Fade to Black Presents: with Part I of III   First of all congratulations on winning the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. Would you prefer to be addressed as Tom Tomorrow or Dan Perkins for this interview? Either. I consider some of your work to be THE definitive pieces on the subject. What is your creative process like? And after almost a decade of being a political cartoonist, are ideas easier or harder to come by for you? I read a lot of newspapers & magazines throughout the week and hope something gels. I try to have the cartoon written by the end of the day on Monday, though sometimes it takes longer; the art usually takes another day or two. The whole thing is an absurdly drawn out process, largely because I spend a lot of time reflecting on it as I'm doing it, trying to decide if I really know what I'm talking about or not. Ideas never get any easier, but I have a better sense of what I need to do to come up with them. One thing I've always enjoyed about your strips is your perfect phrasing. Which do you find harder, writing the cartoon or the drawing of it? The writing is absolutely the hardest thing. "..we are clearly an intolerant society largely devoted to pretending otherwise." I was rather saddened to see US News & World Report drop you. Regardless of the fact that you were left of a typical reader, your work is funny as hell and more thought provoking than any other political cartoon. Do you think we as a society are becoming less tolerant of other people's ideas? If so, what do you think is the cause of this? I'm not sure what we would be less tolerant than, exactly, but yes, we are clearly an intolerant society largely devoted to pretending otherwise. Why do you think most political cartoonists, ideologically tend to be left of center? Because, as Molly Ivins has pointed out, lefties attack power. Right-wingers attack the powerless -- minorities, welfare recipients, etc. -- and that's not satire; it's more like -- to quote Ms. Ivins -- "kicking cripples"... "Rush Limbaugh spends a lot of time trying to defuse the "compassion" issue." This is a great observation. It appears to me that liberals tend to dislike authority and identify with the underdog almost to a flaw. And maybe conservatives tend to dislike those who are weaker because they hate that weakness in themselves. So by criticizing people less privileged they block out that part in themselves which they are ashamed off. Do you think people's political belief is based more on their psychology than logic and reason? Well, yes -- it's based on the way you perceive the world. Rush Limbaugh spends a lot of time trying to defuse the "compassion" issue -- making fun of liberals for being so, (sarcastic tone of voice), "compassionate," and claiming that *real* compassion is throwing people to the wolves so they will learn to fend for themselves. This is clearly a matter of very basic personality issues, though I'd have to leave it to others to debate nurture or nature. I once heard you say in an interview that "Good satire does not come from attacking the powerless." Doesn't this automatically raise the "powerless" above criticism. Does being powerless automatically make you right? No, it just makes you powerless. What's the point in attacking people who have no power or influence when those who do are evil and stupid and abusive and venal? I don't think I totally understand your answer. It seems that one of the jobs you have as a satirist is to point out hypocrisy and expose truth regardless of the financial or social standing of the people involved. Let's take for example the death of Yankel Rosenbaum in NY a few years ago. Yankel was chased and killed by a mob of middle to lower class blacks for no other reason than that he was Jewish. Is his death less relevant because he was killed by people who have very little power to influence than if he was killed by a mob of upper class whites? Actually on this I'd refer you to my cartoon of April 16, 1997, which is probably still online. There are a lot more topics than I ever will cover in my one weekly cartoon, and anyone who expects my cartoon to be a comprehensive overview is looking in the wrong place. Cartoons are, by their nature, quirky and generally focused on the creator's obsessions. So, I'll grant you the point that there are probably some things I should do something on that I tend to overlook. It's a occupational hazard. I was talking with Ted Rall about one of my own overriding obsessions, the need for campaign finance reform -- which is, as far as I'm concerned, the key, the Rosetta Stone, to almost everything wrong with modern politics -- and Ted just didn't buy it. I mean, intellectually he agrees, but it's just not his issue; he's focused on other things, and CFR just doesn't grab him. Which is fine -- if someone tries to do work on something that doesn't grab them, the work will be flat and dogmatic.

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