Want to know how editorial cartoonists work? The Daily News' Patrick O'Connor posts early sketches, talks about his process for deciding on a topic and even tells the occasional tale on editors who nix a cartoon idea. Last week, for instance, he posted that a cartoon on Pakistan "was rejected by my editor who said 'that's just so far away.' Well, here we are less than a week later and General Pervez Musharraf, dictator of Pakistan, loyal friend and ally in the 'war on terror,' has suspended the constitution, fired the chief justice of the supreme court and declared emergency rule. So much for the idea we're spreading freedom and democracy around the world."

After the jump is O'Connor's sketch of recently dethroned City Hall powerhouse Ron Deaton, explained here: