Happy New Year, everyone! It's already shaping up to be a pretty good one for Redskins fans. Every now and again it's refreshing to do a cartoon that doesn't bash someone or some ideology. On this 'toon, I attempted a new technique in honor of the new year: I drew 99 percent of it on the computer. What I mean is, I scanned up a rough sketch of the Redskins fan and digitally "inked" over it using Photoshop. There are only a few other editorial cartoonists who use this process on a day-to-day basis, but I don't think I'll be one to ever get the hang of it. I really ached for the control of the brush and India ink while I was drawing today.

On top of this being the first cartoon of the 2008, today's blog entry is my 200th post! I'd like to thank everyone who stops by to read the blog and those brave enough to comment on the cartoons. I'll keep plugging away in hopes of making the 2008 version of the Beeler Blog better than ever!

After seeing the news about Benazir Bhutto's assassination earlier today, I started rethinking whether I should draw this cartoon about Vladimir Putin at a later date. I started reading the various news accounts, analysis, memorial columns and blog entries about Bhutto, but I thought I would give it some more time to let the story sink into America's collective consciousness -- which has to be in a tryptophan-induced haze right now. Also, the "Time Magazine Person of the Year" story will become stale sooner rather than later. It's best to get while the gettin's good, right?

Honestly, if I could, I'd exchange all the candidates. Don't have the receipt? No problem! I'll take store credit.
I have yet to find a candidate who meshes with my personal politics; all of them are trying to energize their base right now, so it seems like both the right and left are gravitating toward the fringes. I think this is the reason so many Americans don't vote. The whole tawdry process makes them sick.

... In lieu of receiving coal, maybe?

I drew this cartoon over the weekend in advance of Christmas and I'm just getting around to posting it on the blog. It turned out to be a very busy holiday this year!

The Examiner ran a very interesting editorial about the just-signed energy bill, a.k.a. CAFE. It makes some good points, but I'm still conflicted on the subject. On the one hand, U.S. automakers are struggling mightily nowadays and more regulations could further erode their financial stability. On the other, the Big Three have done a poor job keeping up with the times and given consumers few, if any, innovations. Overseas competitors Toyota and Honda, riding the wave of success from their ultra-fuel-efficient hybrids, are now the leaders, due largely to their focus on practicality, affordability and quality. How often do you hear those three words used together to describe American-made cars?

When I was walking back from Quizno's today, a flaming bush poking out of the sidewalk told me to vote for Huckabee. Of course, it's entirely possible this was just a hallucination brought on by stress and inhaling ink fumes all day. Whatever the case may be, it sure appears Mike Huckabee is milking the religious right for all it's worth. Once again, like many other voters out there, I'm left hoping the candidates will stop yammering on about religion and start giving us good answers about how they'll tackle the real important issues facing the nation.

It appears as though the Taliban is making a resurgence in Afghanistan, their attacks seemingly more brazen and bloody, while the bulk of the U.S. fighting force remains "occupied" in Iraq. We only have about 26,000 troops in Afghanistan, and the Pentagon is beginning to get uneasy about our prospects for creating stability in the country without reinforcements. I though the Iraq War was a mistake from the beginning, but I whole-heartedly supported deposing the Taliban for harboring al-Qaida. Unfortunately, President Bush got sidetracked from the mission, and now we -- and the Afghanis -- are paying the price for stretching our military and political capital too thin. I just wish Bush would finish what he starts.

As we near Christmas, you'll notice me drawing more holiday imagery. I figure, it happens once a year, so why not make the most of it as a cartoonist? I could just as easily have the Republicans and Democrats getting drunk off of Christmas budget eggnog. Or they could be dressed as Santa Claus trying to stuff a gigantic sack of earmarks down a chimney. The image of little piggy bulbs struck me as the funniest -- and they're so cuuuute, aren't they? For a good read on the issue of earmarks in the spending bill, check out Tuesday's editorial in The Examiner.

My original sketch for this cartoon was simply labeled "The Sinker" and had former congressman George Mitchell, who led the MLB probe on steroids use, as a pitcher on a mound hurling a humongous baseball labeled "Steroids Report" toward a batter labeled "Players." That one would have been just "eh ... that's fine, I guess," so I fiddled with it before coming to this final version. I like it a lot beteter, since I think it takes a look at the real impact this steroids scandal will make.