The Bundy Militia, Mitch McConnell, and me

In early 2016, armed militants led by Nevada rancher Ammon Bundy seized the headquarters of Oregon's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and occupied it for more than five weeks. Their rationale for doing so was never quite clear, but they never let that get in the way of their determination to, uh...amass an enviable stockpile of snacks, sent in by well-wishers.

Around this same time, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died, and President Obama nominated Merrick Garland to succeed him. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declared that because Scalia's seat had become vacant during an election year, his Republican Senate would not consider Garland's nomination.

Outraged, I tweeted on my pseudonymous Twitter account an analogy about McConnell and the Republicans behaving just like Bundy's militia.

My old college pal Matt Wuerker, now Politico's Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist, spotted my tweet and asked whether it would be OK with me if he turned it into a cartoon for Politico. I said yes, he made the cartoon, Politico published it...and in April it made the cover of Funny Times.

But the best part? Matt mailed me his original illustration, a beautiful 12 x 18 watercolor on acid-free paper, signed and inscribed, "For Rick—Thanks for a brilliant analogy (and for letting me draw for the Pioneer Log)—Best wishes, Matt." 

Which I immediately had professionally mounted and framed behind museum glass and proudly hung in my office: