Theater of Pain, by S, Washington D.C., ink on used copy paper

In another first for WMKAS, we have the pleasure of reviewing a submission from the nation’s capital. And it’s no surprise that “Theater of Pain” a first from line-drawer and quasi-realist, S, is laced with all the fire and brimstone that currently engulfs the stately-gilded black hole on the shores of the Potomac. A smiling President Obama (note the grotesque ears) stands triumphant yet deflects praise to an androgynous Nancy Pelosi at the lectern as scores of widened eyeballs fasten their gaze. Is it disbelief in the passage of such stunning legislation or shock from a painfully exposed legislative process? To underscore the acrimonious atmosphere, S floats a freshly severed finger barely covered with a band-aid above Pelosi on a surfboard-y knife; a medicinal albatross set in motion by a bitter and diminished John Boehner. There’s little to interpret here. But one might argue that the yearlong theater played out on mainstream media was drama enough. To me, it earns an enthusiastic “filibuster.”