Barack to the drawing board

Amid this week’s predictable final round of homages to Abraham Lincoln and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and the overflowing Oval Office in boxes and honeymoon-intruding economic bedmates, we cartoonists dusted ourselves off and began anew the work of mocking America, rejecting as false the choice between satire and ideology. We will not apologize for our way of livelihood. So give Bruce Plante a gold star for his crossed-off excuses list, extra credit to Signe Wilkinson for her far-reaching reminder, and polish an apple for Matt Davies. As for setting aside petty grievances and childish things, there were hardly any cartoons of Darth Cheney in his wheelchair. Now where are my crayons?

-- Joel Pett