Whoa! What are you doing posting an editorial cartoon on a Tuesday you ask? Well my friends this is a two part experiment. The question in the experiment is can I piss off both my liberal friends and conservative friends using the same cartoon on two different days.
Today’s cartoon might of course irritate some of my more conservative friends. Seems since the debate, candidate Mitt Romney has been taking flack for his assertion during the debates that he would consider cutting funding of PBS, the broadcaster of shows such as Sesame Street. There have been memes galore floating around on social media blasting Mitt for it, but I thought nothing said it better than Mitt Romney holding a knife in one hand and the head of Big Bird in the other.
So how could this possibly irritate my liberal friends? Well you have to wait until tomorrow to find out.
Why you heartless beast! >:-( Now I’m pissed! Will there be a part two with Oscar doing to Romney what he did to Big Bird?
Oh, and I’m not really mad. I forgot to add sarcastic emoticons…
If I can’t tell when you are being sarcastic then I need to quit
There’s the door!
I feel the same way about PBS as I do sports and a lot of other extra curricular activities. If it don’t pay for itself…cut it’s head off. PBS already has about 10 minutes of commercials at the beginning and ending of every program. They keep pre-empting The Antiques Road Show for fund raising programs. I am about that the way I am about Art…. It shouldn’t be supported with tax dollars.
I am with you on the fund drives. I get that they are necessary but I would rather half the time be spent just doing ads instead
Whoa! Is it wrong to laugh? Sick and twisted I like it. I Look foward to seeing what you’ve got in mind for tomorrow as well.
Oh tomorrow I turn it all on its head. Thanks
This doesn’t piss me off one bit, It’s funny that most people as a whole still use Big Bird as the icon for Sesame Street. It shows the old crowd are the people that are having their feelings hurt about the whole thing. Most kids nowadays rarely see Big Bird as the icon of Sesame Street because Elmo has taken over. So when I see all these people use Big Bird, I know they are not thinking about the kids but of themselves. The difference between from when we grew up and now is that the selection of children’s education programming has grown since we were kids. If people are using the PBS issue to choose who they want for President, then they are grasping for anything to validate themselves as to why they want to choose a person, who for the most part, has not been up to par at their job. I would have to do some research, but I am pretty sure they are making enough money on merchandise to be able to “make it” on a regular channel. If individual states want to keep the same type of programming that is on PBS now, they can come up with a state version. I think the main idea is to cut a lot of the influence and control of the federal government and give it back to the states where it belongs. Plus, if people want to have their kids watch Sesame Street, there are more than enough seasons out there on Netflix instant viewing and such to give them the opportunity to watch.
I hear what you say about Big Bird versus Elmo. My niece can’t put full sentences together but she is clear as day saying “Elmo” when she wants to watch Sesame Street. I am not sure if the funding goes to actual programming or to the individual member stations to support operations
Either way, Mitt was saying they would just have to show commercials, to believe that no other network would touch Sesame Street and keep that show on the air is fooling themselves.
Sprout is pretty much an entire network around Sesame Street and the like
Great job on the satire Bearman. I think it’s hilarious as a Republican that people have put Sesame Street as the show that will be killed by a cut of Federal Funding to PBS when in fact Sesame Street gets very little and I mean very, very little from PBS and get’s all their funding from Corporations and Donations. PBS used to be public driven back in its inception, it would serve it best to be that way again. Sesame will never go anywhere, Corporate sponsors will always find a way to bring Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and all the other folks on Sesame Street to the public.
As far as PBS goes, those that want to spend their days crying and gnashing their teeth about PBS going the way of the DoDo Bird, well pick up a pen and write a check to them. Free Enterprise Baby!! Bring PBS back to the Public, it should have never been on the governments teet to begin with.
Not disagreeing with anything you are saying. Just tune in tomorrow. Though I think in its inception there was a place for public ally funded education stations ESP in rural areas. With advent of cable and satellite and over the air HD I don’t think it is as much of a necessity
Well said tmcelmurry! “Bring PBS back to the public”. Sadly, I don’t have much faith in the public since most can’t be bothered to interrupt their regularly scheduled prime time line-up to donate to quality programming- but I have even less in the corporations that run our country. I agree -sucking on the teet of the gov’t has got to go. Sorry I can’t add more to this conversation, your readers seem to have a handle on this one! I also agree with you B’man that nothing says it better than Mittens cutting the head off of Big Bird. Evil politicians.. Ggrrr..
That’s the point Lynn. As you said, people don’t seem to appreciate anything until it is gone. I support the local auction even though I am not a big PBS watcher.
This looks like only one side got mad at you Bearman. You slipped up somewhere.
The other side is tommorow
I haven’t got my knickers in a twist about the big bird flap, except to laugh at the photoshopped picture of the Romney family at Thanksgiving with B. Bird all trussed up and roasted for the feast. The real evil Romney has done, and will continue to do if he wins the election, is not very comick-able. It looks harmless and boring (involves signing papers and having meetings with other old rich white men at golf clubs and stuff) but it messes people up.
I like the one of the family photo in front of the station wagon with big bird laying on top
I’ve extremely conservative, but you already know what I’m going to say. If the entire conversation that Mitt said on this subject is put out at the same time, it’s meaning is way different. I’m guessing you are going to be fair and do that? I thought so.
Have a terrific day and no offense taken by me.
None expected. Trust me you will be smiling tomorrow
I think I would be distressed if public television was more “public”. It is easy to notice that Nova (a show I love to watch) is funded by the one of Koch brothers (really-I did a spit take when i first noticed it).
I fully expect shows like “The Joy of Fossil Fuels” and “It is not getting warmer, it is just you” to be future Nova topics.
PBS is not going anywhere, but will probably continue be a corporate organ like the rest of the government. Ideally, I would like it to have enough government funding not to need corporate underwriters.
It is an interesting distraction from the discussion of real issues. It certainly keeps candidates from having to talk about anything that really matters 🙂
I think you are giving certain advertisers too much influence. I think potentially you could have drop off if specific advertisers decide they don’t like the slant of a topic but there are others and other shows that will pick up the slack.
As I said above I think most of the funding goes to operations versus programming anyway so it becomes a different albeit kind of benign discussion
Expect a “Kill Bill”-style revenge saga starring Oscar the Grouch. KILL MITT!
Have you done Oscar in you Wed Villain round ip yet?
I wonder if Mitt used a step ladder to cut off the head. I mean, Big Bird is pretty tall and all.
Mitt ain’t no short himself
That would make a good Halloween costume. At least you didn’t do the bird on the car drawing. Everyone knows a bird would fly off a car roof.
Haha. Damn now I wish I hadn’t already figured out my costu e
Well I do like the Bird bird for the kids, but feel that most of PBS is full of ads and just not worth it.
Not ads, pledge drives. haha
It’s a damn shame Big Bird never learned to fly.
Weighted down
NOOOOOOO!!! Not Big Bird!!! Thet hearyless #*%@#
BTW can I have a drumstick.
Yes…I go for the thighs
Oops… I meant thAt & hearTless. Stupid keyboard
I left a comment on your previous post informing you that I have changed back to my old WP.com site & cancelled my self hosted site due to financial restrictions following my job loss. I left a notice on my old site but once I sent in the cancellation form they shut it down quicker than I expected. I had a link on the other comment but soon as I clicked Submit Comment it disappeared & didn’t show up as a comment. Maybe the link made it go to your spam filter. The same happened on some one else’s site too. Just click my name & it’ll take you there. Actually you still have my old WP.com url on your links page
It worked this time so it must’ve been the link. Maybe Akismet thinks I’m dodgey
Mr Goofy, I changed the link BACK for like the 40th time to your wordpress site the other day. It wasn’t like I had it pointing to the wrong place for the past oh 6 months. haha
Best of luck in finding new work.
40th??? Surely you exagerate??? 39th maybe…
Ok 39….but I’m a rounder
Honestly, he might have well have said he wants to solve our energy problems by burning puppies.
Puppie burners….I am surprised one of the PACs haven’t pulled out that ad
I’m glad I’m not a Muppet! Or live in the US!
You would have chocolate leaking out of your head
Freak in love it.!!!!!!
Thanks Tony. My mom was at St James but I didn’t find out till after she went so I couldn’t tell her to look for you.
Imagine getting him in the oven?
I just heard that Sesame Street aren’t happy. Obama didn’t get permission to use the iconic bird in his commercials. Hmm, I suspect Mitt has it in for Bert and Ernie too 🙁
I just posted about that today
Nice caricature of Romney!
Thanks…it is evolving.
I guess I am looking at this backward. This should not piss off anyone. The conservatives think they know it is wrong and you must be stupid. The liberals think it is an accurate representation and the conservatives are stupid. The people it should piss off are too stupid to know you insulted them.
I love it.
Red.
Now I am so confused, I am pissed off at you for making my head hurt..haha
Just imagine the size of those Hot Wings!
🙂
Yum
Just wait ’til Big Bird’s family finds out about this! He’s got 200 older brothers and he’s the runt of the family.
They hide themselves well.
This is a nice gruesome offering Bearman
now where is that bird griller, nooo not
a bird gorilla, okay rubbish joke, but I
certainly enjoy your cartoons, I could be
a bit quicker getting in here to comment
on them though 🙁 Have a fun evening 🙂
Really…what do I have to do, send out a goth signal. haha
All I have to say is “Wow! What a great cartoon!” The artwork in this of your best, Bearman! And I’m sorry I’m so late to the (ahem) Party! :`D
Thanks….this one took a while. It was a departure from my normal stuff. Glad you like it.