THE WEEK IN EDITORIAL CARTOONS
This weekly diary takes a look at the past week's important news stories from the perspective of our leading editorial cartoonists (including a few foreign ones) with analysis and commentary added in by me.
When evaluating a cartoon, ask yourself these questions:
- Does a cartoon add to my existing knowledge and help crystallize my thinking about the issue depicted?
- Does the cartoonist have any obvious biases that distort reality?
- Is the cartoonist reflecting prevailing public opinion or trying to shape it?
The answers will help determine the effectiveness of the cartoonist's message.
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Don't cry for me Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don't keep your distance
RJ Matson, Roll Call
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
DAILY KOS ECO-WEEK BLOGATHON
June 28 – July 4, 2009
Dave Granlund, Politicalcartoons.com
After receiving invaluable input and guidance from Meteor Blades, two of Daily Kos's prominent and long-time contributors, Land of Enchantment and Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse, have organized this week-long celebration to shine the spotlight on a wide range of environmental issues. With the historic American Clean Energy and Security Act passing the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this week, a number of regular contributors and weekly series diarists are assisting LOE and Patriot Daily in ensuring that this effort raises awareness about Climate Change and other important environmental issues that affect our very existence on this earth.
As you all know, many of these contributors have spent years writing extensively about the environment and educating all of us about what we, as inhabitants of this fragile planet of ours, can do to become better stewards of the environment.
Former Vice President and 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Al Gore has repeatedly reminded us for many years that "Climate Change is a moral issue, not a political one."
Please support this important effort in every way you can. And encourage your family, friends, and colleagues to do the same.
Thank you.
Dave Granlund, Politicalcartoons.com
Jimmy Margulies, New Jersey Record
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1. CARTOONS OF THE WEEK
Former Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC) resigned his office a few days ago to spend more time with his family. A gifted writer and keen observer of the human condition, Sanford debuts today as an advice columnist in his hometown newspaper, The Post and Courier, in Charleston, South Carolina. His daily column will offer advice on matters of love, relationships, heartbreak, reconciliation, and, of course, politics
The Sanford Files
Is it true that real love is unattainable even though, fools that we are, we never give up the struggle to reach that goal? John Ensign, Nevada
Love is an elusive concept. It is in the nature of humans to strive for something knowing fully well that they'll never, ever attain it. I am, however, not a proponent of monosexuality for you can't just tango all by yourself. My advice to you would be not to look for love in all the wrong places. Ever think of online dating services? I could recommend a few in Latin America.
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I can categorically state that I am not gay. I even told my wife so earlier today. Yet, I feel this strong urge to go to public restrooms and tap my feet ala Sammy Davis, Jr. for strangers in adjacent bathroom stalls. Does that reveal anything about my true sexual orientation? Larry Craig, Idaho
One's sexual identity is between a man and his god. What I have learned over the years is that being gay does not disqualify a man from engaging in an healthy relationship with his family. I shouldn't forget to mention that some of my best friends are gay.
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To paraphrase a great Republican Abraham Lincoln, people who have no vices often are the ones with very few virtues. Given that fact, do you believe I am the right person to prevent this country's alarming descent into socialism under the Obama Administration and usher in a new birth of freedom? Newt Gingrich, Georgia
You are the natural political heir to Lincoln and our party's only savior. As a suggestion, you should consider bolstering your foreign policy credentials and visit a World War II-era concentration camp in Poland. Should you decide to make the trip, I'll look forward to reading your insightful commentary from Europe.
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I am a devout Christian, I do the right thing, I have a wife and family, I believe in family values, I stand for truthfulness, moral purity, and accountability! Am I doing the Lord's work? David Vitter, Louisiana
Who is she?
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Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press
Note: cartoon submitted by Kossack Sandy on Signal. Read comments by readers reacting to Bennett's editorial cartoon.
Ben Sargent, Universal Press Syndicate
Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune
Signe Wilkinson, Philadelphia Daily News
Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press
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2. Sanford and Hon - Episode 1: Hiking the Appalachian Trail to Buenos Aires, Argentina
Parsing The Book Of Mark
Sanford's 'Story,' Interpreted
Wow. Was that a press conference or was that a press conference? That genteel lilt of hubris, sorrow, guilt! But other than a very slow, meandering build to I just needed a little strange, what did it all mean? What language was South Carolina's Republican governor speaking yesterday as he forlornly told the world of his travels and travails, of how sorry he is to his wife, to his sons, to his staff, to "the Tom Davises of the world" (not the Virginia one, all the other ones)? Is it a new Pat Conroy novel? Is it a megachurch sermon? Is it the language of couples therapy? The metaphysics of Oprah? Shakespeare? The psychobabble of cheating husbands? (Note all the passive constructions, the avoidance of first person.) "Evita"? ("I spent the last five days of my life crying in Argentina . . .")
It's all of those things, and deliciously more, squeezed into 18 seemingly improvisational minutes.
Read analysis of the major sections of Sanford's press conference
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Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Signe Wilkinson, Philadelphia Daily News
Dan Wasserman, Boston Globe
Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press
There's a certain deliciousness to the self-immolation of someone who was so quick to condemn Bill Clinton for the same behavior. Hypocrisy is the spice that livens up an otherwise mundane dish.
And besides, as I've pointed out in the cartoon, what's wrong with nice, red-blooded American girls? What are our womenfolk, chopped carne asada?
It's an insult to the locals, like joyriding around Detroit in a Hyundai.
Chan Lowe, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Stuart Carlson, Universal Press Syndicate
Jim Morin, Miami Herald
Note: Jim Morin is close personal friend of David Vitter and was kind enough to suggest a question (knowing fully well what kind of an answer it would elicit) which Mr. Vitter then asked of 'The Sanford Files.'
Nick Anderson, Houston Chronicle
Robert Ariail, The State (SC)
Mark Streeter, Savannah Morning News
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3. The Iranian Mullahs May Have Won the Battle for Now. Have they Lost the War?
The Mullahs in Iran may have temporarily succeeded in quelling dissent. But for how long? Importantly, are Radical Islamic forces in retreat?
This is precisely the nightmare scenario that is now receding. Even if the Iranian regime succeeds in suppressing the protests and imposes the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by force of bullets, mass arrests and hired thugs, it will have forfeited its legitimacy, which has always rested on an element of consent as well as coercion...
Of course, the fading of radicalism would not necessarily mean the disappearance of Islamic politics. The Egyptian intellectual Saad Edin Ibrahim noted in the Wall Street Journal last week that Islamist parties are being "cut down to size," and he hopes that they "evolve into Muslim democratic parties akin to the Christian Democrats in Europe."
That would be a result the West could live with.
Note: I would recommend two additional articles on the larger political and social forces let loose in the region by the protests in Iran here and here.
Mark Streeter, Savannah Morning News
Cam Cardow, Ottawa Citizen
Dan Wasserman, Boston Globe
John Cole, Scranton Times-Tribune
Randy Bish, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Signe Wilkinson, Philadelphia Daily News
Jim Morin, Miami Herald
Matt Bors, Idiot Box
Robert Ariail, The State (SC)
Tom Janssen, Trouw (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Chan Lowe, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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4. Turmoil in Iran and "No Drama" Obama
Has Barack Obama reacted appropriately and addressed the legitimate concerns of the opposition in Iran? Has he been too unsentimental, timid, and detached? Goading and prodding by many Republicans notwithstanding, my sense is that Obama has had a measured response in which he has affirmed both American interests and American values
"Force projection" in the Middle East is the largest legacy Barack Obama inherits from the administration of George W. Bush; and the main question asked about Obama in his first months in office has been how far he intends to continue Bush's policy.
Note: Read these two excellent articles in the current issue of the New Yorker magazine here and here about events in Iran.
Pat Oliphant, Universal Press Syndicate
Nick Anderson, Houston Chronicle
Tom Toles, Washington Post
Joe Heller, Green Bay Press-Gazette
Jeff Danziger, Syndicated Political Cartoonist
Bob Englehart, Hartford Courant
Jerry Holbert, Boston Herald
RJ Matson, St. Louis Post Dispatch
Tim Eagan, Deep Cover
A.D.D. Nation
Scott Stantis, Birmingham News
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5. The Healthcare Debate: A Bridge Too Far?
It was said during the Cold War that external commitments always distort domestic priorities. With two hot wars raging in Afghanistan and Iraq, so is the case now with healthcare reform facing a tough battle in Congress. But public opinion polls are very encouraging for the Obama Administration. Moreover, a 'Congressional Insiders Poll' conducted by National Journal showed that a majority of both Democratic and Republican political insiders see passage of some sort of healthcare legislation this year.
Yet, concerns remain
Harry Truman fretted that every economic adviser he consulted would tell him, "On one hand . . . but on the other hand." He longed for a one-armed economist.
As today’s politicians look at polls on the health care issue, they face the same frustrating quandary.
On one hand, Americans believe that the health care system needs fundamental change. But on the other hand, they’re happy with the quality of their own care and don’t want medical options limited by bureaucrats.
Voters are willing to allow government to play a bigger role when it comes to cutting costs and expanding coverage. But they also fear the implications of expanded government intervention.
Stuart Carlson, Universal Press Syndicate
Kevin Kallaugher (KAL), The Economist (U.K.)
Pat Oliphant, Universal Press Syndicate
Signe Wilkinson, Philadelphia Daily News
Nick Anderson, Houston Chronicle
Ben Sargent, Universal Press Syndicate
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7. Barack Obama as Seen By Some Democratic Critics
Lloyd Dangle, Troubletown
8. All About Michael, Farrah, and Ed
For all of his eccentricities and quirky behavior, Michael Jackson was an extraordinarily talented performer. His death -- as unexpected as Elvis Presley's in 1977 or John Lennon's in 1980 -- was a shock to millions of fans worldwide. Farrah Fawcett was an icon in the 1970's and had the most famous pinup poster (over 12 million sold) since Betty Grable's during World War II. Ed McMahon was the perfect sidekick and "second banana" for 30 years to Johnny Carson on NBC's Tonight Show.
All three made important contributions to popular culture.
Mike Peters, Dayton Daily News
Cam Cardow, Ottawa Citizen
Dave Granlund, Politicalcartoons.com
Stephane Peray, The Nation (Bangkok, Thailand)
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- Final Thoughts
Finally, have you thought about trading in your spouse car under the government's 'Cash for Clunkers' Program?
David Fitzsimmons, Arizona Star
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A Note About the Diary Poll
Daily Kos Polls do not like the "quotation marks," I think! lol
The poll option that says, 'Randy' originally was Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA). I believe he is still in jail.
Why do sex scandals negatively affect Republican politicians more so than their Democratic counterparts? If Republicans would stop lecturing the rest of us about "moral values" and jettison their holier-than-thou attitudes towards personal morality, more of them might escape blame and maintain their political viability.
In 1992, just about everyone thought that Governor Bill Clinton was a rogue, rascal, and scoundrel of the highest order whose personal life was, shall we say, rather complicated. The electorate was more concerned with Clinton's public morality and he went on to win two elections with near-landslide proportions!
See this complete list of political and other scandals in the United States
Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gary Markstein, Copley News Service