Fashion Sense Comments on Mad Mel

In announcing that he's going to divorce his wife and that his girlfriend is pregnant, Mel Gibson has shown himself to be a hypocrite. Previously, he's shown himself to be a bigot. Here at Fashion Sense we just couldn't resist commenting on Mad Mel. [Click on the image for a larger version of this cartoon. The text reads: 'I'm under a lot of stress, so I'm doing yoga to try to relax, but my cat saw a picture of Mel Gibson and his pregnant girlfriend, and he was, like, Why is Mel Gibson divorcing his wife to be with Oksana? I thought he was supposed to be Catholic? and I said, "He claims to be," and the cat was, like, But I thought Catholics didn't believe in divorcing somebody you have seven kids with to be with somebody younger and hotter, and I said, "I guess Mel belongs to a very special Catholic group," and my cat was, like, So was the passion in The Passion of the Christ about the crucifixion or something else? and I said, "It's the passion of the Mel that's about something else," and the cat was, like, So now he's going to have eight kids? and I said, "Yeah, I guess he actually called himself the Octo-Mel on Leno last week," and the cat was, like, Look at this picture of his new girlfriend -- doesn’t she look a little like Nadya Suleman? and I said, "So what's your point?" and the cat was, like, It makes me wonder if the Octo-Mel craves the Octo-Mom , and I said, "I'm not crazy about Nadya, but she's less of a hypocrite than he is," and my cat was, like, Nor has she gone on any anti-Semitic rants while intoxicated, and I said, "That's another point in her favor. Just FYI, there's going to be a new musical called The Octo-Mom and an Octo-Mom reality show," and my cat was, like, The words reality and Octo-Mom don't seem to go together, and I said, "I guess we have to try to be tolerant of Nadya... and of Mel," and my cat was, like, Why? Mel isn't very tolerant, and I said, "Because tolerance is important, and besides Mel as Mad Max has shown us what the world could be like when we reach peak oil if people are cruel and intolerant," and my cat was, like, Now I'm the one that's feeling stressed. Do you know anything about yoga for cats? ']

Fashion Sense Says Lack of Health Insurance Not Oprah Is the Cause of Health Worries

Oprah is being criticized for her willingness to discuss alternative medicine, but the biggest threat to the health of citizens of the United States is our lack of decent health insurance coverage. [Click on the image for a larger version of this cartoon. The text reads: 'My sister called me and the first thing she said was, "Did you hear that Newsweek has exposed Oprah's fraudulent healthcare advice?" and I said, "Yes, and I also heard that Forbes says Angelina Jolie is now the world's most powerful celebrity, but I don't believe everything I read," and she said, "If people get more cautious about alternative medicine, it could have a bad effect on your leech therapy business," and I said, "As it turns out, I've decided to give up my leech therapy business and do some part-time petsitting instead," and she said, "But you have to care about the fact that people do what Oprah tells them to do, and these untested natural treatments can have bad side effects," and I said, "That's one part truth to a million parts propaganda," and she said, "That sounds like a toxic homeopathic remedy," and I said, "People certainly have to exercise caution, but the real cause of health care problems in the U.S. is lack of a real health care system," and she said, "But aren't you disturbed by what Oprah is doing?" and I said, "I found Suzanne Somers' description of injecting hormones into her lady parts far more disturbing," and my sister thought for a minute and said, "I guess I'll have to agree with you on that one."']

Fashion Sense Says It's Illogical to Rave Over the New Star Trek

Here at Fashion Sense, we've seen the new Star Trek movie and honestly don't understand all the rave reviews. We still prefer Star Trek IV (Save the Whales!). [Click on the image for a larger version of this cartoon. The text reads: 'When Penny came over to my house last night she said, "Where's your monkey?" and I said, "Peanut wasn't very happy with me, so I let him go live in a primate sanctuary," and she said, "You must be really lonely without any animals around," and I said, "I adopted a couple of whales through a wildlife conservation group. There's a picture of my humpback’s tail," and she said, "Too bad he can't live here," and I said, "He could if Scotty would make him a transparent aluminum aquarium like in Star Trek IV," and she said, "Speaking of Star Trek, did you see the new movie?" and I said, "I was very disappointed. Star Trek is supposed to be full of meaningful if obvious references to real-life problems, and now it's just another action-adventure franchise," and she said, "You know, there weren't many carry-overs from the old movies or TV shows, though they did manage to include a green Orion animal woman in a bikini," and I said, "At least the original sexism survived," and she said, "And they killed off most of the Vulcans so Spock could announce he was a member of an endangered species," and I said, "Whereas in Star Trek IV Spock was trying to help an endangered species, namely humpback whales, " and she said, "Well, the new movie was a huge hit, so I suppose it's nice to see an old favorite like Star Trek live long and prosper," and I said, "I find your attitude most illogical."']

Fashion Sense Says Michael Savage's Ideas About Immigrants are Unhealthy

The world is still waiting to see how bad the swine flu outbreak will get. Although everyone's concerned about staying healthy, some people, like shock jock Michael Savage, are using this crisis to spread unhealthy ideas. Also, this flu outbreak is a good reason to take a critical look at factory farms. [Click on the image for a larger version of this cartoon. The text reads: 'When I was on my way to visit my rescued Premarin mare this morning, my right-wing neighbor waved at me as though she had some kind of emergency, so I stopped to see what she wanted, and she said, "Hey! Are any Mexicans on that farm where you keep your horse?" and I asked why, and she said, "Michael Savage says you shouldn't get anywhere near Mexicans or anybody who's been anywhere near Mexicans, because you'll get sick," and I said, "From what I've read, Michael Savage is the one who's sick. Experts say this swine flu originated in the United States," and she said, "We're not supposed to call it swine flu. That's bad for the pork industry. Which reminds me that I'm also angry at the Mexicans for putting that virus into pigs because now I can't eat pork chops or ham, which are my favorites, and later on they'll be more expensive," and I said, "We're not supposed to call it swine flu because agribusiness has so much power they can sue us for defamation when we tell the truth about them. Remember what happened to Oprah when she tried to talk about beef?" and she said, "So are there any Mexicans on that farm?" and I said, "I don't think it's funny to talk about the Aporkalypse, but I also don't think it's the Mexicans that are responsible for this Snoutbreak," and she said, "Well, here's more proof for you: I got one of those e-mail messages telling me that Salma Hayek has swine flu, and I thought, 'She's Mexican, so it's got to be true,' and when I opened the email I got a virus on my computer which proves that Mexicans give you viruses," and I said, "That's some very twisted logic!" and she said, "Thanks. I’ve done a lot of thinking about this thing."']

Fashion Sense Comments on Mad Tea Parties

Huffington Post called them faux populism; Paul Krugman described them as astroturf events; Fashion Sense thinks it's sad that the mad tea parties wasted so much tea and got more media attention than Earth Day events. [Click on the image for a larger version of this cartoon. The text reads: 'On Earth Day the dog and I went to the Save the Planet rally organized by our environmental group L.O.V.E., and afterward Marissa invited us to her house for tea, and she made a big pot of organic green, and then she said, "I'm drinking a lot of tea these days as a protest against those tax revolt teabaggers because they're not a real movement no matter what Fox News says," and I said, "Paul Krugman called those tea parties astroturf events -- as in fake grassroots," and she said, "A grassroots group like ours has to work hard to get any publicity, whereas those tea protestors just let Fox News do it for them," and I said, "What difference does it make? No matter what they do at their mad tea parties, it'll always be the 'Obama is the Antichrist' t-shirts that we'll remember them by," and she said, "And all the tea they wasted!" and I said, "I doubt if any of it was organic. Tonight after dinner the dog and I will watch the news to see how they cover the rally. We don't usually get much of a mention unless the anarchists show up and make some trouble, or a Hollywood star puts in a cameo," and she said, "Well, that’s at least one consolation: The environmental movement always gets lots of great celebrities, but all the teabaggers could come up with was Ted Nugent and Glenn Beck."']

Fashion Sense Comments on Obama's Visit to Prague

Fashion Sense is still in Prague, and President Obama was here last weekend. He made a historic speech about the necessity of eliminating nuclear weapons, which was well received. However, the proposed U.S. radar installation is still under consideration here, despite the fact that most Czechs oppose it. In the meantime, Prime Minister Topolanek, who recently called Obama's economic policies the road to hell, was forced to resign. [Click on the image for a larger version of this cartoon. The text reads: 'It’s a nice spring morning, so I’m out birding, and I heard beautiful and unfamiliar birdsong, so when I came over to get a better look at the singer, he was, like, "You're right, I'm a song thrush, and I don't belong here," and I said, "You're a European bird, right? Were you blown off course during spring migration?" and he was, like, "Not exactly. I usually winter in Italy and summer in a town named Brdy near Prague, but the U.S. is planning a radar installation there, so I don't want to live there any more," and I said, "On television I saw that our president was in Prague a few days ago, and people there seemed really enthusiastic about him," and the thrush was, like, They do like Obama, but just about all the people and other creatures there are opposed to the radar except Topolanek -- the Prime Minister, and I said, "Isn't he the guy that called Obama's stimulus plan the road to hell?" and the thrush was, like, Most Czechs know the real road to hell is paved with weapons of war, and I said, "Obama said in his speech that he wants to eliminate nuclear weapons," and the thrush was, like, Good. That would make a nice roadblock on the road to hell, and I said, "Speaking of which, does Topolanek always use such rude language?" and the thrush was, like, He's usually pretty dull, but he said he picked up the phrase when AC/DC sang 'Highway to Hell' in Prague, and I said, "I don't know that song. I'm not a fan," and the thrush was, like, Neither am I, but Topolanek's government got a recent no confidence vote, and he was forced to resign, so I'd say right now he's on the Road to Nowhere, and I said, "I AM a Talking Heads fan, and you're very good at these pop culture references," and the thrush was, like, Well, I AM a song thrush after all, and I said, "So are you planning to try out for American Idol?" and the thrush was, like, No, thanks. The auditions, the mean judges, the fickle audiences: that really does sound like the road to hell.']

An Organic Garden at the White House

There have been so many stories about Michelle Obama's preference for fresh organic foods that we just have to comment (meanwhile, Prague readies itself for a visit from President Obama next weekend). It was nice to read that Ms. Obama helped serve wholesome food in a soup kitchen and that she helped to plant an organic garden at the White House. But right wing commentators have criticized her elitism, showing themselves to be hopelessly muddled hypocrites. [Click on the image for a larger version of this cartoon. The text reads: 'I'm looking for a job again, so when I ran into Madison, who has a lot of contacts, I offered to buy her a cup of coffee, and as soon as we sat down, she said, "That outfit is so Michelle; you seem to be quite a follower of the First Lady," and I didn't want to argue so I said, "It's just something I got from that new thrift shop, Trash and Treasure," and she said, "Speaking of trash, did you hear what Tammy Bruce said when she was guest hosting Laura Ingraham's show," and I said, "I believe she called the Obamas trash, which I think was very vulgar," and she said, "Michelle is a poser," and I said, "If she's posing as First Lady, she's doing a good job of it; she's a fashion icon like Jackie Kennedy, and she just started a White House garden like Eleanor Roosevelt did, but the Obamas' garden will be organic," and she said, "Only an elitist loves expensive clothes and trendy foods," and I said, "Just a few weeks ago she helped a soup kitchen that serves organic food to needy people. So how’s that elitist?" and she said, "I remember that she served broccoli," and she said broccoli as though it was something obscene, "but poor people can't afford to eat organic food," and I said, "My tortoise and I eat only organic produce, and this year we're going to grow our own organic garden, so how cheap is that?" and she said, "George Herbert Walker Bush hated broccoli, and so do I," and I said, "Here's a little factoid for you: W's wife Laura insisted on serving fresh, organic produce at the White House, but she didn't let anybody know," and she said, "That's real class for you. Laura knew it would be elitist to let other people know," and I said, "Maybe I shouldn't tell you that you're drinking organic fair trade coffee," and she quickly got up to leave, saying, "I can't be seen doing something so elitist. Also, I don’t want to be seen in a neighborhood full of unemployed losers that have defaulted on their mortgages."']