A dear friend of mine recommended a wonderful HBO
documentary I post here and below on the political cartoonist and satirist Herb
Block. He drew the most prescient
politically satirical cartoons that made, in their way, a most weighty
influence on our history. He began his
drawing in the early 20th century; working through the Great Depression until
his death in 2001. That's a lot of
history to draw. I paste a famous one he
drew of Nixon during Watergate:
Nixon hanging between the tapes
[Nixon hanging between the tapes], May 24, 1974 Reproduction of original drawing. Published in the Washington Post (79)
I loved this documentary and if you care anything
about the trajectory of our nation you will, I think, love it too. The film was made for me as I try to, in my
own small way through my writing, unprofessional that it may be, place a stake
in what I think is the most humane and just policy while pointing out grave
hypocrisies when I can. My mantra has been to question everything, as Howard
Zinn instructed, by always asking who does policy benefit and why.
I wanted to be a voice for the little guy, to erase
terrible injustice and to add to the fairness in life and not detract from
it. There is, an ethical cement in
which I place my opinion to try. Maybe I
will not be able to fill the aisles when I depart the planet but someday if
someone is reading a history of our time my point of view -- liberal humane
points of view -- will get a just hearing.
Herb Block before his death sums up his hope for our
nation's future through Truman's famous "The Buck Stops Here" sign on
his desk except Herbblock (as he liked to spell his name) rephrased it. He said "Anything FOR a buck stops
here" Amen, Mr. Block, from your
words into God's ears!
http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/herblock-the-black-and-the-white#/
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