Top Ten Comics from The Roanoke Times (Sunday Edition): Trudeau Jabs Trump, Read All About It

Greetings to our blog readers in Costa Rica, Hungary, Kenya, as well as those of you who may be checking in from Sacramento, Calif., where the Monday 9:00 a.m. work day is just getting started.

Today, we look at our favorite comic strips from yesterday's "Roanoke Times," the daily newspaper for Roanoke, Va. Our chart-topper this week is Garry Trudeau's "Doonesbury," where the cartoonist lampoons Donald Trump (pict. top) and his bad hair. This is followed by a clever edition of "Zits," which features a hand grenade gag (of all things), and "Jump Start" in which two kids ask each other what they think of aliens (pict. bottom, "Alf").

For those of you who might be herding sheep in Mongolia, Trump is one of 15 (or is it 16 or 17) Republicans running for president. We just learned that the conservative magazine "The National Review" has Carly Fiorina on its cover. Like Trump, she has zero political experience as well. (Her name is not spelled right on our tags, but we've learned from the Donald to not apologize).

Here is our top ten:

1. Doonesbury

2. Zits

3. Jump Start

4. Garfield

5. Pearls Before Swine

6. Speed Bump

7. Get Fuzzy

8. Dilbert

9. Family Circus

10. Pickles

http://www.roanoke.com

http://www.denverpost.com/comics

http://www.washingtonpost.com/comics

http://www.doonesbury.com

DC Week (2 of 8): Tweets About the Nation's Capital and the Government Shutdown

With images of 1) Cong. Jim Matheson (D-Utah); 2) Mabry Mill, near Roanoke, Va., which has been closed due to the federal government shutdown; and 3) Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), we begin our first of two entries in this eight-entry series geared towards Washington, D.C.

"The Roanoke Times" reported that Mabry Mill, which is located on the Blue Ridge Parkway, could be reopen. Today, President Barack Obama said that states could re-open national parks with state funds. As a result, The Statue of Liberty, The Grand Canyon and Mount Rushmore are likely to re-open.

Cong. Jim Matheson (D-Utah) is considered to be the most conservative Democrat in the House, while Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is considered to be the most progressive Republican in the Senate. Both are reportedly working diligently to find the proverbial common ground to restart the federal government, which is now in Day 10 of a shutdown.

Here are the tweets:

1) Cong. Jim Matheson: "Glad Utah National Parks are open. Too bad we can't vote on a clean CR (Continuing Resolution) to operate rest of the government."

2) National Review (a conservative magazine): "Barack Obama can close our parks, but he's never block American enterprise."

3) The Hill: "Chris Christie (New Jersey's Republican governor): If I was in the Senate right now, I'd kill myself."

4) Embassy of Greece: "The Embassy and Consulate will be closed on Monday. Happy #ColumbusDay weekend."

5) Politico: "New York is donating $369,300 to have park service employees reopen the Statue of Liberty."

6) Bruce Bartlett (a Republican political aide): "David Frum: Will the Republican Moderates Please Stand Up."

http://matheson.house.gov/

http://www.roanoke.com/

http://thehill.com/

http://www.politico.com/

http://www.collins.senate.gov/public/

http://www.nationalreview.com/

Apocalypse Now 2: The Republicans on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Yes, for the very first time in the history of "The Daily Vampire," we are using four images as the U.S. House of Representatives in Congress, which is controlled by the likes of far right figures, such as Cong. Eric Cantor (R-Va., pictured top), is likely to close down the federal government.

This means that real-life Ranger Smiths (middle image, from "Yogi Bear") and the actors in the Ford's Theater production of "The Laramie Project," about a riveting anti-gay hate crime in Wyoming, may not go to work when the sun rises in the morning (this is just speculation, especially with regards to Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, though it is a national park).

So, here are some tweets from the right and the left and maybe even one or two from the center:


1. LOLGOP: "If House Speaker John Boehner is really going to ofer a clean bill, all Freedwomworks is going to break loose."

2. WXII News (NBC affiliate in Winston-Salem, NC): "Panda cam at the National Zoo to go dark in shutdown."

 3. Southpaw: "The Speaker just did an impression of the President of the United States on the House floor."

4. DenverPost: "#CoFlood: Colorado National Guard flood work could be delayed by shutdown."

5. Ford's Theatre: "'The Laramie Project' is so real. It'll be a real treat to everyone who comes to see it,' Cokie Roberts."

6. WashingtonPost: "Employees who witnessed the Navy Yard shooting will be exempt from shutdown furloughs."

7. Philly City Paper: "Republicans succeed in taking away the Liberty Bell because of Obamacare or something."

8.National Review (a conservative publication): "Obamacare's operating system might be fixable; it's faulty economic logic sure isn't."

9. Markos Moulitsas (liberal editor of "The Daily Kos"): "Reminder: Obamacare more popular than shutdown, Congressional Republicans."

10. Huffington Post: "Government shutdown looms after moderate GOP rebellion fails."

http://www.nationalreview.com/

http://www.dailykos.com/

http://citypaper.net/

http://thehill.com/

http://www.c-span.org

http://www.fordstheatre.org/

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

UPDATE: Oct. 1, 2013..........It now appears that Ford's Theatre will not be able to perform "The Laramie Project" at the Ford's Theatre because the theatre itself is a national park and the U.S. federal government has shut down. The matter is made more confusing by the fact that the theatre, as a stage group, is private. Ford's Theatre put a Facebook message up that it was looking for alternative stages for the production of the play, which was well-praised in the DC-media. Our sincerest thoughts go out to the actors, stage-hands and set designers as they work through this difficult situation.

Tweets of the Day: "What Would Rodman Do?" (about Syria)

Full disclosure: NPR commentator David Brooks, who is known for his center-right politics, said that there seemingly few liberal hawks supporting military intervention in Syria, but I happen to be one of those people. Nevertheless, I am posting tweets from right, left and center, as well as many tweets which contradict my view of what Washington DC needs to do stop Syria's madman dictator Hafez al-Assad.

The images here are of 1) former NBA star/transvestite/unofficial diplomat Dennis Rodman (he has made several questionable trips to North Korea) 2) A tank in Syria 3) Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), one of the Senate's fiercest hawks who has always supported military action against the Damascus regime.

Let's go:

1) National Review @NRO (a conservative magazine): "Obama's #Syria strategy threaten, retract and wander about the stage."

2) Adnan Abdullah @adnanish1(a Muslim activist): "U.S. Military strike on #Syria will add fuel to fire in the Middle East. May God prevent it and bring peace to the whole nations of #Islam."

3) Chris Wallace @foxpokerfox (the poker player, not the Fox News journalist): "Where is Dennis Rodman when we need him? #Syria."

4) David Corn @DavidCornDC (a liberal journalist): "Fantastic debate (for the most part) w/n my Twitter feed re #Syria. I'll keep asking as we get closer to a vote. Le me know if you switch."

5) Washington Diplomat @diplomatnews: "US orders embassy workers out of Beirut ahead of possible Syria strike."

6) Today's Zaman @todayszamancom, a Turkish newspaper: "US envoy to UN says Syria's Assad barely dented chemical weapons stockpile."

7) The Hill @thehilltweets: "Fashion designer Kenneth Cole ripped over controversial Syria tweets."

8) Daily Kos (@dailykos): ""McCain,, John Kerry cite WSJ op-ed written by advocate for Syrian rebels."

9) Mother Jones @MotherJones, a liberal magazine: "Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): Want my Syria Position? Wait Till Next Week."

10) TheAtlanticPolitics @TheAtlanticPOL: "Attacking Syria is the least popular intervention idea since Kosovo."

11) Sabrina Siqqui @SabrinaSiddiqui: "Cong. Gerry Connolly (D-Va) tells Bloomberg TV that Obama should hold of all military strike in Syria if Congress doesn't approve."

12) HurriyetDailyNews @HDNER, a Turkish newspaper: "#StateDepartment approves drawdown of non-emergency personnel who wish to leave #Adana (a major American military base in Incirlik, Turkey, is near Adana, which is Turkey's fifth largest city and fairly close to the Syrian border).

http://www.nationalreview.com/

http://www.dennisrodman.com/

http://www.washdiplomat.com/

http://www.todayszaman.com/home

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/

http://thehill.com/

http://www.motherjones.com/

Tweets of the Day: All Things Damascus

Here are a sample of tweets from objective and subjective sources including former Cong. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), who was one of the most liberal members of the house, and Liz Cheney, the daughter of Dick Cheney, the 43rd president of the USA (forgive the political humor), both of whom are against a possible American military strike on Syria. Both Kucinich (top) and Ms. Cheney (bottom) are pictured here.

I will be put in my subjective view and openly state that while I am personally center-left politically, I am for military intervention in Syria, as Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt are overwhelmed with refugees. The Turkish newspaper "Today's Zaman" said as many as one million refugees will have fled to Turkey from Syria by the end of the year.

Here are the tweets:

1) Dennis Kucinich @DennishKucinich: "#Syria: The threat to US credibility isn't what happens if we don't intervene, but what happens if we do, @SenMikeLee (yes, Kucinich acutally quoted far-right Tea Partier Sen. Mike Lee, Republican from Utah).

2) National Review @NRO (a conservative magazine): "If Obama isn't seeking permission to wage war, why is he in Congress at all?" #Syria

3) Politico @Politico: "Even as he makes the case for a military strike against #Syria, John Kerry is careful to keep the light on for Russia."

4) Mustafa Akyol @AkyolinEnglish  (Akyol is prominent Turkish journalist): "Al-Assad should be bombed soon and hard."

5) Syria Freedom @FreeingSyria: "Obama to make G20 push for #Syria strike_ US President Barack Obama gives a press conference in Stockholm."

6) Katrina vandenHeuvel @KatrinaNation (She is the managing editor of the liberal magazine "The Nation"): "73% MoveOn members say Congress should oppose authorization to use military force in Syria."

7) The Hill @hillballotbox: Liz Cheney says she'd vote against Syrian strikes.

8) WeeklyStandard @weeklystandard (a conservative magazine): National Review: "Yes" to U.S. Action in Syria. The editors of National Review endorse military action in Syria."

9) JerodPolis @jaredpolis Cong. Jason Polis (D-Colo.): "Sounds like I will be voting on military action in Syria! Send me information/articles to read as I study the issue to make a decision."

10) TheDailyEdge @TheDailyEdge: "Rick Santorum: I wanted to strike #Syria right up to the moment Obama said we should. Now, I think it's a bad idea."

11) Roll Call @rollcall: "Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.): "Senators will get DVD of CIA evidence showing 'horrendous' effects of chemical weapons."

12) BBCWorld @BBCWorld: "US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power accuses Russia of holding security council hostage on #Syria."


http://thehill.com/

http://www.rollcall.com/

http://thewhitepath.com/ (Mustafa Akyol's web site)

http://www.politico.com/

http://www.thenation.com

http://www.weeklystandard.com/

http://www.nationalreview.com/

GOP Convention Day One (Delayed Due to Weather) Tweets

Today was supposed to be Day One of the exciting Republican National Convention.........oh well!

Of course, by now, you've figured out that this blog has a strong center-left, pro-Democrat bias, nevertheless, we feel for our Republican friends who might well be stuck in their Tampa, Fla., hotel rooms watching "The O'Reilly Factor" or "Antiques Roadshow" tonight.

But, there are still lots and lots of tweets that we can log here, including one from Callista Gingrich, the 46-year-old wife of Newt Gingrich. We were stunned to find out that Cally, born on March 4, 1966, is exactly four years older than Tilly Gokbudak, who happens to be, well, me.

Robert Costa of the online version of the conservative magazine "National Review" wrote about Newt U, Mr. Gingrich's new workshop at the convention which will be a week-long series of lectures on right-leaning issues, such as Medicare-reform proposals and free-market principles. Newt U was also covered by National Public Radio (NPR), the leading commercial-free radio news source in America.

We should explain that the images above are of: 1) Cuban hats; according to Hats on the Belfry, an east coast hat store, fedoras value for between $25-59 2) Cally Gingrich herself and 3) Sri Lankan Tea: Yes, that is a dig at the Tea Party.

Here are the seven selected tweets from this afternoon/early evening east coast USA time:

1) @TeaPartyCat (Top Conservative Cat, actually a liberal satirist): "GOP: While Donald Trump will not be attending the #GOP2012 convention, he says he remains available to the press to make stupid comments."

2) @RedRoadRail: "Tea Party takes credit for pushing Mitt Romney to the right."

3) @seanagnew (Sean Agnew, a self-described Reagan conservative): "Must Eat Tampa: Hugo's Spanish Restaurant THE Best Cuban sandwich (Hyde Park).

4) @thenation ("The Nation," a liberal magazine): "The Tea Party came to Tampa, but not to celebrate the Republican nominee."

5) @DailyKos (The Daily Kos, a liberal blog): "Mitt Romney comes full circle on abortion: 'It's been settled for some time in the courts.'"

6) @NPRPolitics (NPR Politics): "Herman Cain and his ABCs: He sees Blacks Turning to the GOP."

7) @callygingrich (Callista Gingrich): "Looking forward to offering remarks with @newtgingrich this Thursday at the Republican National Convention in Tampa."

http://www.ambassadoroftea.com

http://www.hatsinthebelfry.com

http://www.stylesalvage.blogspot.com

http://www.newt.org

http://www.thenation.com

http://www.southfloridateaparty.org

http://www.natuionalreview.com

http://www.coffeepartyusa.com

For other tweets, check out our sister blog at:

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.com