Tag: editorial cartoon

Editorial Cartoon: Tea Party Fringe becomes Mainstream

I have stated on the web months ago that the Tea Party Movement needs to keep in check the fringe element that continues to attend their rallys spurring hatred versus discourse. And with the Republican party leaning heavily on the momentum of the Tea Party, they have not done a good enough job vetting the folks that claim to be a part of it.

Now we have stories of people in Tea Party protests yelling “nigger” as Rep. John Lewis walks by among other things. Before people think I am calling every Tea Party member or every Republican a racist, I am not. I honestly believe there are no more racists in the Republican Party than the Democratic Party. HOWEVER, there has for the past 40 plus years a perception that Republicans are more heavily racist. So they should be extra careful with whom they associate. As for the Tea Party, not only the leadership needs to come out strongly and consistently against this fringe element but the rank and file members need to weed out the haters and the racists.

Why? Because now no one is talking about any potential arguments you may have against the healthcare bill; they are talking about how racist you are. And like in the cartoon, you are letting the fringe element define your agenda and others perception of you.

March 21, 2010
Bearman Cartoon: Cash for Caulkers

I am not going to go into the entire explanation of this because my better half said she didn’t get it until I explained it to her. I want to know if it makes sense as is without an explanation. Anyone??

The only reference I will give is for all my non US visitors and non news reading US visitors is to define what Cash for Caulkers means. It is a new government funded program. Essentially it gives on the spot rebate for people who buy energy saving equipment for their homes.

****UPDATE****

Ok so some get it and some don’t. Here is the background. The wife says that I tend not to pronounce the “L” in certain words yet I swear I say it but it comes out so fast that she misses it. Case in point “Cole Slaw” she claims I say “Co Slaw”. So as this new government program came out, many newscasters have been rolling fast over their “L” too. So indeed it sounds like they are saying “Cockers” versus “Caulkers”. An industrious hooker might want to take advantage of the situation claiming that as a professional service.

HOWEVER, Jill’s husband, The York’s simple explanation that she simply misunderstood it as “Cash for Call Girls” is even better so I am going with that from now on in my explanation.

Hey what do you want from a Hack Cartoonist? But even if it sucks, I am going to get a nice search engine life from those looking for Hookers.

March 11, 2010
What smells

New “duh” story about cannabis. People who smoke alot are more likely to have hallucinations. Study out of London says,

Young people who smoke cannabis or marijuana for six years or more are twice as likely to have psychotic episodes, hallucinations or delusions than people who have never used the drug, scientists said on Monday.

I must be so far removed from people I knew that used heavy drugs that I learned a new term. “Skunk” Seems this is a more potent form of the drug in its purest form which makes the above affects seven times more likely than your normal everyday pot.

March 1, 2010
Kevin Smith rides a Plane

This cartoon was inspired by recent events where actor/director Kevin Smith was unceremoniously booted off a Southwest Airlines Flight because they claimed he was too big to put the armrest down. He claimed otherwise but was still booted.

Now of course I exaggerated Kevin’s weight above but this brings up the bigger question. Should overweight people be forced to purchase two seats on planes where the seats are way smaller than they should be? I am sure that if you go back 50 years people were skinnier and airline seats were bigger.

But on the other hand, what about the rights of the person who paid full price for their ticket as well and had to suffer from someone invading their already small space. As someone who is over 6′ tall and broad-shouldered, I realize that my frame could impede a seatmate on a plane. That is why I have moved to window seats so I can scruntch that extra 2 inches towards the window.

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February 23, 2010
Sarah Palin's Hand

I questioned myself as I thought of and drew this editorial cartoon. Even now I understand the impact of the word “retard” or “retarded” but I don’t know if I am offended by every usage of it as others. First some background.

Former Vice Presidential candidate and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin continues to make news this month. This week she was a keynote speaker at the Tea Party Convention. During a Q&A discussion she could be seen checking out notes written on her hand.

And last week she called out President Obama to fire Chief of Stafe Rahm Emanuel for saying that some liberal activists are “fucking retards” Yet when Chris Wallace confronted her about Rush Limbaugh’s similar use, she blew it off as satire. So when someone uses the word “retard” or “retarded” in jest it is OK. HUH??

As someone with a close relative who has Downs Syndrome, I would have to be restrained if someone called her a retard. But I don’t have the same visceral response if someone called me it or my ideas retarded. So as I say, I struggle with whether or not “retarded” should be avoided in all speech.

For those who have an issue with using “retarded”, do you have similar issues with words like “idiot”, “moron” or “imbecile”?? If not, why not?? All of those words were used as IQ categories before the term “mentally retardation” We now use terms such as “special” and “developmentally disabled”. In 25 years, will those too be considered bad?

What is your opinion??

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February 9, 2010
Airport Body Scanner Smuggler

There seems to be a wide range of people who are concerned in the US with the TSA putting Body Scanners in the security lines as another line of defense against terrorism. This article from the Washington Post explains much of it.

I think the above might be an unintended consequence for those men who are “underpacking”.

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February 7, 2010
Scott Brown and Abortion Cartoon

It is interesting how often political party members get into a tizzy when one of their own doesn’t go along with the party line on every single issue. Not that it ever was a secret but now it is out in the news that Scott Brown, the Republican who won Ted Kennedy’s Senatorial seat, is not a pro-life senator. He believes the government should stay out of the debate (with the exception of late-term abortions) and shouldn’t provide federal funds to support it.

Are Republicans who looked at this guy as a savior now going to backtrack? The problem Republicans are having is their small tent litmus test mentality that says you have to fit into every category to call yourself a Republican. At least on the surface I like the fact that Brown is trying to open the doors of the tent a little wider.

Fiscally I lean to the right and socially to the left. As I have said before I want the Conservatives to stay out of my pants and the liberals to stay out of my wallet.
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February 1, 2010
Oral Sex Banned from School…Dictionaries

Thanks to the Friggin Loon for the heads up on this story. It seems a California School has decided to yank the dictionaries out of a K-8 school because they found out that the definition of the word “oral sex” was contained within. Oh my!!!!

Actually I remember as a kid skimming through the dictionary with my friends to find the most offensive words we could. And good or bad, these days kids are far less naive than we were. Parents don’t control what their kids watch or see on the internet. And trust me, even if 99% of them did, a kid will befriend the one kid in town whose parents don’t.

And before you ask…no I didn’t do internet porn research. I don’t even know if BigBoobieGirls.com is a real website. Someone whose other half isn’t staring intently over their shoulder as they post this particular cartoon might want to check and report back.

Speaking of being naive…I can remember in 7th grade a girl in my class coming up and asking me “are you a virgin?”. To which I replied…”NO! I am a Cancer!!!”

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January 26, 2010
NBC Rehires Conan for Tonight Show

It seems the finale of the Tonight Show with Conan O’brien was a ratings success. He almost tripled Letterman’s ratings for the night. Given the decisions the NBC executives have made the last several seasons, I wouldn’t be surprised at the above outcome.

On a similar note, the Team Conan t-shirts are way out pacing the Team Leno ones. Get yours by clicking the image below while you can.

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January 24, 2010
Flatulence in Broadcasting

While this editorial cartoon resembles Rush Limbaugh it could stand for any fringe person who is given a pulpit to spew lies and hatred. I must give credit to Jammer has written several interesting posts lately, the most recent title gave me the line of Flatulence in Broadcasting (a take off of Limbaugh’s Excellence in Broadcasting Network) which inspired this cartoon. Notice the acronym is F.I.B. Also interesting are Jammer’s posts on hatred and how the fringe becomes the mainstream. The only real error that I saw in the last post is that he only focused on the right fringe, while the left is alive and well (they just don’t get as good of ratings).

One difference though is when Olbermann spews lies and rants, he is is percieved as representing the left but not the Democratic Party. When Limbaugh does it, he is viewed as a party leader? How did this happen? Michael Steele and the moderates need to take back their party from the fringe elements. The fringe represents a small portion of the party yet are getting all the press.

The problem is when a person on the fringe of your beliefs is given a microphone and allowed to talk. Are YOU going to let that person talk for you? Because if you do and say nothing when you disagree with thier words or actions, the fringe is percieved as the Mainstream. When the first Tea Party rally happened in Cincinnati, there were a handful of people who held up nasty and sometimes racist signs about Obama. Who do you think got the press? And while there were some in the crowd who told them to take it down, there were others who chose to ignore it.

You have two choices in that case, either disassociate yourself from the group entirely or stand up when someone is misrepresenting your opinion. If you don’t, their opinion becomes your opinion in the minds of others. There are plenty of websites, that I no longer like to comment on anymore because the owners allow political bile to go beyond discourse. I am all for freedom of speech but remember that YOU control your website. You allow this to happen on a regular basis and their views will become the perception of your beliefs.

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January 18, 2010