Having lied, invaded, occupied and vacationed away his honor in the eyes of about 70% of Americans, George W. Bush tried to borrow a little bit from George Washington yesterday.That reminded me of this cartoon I published back in ’06, when the Congressional leadership first tried (and failed) to use the nifty “cut and run” slogan to tar and feather those who opposed the ongoing occupation.

Visit Candorville!

From the people who brought us such hits as “Uraniam Tubes from Africa” and “Saddam Hussein blah blah blah 9/11” comes a new classic: “This economy sure kicks ass.”Apparently the White House feels its policies have created a more robust economy than existed during the late ’90s. We all must have just imagined we were better off. Sure, the amount of people living in poverty has skyrocketed, but what does that matter?If you keep in mind an early quote about the Bush administration’s governing philosophy, allegedly from a White House aide, it all makes perfect sense:

The aide said that guys like me were ”in what we call the reality-based community,” which he defined as people who ”believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.” I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. ”That’s not the way the world really works anymore,’‘ he continued. ”We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”

Another quote that may be helpful when listening to the White House tell you why it’s technically not such a bad thing that you’ve gone from working on a Ford assembly line to working at a Wal-Mart checkout line:”There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”-Mark Twain (or possibly Benjamin Disraeli)

Visit Candorville!

Last Sunday’s Candorville was a tribute to everyone who ever fought, struggled, marched or died to make Obama’s inauguration possible. A lot of you (especially teachers who want to hang it in their classrooms) asked me to make it available as a poster, and I’ve done that. You can get your own 11″ by 17″ full color, semi-gloss poster of Sunday’s strip commemorating the inauguration of Barack Obama. I’ll sign it, unless you ask otherwise. Order TODAY and please allow about three weeks for delivery.

U.S. Domestic Orders: $15 Shipping included	International Orders: $25 Shipping included

•In other news, Candorville’s been back in the Seattle Times since Monday the 19th, thanks to everyone who wrote in and asked for it. I can’t thank you enough for showing your support for Candorville. With newspapers dying off, or slashing their features to save whatever money they can, reader feedback means everything.