Wanting to add humor to an art exhibit in London, the United Kingdom’s Government Art Collection turned to a Texas lawyer and cartoonist. Through Sept. 2, the Whitechapel Gallery in London is featuring a cartoon by Charlie Fincher, the creator of LawComix and the retired political strips The Illustrated Daily Scribble and Thaddeus & Weez. A museum curator contacted Fincher to request a cartoon for the exhibit, Fincher says. Fincher, of counsel at The Allison Law Firm in Brownsville, explains that the section of the art exhibit featuring his work recounts a 2005 controversy related to then-UK Prime Minister Tony Blair loaning a Winston Churchill bust to then-President George Bush to display in the Oval Office. The controversy resulted in the Churchill bust returning to England. The Fincher cartoon in the exhibit shows Churchill poking fun at Bush for a speech he gave after Hurricane Katrina. Bush “talked in vernacular, like he always did, and it sounded a bit inelegant. I have the Churchill bust playing with that presentation of Bush,” says Fincher, noting in comparison that Churchill was known for his eloquent speeches during World War II. Fincher says he has been drawing and publishing cartoons since the late 1970s. He also creates impressionistic paintings using acrylics and oils. Being an artist is like being a jazz musician, he says. “If you have it in you, you will play that instrument no matter what you do. I am going to draw and paint no matter what I do,” he says.
Speaking Out
An attorney who formerly worked for the Texas Health & Human Services Commission (THHSC) has sued the agency and its executive commissioner, alleging he was wrongfully terminated in April after he “spoke out on topics of public concern and/or what he believed in good faith to be a violation of the law by THHSC.” According to the July 3 original petition in F. Michael McMillen v. Texas Health & Human Services Commission and Thomas M. Suehs, McMillen alleges that in June 2011 he spoke about topics of public concern in a manner that constitutes protected free-speech activity under the Texas Constitution. He also alleges that in December 2011 he reported in good faith to the agency’s Inspector General’s Office and its chief counsel what he believed to be violations of the law at THHSC. The petition does not identify what McMillen spoke about or what the alleged violations of the law were. He alleges he was terminated from his job on April 27. McMillen did not return a telephone call seeking comment. His attorney, Philip Durst, a partner in Austin’s Deats Durst Owen & Levy, declines comment, as does Tom Kelley, a spokesman for the Texas Office of the Attorney General, which represents THHSC and Suehs, the agency’s commissioner.
