I confess, it took me a long time to sign on to this project, and even then I dragged my heels. It’s already been done, I said. And, why should we step on the ladies’ toes, I whined. But Josh Kramer can pursuade with a fearsome diligence unheard-of since Henry Clay. So, I contributed to the Beef Steak 2011 calendar. Canto made an impressive list of contributors (with links), and calendars are available from him and from Josh.

Each month pairs up to CCS (and environs) cartoonists drawing each other doing manly jobs. I was matched with Jesse Mead, a funny cartoonist and deft stylist, and we got the month of February. February is ripe with holidays to riff on, but what could be sexier than signing bills in the Oval Office on President’s Day? It must get all hot and steamy every time that quill touches parchment.

I know that maybe it’s unfair to consider the presidency a manly job, but that’s been the precedence so far. Maybe the Tea Baggers will get some sort of momentum behind a female candidate someday. You know, the kind who always talks about motherhood and promises to strip women’s rights in the uterus and at the workplace. The kind we can rally behind for promising to slash funding for needy families, like school lunches, head start and health care. Oh what a day that will be.

Lately I keep finding myself in conversations about fashion’s tendency toward revivalism and pastiche. It seems especially commonplace in the last decade, but it ain’t a new phenomenon. Before the ’00s riffed on the ’80s, the ’80s was really into the ’50s. It took us the last twenty years to try to forget that bellbottoms made a comeback in the ’90s, but it was the Roaring Twenties that sported ‘em first. So, granted, these things are cyclical. But! Here’s a little nugget of late-night wisdom for you: they’re also political.

Okay, okay, maybe I’m not blowing your mind here. Yes, you may have already noticed that women wore gigantic, man-shaping shoulder pads both times they found themselves trying to muscle into the office, in the ’40s and the ’80s. But check this out, I think you can predict what era will be in vogue for a comeback by who is in the White House. Eisenhower and Reagan both hated Commies and glorified the notion of a clean, orderly suburbia with plenty of time-saving gizmos and great new stuff to acquire. Change the Commies to Evildoers and it’s easy to understand how the ’80s were so huge in the ’00s. The Obamas/Kennedys-era fixation with long, sharp silhouettes and solid colors has already been discussed enough.

How about, let’s try for a bit of a stretch. Teddy Roosevelt and LBJ both replaced assassinated presidents. They also both used their executive might to take on too-big corporate interests. What was all the rage with hippies? Cowboy stuff! Fringe, leather, big facial hair. It was positively turn of the century!

Well, aren’t you glad we got through that? Are you just here to look at the pictures anyway? Alright, then. This I drew on the Greyhound some time. It’s Don Rosa (as best I could remember) at a barbecue in Charlotte, thinking about Scrooge McDuck (who looks something like that?) who’s thinking about money. Well anyhow, the point is they have similar hair and glasses and mouths. Gahd, cut to the picture already!!

I probably should have mentioned this a while ago, but I’m putting the Sketchblog on hiatus until I finish moving it to its new home at PatBarrett.com, where it will become the Frog Blog. Very exciting. I’ll be back probably about a week after the election, when I’ll post the new blogdress. Aight?

How’s about a doodle to tide you over until then? It might not look particularly like him, but here’s Putin rearing his head in the Alaskan airspace:

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I’m happy to announce that swampbrick.com’s envious younger brother has murdered him and seized the throne for himself. Long live PatBarrett.com! And speaking of succession, the first presidential debate just ended. It was tense, but civil, as only a discussion between senators can be. Also tonight, the Mets have shown some more signs of collapse. This is a good thing, because I won’t need to continue to be weighed down by the guilt of being invested in their race at least as much as I am by Barack in his.

In conclusion, whoa-ho-ho-hoooooo-ooohh. You didn’t think I’d post some practice pages did you?? Drawing hands! The question is always, how much comes from cartoons and cartooning, how much from graphic art like illuminated manuscripts, and how much from “life” – which I suppose means Renaissance ideals. No’m sayn?

What kind of sketchblog is this? Two posts in as many days?? With prices so low, I must be in-saaane!!!! Well, here’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Our future First Lady and current Best Lady, Michelle Robinson Obama!!

I’m so sorry I don’t have more to say today, and can’t fill up your time with any thoughts on the fall of a certain empire we seem to be living through. President actually seems to be the least desirable job I could think of at the moment. But hey, perhaps this is a Franklin Roosevelt moment? Yes, it could be. It truly could be. Let’s be honest, I have nothing to add to the conversation right now. This is what you have done to me. Satisfied?

I’ve been watching a lot of this dude lately, and the other night I dreamed that David Wayne [Wain, alright? Wain. -Berated Barrett] and I were on his show, chatting about how awesome he is before we went on. The man is hilarious. He so perfectly skewers those powerful blowhards on Fox News, and it’s so funny that sometimes I forget that those people actually have a good deal of traction in the real world. Recently Colbert was up in arms because ignorant people are getting discriminated against, and he felt like there should be a week-long Ignorance Month. But check out this column from Paul Krugman yesterday; it reminded me that all of this satire comes from a true, and truly scary, source.

Finally, the Portrait of the Week for last week. There’s another one coming for the end of this week, so don’t fret.

I’ll tell ya, back in January I really loathed both of the Clintons. But now, after Ms. Clinton’s suspension speech, I’ve got nothing but love. If the drawing seems overly heroic, just wait until I do Barack.

I’m not a real artist anymore. Ever since my girlf got me subscriptions to the New Yorker and National Geographic, all I do on the subway is read. And, apparently, the only time I draw is on the subway. Or something. I’ve been doing campaign work for the Obama, which has been fun. I’ve been lying on the couch reading. Been drawing dry erase pictures (which are getting pretty sophisticated and intense). Cleaned up my room and my “studio” (corner of the living room), sorta. I’m a goddamn bum.