Rhonda Chriss Lokeman from Creators Syndicate

Sex Appeal and Cancer for 08/17/2008

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The sudden death of singer Isaac Hayes reminded me of a conversation I had this spring with actor Richard Roundtree.

Roundtree played the sexy lead in "Shaft," the 1971 hit movie that earned him a Golden Globe nomination. Hayes, who recently died from a stroke, won an Oscar for the theme song, which he also sang.

The film was among the highest-grossing ones that year and made ...

Updated: Sun Aug 17, 2008

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How Cheney Changed America for 08/24/2008

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Until Dick Cheney's power grab, the vice president was viewed as a stand-in.

In America BC (Before Cheney), the veep was the understudy; he stood in ceremoniously when the president could not.

Traditionally male, the vice president attended state dinners and state funerals, and his credentials were vetted publicly only when the Big Guy died in office. Occasionally, the veep got to ...

Updated: Sun Aug 24, 2008

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Audacity in Denver for 08/31/2008

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The last time we saw so many fellow Americans gathered at a stadium for something other than football was in New Orleans after Katrina three years ago.

In the Superdome then were citizens who felt dispossessed upon learning the horrifying truth about the government's tardy and disorganized response to their plight.

Certainly, there was no "happy talk" when the leader of ...

Updated: Sun Aug 31, 2008

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Don't Worry, Keep Drilling for 09/07/2008

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

As Hurricane Gustav hammered the Gulf Coast, sparing Louisiana and elsewhere Katrina's wrath but not evacuations and power outages, President George W. Bush had a singular message for the alarmed populace: Don't worry, keep drilling.

More important to Bush than displaced and distressed fellow Americans were the nearly 4,000 oil- and gas-production platforms along the coast that had endur ...

Updated: Sun Sep 07, 2008

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Sisterhood of the Mocking Malamutes for 09/14/2008

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

No matter what the Republican revisionists say, history will record that it was not a Democratic man who threw the live grenade of sexism into a crowded national political convention in 2008. It was a Republican woman.

It was Gov. Sarah Palin, John McCain's impetuous pick to be his vice president.

In an otherwise punchy acceptance speech by a relative unknown, Gov. Palin chose to ...

Updated: Sun Sep 14, 2008

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Straight Talk, No Chaser for 09/21/2008

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

At the dawning of one of the worst financial crises in this country's history, as we stood at the precipice of despair, Sen. John McCain shrugged and said, "The fundamentals of our economy are strong."

Afterward, Pepcid, Tums and Rolaids futures shot up on Wall Street.

Later, former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, known for his calm and steady demeanor, appeared on TV looki ...

Updated: Sun Sep 21, 2008

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'Animal Farm: The Sequel' for 09/28/2008

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Well, fellow Americans, we are hip-deep in it now, aren't we?

We've been sloshing around in this Orwellian barnyard for a while, long before Hank Paulson and Dubya started swatting at flies and way before Johnny-Come-Lately caught wind of the putrid pileup and still couldn't tell it from Shinola.

Some are starting to think John McCain is bipolar and off his meds.

One minute ...

Updated: Sun Sep 28, 2008

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Shock and Aw, Shucks for 10/05/2008

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Ward Cleaver turns to his wife and says, "Gosh, June, how are we goin' to explain to Wally and the Beave that I just got laid off from my job of 25 years, our 401(k) tanked in the '08 market crash, and we can't get loans to send them to community college, much less Harvard, Yale or Princeton?"

To which June turns off the Hoover, knocks back a gin shot and replies, "Betcha didn't ...

Updated: Sun Oct 05, 2008

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On Being Subversive for 10/12/2008

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

When I think of Sen. John McCain, I think of Vaclav Havel.

Havel, a writer, was a political prisoner under the Czech Communists who ran his country as part of the Soviet empire. McCain was a war prisoner in Communist Vietnam and wants to be our next president.

The Czech Communists despised and persecuted intellectuals such as Havel, who defended the weak against the tyranny of the ...

Updated: Sun Oct 12, 2008

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Like a Breast of Fresh Hair for 10/19/2008

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

John McCain supporters loved it when he turned to That One and said: "Sen. Obama, I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago. I'm going to give a new direction to this economy and this country."

From then on, John McCain spent the night proving himself wrong.

As we say here in Banjo Country, "Good-looking ...

Updated: Sun Oct 19, 2008

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Battle Hymn: America Needs Your Vote for 10/26/2008

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

If ever there were a time to yell “fire”' in the crowded political theater, it is now as the 2008 presidential race draws to a close. If ever there were time to cease being a bystander to American democracy, it is now.

Given the current choice between fear and hope, choose wisely. Choose wisely because the future of this great nation depends on it.

Fellow Americans, we are given t ...

Updated: Sun Oct 26, 2008

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Final Days in the Maverick War Room for 11/02/2008

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0700

John McCain: The Joe-the-Plumber strategy is working, my friends. We're headed to victory. Our rally crowds are getting bigger.

Sarah Palin: Actually, John, my crowds are way bigger than yours. People show up for you mostly to see me. We even quit callin' them McCain rallies. They're Joe-the-Plumber events now.

McCain: What matters is we're playing to our base. I showed great judg ...

Updated: Sun Nov 02, 2008

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Cool Hand Obama for 11/09/2008

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

It'll be great to have in the White House a president who can finish The New York Times puzzle. Our president-elect never would say, as did Dubya, "Is our children learning?"

Could be that the Harvard-educated Barack Obama doesn't waste his Ivy League sheepskin because his family, as most families do, scraped to send him to college. His college loans were paid off only after hi ...

Updated: Sun Nov 09, 2008

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Unclogging the Brain Drain for 11/16/2008

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

It's not possible in a weekly column with limited space to get to all that readers want me to cover.

In the interest of remaining current and draining the cranial swamp, here's a quick hit at some topics that may be dealt with at length in future columns:

—READY FOR HER CLOSE-UP: It pays to keep your day job. After losing the vice presidential race, Sarah Palin returned to w ...

Updated: Sun Nov 16, 2008

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Thanksgiving 2008 for 11/23/2008

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Let us bow our heads at the annual supper of national gratitude to give thanks and praise, in no particular order:

—CLAP FOR THE WAXMAN. There's no better government watchdog in the U.S. House of Representatives than Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. As ranking member and chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Waxman held powerful feet to the fire and eschewed sacr ...

Updated: Sun Nov 23, 2008

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The Party of Lincoln Redux for 11/30/2008

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

BATON ROUGE, La. — Greetings from the Bethlehem of what could be the new Republican Party messiah. I speak, of course, of Bobby Jindal, governor of Louisiana.

I know what you old-timers in the GOP must be thinking: There's no way in Hades you'll let a brown guy with one leg in New Delhi and the other in New Orleans represent the Republican resurrection.

But you forget that t ...

Updated: Sun Nov 30, 2008

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If You Give Wall Street a Bailout for 12/07/2008

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

As I've watched what has happened on Capitol Hill since the federal government bailed out banks with a promised $700 billion rescue package, I'm reminded of Laura Numeroff's "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie."

The book, used by teachers of pre-K children to third-graders, remains one of my favorite reads. So is her "If You Give a Pig a Pancake," also beautifully illustrat ...

Updated: Sun Dec 07, 2008

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Them That's Got Shall Get for 12/14/2008

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

When you put the cart before the horse, no matter how many times you lash the beast, you won't get far. Sooner or later, you realize the direction needs to be changed, not necessarily the animal. Such is the frustration some in Congress have over Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's questionable handling of money for the Troubled Assets Relief Program.

No matter how much lawmakers verbally ...

Updated: Sun Dec 14, 2008

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The Other Shoe Dropped for 12/21/2008

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Shortly after President George W. Bush dodged shoes in Iraq, his vice president dropped another shoe here at home. Dick Cheney's metaphorical gesture, recently broadcast on ABC News, insulted our troops and their families.

A truth-and-reconciliation commission won't even come close to repairing the damage Bush and Cheney have done. If this doesn't rise to the level of impeachable high cr ...

Updated: Sun Dec 21, 2008

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A Peek Under the Christmas Tree 2008 for 12/28/2008

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

—Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the subject of a federal investigation, is accused of selling the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. The embattled governor said, "I will fight, I will fight, I will fight," the allegations. He said he has the most powerful ally at his disposal: "the truth." Santa gives him the board game "Clue" and a pai ...

Updated: Sun Dec 28, 2008

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