Great stuff! Thanks for sharing it with us!

Thanks for the comments. I water down acrylic paints so that it's like watercolor. I ink first, then put down the colors. Arthur Rackham, a famous children's book illustrator, painted in this way. Slowly put down a wash of color.

Black and white cartoon - lame, not funny. Cartoon with the Pope in it - absolutely despicable. Yes, I want Obama to fail too. Or better said, I want the U.S. economy through the private sector to succeed with minimal government intervention. I want our armed forces to succeed when asked to do whatever it is we need them to do. I want Obama's liberal, socialist, progressive, or whatever you want to call it, agenda to fail. Yes, I voted for prop. 8 also on religious AND common sense reasons. It's ridiculous something like this is even on the ballot. Don't most in the homosexual community want to stay promiscuous anyway? Getting married to recieve tax benefits and so on is for all the wrong reasons.

Well, thank you Greg for your frank comments, even if I don't agree with a lot of what you wrote. At least you took the time to read my cartoon and look at my illustrations, which I should thank you for.

I have to admit that I'm not yet satisfied with my comic strip yet either. I've been checking out from the library some really good satirical cartoonists, like Walt Kelly or Jules Feiffer, and there's a depth and insight to their cartoons that mine doesn't have. I'll keep plugging away though and see if I could improve.

I still don't understand why you or Rush would want Obama to fail. If a President fails, it's our country that suffers the most. For me, it doesn't matter if the person who is President is someone who I vote for or not... I want them to do well for the sake of our country. I voted for Gore in 2000 and Kerry in 2004, but when they lost, I still hoped that Bush would do well because I love my country and I don't want to see the U.S. to do badly.

Our economy in the past 30 years, since the Reagan presidency, has been dominated by the private sector with minimal government intervention... and look at the mess we're in now. Since Reagan began the process of deregulating economy 30 years ago, we've had a savings and loans crisis and a stock market fall in the late 1980s, a recession in the early 1990s, a tech bubble burst in 2000, and the financial crisis now. It's the nature of unregulated free markets to get into these boom and bust cycles. In the U.S. system we've had regular periods of economic crisis in 1837, 1857, 1873, 1893, 1907, 1919, and 1929. The same things happen in each crisis: small businesses get wiped out, workers suffer and lose wages, the middle class suffers.

The capitalist system has many good qualities, but it's not perfect. Adam Smith wrote that individuals who pursue their self interests in a competitive system often inadvertantly create widespread social gains. In the 19th Century, the Industrial Revolution created a large middle class in the U.S. Free market reforms in the 1970s have given China a middle class of over 200 million people today. India has now a middle class of 200 million people due to its free markets. I compare this with the 5 year plans and great leaps forward efforts of the former Soviet Union, Mao's China, Vietnam's and North Korea's efforts at collectivization in the 1980s; it's basically resulted in famine, poverty and the death of millions. Capitalism seems to have done a better job of lifting larger numbers of people out of poverty than the communist and socialist systems have.

The flaws of capitalism and unfettered free markets though are there as well. Though millions benefit from the opportunities of the free markets, there are millions who are left behind through no fault of their own, unable to adjust to the fast pace of change and trapped in poverty. Those in the margins are often exploited for their cheap labor, and they are denied opportunities that the middle and upper classes have. The rush for industries to exploit the natural resources leads to the degradation of the environment and enormous pollution problems. The pursuit of profit and economic gain leads to gross materialism and self centeredness. Increased competition leads to some winning out over others, and wealth and the power that comes with wealth becomes concentrated into fewer people.

I think progressives in American history try to reform the free markets from its worst flaws. Teddy Roosevelt's trust busting and environmental policies, FDR's New Deal, Truman's Square Deal, LBJ's Great Society programs all have helped average Americans and made the free markets more humane. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the women suffragists, Eugene Debs and Emma Goldman and the fight for worker rights, and all these progressive grassroots movements helped Americans who were left out of the American system and our country is better for their efforts.

As for gay marriage, this is something that we won't agree on. I think gays should get married if they want to, and I don't see any religious or common sensical reasons why they shouldn't. There are many Christians who support gay marriage and gay rights, and I wrote of some of them here http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2008/11/mormons_catholics_and_evangeli.html. When I hear Christians talk about protecting the institution of marriage, I always think they're taking the wrong Biblical passages in regards to what is important in that institution. For me the real basis for marriage is in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, which is about spiritual gifts, but is also used a lot in marriage ceremonies.

"If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. But as for prophets, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a chld, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I willl know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love."

Gays and lesbians appreciate the institution of marriage. If they didn't, they wouldn't be fighting so hard for the right to marry. The gays and lesbians that I know are pretty monogamous. The few promiscous people that I know are heterosexual. This hasn't given me any reason to fight for a ban on heterosexual marriages.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to pontificate a little. Though I disagree with most of your post, I appreciate you taking the time to look at my cartoons and illustrations. I'll try to improve my cartoons.

Angelo, dude your comment section is about 3 times larger than your article. Good lord! Ya know, the good news is our country is way, way bigger than any one mortal man, and the President is just that, a mortal man and not a god. If a President fails and it has happened (R. Nixon), we'll all pull together be fine. Gay marriage - at least in the church I go to, it will never happen. What alot of people don't realize is the Catholic Church does not demonize gay people but instead the sin. Premarital sex and promiscuity between heterosexuals is frowned upon equally with homosexuality. Both are mortal sins. So there's no way the church will ever sanctify an unrepentant sinful lifestyle with the sacrament of marriage. That's got to tell everyone something when Barack Obama and a blue state like California both agree with prop. 8.

Yeah, Greg, I was surprised at how long my response was when I finished writing it. I guess I have strong opinions on the subjects you touched upon in your comments.

Though I'm no longer Catholic, I still respect the Catholic Church, even if I don't agree with everything it holds. From what I remember, there are really two churches: the church of God and Mary and the Saints, which is never wrong; and the church of fallible human beings, which is wrong all the time. In the 1990s, Pope John Paul II made a series of apologies for its treatment of Galileo, for its history of mistreatment of Jews and Muslims, and for any other mistakes the church has made. I think what John Paul II did was very honorable.

The Catholic Church is not fundamentalist and it doesn't have a fundamentalist view of the Bible. The Church believes in evolution, it respects the field of science. There are liberal Catholics who think the church's stance on homosexuality is wrong and are debating it within the church. I don't know how successful they'll be, but I admire them for trying to change the church.

I've met two types of Christians who think homosexuality is a sin. There are those who think homosexuality is a sin and just hate gays and lesbians. Then there are those who think homosexualtiy is a sin but have close gay friends and gay family members and struggle to balancing loving them while holding on to their principles. I don't respect the first group. But even with the second group, the relationships seem unintentionally condescending just because of the nature of the Christian's beliefs.

Just for clarification... the figure in my last illustration wasn't meant to portray the Pope. I just took a generic bishop whose costume was based on a search at Google images. I could understand though why it could be mistaken for the Pope.

Here are some Catholic organizations that fight for the inclusion and respect of LGBT Catholics:

Dignity USA fights for the rights of LGBT Catholics within the Catholic Church. Athe United States, Dignity USA worships openly with other GLBT and supportive Catholics, socialize, share personal and spiritual concerns, and work together on educational and justice issues. Since the sacramental life is so important to the Catholic faith, Dignity USA fights for the inclusion of gay and transgender Catholics in the sacraments of the church. In their website is a link to various Catholic organizations that support or are friendly to gay rights.

New Ways Ministry is a gay-positive ministry of advocacy and justice for lesbian and gay Catholics and reconciliation within the larger Christian and civil communities. Through research, publication and education about homosexuality, we foster dialogue among groups and individuals, identify and combat personal and structural homophobia, work for changes in attitudes and promote the acceptance of gay and lesbian people as full and equal member of church and society. Right now they are partnering with Dignity USA and Call to Action, another progressive Catholic organization, to condemn the Vatican's opposition to a proposed U.N. declaration that would lessen the discrimination against of lesbian, gay and bisexual people worldwide.

According to Soulforce , a Christian gay group, here are some prominent gay and lesbian Catholics:

Fr. Henri Nouwen (famous author) , a gay priest whose spirituality has touched millions. Probably one of the most admired spiritual authors in the world, he kept the secret of his Sexual orientation fearing that this fact might somehow make his amazing writing less acceptable.

Mary Moylan (Vietnam War resister) a nurse who in 1968 participated in the Catonsville Nine Draft Board action, which led to a series of draft board and corporate actions that awakened Catholic opposition to the Vietnam War. Mary spent many years in Uganda as a nurse/midwife prior to returning to the states to take part in this now famous act of resistance.

Fr. Mychal Judge (NYC Fire Chaplain) , a gay priest who died during 9/11 ministering and lived his entire life supporting the struggle for justice. Fr. Judge was deeply loved, admired and respected by firefighters whose gratitude for his years of devotion made his reputation almost mystical in their eyes.

Dr. Tom Dooley (Vietnam era naval doctor) , who risked his life during the Vietnam war years to set up medical clinics throughout Southeast Asia. Dooley authored three books about his time in Southeast Asia. He was dishonorably discharged from the navy in 1956 for his homosexuality.