December 10, 2011

Alfredo Sabat on starvation in Africa, Lurie Award winner 2006
Remember this cartoon, from Sabat, in Brazil? It was a commentary on the “tsunami” striking African children, who were not getting aid like victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami were getting.
Steve Benson, the genius cartoonist at the Arizona Republic, updated the idea.

Steve Benson in the Arizona Republic, on the increase in poverty and hunger in America, 2011
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Cartoons, hunger, Political cartoons, Poverty | Tagged: Arizona Republic, Cartoons, hunger, Political cartoons, Poverty, Steve Benson |
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Posted by Ed Darrell
November 24, 2011
November 1869, in the first year of the Grant administration — and Nast put aside his own prejudices enough to invite the Irish guy to dinner, along with many others.
(Click for a larger image — it’s well worth it.)

Thomas Nast's "Uncle Sam's Thanksgiving," appearing in Harper's Weekly, November 20, 1869 - Ohio State University's cartoon collection
As described at the Ohio State site:
“Uncle Sam’s Thanksgiving Dinner” marks the highpoint of Nast’s Reconstruction-era idealism. By November 1869 the Fourteenth Amendment, which secures equal rights and citizenship to all Americans, was ratified. Congress had sent the Fifteenth Amendment, which forbade racial discrimination in voting rights, to the states and its ratification appeared certain. Although the Republican Party had absorbed a strong nativist element in the 1850s, its commitment to equality seemed to overshadow lingering nativism, a policy of protecting the interests of indigenous residents against immigrants. Two national symbols, Uncle Sam and Columbia, host all the peoples of the world who have been attracted to the United States by its promise of self-government and democracy. Germans, African Americans, Chinese, Native Americans, Germans, French, Spaniards: “Come one, come all,” Nast cheers at the lower left corner.
One of my Chinese students identified the Oriental woman as Japanese, saying it was “obvious.” The figure at the farthest right is a slightly cleaned-up version of the near-ape portrayal Nast typically gave Irishmen.
If Nast could put aside his biases to celebrate the potential of unbiased immigration to the U.S. and the society that emerges, maybe we can, too.
Hope your day is good; hope you have good company and good cheer, turkey or not. Happy Thanksgiving.
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Cartoons, History, Holidays, Immigration, Political cartoons, Reconstruction, Thanksgiving, Thomas Nast, Uncle Sam | Tagged: 1869, History, Immigration, Political cartoons, Thanksgiving, Thomas Nast, Uncle Sam |
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Posted by Ed Darrell
November 21, 2011
Caption from the National Archives, where this cartoon resides:

Clifford Berryman cartoon from 1912, "Congress will come to order!" National Archives
“Congress Will Come To Order!”
by Clifford K. Berryman
Washington Evening Star, December 2, 1912
From the US Senate Collection, Center for Legislative Archives
The ultimate prize of a congressional election is control over the two houses of Congress: the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. This cartoon shows Congress following the pivotal 1912 elections when the Democrats swept into power and captured majorities both houses.
Some might hope that this history repeats.
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Cartoons, Elections, History, History images, Political cartoons | Tagged: 1912, Clifford Berryman, Congress, Elections, History images, Naitonal Archives, Political cartoons, Washington Star |
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Posted by Ed Darrell
November 2, 2011
. . . which accompany this now eerie picture.

Toppling Dictators in Arab world
Actually, I hear tell of a cartoon that looks more like the earlier photo, with a fellow walking away after having crossed out the images of Ali and Mubarak . . . anyone got a link?
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Cartoons, History, Political cartoons | Tagged: Arab Spring, Cartoons, History, Political cartoons |
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Posted by Ed Darrell
October 30, 2011

Kevin Siers, Charlotte Observer, October 29, 2011
Kevin Siers is another obvious candidate for a Pulitzer Prize in cartooning, one of these coming years.
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2012 Campaigns, Campaigns, Cartoons, Political cartoons, Politics, Taxes | Tagged: Campaigns, Charlotte Observer, Fat Cats, Flat Tax, Kevin Siers, Political cartoons, Politics, Taxes |
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Posted by Ed Darrell
October 28, 2011
Events of the past two weeks, in the community of scientists and cargo scientists who fail to recognize global warming, sadly, were portrayed in this cartoon by Tom Toles. Whiplash realization moment: Toles’s cartoon is from 2004. (Yes, this is an encore post.)

A Tom Toles cartoon from 2004
Insert a definition of “filibuster” here.
Then pray for action.
Then call your congressman, and him/her to act, now.
_____________
Note on Tom Toles from the Department of Earth Sciences, G-107 Environmental Geology, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI): “A political cartoon from the Washington Post on climate change. Tom Toles, a political cartoonist, often pens cartoons on environmental issues. His cartoons are often reprinted in other newspapers (Washington Post/Universal Press Syndicate).”
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Cartoons, Climate change, climate_change, Cost of Green, denialism, Global warming, Political cartoons, Politics, Science | Tagged: Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature Study, BEST, Cartoons, Climate change, denialism, Global warming, Political cartoons, Politics, Science, Tom Toles, UC Berkeley |
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Posted by Ed Darrell
July 28, 2011
Ben Sargent, the retired genius cartoonist for the Austin American-Statesman got it just about right, I figure:

Ben Sargent, in the Austin American-Statesman, Sunday April 3, 2011
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Business, Government, Political cartoons, Politics, Republican Party | Tagged: Austin American-Statesman, Ben Sargent, Business, Cartoons, Government, Political cartoons, Politics, Republicans |
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Posted by Ed Darrell
July 28, 2011
Pat Bagley, the future Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist for the Salt Lake Tribune, can be so brilliant sometimes you can’t see him.
For example, what’s he talking about here? Mass murder in Norway? Debt ceiling? The Texas State Board of Education’s assault on evolution? The Texas Lege’s attack on education? Congress’s attacks on the poor and aged?

The Last Crusade - Pat Bagley for the Salt Lake Tribune
Pass the lithium: The cartoon applies to any of those issues, and all of them.
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Cartoons, Newspapers, Political cartoons, Violence | Tagged: Cartoons, Dark Ages, Fear and Ignorance, Norway, Pat Bagley, Political cartoons, Salt Lake Tribune, Violence |
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Posted by Ed Darrell
July 24, 2011
Oh, while we’re looking at the genius of Jen Sorensen, let’s see what she’s got to cartoon about light bulbs:

Jen Sorensen's Slowpoke Comics, "Bulb Wars" - for a larger image at Jen's website, click the image
This strip appears Wednesdays at Daily Kos, and I understand some newspapers around the country have picked it up. Does it appear in a paper in your city?
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Cartoons, Conservation, Energy, Humor, Political cartoons, Politics | Tagged: CFLs, Energy Conservation, Green Politics, Humor, Jen Sorensen, Light Bulbs, Political cartoons, Politics, Slowpoke Comics |
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Posted by Ed Darrell
July 24, 2011
At least one other person in the universe rather agrees with me that it’s odd as hell that anyone would take the debt ceiling issue to use as a bargaining chip.
Jen Sorenson tells the truth, the whole truth and little else, at Slowpoke Comics:

Jen Sorensen's Slowpoke Comics - Debt Ceiling (click image to read it full size at Jen's website)
What are the odds we can get the Dallas Morning News to carry this strip?
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Cartoons, Humor, Political cartoons, Politics, Public Debt, Rampant stupidity | Tagged: Cartoons, Debt Ceiling, Humor, Jen Sorensen, Political cartoons, Politics, Public Debt, Rampant stupidity, Slowpoke Comics, Uncivil Discourse, Unreasonable Demands |
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Posted by Ed Darrell
July 18, 2011
Make that a cold bath. It hit 107° F here Friday. 15th consecutive 100°-plus day? 17th? 200th?
Birds refuse to bathe in the bird bath — they’re saving it to drink. The sprinkler system misfired yesterday — had to kill the power to fix a kitchen light and the clock on the sprinkler got a few hours off — and we were alerted by dozens of bluejays broadcasting the news. “Water!” they screamed. Dallas isn’t supposed to be home to robins, but there were three of them dancing on the wet sidewalk with the jays, plus assorted other birds — house finches, mourning doves, white-winged doves, cardinals, and that little scamp, the Bewick’s wren. The woodpeckers declined to land on the ground. No room for grackles.
While soaking, and cooling, what do we read? In total chaos, or at least, in no particular order:

Cartoon by Chicago cartoonist John T. McCutcheon, 1909
- At the Chicago History Journal, a story of New Year’s, 1909, illustrated with a cartoon by John T. McCutcheon. In 1909, Chicago spent $1 million celebrating the new year. Why not? The Cubs had won their second consecutive World Series the previous summer. McCutcheon’s political cartoons appear everywhere illustrating the Gilded Age, the Age of Imperialism, the Progressive Era, the Jazz Age, the Great Depression and the run-up to World War II – but usually without any attribution to him. I was happy to find a trove of his material, making it easier to identify his work. See, too, Roger Ebert’s Journal. McCutcheon’s work gives insight into the Great Depression, too. Chicago celebrates McCutcheon almost as much as he celebrated Chicago; the rest of us ought to catch up.
- Reagan’s mythology leading us off a cliff? Paul Rosenberg of Random Lengths, lists the false myths about Ronald Reagan that, he says, poison political discussion today and bring Washington to gridlock. Oddly enough, Rosenberg’s piece got carried on the English Al Jazeera site. Is it true that Bill Clinton was more popular than Reagan? Maybe progressives should get a group up to start naming things after Bill Clinton; or maybe we should just name it the Ronald Reagan National Debt.
- Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman gives a sober assessment of Republican politics these days in his New York Times column: “Getting to Crazy.” Sez Krugman:
A number of commentators seem shocked at how unreasonable Republicans are being. “Has the G.O.P. gone insane?” they ask.
Why, yes, it has. But this isn’t something that just happened, it’s the culmination of a process that has been going on for decades. Anyone surprised by the extremism and irresponsibility now on display either hasn’t been paying attention, or has been deliberately turning a blind eye.
And may I say to those suddenly agonizing over the mental health of one of our two major parties: People like you bear some responsibility for that party’s current state.
- What if they made a movie about Sarah Palin, and nobody came to see it in Orange County, California, the heart of American Republican conservatism?
- The third return of a cancerous brain tumor took away her ability to teach, so she turned to writing children’s books. First one coming out in time for Christmas.
- Chutzpah, with the proper pronunciation: Republicans demand $55 million from the federal government for security at their convention, ‘AND PAY IT NOW!’
- If you’re discussing whether various states execute innocent people, an informed discussion better include Herrera v. Collins 506 U.S. 390, the 1993 case in which Texas won the right to execute an innocent man — innocence being not a good reason to reopen the case, the Supreme Court ruled. If God is punishing the U.S., I think this case may be why.
- Ed Brayton has a story with stirring video about another innocent man, this time who got out of jail.
- You voted for Obama, but he’s not given the performance you think he should have? So you’re thinking of voting for a third-party candidate? Read this. It makes Santaya’s Ghost smile.
- Planning to join Texas’s candidate for Saul of the Year Rick Perry at his pray-in? Don’t bring your gun. That means you, Mr. NRA!
- Speaking of people who don’t think President Obama is doing all that he should, Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project kicks off a new round of . . . information? September. Don’t be caught on the glacier.
- 100 songs that Messed with Texas (from NPR)
You can only read until your fingers get all wrinkly. There’s still stuff on the reading stack!
Another soak, for another time.
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Cartoons, History, Humor, Music, Political cartoons, Politics | Tagged: Cartoons, Chicago, History, History images, Humor, John T. McCutcheon, Music, Political cartoons, Politics |
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Posted by Ed Darrell
July 14, 2011

A Tom Toles cartoon from 2004
Insert a definition of “filibuster” here.
Then pray for action.
Then call your congressman, and him/her to act, now.
_____________
Note on Tom Toles from the Department of Earth Sciences, G-107 Environmental Geology, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI): “A political cartoon from the Washington Post on climate change. Tom Toles, a political cartoonist, often pens cartoons on environmental issues. His cartoons are often reprinted in other newspapers (Washington Post/Universal Press Syndicate).”
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
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Cartoons, Climate change, climate_change, denialism, Environment, Environmental protection, Global warming, Political cartoons, Politics, Science | Tagged: Cartoons, Climate change, denialism, Global warming, Political cartoons, Politics, Science, Tom Toles |
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Posted by Ed Darrell
December 19, 2010

When does Sherffius get the Pulitzer?
Sherffius, cartooning in the Boulder (Colorado) Daily Camera. When does he get a Pulitzer?
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Cartoons, Political cartoons, Politics | Tagged: Boulder Daily Camera, Cartoons, DADT, Don't Ask/Don't Tell, John Sherffius, Political cartoons, Politics, Pulitzer Prize |
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Posted by Ed Darrell
December 11, 2010
So, when will Sherffius win a Pulitzer for his cartoons? Did you see what he had to say about the tax cut legislation?

Sherffius cartoon on tax cuts, from the Boulder Daily Camera
Tip of the old scrub brush to Under the Lobsterscope.
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Cartoons, Political cartoons, Politics, Taxes | Tagged: Cartoons, Government, Political cartoons, Politics, Sherffius, Taxes |
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Posted by Ed Darrell
August 19, 2010
Mark Fiore’s latest animated political cartoon won’t be popular with Newt Gingrich. But then, Fiore won the Pulitzer, not Gingrich.
(This cartoon is not available on Fiore’s YouTube Channel, yet.)
(Oh, and remember: This is the guy whose app got Apple’s panties in a wad — while you’re there, iPhone users, get the app that Steve Jobs thought mean for ridiculing those who so richly deserve ridicule. Ain’t the First Amendment grand?)
Tip of the old scrub brush to Jennsmom.
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animation, First Amendment, History, Political cartoons, Politics, Religion, Religious Freedom | Tagged: animation, Cartoons, First Amendment, History, Mark Fiore, Mosques, Politics, Religious Freedom, zoning |
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Posted by Ed Darrell