Commander in Chief Barack Hussein Obama

...as long as he doesn't try to land on an aircraft carrier. That's him with Princetonian proconsul Gen. Petreus, who's overseen the cutting of many checks payable to random Shiite militiamen in Iraq, thus making the surge a success. I've already said we can duplicate that here--flood the streets with cops WHILST buying off the thugs and drug dealers. Hey, fellow author George Pelecanos came up with that in his scripts for The Wire, third season (Bunny Colvin's "Hamsterdam"). Barack and Petreus, pay the man his royalties...

Anyhow, this photo and story are from MSNBC/Washington Post. Read here. The dek (sub title): President-elect tries reassure top brass that he will listen, do nothing rash. A lot of folk who voted for him did so in the hopes he would be, well, rash. As in turn 180 degrees from 8 years of bizarre homage to what brought down Rome, right down to supporting wars so we can can support our legionnaries...oops...troops.

Creator to Watch: Shawn Martinbrough

A recent write-up in the Washington Post on artist Shawn Martinbrough was sub-titled: "Gangsters, Superheros and Other Creatures of the Underworld." That pretty much encapsulates the main subjects of this brave medium known as comics, graphic novels, serial visual storytelling. This award-winning artist has done it all, from striking out on his own with indie comic projects such as Aire Force for Bodog, to working such heavyweights as Greg Rucka, to his partnership in multimedia VergeTV with brothas like former DC editor Joe Illidge. And he's an allright dude. Cool and confident. The Clark Kent glasses complete the picture. People like Shawn I like to call creators. Not re-hashers, not mining the same old hackneyed jokes, stereotypes, soap opera plots, warmed-over bama and ghetto sensibilities. You see that in his recent book, first pubbed by indie Watson-Gupthill, now owned by Random House (under my old sponsors, the Crown imprint): How to Draw Noir Comics (Watson Gupthill 2007). Yes, before "street lit" and other short attention span softcore porn there was noir. Mix the gangster dramas of 1930s film with the paranoia and realism of Post World War two America and you had noir. From Chester Himes & Dashiell Hammett to George Pelecanos and elements of The Wire, the traditions are thusly. And not necessarily in color. Rich shades of black, white and gray. Incongruous you say: the words "rich" and "shades" and "black" and "white?" Well, that's where the artistry comes in. The dedication. Talent. Humility. Creation. Check out Shawn Martinbrough on myspace, and buy this book. Even if you can't draw, because it's more than learning a skill. It's getting enlightened. When you understand the difference, then you'll understand the word creator. How to Draw Noir Comics. RAFBN choice for week 10. Read and learn.

A Forgotten Campaign Issue

That's Ed Burns, Dave Simon and bestselling mystery author (and neighbor of Me & Mrs Nat's) George P. Pelecanos . They write-produce-direct HBO's The Wire. Probably the best show on TV, ever. And not many people watched because it was too "real." Uh huh. When you poll members in focus groups--especially in places like Concord NC or Davenport, Iowa--that's the response you get, interestingly. Not that it's "alien" or "too black/ethnic" or "too East Coast" or "bleak" or "obscene." Nah. Too real. America in the Dubya Years--thanks.

Not too long ago in Time, Ed (a former tough street cop turned public school teacher turned Hollywood producer), David (a former Baltimore Sun reporter and editor who quit when the stories lost depth and were replaced with fluff by vapid, cost-cutting owners, now a MAJOR Hollywood producer) and George (one of the best "hard boiled" detective writers of all time and chronicler of the "other" D.C. beyond the monuments and K Street and embassy parties) presented their view of this so-called War on Drugs. They were joined by bestselling authors Richard Price (Lush Life, Clockers) and Dennis Lehane (Mystic River). My one regret--and trust me this IS a BIG issue--was that the new-school marquis African American authors were too busy writing about oral sex with the pastor, or strippers marrying a reformed pimp, thugs who must come to terms with their thuggery, to be a part of this in a meaningful way. Indeed, we produce "House of Payne" and "Norbit;" they do "The Wire." Something ain't right, and that's our cross to tote in this matter.

But I digress.This silly, draining war actually rivals the War on Terror in its destructiveness, collateral damage, horror, toll on governments, the cops, communities. Americans. No candidate is talking about it. Everyone wants to be "tough on crime." Hell, even recently a Bush Admin. official shilled on herself on NPR, declaraing "Yes, demand for drugs is one important element in this problem." Huh? Hey White Lady: it is THE element. The only element, really. Why do people get high? Ask Rush Limbaugh. Because they're weak? Stupid? Oh, no...

Here I link one modest proposal from the Time piece. Your thoughts? Rail if you will. OK, but how's the current course working for ya? And if if you're white and insulated from gas prices etc. I'd still ask the question. Poison is eveywhere, and I mean the effects of the drugs, the policies--not the drugs themselves.