One of America’s most talented antiwar artists and political satirists passed away last week. Tom Blanton did one of the best daily roundups of government oppression and outrages stories on the Internet. His Project for a New American Revolution was an inspiration for me and thousands of other folks over the years. Tom was also one of the best and funniest headline writers I knew. He was principled, courageous, and talented as the day is long.He was 68 years old and a lifetime resident of Richmond, Virginia.
His Flickr page showcases his political art and other smackdowns of contemporary culture from the last fifteen years. His artwork is shareable under a C.C. 4.0 license. When I emailed him in 2023 about using one of his masterpieces, he wrote back, “Please feel free to use anything I have done for whatever purpose.”
Tom was one of the most consistently antiwar libertarians I knew. (I knew a lot of such consistent folks before the 9/11 attacks, but that’s a different story.) Tom mocked the Iran War even before Trump’s victory proclamations reached the double digits. Here’s an April 17 post on his Flickr page:
Tom loathed foreign entanglements as much as George Washington did in his Farewell Adress. Barely six weeks before his death, Tom posted this subtle reminder of how the U.S. government has strayed from the Founders’ intentions:
Tom consistently exposed the Dark Side of warmongering that the media & political elite ignore. In 2011, Tom recommended a new way to celebrate Memorial Day:
“It used to be that Memorial Day was to honor dead soldiers. In recent years, we are asked to also honor veterans (who already have a day) and active duty members of the armed services. This may be an indication that the politicians feel there aren’t enough dead soldiers…
I think Memorial Day should simply be renamed Tombstone Day and people should decorate their yards with styrofoam tombstones like they do for Halloween. True-believers might even consider a few flag-draped coffins made of cardboard and maybe hanging dismembered arms and legs made of rubber from their trees.”
I commented that his proposal would provide a shot in the arm for party stores during the slow period between Valentine’s Day and Halloween. And it would be a spark for conversations that were far more substantive than the usual flag waving.
Tom had no patience for hypocrisy or carnage from either political party. His mockery of President Barack Obama’s “Liberty Drones” was 24 karat:
His devotion to free speech had no asterisks, unless many contemporary political activists. This 2025 image captured the reality of free speech zones far better than any Washington Post editorial:
Tom vivified how blindfolds and muzzles are the price of the American Empire. His 2010 Wikileaks image is one of my all-time favorites:
Tom recognized that endless wars practically make national bankruptcy inevitable:
Where does all the money go? Nobody knows—at least no downtrodden taxpayer.
Tom never curtsied to police or to SWAT teams. In 2014, he created an updated version of one of my childhood favorites entitled CHALK LINE FEVER.
Tom’s mockery of the Global War on Terror was often pitch-perfect. In a 2006 blog post, I scoffed about the proper way to celebrate Constitution Day during President George W. Bush’s fanatical infringements on liberty. Tom had the best suggestion:
“Real Americans should celebrate Constitution Day by doing their part to fight the war on terror in their own neighborhoods.
First, identify that neighbor whom you suspect may pose a gathering threat. Things like facial hair, unusual schedules, and bringing in unknown materials in shopping bags are sure signs that something is up.
Next, notify all the other neighbors that the suspect neighbor is a madman who is building bombs in his home to kill everyone in the neighborhood.
Then, go to the suspect neighbor’s house and ask to look around. If he resists or if he refuses to let you rip up the floors in his house, it is obvious that he must be hiding something.
Finally, wait until the suspect neighbors go to sleep, blow up their car, set their tool shed on fire, break out their windows, enter their home, tie them up, make them take off their clothes and put bags on their heads, play a Spinal Tap CD really loud, and interrogate the family until they admit to their evil plans.
In the event these people don’t talk, drive them over to your cousin’s house and tie them up in his garage and have him interrogate them from time to time.
Meanwhile, be sure to report to your Neighborhood Association how you have made the neighborhood safe, but not completely safe.
Repeat the process with a new suspicious neighbor.”
Tom’s artistic talent could spur belly laughs on any topic he chose. After I wrote in The Wall Street Journal about my experience working as a Santa Claus in Boston, Tom made a graphic showing me on the job and themed to my favorite beer:
Friends of freedom and peace should raise a beer (or whatever) and toast Tom Blanton and remember the great work he did for so many years.
