In general, I cite actual facts, but I also use extreme exaggerations, like having Bush casually claim that he is over fifteen feet tall. He didn't really do that but he might as well have. I wouldn't say that I always label it when I'm exaggerating, but I  think it's always pretty obvious.

What would you like to be known for?

I’m afraid it is inescapable that I will be known for the cartoons on the box of Airborne. I fear that my gravestone will say, “created by a school teacher who was sick of catching colds.” Seriously, I think it will work itself out. My son is the only one who will be stuck with the psychic ramifications of knowing me, so in his case I hope I’m known for being fair and accepting and loving.     

Who are YOUR favorite cartoonists?

Toles, Derf, Sipress, Olipant…those are ones I always have to read. There are a lot of terrifyingly good young whippersnappers coming up too. Iraq and George Bush haven’t just created the perfect breeding ground for Al Qaeda, they’ve trained a generation of political humorists!Are there good conservative cartoonists or is that, like conservative documentary makers, an oxymoron or just bad results like with Millard Fillmore who is about as funny as, say, the war? Speaking of which, how do you make the war funny?

That is a good question. A lot of the cartoons on the daily comics page are what I would consider conservative. Blondie and Dagwood live in a world frozen in time–– a conservative utopia. It’s one of my all time favorites by the way. I have a poster by Jack Chick, the guy who does those tiny comic book religious tracts you find in bus stations and laundry mats. It’s a funny and elaborate picture making a weak argument against evolution. It ends with a fat academic-looking archaeologist praying to a statue of a monkey eating a banana. I had to take it down recently. It was getting stale.  

The war is tragic. You would have to be an animal to make fun of someone being maimed or killed or dismiss someone’s suffering or loss. On the other hand, as part of the human condition, humor is on the same continuum. That’s what makes it funny to see a cartoon frog with its legs chopped off panhandling for nickels with a tin cup. It cannot be explained. 

Oh, and do you have a favored presidential candidate based on who would be fun to draw and write about or do you not think about such things?

I like Fred Thompson. He just cracks me up whenever I think about him, and the way that some people think he’s a gorgeous movie star. If he gets elected it will be hard to enjoy Law and Order reruns, the same way, as a California resident, it is hard for me to enjoy Arnold Schwarzenegger movies. McCain is always a barrel of laughs. Hillary never disappoints. Mitt Romney would be a gift for cartoonists. The problem, I am anticipating, is that anyone elected, even a Republican, will invariably do something good, which will be such a departure from what we’re used to, it will make Americans go sappy and let down their guard.