaign almost every election cycle since Jimmy Carter (her latest gig was piloting the doomed Lieberman campaign of '04).

Concerns about the integrity of the 2004 vote in Ohio prevented Kerry from disproving the Brazile Rule (though he did try his best by conceding as quickly as possible when it appeared he was in danger of losing his loss of the state).

Many observers believe Clinton may succeed where Kerry failed because she's willing to stoop lower than -- well, pretty much anyone. Today, her campaign circulated a photo of Barack Obama wearing Muslim-looking clothes (a photo taken during a four-state tour of Africa last year. Wearing traditional attire is a custom most politicians adhere to when visiting Muslim nations).

If there's anything Democrats likely to vote in the upcoming primaries are sick of, it's race-baiting, fear-mongering, hypocritical (see picture to right) xenophobes who use the ghost of 9-11 to scare up votes. There's a good chance this will turn more people away from her than it will from Obama. A damn good chance. The Brazile Rule is on the ropes, baby.

Surely someone at Secret Service is about to be promoted

It's no secret that in George Bush's Washington, incompetence and/or malfeasance seem to be prerequisites for really great promotions. George Tenet described dubious intelligence as a "slam dunk," helping to pave the way for a tragically unnecessary war. For that mistake, he was given a shiny Medal of Freedom. John Negroponte, once involved in covering up Central American death squads and propping up a Honduran dictator, was pulled out of carbonite and awarded the post of Deputy Secretary of State. Condoleeza Rice didn't think a memo stating "Bin Laden Determined to Strike Within the United States" was important. She was given the entire state department to run.

So it comes as no surprise that the United States Secret Service ordered the Dallas police department to stop checking the crowd for weapons at a Barack Obama rally. It's getting harder and harder for the incompetents and the malicious to stand out in Washington. They've got to do something to shine, and letting another Oswald or Sirhan Sirhan slip into an Obama rally might just be stupid enough to work. Maybe.

What I want to know is, who at the Secret Service is bucking for promotion?

**UPDATE: I called the Secret Service. Secret Service Spokesman Ed Donovan acknowledged that screening of the crowd for weapons was halted about an hour before Barack Obama appeared. He said the Secret Service was following a "layered security plan," which involved practices other than weapons-screening. "It wasn't as if there was a decision to just stop checking people," Donovan added. "It was never part of our plan to screen every member of the audience for weapons." According to Mr. Donovan, the Secret Service tailors its protocols to each individual site, and this particular site didn't require a thorough examination of the crowd. He wouldn't detail the measures taken in Dallas that supposedly rendered individual searches unnecessary, saying that to do so would "help them defeat us."

Whoever came up with a layered plan that doesn't include running everyone in that stadium through a metal detector should start clearing a place on the mantle for his medal.

New York Post story nominated for "most ignored of 2008 award."

New York Post reporter Ginger Otis has been nominated for the prestigious Most Ignored Story of 2008 award, for her recent story, "Obama Robbed in New York." The story details how, in NYC, which happens to be Hillary Clinton's "home town," whoever counted the votes seemed not to notice that Mr. Obama had any.

From the article:

February 16, 2008 -- Barack Obama's primary-night results were strikingly under recorded in several congressional districts around the city - in some cases leaving him with zero votes when, in fact, he had pulled in hundreds, the Board of Elections said today
Unofficial primary results gave Obama no votes in nearly 80 districts, including Harlem's 94th and other historically black areas - but many of those initial tallies proved to be wildly off the mark, the Board of Elections confirmed.
Truth is, in some districts getting a recount, the senator from Illinois is even close to defeating Hillary Clinton...

In a predominantly black Brooklyn district for which Clinton was given credit for a 118-0 victory on Primary Night, the Board of Elections' latest figures indicate that she may not even come out the winner - Obama currently has 116 votes to her 118.

Since stories about possible electoral fraud are routinely ignored by the rest of the Media -- forgotten as if they'd never existed in the first place -- observers believe Ms. Otis's story has a fair shot at winning the award. "However," noted Brad Friedman, four-time past winner of the award, "it's early yet. We haven't even gotten to the general election, anything can happen." Indeed, Ms. Otis looks to be facing several other strong contenders. The story of 50,000 Los Angeles votes not counting has already been largely forgotten, and given the historic Democratic primaries and the omnipresence of school shootings, Britney Spears, and cleaver-murders, nobody seems to be paying much attention to stories about anything the current Administration or Congress are doing. But for now, Ms. Otis's story is an early favorite.

When asked for comment, Ms. Otis added: "What story?"

Today's the day

Read more at the Cartoonists of Color Draw-In web page. I've posted several links to articles, and a couple mp3's of interviews I and the other guys have done regarding the action.

"Yes We Can" vs. "Me Me Me"

Obama may be more proficient in the vocabulary of leadership, but Clinton's speech proved her campaign right when they said she represents a real change. Most leaders use the words "we," "us" and "our" to draw in their listeners, to make them feel as if they're part of the team -- to make them feel invested in the leader's success. Not Clinton. Compare Obama's old school approach vs. Clinton's radically different one. She doesn't pander to the togetherist lobby. She turns conventional wisdom on its head by choosing language that gives the impression it's all about her. "I listened to you... I found my voice." That line in particular was brilliant. We know it was brilliant. If it had been a pathetic admission that she's given to falling out of touch with the American people, the Media would've told us so. But they told us it was brilliant, which, to me, was a big relief.

Let's compare Old School Obama to New Jack Clinton. Here's Obama's South Carolina victory speech...



...vs. Clinton's New Hampshire victory speech.



I have to admit, she lapsed a bit toward the end. A few "we" and "us" buzzwords crept in. But what a rousing start.

Geek Tuesday: Iron Man animation, conclusion

February 10 comics page demonstration mentioned in Newsweek

The upcoming February 10 minority cartoonists demonstration was mentioned in the January 28 issue of Newsweek, on page 14. Check it out or see the brief interview online.

The Clintons smoked identity politics, inhaled big-time

The more I see of the Clinton campaign, the more I understand the burning hatred the right wing has always felt toward them, even if I don't (yet) share it. How can you not hate people who laugh and smile while they distort their opponents words and records? How can you not hate people who brazenly drag their opponents' race into the campaign repeatedly, and then feign indignation when their opponent calls them on it? How can you not despise the Clintons when they speak derisively of Barack engaging in identity politics, while at the same time reminding everyone at every turn that Hillary has ovaries?

The Clintons' latest not-quite-subtle attempt to marginalize Obama based on race:

Said Bill Clinton today in Columbia, SC: "Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in '84 and '88. Jackson ran a good campaign. And Obama ran a good campaign here."

This was in response to a question about Obama saying it "took two people to beat him." Jackson had not been mentioned.

Boy, I can't understand why anyone would think the Clintons are running a race-baiting campaign to paint Obama as "the black candidate."

Obama did win the vast majority of black South Carolinians' votes. But how does Bill Clinton explain Iowa? Did Jesse Jackson win Iowa and the history books forgot to record that?

Rambo, McCain: It's only a coincidence

Sylvester Stallone today endorsed John McCain, Vietnam POW, for President. I'm sure it absolutely, positively has nothing to do with a certain film that's opening tomorrow. I'm sure it's just a coincidence.

Stallone said of McCain, a Vietnam war veteran who spent more than five years as a prisoner of war, that "there's something about matching the character with the script."

"And right now, the script that's being written and reality is pretty brutal and pretty hard-edged like a rough action film, and you need somebody who's been in that to deal with" it.

...I think.

Candorville bat-signal: Santa Rosa readers, contact your paper

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat's changed their comics page, and Candorville's one of several casualties. However, unlike many papers, they want to know what you think. If you live in Santa Rosa or somehow read the Press Democrat, and you want to see "Candorville" back on your comics page, write to them at comics@pressdemo.com.

The Press Democrat does listen to its readers, so go ahead and register your opinion.

Geek Tuesday: Iron Man animation, part 2

Letter to Editor: Candorville's mockery of bigots offends me!

A reader was kind enough to send me a copy of his letter to the editor about today's Candorville:

Copy of Letter to the Editor-Austin American Statesman

Dear Editor:

As a white, Independent voter, I am appaled at the tastelessness of the “comic strip”, Candorville, that appeared in the Saturday Jan. 19, 2008 Austin Statesman.

This has a non-white male character talking to a non-white female character and I will quote the dialogue in it’s entirety for those who missed it.

He says, “I figured out what Obama needs to do if he wins the nomination. If he wins, you just know thousands of bigots are going bullet shopping. So he’s gotta pick a vice president that bigots’ll hate worse- Someone the bigots wouldn’t want to risk becoming president. Obviously, his running mate should be an illegal immigrant,”

To me this is patently offensive and the Statesman should not have run it. As I wrote earlier, “I’m a white, Independent voter and this appears to me to be race baiting of the worst kind.

I apologize to all my non-white friends for this bad taste on the part of the cartoonist, and the Statesman as well.

Rev. James A. Andrews D.D.

AKA Zpadre

Always nice to hear from a white person who takes it upon himself to be offended on behalf of minorities. I hear from such angels occasionally. Oddly enough, the minorities in question never seem to tell me themselves that those particular strips offend them. Thank God for the Reverend Andrews's of the world, otherwise I'd never know that I've done wrong.

My response:

I often hear from readers who tell me they're white, and that they're offended on behalf of minorities about something I said. When, in fact, I hear almost nothing but praise for those same comics by the supposedly-aggrieved minority readers themselves. I don't understand this phenomenon. I'm not sure I understand why you're apologizing on my behalf. Why would you, a white person, apologize to "all your non-white friends" for something another non-white person said? Why don't you ask THEM if they're offended? If THEY would like an apology, by all means, direct them my way so I can correct whatever misinterpretation they're laboring under. If you can find a single non-white friend of yours who hasn't already thought about the danger Obama faces, I'd be surprised.

I'm also unclear on why you feel it's race-baiting.

From the Encyclopedia Britannica online:

"Race baiting is the act of using racially derisive language, actions or other forms of communication, to anger, intimidate or incite a person or groups of people, or to make those persons behave in ways that are inimical to their personal or group interests."

Who exactly do you think today's cartoon was "DERISIVE" of? It wasn't derisive of black people. It wasn't derisive of illegal immigrants. If anyone, it was derisive of "bigots." Now, if you're saying today's Candorville was trying to anger or intimidate bigots, or trying to get them to behave in a way that's inimical to their personal or group interest (namely, trying to get them to stop being bigots), then you've got a point. I fail to see what's offensive about someone deriding bigots.

Also part of the definition of "race-baiting":

"This can also be accomplished by implying that there is an underlying race based motive in the actions of others towards the group baited, where none in fact exists."

Are you honestly - with a straight face - going to tell me there aren't bigots in this country who'd sooner see a black man dead than in the White House? Are you going to tell me there was no reason for Barack Obama to ask for and receive an uncommonly large contingent of secret service agents as protection? Are you going to tell me - an African American cartoonist who receives occasional death threats simply for publishing a cartoon with black characters in newspapers - that a black man running for PRESIDENT has nothing to fear?

If only Bush had watched What's Happenin'

If this sort of thing had happened in 2000, it might not have cost me nearly $40 the other day to fill up the tank on my tiny Ford Focus, two towers might still be standing in New York, and the name "Greenland" might remain an oxymoron a little bit longer:

Geek Tuesday: Amazing Iron Man animation

Check this out. If Lemont knew about this, he might not set foot outside his apartment for days, waiting for the next installment:

Raleigh News & Observer adds Candorville

Sometimes introducing a comic strip to largely conservative readers by joking about hypocritical closeted Senators trolling for gay bathroom sex, is actually a good idea. If you read the previous post about the trial in Raleigh, N.C., you might be surprised to learn they're adding Candorville to their roster, come January 14.

Minority cartoonists plan February 10 comics page "crossover"

It's not a crossover in the traditional sense, it's something that's never been done before. If you're a cartoonist of any ethnicity and you want to participate, and you still have time to turn in a new strip for February 10, contact me at "candorville at gmail dot com" and I'll fill you in on the details.

From Editor & Publisher:

NEW YORK At least eight African-American cartoonists plan to take part in a Feb. 10 comics-page action to draw attention to the way their strips are perceived and purchased.

"Many editors and readers consider different 'black comics' to be interchangeable," said "Candorville" cartoonist Darrin Bell. This, he told E&P today in a phone interview, is among the reasons why many papers run only one or two comics by African-Americans and other creators of color -- no matter how many strips and panels are in their comics sections.

But, Bell said, comics by black cartoonists are obviously as different from each other as comics by white cartoonists are different from each other.

"Some are political, some are about friends, and some are about family," noted Bell, who organized the Feb. 10 action along with "Watch Your Head" cartoonist Cory Thomas. (Both are syndicated by the Washington Post Writers Group.)

For the action, the cartoonists will all do a version of one of Thomas' comics. The theme and writing in each strip will be similar, though "we're all plugging in our own characters," said Bell. The idea is to satirically protest the erroneous notion of many editors and readers that comics by African-American creators are interchangeable.

What might the action accomplish? "I hope editors will start allowing minority cartoonists to compete for all their comics slots, not just one or two slots," replied Bell, whose 2003-launched "Candorville" strip runs in 60 to 65 papers.

The cartoonist -- who also does the "Rudy Park" comic with Theron Heir for United Media -- further noted that strips by African-American cartoonists are enjoyed by many white readers as well as black readers.

Bell said he's not sure the Feb. 10 action should be called a protest, noting that black cartoonists face a problem nowhere near as serious as, say, New Orleans residents still without housing after Hurricane Katrina. But it's still a problem.

"It's like a weather forecast of mostly sunny with patches of racism," Bell said wryly.

"Wryly." I like that. Read more...

I Killed Journeyman

If Lemont knew the whole story, he'd probably quit the strip. I know he wouldn't want to work with me ever again.

The truth is: I killed Journeyman. I've concluded that's the only logical explanation. Nearly every show I love ends up canceled by the end of its first season. "Space, Above and Beyond," "Firefly," "Odyssey 5," etc. The television landscape is littered with the corpses of Shows Darrin Loved.

According to someone close to production who e-mailed me today, "Journeyman" isn't dead yet. It's sitting frozen in the driver's seat of an RV that's dangling over a cliff, and NBC hasn't decided whether to save it or let it plunge to an early death. Maybe if I apologize for admiring the show's sophisticated writing, its surprisingly (for network TV) moving acting, and the sense that it's all leading to something big -- maybe if I promise not to watch it anymore -- NBC will save Journeyman. After all, broadcast TV is filled with shows I would never watch, and I'm sure you'd agree that it's no coincidence those shows are successful.

Maybe you never tried Journeyman, or maybe you gave the first couple episodes a try and thought it wasn't going anywhere. If you thought Journeyman started slowly, or you missed the last couple episodes, watch them right here, right now. And then tell me you wouldn't like to see where the next few seasons might have taken us.

Or better yet, tell NBC.