Lunch with Luckovich from 1-2 p.m. today
join me today from 1-2 p.m. i’ll take your questions or comments about my cartoons, including today’s Last Supper and smartphones cartoon and anything else you want to talk about.
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88 comments Add your comment
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
12:57 pm
i’m now online for questions.
Sheri
April 20th, 2011
1:01 pm
Hi Mike,
no question- I really enjoy your work, makes me smile:)
thank you!
Sheri
Cortez
April 20th, 2011
1:01 pm
Hey Mike,
You are a great cartoonist. Thank you for the work that you do. My question…How easy are the Republican candidates for the 2012 presidential election going to make your job for the next 18 months?
Lea Noring
April 20th, 2011
1:01 pm
How quickly do your ideas to come to you? Are you ever stumped?
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:03 pm
thank you for your comments. cortez, the gop candidates are great for cartoonists. for everyone else, not so much. check out tomorrow’s cartoon. i’m thinking about doing one on them.
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:05 pm
lea, i’m stumped every day. it’s usually the panic that sets in as my deadline gets close that makes me come up with something.
Zaid Jilani
April 20th, 2011
1:05 pm
Hey, Mike, I’m a blogger at ThinkProgress and I just want to say like the few times we’ve talked before that I really enjoy your cartooning.
I’ve been writing a lot about how Main Street America seems to be a big target right now in the sense that the right keeps trying to cut programs and services for average folks — Pell Grants, Head Start, etc. Yet we’ve seen major corporations get away with paying little to no federal corporate income taxes. Have you thought about putting this theme into your cartoons more — the priorities of Washington when it comes to Main Street vs. Corporate America? It seems like it’s a basic issue of fairness and priorities.
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:06 pm
thanks for reading my cartoons sheri. they don’t make everyone smile. i’ve gotten a couple emails today from folks who didn’t like the last supper cartoon
Sheri
April 20th, 2011
1:07 pm
well you know what they say about “can’t take a joke”
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:08 pm
zaid, i’ve addressed that subject repeatedly. america is screwed up. i hope we come to our senses before it’s too late.
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:09 pm
sheri, some people have too much time on their hands
Chanta'l
April 20th, 2011
1:10 pm
Hi Mike, I’ve never really been in to political cartoons but I must say that over the past year your talent has brought me to your doorstep…when things are at their most serious you find a way to make people such as myself belt out a strong laugh and when things are at the point where you just want to shake your head and ask why? You find a way to bring that out in your cartoons as well. I enjoy you and I hope and pray that you continue to make me and others look at the issues with either a small chuckle, huge laugh or sigh of disbelief…
GaBlue
April 20th, 2011
1:11 pm
Thanks for all you do! I look forward to your work every day.
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:12 pm
there are excerpts in today’s ny times of a story in the upcoming sunday times magazine about the life of obama and his mom. it’s facinating.
Bob
April 20th, 2011
1:12 pm
Mike – I can’t recall a cartoon of yours that I haven’t liked. They always make me stop, think and laugh – not always in that order. My concern is that, if I like all your cartoons, does that mean there is something wrong with me or with you?
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:13 pm
thank you chanta’l. i love doing this. it’s a blast every day. and thank you gablue!
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:14 pm
bob, i’m fine, but there is obviously something seriously wrong with you. thanks for reading me bob!
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:15 pm
is there anyone online who hates me and thinks my cartoons suck?
Timothy
April 20th, 2011
1:16 pm
Mr. Luckovich,
While I think you are a very talented cartoonist, and sometimes your stuff is funny, your left wing leanings are part of what discredits this newspaper. I acknowledge this is not your fault, however I find it interesting that you continuously take shots at Fox News for right leaning reporting while giving CNN and others a free pass.
Carter
April 20th, 2011
1:16 pm
Mike, I liked your demonstration cartoons, they were so funny. It is like the dictators think it will all go away if they make one or two promises.
By the way, If you need some coins for when you go overseas, I’d be happy to help get you some. My company does lots of command coins for government agencies, and you could put your name or face or the AJC, whatever you want.
Chanta'l
April 20th, 2011
1:17 pm
Just read the cartoon for today (only because someone or some individuals had some complaints) and I say “hilarious!”…anyone who can’t see the parody is too caught up in being politically correct at all times…EVEN JESUS laughed, played and enjoyed life. Like I said before…keepy doing what you are doing :0)
Cortez
April 20th, 2011
1:18 pm
I’ll make sure I check it out tomorrow, Mike. Im currently working in the Middle East as a firefighter but I was also firefighter for the City of Atlanta 2 years ago. Do you ever do cartoons of firefighters or police officers or folks in public safety? I don’t recall seeing any of your cartoons that you have. If not you should. Really. We have serious jobs but we also have to laugh at ourself sometimes. I know I do.
TheGreatGonzo26
April 20th, 2011
1:18 pm
Hey Mike!
I remember you drawing a few cartoons during the 2004 election, and Al Sharpton asked you if you were the one that drew him with the funny hair. Did he ever figure out it was you?
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:20 pm
timothy, you don’t read my stuff regularly, because you’d know i’ve regularly hit cnn. occasionally, readers email saying that my cartoons are biased. of course they are! that’s why they’re on the OPINION pages. that said, the ajc makes sure there’s a balance of opinion from the right and left, including cartoons.
I do
April 20th, 2011
1:22 pm
“is there anyone online who hates me and thinks my cartoons suck?”
Of course there is. Would it change your opinions or cartoons if they spoke up? It’s better to just leave these things as a love fest for you.
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:22 pm
thanks carter! i may take you up on that. my email is mluckovich@ajc.com. if you send me your contact info, that would be great.
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:23 pm
c’mon, i do, let me have it. i dish it out, i can take it.
Hankie Aron
April 20th, 2011
1:23 pm
Mike L- Why are most of your cartoons from a Pro-Democrat view? Seems like you really don’t care for Republican opinions or what might be funny to them.
Hankie Aron
April 20th, 2011
1:24 pm
You know this is a GOP state generally right?
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:25 pm
graetgonzo26, i don’t know if he ever figured it out or not.
Hankie Aron
April 20th, 2011
1:25 pm
Maybe that doesn’t matter to you, after all it is your opinion.
Chaun
April 20th, 2011
1:26 pm
Who was the most interesting president to cartoon?
Tom
April 20th, 2011
1:27 pm
Mike,
Love your work. The funniest I’ve seen recently had to be the GOP Prez Candidates/No Fly Zone – that was awesome. Of all the Republicans you know of, are there any that you would consider a good candidate? I’m not just asking about the group that has expressed interest in running – any Republicans. For example, I used to like John McCain!
Bob
April 20th, 2011
1:27 pm
Mike – I am a daily subscriber – can’t get the day started unless there is a fish wrapper at the end of the driveway. However, I realize I’m in a minority these days. (Thankfully my sons at least pour over the sports page while gulping down a bowl of cereal on the way out the door.) That being said, how is the shrinking print market changing what you do?
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:28 pm
hankie aron, i think the gop has gone so far outside the mainstream and their potential prez candidates are such losers, it’s hard not to hit them. i hit democrats too, but right now republicans have the market cornered on crazy
Native Atlantan
April 20th, 2011
1:28 pm
Afternoon Mike….love your cartoons every day. First thing I look at when I grab the paper in the morning. I understand your bias, as it were, but that just makes each cartoon more enjoyable. The GOP needs to loosen up…you’ve taken your fair share of shots at the Dems as well…I remember quite a few classics involving the Clintons.
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:29 pm
tom, i like mitch daniels. he at least seems rational, which will probably doom his chances.
AJ
April 20th, 2011
1:29 pm
Mike-
In response to your 1:15 question asking if anyone online hates you and thinks your cartoons suck: I certainly don’t hate you and can’t say that your work “sucks”, but I do have to agree with Timothy that your work has a decidedly left-leaning bias. Working at the AJC probably creates more than a bit of pressure to simply go along with the bias there, but I’d like to see you be a bit more impartial and skewer both right and left..
There are a huge number of common-sense conservatives out here that are not rabid and paranoid racist haters that believe everything that Fox News puts out. It’s a shame that you and the AJC have elected to lump us in with the fringe element. The powers that be at the AJC might find that subscriptions might go up and the paper live a little longer if the bias (and Cynthia Tucker) went away…
kimmer
April 20th, 2011
1:29 pm
About the best thing I can say about your cartoons is that they are creative. I cannot say I have ever enjoyed them given their usual ‘lack of objectivity’ lets just say. Your ‘work’ is partially responsible for my decision to finally cancel my subscription to the AJC some time ago. I suppose that does bring up another benefit. When the folks hawking subscriptions knock on my door or accost me in the grocery store I just tell them that the AJC has too many ultra lefties on the payroll and cite you and a couple of blog writers by name. They usually just give up at that point with a look on their faces that tells me they have heard that story many times before.
Chaun
April 20th, 2011
1:30 pm
Enter your comments here
Timothy
April 20th, 2011
1:30 pm
Mike,
Thank you for your anwser. By the way, the liberals are the ones who “hate” those who they disagree with and use nasty terms like “hate”, and “racist” and whatever term is used at the time to refer to someone who does not agree with them.
While I think you are wrong and ill informed, I do not “hate” you. I actually enjoy your sense of humor!
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:31 pm
hi bob
there are still a lot of folks like yourself, believe it or not, who still love to get an actual paper. online hasn’t changed what i do too much. i still try to do the very best cartoon i can do, every day.
Native Atlantan
April 20th, 2011
1:33 pm
Wow…I guess folks aren’t paying attention to the articles by Kyle, Bob and Jim as they appear to have the right’s point of view covered.
I do
April 20th, 2011
1:34 pm
Pretty easy for you to say “potential prez candidates are such losers”. The biggest loser is the one currently in office. Has problems keeping promises made. Change you can believe in.
Ron Owens
April 20th, 2011
1:34 pm
What would Obama have to do for you to do a critical cartoon of him?
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:35 pm
aj, kimmer, timothy, thank you all for your comments. the ajc’s main focus is to strive for balance. for both sides to have an equal say on the opinion pages. they even try to be balanced with the roster of cartoonists they run. i appreciate you all reading me, even though you may not agree with me. i live in sandy springs, where most of my friends and neighbors don’t necessarily share my opinions. that’s what makes america great.
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:37 pm
ron, i did a critical cartoon of obama last week, on tuesday. when he makes mistakes i hit him.
Here’s a link to that cartoon
@ Native Atlantan
April 20th, 2011
1:37 pm
Bob Barr hardly respresents most conservatives. That’s like saying Bernie Sanders represents all liberals.
It’s too easy to point to the loons on the extreme right or the extreme left as respresenative of either group and demagogue them. It would sure be nice to be able to disagree and still have a decent conversation.
Hankie Aron
April 20th, 2011
1:37 pm
I can understand at least somewhat Mike L, there are some crazies like Trump and Palin that have no business muddying the water. Thanks for answering my question.
Timothy
April 20th, 2011
1:38 pm
Mike,
Another thing I wanted to tell you. It takes guts to get on-line live and respond to questions. You have actually earned a great deal of respect from me. I will always read your cartoons even though I do not always agree with you.
I would not go as far as to compare you with Cynthia Tucker. I sense a great deal of hostility in her work which dicredits her. I have never gotten this impression from your work.
Continued success Mr. Luckovich.
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:38 pm
timothy, liberals and conservatives alike should not resort to racism or hate. we should be better than that
Joli
April 20th, 2011
1:39 pm
Hi Mike! No Question, just wanted to say I love your cartoons! They give me a great laugh during my day!
Hankie Aron
April 20th, 2011
1:39 pm
I agree totally AJ. Thanks
carla roqs
April 20th, 2011
1:39 pm
hi Mike, i find your cartoons to often be right on target. you do have a quirky sense of humor and no one can please everyone all of the time. come to think of it: who wants to? continue doing what you do and we will continue viewing it–even those who have cancelled their physical subscribtions to the paper because of writers like you, but… still apparently read you for free online. anyway, a lot of times i copy your stuff with your name and post it on my fb page. you roq!
carla roqs
April 20th, 2011
1:40 pm
subscriptions,sorry
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:40 pm
thanks timothy. you’re a good man.
Native Atlantan
April 20th, 2011
1:41 pm
@ @Native Atlanta…you missed my point….posters slam the AJC because of Cynthia Tucker and Mike yet ignore equal time provided to Kyle and Jim. I agree… Bob Barr hardly represents the right as he is all over the place with his views.
AJ
April 20th, 2011
1:41 pm
Mike-
Just curious- how do you think Pres Obama is doing as a leader? I know that he inherited a mess on several fronts, I just don’t see him as a leader of men (and women) who shoots straight and makes the tough calls.
You are pretty dialed into politics. How about you?
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:42 pm
carla roqs, thanks for the comment. i hope that even those that may not agree with me, will check me out occasionally
Don
April 20th, 2011
1:43 pm
Mr. Luckovic,
Yes, you are a talented cartoonist. I do however, find your liberal bias as nauseating as I find our President. With the current state of our Country and daily incompetence out of the Oval office, you never lay the blame where it should be. You might want to try some objectivity.
Tinytam
April 20th, 2011
1:44 pm
Just want to say that I really enjoy your cartoons no matter who the target is. All the best!
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:45 pm
aj, good question. i think obama has inherited a hell of a mess and it would be hard for anyone to clean it up in 2 years. i do wish he were more forceful in explaining what he’s doing. he’s a bit aloof and i think that hurts him.
Blah Blah Blah
April 20th, 2011
1:45 pm
Don do you have any non-Glen Beck solutions to our country’s woes or do you think blaming the current president is going to fix things?
Pdub
April 20th, 2011
1:46 pm
Hey Mike: Charlie Sheen has begun questioning Obama’s birth certificate…maybe a Donald and Sheen cartoon?
@ Timothy
April 20th, 2011
1:46 pm
Amen on your comment about Cynthia Tucker. If a white person said some of the things she does, Jesse J and Al S would be marching on the capitol. She, however, gets a free pass. She does more to keep racial divisions going than all the Klansmen in Georgia do (if there really are any).
Pdub
April 20th, 2011
1:47 pm
@Timothy trust me, there are some still here
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:47 pm
thanks don. just allow me to repeat again. AN EDITORIAL CARTOONIST’S JOB ISN’T TO BE OBJECTIVE. IT’S TO HAVE A POINT OF VIEW. that’s why i’m on the OPINION pages.
Rodney
April 20th, 2011
1:47 pm
Mike – of all your cartoons, which one do have framed hanging in your house as the one you thought to yourself, “I wrote this one and it was great!”
Midori
April 20th, 2011
1:49 pm
Mike,
I just love your toons. you’re just great
Did you see Michelle Bachmann on Good Morning America? She’s backing away from the birther nonsense. Think Donald Trump’s rise in the polls have something to do with that?
@homemom
April 20th, 2011
1:49 pm
Love your cartoons, especially ones in remembrance (ie-Lewis Grizzard, UGA VII). The one for today was particularly good. I am so tired of trying to carry on conversations with people while they are busy texting, etc.
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:49 pm
@timothy, please tell us specifically what cynthia has said that offends you.
AJ
April 20th, 2011
1:50 pm
Regarding Obama’s ledership, I have to agree that he inherited a real mess. However, he appears to me to be a demographically attractive and telegenic man who gives good speech, is too dialed into the polls, and fails when it comes to being decisive. There are a lot of examples of his paralysis, but they don’t get reported by many media sources and are generally ignored on editorial pages.
Thaanks for giving your take on the subject, though.
Pdub
April 20th, 2011
1:51 pm
Mike your cartoon on Sept 12th 2001 made a huge impact in my classrooms when I taught
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:51 pm
midori, you’re absolutely right. the birther crap only hurts republicans outside of the nutty republican base. even someone like bachmann recognizes this.
Don
April 20th, 2011
1:52 pm
“ron, i did a critical cartoon of obama last week, on tuesday. when he makes mistakes i hit him”
You couldn’t have made our point any better Mike. That cartoon is the best you can come up with for this President? Every waking day you have material from this guy. You just choose not to rip him like you do to every GOP politician you can find.
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:53 pm
@homemom, isn’t that annoying? i hate when i’m with someone and they’re continually looking down at their frigging phone
JoeV
April 20th, 2011
1:53 pm
Mike,
Keep up the good work! Love your toons and when I was a subscriber I loved seeing you almost every week in Newsweek!
Native Atlantan
April 20th, 2011
1:53 pm
I think Don is my brother-in-law.
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:54 pm
don, give me some suggestions for things to hit obama about. and they can’t be made-up fox news stuff.
JoeV
April 20th, 2011
1:55 pm
lol @Native Altantan
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:55 pm
pdub, thank you.
getalife
April 20th, 2011
1:55 pm
Hi Mike,
Your thought on the reelection of President Obama?
@@ Timothy
April 20th, 2011
1:55 pm
Mike-
No quotes from Cynthia Tucker off the top of my head, but she seems to have a perspective that whites are biased against blacks and that blacks are alwasys getting the short end of the stick. Sure, some whites are biased and some blacks do get screwed, but it happens far less than she thinks. Maybe I’m naive, but I think there are a lot of good and decent white folks who have nothing against blacks and would love to see them all succeed as americans.
As I said earlier, the constant stream of devisive talk from her simply antagonizes “good” whites and keeps the racial divide in place.
Rodney
April 20th, 2011
1:57 pm
Hit President Obama on his sleeping vice!
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:57 pm
getalife, i think obama has a good shot at reelection, but it’s things like gas prices, which are out of his control, that will impact his chances
mluckovich
April 20th, 2011
1:59 pm
rodney, good idea! maybe obama will fire him and he’ll be hired as an air traffic controller. hey, i may have come up with a cartoon! i owe you rodny! got to go folks! thank you to all of you! this was fun!
bphilb
April 20th, 2011
1:59 pm
Mike -
Are cartoonist like op-ed coumnist in that they are syndicated and run in many papers or are you exclusive to ajc. Love your humor!
Peggy Davis
April 20th, 2011
2:00 pm
Thanks for your work and humor!