It’s important for our democratic republican for progressives and conservatives to have a civil debate on the issues facing this nation. One of the reasons that our Founding Fathers enshrined the freedom of speech and expression is that they believed that no one side has a monopoly on the truth. History bears that out. Over the past few decades, liberal Democrats have been right about some things, wrong about some things; conservative Republicans have been right about some things and wrong about some things; democratic socialists have been right about some things and wrong about some things; libertarians have been right about some things and wrong about some things.
It is important for the Left and the Right to debate to test out the strengths and weaknesses of their ideas. It is only through political debate that the general public can make an informed decision after hearing the arguments of both sides.
One of the things that has led to political gridlock and the hyper-partisanship is the arrogance of the ideologue that assumes they are always right and everyone else is always wrong. That kind of mindset tries to silence anyone who disagrees with them and doesn’t respect the freedom of speech and expression. A true American believes In the free market of ideas where progressives, conservatives and moderates debate.
Here is a 2017 debate between democratic socialist Bernie Sanders and conservative Republican Ted Cruz on the future of Obamacare and their own ideas of health care reform.
Here is a 2017 debate between democratic socialist Bernie Sanders and conservative Republican Ted Cruz on the Republican tax reform bill of that year.
Here is a 1985 debate between conservative Republican Jerry Falwell and liberal Democrat Jesse Jackson on whether the United States should impose sanctions on apartheid South Africa.
I’ve wanted to be an artist all my life. Since I was a child I’ve drawn on any scrap of paper I could get a hold of. When I went to San Jose State University, I became more exposed to the works of the great fine artists and illustrators. My college paintings were heavily influenced by the humorous illustrations of Peter De Seve, an illustrator for the New Yorker magazine. I also fell under the spell of the great muralists of the 1930s, especially Thomas Hart Benton and Diego Rivera. I graduated with a degree in Illustration.
Angelo Lopez has had illustrations published in Tikkun Magazine, the Palo Alto Daily News and Z Magazine. From April 2008 to May 2011, Angelo's cartoons were regularly published in the Tri-City Voice, a weekly newspaper that covers the Fremont, Hayward, Milpitas, Neward, Sunol and Union City areas in California. He did a political webcomic starring his cartoon character Jasper for the progressive blogsite Everyday Citizen. Since December 2011, Angelo does a regular weekly political cartoon for the Philippine News Today, a Filipino American newspaper based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Angelo is a member of the Sunnyvale Art Club, and the Northern California chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. During the 1990s, he was a member of the part-timer workers SEIU unit in the city of Sunnyvale.
Angelo won the 2013, 2015 and 2016 and 2018 Sigma Delta Chi award for editorial cartooning for newspapers with a circulation under 100,000. He has also won the 2016 RFK Book and Journalism Award for Editorial Cartoons. Angelo won first prize for the Best of the West contest in 2016 and third prize in 2017.
Angelo is married to Lisa Reeber. They enjoy taking walks, watching movies and hanging out with their nieces.
