It’s been a couple days since a California candidate stepped in muck or stuffed a foot in his mouth, but the indefatigable Tom Meyer won’t let that hamper the free exercise of his constitutional rights to vicious mockery of politicians.
The far-famed, well-coiffed and handsomely recompensed political cartoonist and Calbuzzer has spent his quiet time memorializing the best gaffes from the starting line of the 2010 general election races.
Today we present Meyer’s uniquely twisted take on Hurricane Carly’s Mean Girls complex, Krusty Brown’s Third Reich fetish and the all-star Houdini act of California’s voters.
P.S. If you’d like a full-color print of one of Meyer’s cartoons to frame and hang on your wall – just in time for the holidays! – send us a note at calbuzzer@gmail.com and we’ll fix you up in a jiffy.
Paging Ron Ziegler: General Stanley McChrystal had to perform career seppuku for the brain-dead comments he and his Animal House entourage made to Rolling Stone’s Michael Hastings – but at least Canned Stan can blame his indiscretions on having been snot-flying drunk at the time.
But what about the press guy – what’s his excuse?
The big brain behind giving Hastings unlimited access to McChrystal and his guys is a somewhat shadowy figure with a limey accent named Duncan Boothby (a phony name if there ever was one), who’s described in news accounts as a “civilian senior adviser” to the general, and who previously worked in the region for Lt. General William Caldwell.
Caldwell became a proponent of using “new media” to communicate with targeted audiences, and he began collecting civilian public affairs specialists, including Boothby, to expand the work of the military’s rigid public affairs system and to maximize the “strategic impact of new media” through a program call CAC Stratcomms. “He wanted to use media as a weapon,” one officer explained.
How’s that workin’ out for you general?
Boothby (if that is in fact his name) got fired about 12 seconds after the Rolling Stone piece made its way onto the web, and appears to have escaped Afghanistan one step ahead of the posse.
But seriously, does being forced to leave Afghanistan strike you as sufficient sanction for such a felony stupid move? Shouldn’t Duncan have to answer for this bloody mess and explain, you know, WTF WERE YOU THINKING MAN?!?
Great news, sir! I’ve arranged for a Rolling Stone reporter to hang out with you and the gang for a month!
Rolling Stone? Isn’t that where Hunter Thompson worked?
No worries, sir. Co
mpletely different publication today. Plus, my sources tell me Lady GaGa and her machine-gun tatas will be the cover so no one will even read your story anyway.
But will the boys still be able to kick back when they’re off duty?
Absolutely, sir. No problem at all.
While an anxious nation awaits the big book contract and inevitable surfacing of the alleged Boothby, perhaps as a military affairs analyst for the Rachel Maddow show, we propose that the Public Relations Society of America endow an annual prize, called The Duncan, to be presented each year to the flack who screws up his boss’s career in the most hideous way.
If no one’s performance meets the Boothby standard of excellence, the association can present the award for outstanding historic work (What about the unnamed genius who put Michael Dukakis in the tank? Who thought it was a great idea to have Sarah Palin interviewed in front of turkeys being slaughtered? Or who told BP’s CEO, “no sweat, Tony, just relax and enjoy the yacht race”?) – or even posthumously:
“Nonsense, Mr. President, you and Mrs. Lincoln deserve a fun night out. You just have a great time at the theater.”
Next 10 California Budget Challenge: The California Budget Challenge is an online simulation that lets users make the same choices that legislators face, including issues ranging from education spending to corporate taxes. The latest edition of the Budget Challenge features the most up-to-date figures from Governor Schwarzenegger’s May Revise. Once you’re finished there’s the option to send the budget to your legislator and let them know how you think the state should be run. It’s a great way to educate readers and keep them engaged in the political process here in California.
