The Iraq death toll just marked a saddening 4,000, but perhaps more disturbing is that as far as the mainstream media goes, this is the only figure that counts.

This cartoon below deals with “The Numbers Game” - an oversimplifying of U.S. casualty reports seen too frequently. “Only” 4,000 dead may be low compared to past wars, but nearly 30,000 more have been wounded in Iraq as of this post.

Better body armor and faster, superior medical care keep troops alive at much higher rates than in the past. But many of these brave men and women still must dealing with severe, life-long injuries such as loss of limbs, brain damage and blindness. The toll of the five-year war is far greater than we usually think.

NOTE: This political cartoon was created by and is property of journalist and cartoonist Andrew Wahl. Visit his blog, Off the Wahl, for more of his work.

We love political cartoons, and here’s a recent creation by Bill Mitchell, a former newspaper cartoonist who’s long since abandoned print media for the online world (gotta love animated GIFs), and who shares his efforts with CNN.

Here’s his take on the “red phone” or “3 a.m.” ad run by Hillary Clinton ahead of the Ohio and Texas primaries that caused such a stir. Playing on our worst fears, Clinton implied that you want her, not Barack Obama, answering that phone!

Well, Mitchell says it’s not an international crisis likely to make that phone ring, but rather a gaffe by Michelle Obama or an, um… “incident” with Bill Clinton.

Whose red phone do you think is ringing at 3 a.m.?

Source: Click here. Bill Mitchell archive: Click here.

The Iraq war, as we know, recently celebrated its fifth birthday. Well, in the very same month, the conflict achieved yet another dishonorable milestone…

NOTE: This political cartoon was created by and is property of journalist and cartoonist Andrew Wahl. Visit his blog, Off the Wahl, for more of his work.

As we all know, the Iraq war turned five years old yesterday. What we wouldn’t give for it not to make it to six. The illustration below speaks for itself …

NOTE: This was created by and is property of journalist and cartoonist Andrew Wahl. Visit his blog, Off the Wahl, for many more great ones.

With the Eliot Spitzer sex scandal, the sparring over Florida and Michigan delegates and various name-calling in the Democratic presidential race, it’s easy to see how the war in Iraq falls off the table as a campaign issue for periods of time.

But the better question, some observers believe, is why the war in Iraq is still an issue at all. The answer to that prompted the cartoon below …

NOTE: This was created by and is property of journalist and cartoonist Andrew Wahl. Visit his blog, Off the Wahl, for many more great ones.

We laugh, but the stark reality is that unless the Democrats can write better tales than this, the John McCain campaign platform will win out.

After seven-plus years of lies, deception, annihilation of civil liberties, ineptness and Karl Rove-speak, John McCain’s plain talk, service to our country, and moderate voting record on many issues is, by all means, refreshing.

But there’s little doubt what the GOP nominee’s political platform amounts to, at least from what we’ve discerned in recent weeks. This about sums it up …

NOTE: This was created by and is property of journalist and cartoonist Andrew Wahl. Visit his blog, Off the Wahl, for many more classics like this.

His “independent streak” makes him a strong general election candidate, but John McCain should probably try to distance himself a little from George W. Bush and offer more than an unenthusiastic defense of the status quo.

Or maybe he shouldn’t. As Democrats, we embrace this campaign theme - from the correct side of it - as a talking point all spring, summer and fall.

Below is a funny e-cartoon we found by the outstanding Bill Mitchell, a former newspaper cartoonist who’s long since abandoned print media for the online world, and who frequently shares his efforts with CNN.com.

Here’s his take on John Kerry’s recent decision NOT to run for president. The ecstatic donkeys pretty much exemplify the feelings among Democrats, who are thankful for Kerry’s decades of good service but grateful, at the same time, that they’ll have a new candidate in the 2008 election.

Look at the crowd go wild!

Source: Click here. Bill Mitchell archive: Click here.