August 8, 2010

I used to draw the news.

In the mid-90s, in the days before blogging, when I had only a marginal interest in the news, I'd watch TV, draw, and jot down disembodied phrases that amused me. Here's a good example of the sort of thing I did back then:

P1010659

(Enlarge.)

I have no idea now what these politicians were talking about, and, apparently, I had the same feeling of distance back then. 

18 comments:

lemondog said...

Looks like 2 to 2, dems to repubs. Don't recall Perry.

Good caricatures especially Moynihan.

Current Chaffee

Recall Rostenkowski involved in political corruption,

DaveW said...

Those are very good drawings, I'm impressed. I recognized Moynihan right away.

Rostenkowski was the House chairman of Ways and Means, same as Rangel today. He ended up having to resign, I can't recall if it was the bank scandal (house members were allowed to write hot checks) or the post office scandal (they were getting postage and using it corruptly or something). After that they caught him doing something else at home, taking gifts he shouldn't or something like that.

Man these guys are all a bunch of crooks. Both sides, they have been all my life.

HT said...

It was the "franking" scandal that got Rostenkowski.

DaveW - always have been, always will be. It's the nature of power no? If it's not one thing, it's another since they serve so long.

But let's take a closer look, and I don't know the answer, but was Moynihan corrupt?

michaele said...

The caricature of Chaffee looks like it could be one of Conan O'Brian. You really nailed Moynihan!

ricpic said...

Your Moynihan is spot on.

Moynihan was the most dangerous kind of liberal: the kind who would occasionally say or write something sensible but when the chips were down always voted the party line.

The Crack Emcee said...

Yep - Moynihan is spot-on.

Do you still draw?

Unknown said...

Perry was an R from IL (probably The Zero's old seat). Older commenters may remember his daughter being murdered (and I don't think they ever caught the guy). Semi-RINO, IIRC.

lemondog said...

Perry was an R from IL

Believe you're thinking of Charles Percy.

ALP said...

I am duly impressed. I know how challenging both figure drawing and portraiture are - the human body is the most difficult of subjects.

Fred4Pres said...

You have talent!

Trooper York said...

Your Moynihan is almost perfect. I actually met him several times. The only thing is every time I met him he was drunk out of his mind.

When Carter was running for President the ILA had a big rally for him in Carroll Park which is right across from where the store is now. Tony Scotto who ran the ILA was also a Gambino capo and married to Albert Anastasia's neice. So the rally was really mobbed up.

Anyway, Moynihan was running for Senator for the first time and was going to introduce Carter. He got up, said something that no one could understand, and fell off the stage drunk out of his everloving mind.

He was our Senator for about 20 years.

Trooper York said...

So you need to draw him more drunk.
Just sayn'

lemondog said...

re: Rostenkowski and political corruption, good Chicago boy upholding Chicago tradition.

Wince said...

Crack Skull Bob before Crack Skull Bob?

Mark Daniels said...

Moynihan was a member of the House, not the Senate.

Good drawings.

HT said...

Mark,

No. He was a Senator.

William said...

Your drawing of Moynihan was instantly recognizable. The other drawings were of figures that were instantly forgettable....Moynihan was large, florid, and tweedy. He had that Irish thing of wanting to look like English gentry. His pretensions were, in their way, stylish and avant Ralph Lauren. Ralph Lauren made millions catering to those same yearnings for status, but on Moynihan it didn't look so much like status seeking as triumphant arrival. There are some bad things you can say about Moynihan, but, on the whole, it was a successful act.

DaveW said...

Moynihan was a senator. When he retired Hillary Clinton won his seat. I thought at the time the people of New York got the worse end of that trade.