To mark my 20th year of being a cartoonist in Mississippi, I thought I’d dig out 20 tales from the past two decades. Some are funny. Some are serious. All tell the story of how I came to fall in love with this sometimes frustrating but always fascinating state we live in.
Most cartoonists will never see the politicians they lampoon. Me? I run into them daily. It’s interesting to see how people react to being in an editorial cartoon. No one truly likes to be made fun of — I get it. Lord knows I get my fair share of shots taken at me (read the comment sections). It’s just part of the job. And most politicians understand that. Most of them.
One former local politician once really started chewing me out. I sat there and took the *ss-chewing for a few minutes. Then I stopped, looked at him and said calmly, “If you don’t like being in cartoons, go sell cars.” If you are being paid by the taxpayer, I will draw you. If you’re a private citizen, I won’t.
Editorial cartooning is as American as the Founding Fathers. Ben Franklin penned the famous “Join or Die” chopped up snake cartoon. Boss Tweed was taken down by Thomas Nast. Herblock lampooned Nixon. Jimmy Carter began to resemble Jeff MacNelly’s caricature. Once the great Pat Oliphant was in down for an art show. Former Mayor Harvey Johnson was sucking up to him and giving me the cold shoulder. I smiled and said, “He’s a lot meaner than I am. Electionman is nothing compared to what he’d draw.” Recently Speaker of the House Gunn sat right in front of me as I was giving a presentation with his arms crossed. I made sure I had plenty of cartoons about him in the slideshow. Speaker Gunn has a pretty good sense of humor, but I have a feeling he was a bit annoyed with me that day. And of course, there is Jackson City Councilman Kenneth I. Stokes. He’d protest my cartoons, call me names and wait until the TV crews showed up. And as soon as the camera turned off, he scampered back into the air conditioning.
But some politicians get it. In the late ’90’s, I drew state Representative Bill Denny frequently because of the Motor Voter issue. After a few cartoons, he said to me, “Every time you draw me, I get ten more votes.” Most politicians will ask for the original. Haley Barbour told me to “draw him with a thin pen.” (I know for a fact his wife Marsha loved the cartoons of him.) Governor Barbour disagreed with me from time to time, but he has played on the big stage. A cartoon isnt’ going to make him cry. Governor Fordice hated my cartoons about him (and told me quite loudly) but thought I was good at what I did. I can respect that.
It’s not personal. Never has been. I’m old school. Unlike many on social media, I don’t hate people who don’t agree with me. I just disagree with them. Life’s too short to waste energy hating total strangers.
The best reaction of a politician was the late Charlie Capps. Delta State hosted a show of all the cartoon I had drawn of Rep. Capps. My editors and I drove to Cleveland and we went to the opening. Capps, a powerful member of the legislature, Invited family and friends. He’d walk from cartoon to cartoon and just laugh. He was very comfortable in his own skin.
You can tell the ones who are thin-skinned. They like to call your boss and try to get you fired. We have one right now who is particularly bad about that. That makes me want to draw him even more.
So, what drives me to do this? I love where I live. I want the best for it — not only for me, but for my kids. I want people who work for the taxpayer to actually work for the taxpayer. Mississippi is a ripe and fertile field for cartoon material. As a cartoonist, that make me smile. As a dad of three boys, I shake my head. But it’s never dull.
When I do I see a politician, I thank than for giving me so much material. It has been like shooting slow, stunned fish is a very shallow barrel for over two decades now.