Another day, another dollar, and the not-so-great cartoons keep pouring in.
What, no sanitation workers? They had a hell of a mess to clean up after the bombing. More joyless pandering from American editorial cartoonists richest plagiarist. Again, remember the test for an editorial cartoon: if it doesn’t make any political statement, if there wouldn’t be a substantial number of people disagreeing with what it has to say, it isn’t a political cartoon, it is a greeting card. Calling first responders heroes has been standard operating procedure for lame political cartoonists ever since 9/11, and apparently it’s going to go on until the last crappy cartoonist dies.
I hate to pick on Nate Beeler: He’s a nice guy and a good sport. Just the luck of the draw this week. Again, this one is a combo cartoon – one that praises our saintly first responders – what a risk! – But also one that makes kind of a silly point. There was a lot of reason to think that the bombings were carried out by domestic right-wing terrorists: Boston, tax day, Patriots’ Day. Those Tea Party types, they don’t like paying their taxes. You can hardly blame the media for looking into that connection.
Not an editorial cartoon. An illustration. All it does is tell you what is going on. It doesn’t take a stance. It doesn’t come out against or for anything. There are lots of threats. Yes. We know this. Big problem: anything that appears in a newspaper should tell you something that you didn’t already know.
Now here’s something you don’t see all the time – a thoughtful, intelligent mainstream editorial cartoonist. Naturally he was recently laid off by his newspaper.
Setting aside the ridiculous politics – it’s not like there haven’t been true blue American born domestic terrorists – this is a cartoon that reflects the thought process that helps ensure that there will be many more terrorist attacks against the United States in the future. Plus not try to understand what motivates these people. Let’s just dismiss them as misguided, fanatical, zealous, wicked, and my personal favorite, ungrateful. Out of curiosity, why should anybody be grateful to a country?
Again, an editorial illustration. A lot of people feel united with Boston. Sports were a way for people to express that. That’s what this cartoon reflects. But it doesn’t make any statement. (Finalist for 2012 Pulitzer Prize)
3 Comments.
By Ted, I think I’ve got it!
Seriously, though, I think I have a sense of it. In the last cartoon, all that’s missing to make it good is the insertion of a parenthetical: “Terrorists (and law-abiding Americans), I see you!”
I like this feature. You should make it a regular. If not weekly, then whenever something of note happens that generates a lot of the same bullshit across the board.
Still no Big Fat Whale here though. That one was a real piece of shit too. You shouldn’t resist friendly fire.
Yes – a few of these, with a slight alreration, could have been much better – like drawing a cage around the runner in Johb Cole’s cartoon and attaching a little drip water bottle to the side – making the runner a hamster running endlessly in a never-ending cycle of terrorism. I’m still hoping someone will draw a cartoon with a bunch of military and 1%er types whacking a bee hive called the Middle East or similar and screaming out “Why won’t they stop stinging us!” They should be shown covered with bumps and stings. Maybe a few of the 99% standing off to the side covered with bandages and stings, too.