This piece was published in the LA Weekly in 2004. I drew this loving portrait of Dick Cheney after hearing an interview on TV where he discussed Iraq war strategy. As somebody who managed to weasel out of military service by staying in school for something like 12 years, I found his military zeal to be the ravings of a war-obsessed teenager. He spoke with authority, but what he said seemed so ridiculous, laced with fear and paranoia and completely devoid of empathy or awareness of the horrors of war. His icy demeanor seemed to melt when he adoringly described new weapons technology, specifically the "bunker buster--" a bomb that can do unspeakable damage to an underground bunker.

Convinced at the time (and still today) that the rationale for launching the Iraq War was based on faulty intelligence, self-serving arrogance and strategic ignorance of middle-eastern affairs, I wonder how our leaders could squander life, money and goodwill with such ease.

And now the sabre-rattling against Iran makes me wonder if we are doomed as a civilization...

I drew this portrait of Illinois Senator Obama in 2004, right after he gave his legendary speech to the DNC. What an inspiration! After four years of Bush's dumbed-down, stubborn, anti-intellectual, fearful, naysaying speeches, Obama's love of language and talk of overcoming obstacles was a revelation. I was living in Los Angeles at the time, but had heard from my parents who live outside of Chicago that he was a promising new Senator. He was able to garner support in largely conservative downstate Illinois to win the senate seat-- quite a feat.

Riveted by his speech, I thought to myself., "here is a rising political star-- I'm sure we'll see much more of him in the future..."

Four years later, I attended his rally in Grant part on the evening of the presidential election with hundreds of thousands of other Chicagoans. It was a peaceful, joyful, yet somber and serious evening-- an unseasonably warm November night blanketed by a clear, starry sky...

These illustrations were made in 2002 after the lead-up to the Iraq war during the first term of the Bush Administration. A few years after 911, it became clear to me that this president had little regard for civil liberties, the poor, the environment, education, healthcare or for the health of our military. While we should have been healing as a nation, he instead occupied a foreign country and launched two wars which we are still fighting today. His efforts at diplomacy were pathetic and his attempt to pass on "democracy" to Iraq and Afghanistan have resulted in an enormous loss of life, treasure and credibility.

I can only surmise that this president was not one of the smarter ones. And likewise, the Congresspeople who allowed him to invade Iraq should be ashamed of themselves. I was disenchanted by prominent Democrats who voted "yes" to authorize the war...

It fills my heart with joy that world leaders are working on reducing the number of nuclear weapons lying around. However, we're armed beyond belief here in this country and folks have a crazed obsession with guns and weaponry in general and our murder rate is one of the highest in the world.

I drew this back in 2004 after reading one article after another about the violence in Iraq since the occupation. It felt as if we're instilling not a desire for democracy, but a need for weaponry, and a general acceptance of violence.

We export our love affair with guns through pop culture, films and video games and after awhile, all that talk of freedom sounds a bit self-righteous when civilians cannot go to the market without getting killed. I guess that I'm a hopeless peacenik.