editorial cartoon

An Inevitable Point

Detail of cartoon by Lalo Alcaraz, 4 March 2015, via Daily Kos Comics.“Israel’s Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu not only addressed his GOP Congress, but also seems to be an ideal GOP candidate: He loves to bomb the Middle East, he will do anything to win an election, and enjoys meddling in other countries affairs!”

Lalo Alcaraz

Inevitable, yes, but it is also arguable that Congressional Republicans have more respect for the Israeli Prime Minister than their own Speaker.

Just sayin’.

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Image note: Detail of cartoon by Lalo Alcaraz, 4 March 2015, via Daily Kos Comics.

Sheila Butt

Detail of cartoon by Daryl Cagle, 27 February 2015, via The Cagle Post.

There is little to be said that the news from Lucas L. Johnson II of Associated Press, well, does not already say itself:

The Tennessee Legislative Black Caucus on Thursday called on Republican Rep. Sheila Butt to apologize for what they said was a racist Facebook post, and said she should be removed from her leadership position ....

.... Butt’s post said, “It is time for a Council on Christian Relations and an NAAWP in this Country.”

It was a comment on a Jan. 26 open letter from the Council on American-Islamic Relations urging potential Republican presidential candidates to reject “Islamophobia” and reach out to American Muslim voters.

Critics say “NAAWP” has been used by white supremacist organizations and stands for the “National Association for the Advancement of White People.”

Butt, who is white, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that “NAAWP” stands for the “National Association of Advancement for Western Peoples,” and said her post had been misinterpreted. It has since been deleted.

On the House floor Thursday, Butt said she “never intended to offend anyone,” then cited her right under the “First Amendment to speak our minds.”

Tennessee.

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Image note: Detail of cartoon by Daryl Cagle, 27 February 2015, via The Cagle Post.

Johnson II, Lucas L. “Tennessee Black Caucus Seeks Apology from GOP Lawmaker”. Associated Press. 26 February 2015.

Last Month’s List o’Links

Transgender pride

Notes from the Culture Wars:

Kevin Thornton, or, queer alt country on being gay and forty in the twenty-first century. (HuffPo)

Paige Lavender on Texas and the transgendered. (HuffPo)

Tresa Baldas tries to explain the unfortunate intersection of compassion, hatred, and your doctor. (Detroit Free Press)

Sam Levine, and this time it’s Kentucky and the transgendered. (HuffPo)

Cavan Sieczkowski on Freud on homosexuality. (HuffPo)

• Two reports, from Tammy Mutasa and Casey Weldon on a die-in demonstration at Fountain Square, Cincinnati, calling attention to violence against transgendered. (WLWT, WCPO)

• Education? State? Justice? Jennifer Bendery reports that the transgendered also have the Department of Defense on their side. (HuffPo)

• At this point, Michael Tomasky’s piece tying social conservative politics to the precipitous decline spectacular crash of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s presidential ambitions to … Jerry Falwell. (The Daily Beast)

(more…)

Strange, to Say the Least

Cartoon by David Fitzsimmons, 3 December 2014, via Cagle Post.For some, editorial cartoons are a great source of entertainment. At their best, they inform us about societal attitudes. At their worst, well, they … inform us … about … societal … attitudes.

Damn.

Then again, that can still be entertaining, whichever way those societal attitudes break. To wit, something about what is going on … um … somewhere … apparently moved David Fitsimmons of the Arizona Star to publish a bizarre cartoon in which dietary conscience and Christmas trees have somehow managed to collide.

And while it would be really easy to snort derisively and wonder what the hell fight Fitzsimmons is trying to pick with such a strange cartoon, does there not also exist a possiblity that he is referring to something real?

And if that is the case, well, seriously, what the hell is going on in Arizona or wherever? This sounds like one of those (ahem!) absolutely precious moments.

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Fitzsimmons, David. “It’s a tree”. Cagle Post. 3 December 2014.

Even More Puti-Toots (Bill Day Ltd. Ed. Mix)

Detail of cartoon by Bill Day, 2 December 2014, via Cagle Post.

What? We couldn’t resist. Attribute this one to Bill Day of Cagle Cartoons, via Cagle Post.

Logic, Love, and Something, Something, Something, Dark Side

Nate Beeler, The Columbus Dispatch, 20 November 2014.

Britney Spears in Las Vegas, Newt Gingrich on his third wife, Ray and Janay, O.J. and Nicole, the list goes on ad nauseam. It’s a point that keeps coming up, and once again we find ourselves choking on the laughter that seems our only decent retort: The sanctity of marriage? Uh-huh. Right. Whatever you say.

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Beeler, Nate. “Holy Matrimony”. The Columbus Dispatch. 20 November 2014.