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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Strangers in the Night
Signe Wilkinson, Philadelphia Daily News
INTRODUCTION
One of the many qualities I've come to admire about editorial cartoonists over the past four months is that when analyzing an issue, they don't pull any punches and get to the heart of the matter. Refreshing candor is what's often missing on the editorial and op-ed pages of the nation's best newspapers.
By holding a mirror up, these talented men and women enable us to look at ourselves and reflect society's characteristics, something whose existence was once famously denied by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. This theme of individualism vs communitarianism is evident not only in the Republican Party's ferociously negative response to healthcare reform but also in the furor over race, an ever-present festering sore just beneath the surface and masked by apparent tranquility. Another issue on the radar of many state legislatures, minor as it may seem at first, is is texting while driving and is getting increased attention.
For the second week in a row, I hope you enjoy the increased number of cartoons.
1. CARTOONS OF THE WEEK
Doing the Right Thing
A failed haberdasher from Missouri early on and always underestimated during his career, did Truman have character and personality flaws? Yes. Did he use salty, inappropriate, and perhaps racist language at times? He did. Was he a bit parochial in his approach to life? Sure. But, as his Secretary of State Dean Acheson noted once, Truman had impeccable public character and rewarded loyalty. Intensely loyal to his own cabinet and staff -- regarded as the most talented group of foreign policy advisers of any modern United States Administration -- he was a highly principled man, made quick decisions, and never, ever did anything to personally enrich himself during his tenure as President.
-- from a diary I wrote in 2004 in which I looked at his foreign policy achievements and asked the question, 'Harry Truman: Best Post-WW II Foreign Policy President?' In the above sketch, Truman is to the right of Barack Obama, above Ulysses S. Grant.
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It was one of those moments in American history that not only provided hope for millions of minorities denied basic civil rights for generations but gave encouragement to all fair-minded and rational-thinking persons in this country.
It is also important to remember the man who was responsible for this historic decision, considered to be the first major action of the modern civil rights movement. He was a most unlikely candidate to advance the cause of civil rights and attempt to exorcise the demons of racial segregation and remnants of this country's original sin. When he submitted his civil rights bill to the U.S. Congress, a southern newspaper referred to it as
A dismaying document based on a pernicious fallacy. Here we have the making of a veritable Gestapo.
Nothing in his Missouri upbringing and background suggested such a move. Yet, even with powerful political forces aligned against him in his own Democratic Party, he did just that. On July 26, 1948, with one stroke of his pen, President Harry S Truman signed Executive Order 9981 and desegregated the Armed Forces of the United States. He believed that after well over a million African Americans had enlisted in the armed services in World War II to fight against the mother of all racist regimes in Europe, Adolf Hitler's Third Reich -- and with racially-motivated crimes on the rise in post-war years -- the moment had arrived for the country to live up to its professed ideals and for all Americans to be treated equally in the service of their country.
It was a major blow to many whites in this country who had long believed in the inherent superiority of the white race and, contrary to historical evidence, an unshakable belief in their ability -- and theirs alone -- to defend this country against all enemies foreign or domestic. In the ongoing struggle by progressives to fight the good fight against residual racism and achieve justice for everyone, it is inconvenient facts like these, particularly ones that point towards a "more perfect union," that have rattled demagogues like MSNBC Commentator Pat Buchanan.
Historical facts are a racist's worst enemy. Imaginary grievances often clouds their judgment. To them, enemies exist within and outside our borders, posing a mortal threat to their very existence. It takes political courage and commitment to confront the bigots of this world and put them in their place. To their chagrin, at certain points in our country's turbulent history, many of our leaders and ordinary citizens have done the right thing.
In recent days, some have you have argued that racists like Buchanan ought to be banned from appearing on cable television. That would certainly shut them up. Another approach is to let them stay stay wherever they are. Beginning in the late 1950's and into the 1960's, when the bright lights of television shone upon the crimes and injustices that were occurring in the Deep South -- and not just the South -- the country became aware of of the need for equal treatment for all of its citizens.
It is often said that sunlight is the best disinfectant. I say let the Pat Buchanans of this world stay on television for some time and, importantly, to continue to make a fool of themselves. Let the world see for itself how their myopic ideas are formed and their twisted minds function. Over time, these people will surely implode under the weight of their puny intellects while disgracing themselves thoroughly and completely. The process might even cleanse their minds and, perhaps, even their souls too.
As for Truman, not every decision he made was universally liked. Historically speaking, his decision to drop two atomic bombs on Japan to end World War II and involvement in the stalemate that became the war in Korea remain controversial decisions even to this day. But in seeking equal treatment for African Americans in the military, he did one thing that I admire greatly in a leader: he transcended who he was. In doing so, he demonstrated the ability to approach a serious public policy problem not based on who he was but in spite of who he was.
On this day, the Pat Buchanans of this world could certainly learn a thing or two about morality and character from Harry Truman.
"Cannon to right of them, cannon to left of them"
During the 1948 presidential election, Southern Democrats rebelled, protesting President Harry Truman's civil rights program, while left-leaning Democrats split off to form the Progressive Party under the leadership of Henry A. Wallace. This prompted Herb Block to invoke the heroic, if ill-fated warrior in Alfred Tennyson's The Charge of the Light Brigade.
Truman surprised almost everyone by winning the election in November.
Herblock, Washington Post, February 23, 1948
The Chicago Defender, which was founded by Robert S. Abbott on May 5, 1905, once heralded itself as "The World's Greatest Weekly." The newspaper was the nation's most influential black weekly newspaper by the advent of World War I, with more than two thirds of its readership base located outside of Chicago.
"A Dismaying Document"
Chicago Defender, July 31, 1948
Sitting behind Truman is his running mate, Senator Alben Barkley (D-KY). When FDR died on April 12, 1945 and Truman succeeded him, he did not have a Vice President for almost four years until the Truman/Barkley ticket was elected in November 1948. Up until that point in our history and, not until the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1967, no provision existed to choose a successor and the VP's office remained vacant once the serving VP had assumed the presidency due to death
Clifford Berryman, Washington Post Writer's Group (1948)
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Additional Reading
- Executive Order 9981, July 26, 1948' from the University of Missouri's web site.
- 'Desegregation of the Armed Forces: Chronology' from the web site of the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum.
- 'Historian Alonzo Hamby on Truman and Civil Rights' from PBS.
- 'American Experience - The Presidents: Truman' from PBS. If you have never seen this presentation, I would highly recommend it. Go to the point where 1:09 are left in this four-hour documentary to learn about Truman and civil rights.
- I would also point you towards two diaries that I had written in years past. The first one is about the life of Paul Robeson, Scholar, Athlete, Actor, Singer, Linguist, Activist, and More. The second one is about the exploits of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the Civil War, Glory: May 28, 1863. I list these two diaries to highlight the enormous contributions made by others who had bravely fought to seek equal treatment under the law -- well before the modern civil rights movement started.
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2. The Issue of Race in America: Wingnuttery Abounds
Several incidents this past week reminded us that in some quarters racism is alive and well in this country.
A prominent conservative television commentator and former presidential candidate (Buchanan) hurled charges of reverse racism and favoritism in the selection of a nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States, for which he was taken to task by one of his colleagues. Some of you may know that New York Times columnist Frank Rich grew up in the same city as Pat Buchanan -- Washington D.C. You are all familiar with Buchanan's incendiary statements over the years. Rich wrote this wonderful column just before Barack Obama's inauguration in which he recounted his childhood experiences in a largely segregated city
White Like Me
But as an unintended consequence of Washington’s particular brand of Jim Crow, white public school students got a tiny taste of what racially mandated second-class citizenship could mean. In those days, the city didn’t even have the bastardized form of "self-government" it has now; it was run as a plantation by Congressional District panels led by racist white Southerners (then Democrats). These overseers didn’t want to lavish money on an overwhelmingly black school system, and they didn’t. By the early 1960s, per-student spending in Washington was less than that of any state, impoverished West Virginia and Mississippi included.
Lloyd Dangle, Troubletown
On July 10, 2009, Governor Rick Perry (R) named Gail Lowe to chair the Texas state board of education. Posting on the Houston Chronicle's Evosphere blog, Steven Schafersman of Texas Citizens for Science commented, "Lowe will do what the radical religious right powers want her to do. She will not stop the continuing politicization of public education in Texas by the Fundamentalist Christians who still have positions of power and influence. It will be business as usual, as as usual, public education and the students and teachers of the state will suffer."
Ben Sargent, Universal Press Syndicate
Abell Smith, Eat the State!
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Additional Reading
- 'How to Handle Sonia' in Human Events.
- 'Rachel Maddow Takes Down MSNBC's Resident Racist, Pat Buchanan' - transcript from Maddow's MSNBC Show on July 16, 2009 as provided by Alternet.
- 'Rachel Maddow Corrects Pat Buchanan's (Racist) Statements!' on MSNBC from YouTube.
A well-respected African-American professor at Harvard University was arrested trying to enter his own house in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Mike Lane, Cagle Cartoons
Dan Wasserman, Boston Globe
Chris Britt, State Journal Register (IL)
Jeff Danziger, Cartoonists and Writers Syndicate
Dave Granlund, Politicalcartoons.com
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Additional Reading
- 'What Do You Call a Black Man with a Ph.D.?' in The Root.
- 'How Henry Louis Gates Blew It' in Mother Jones.
- 'Skip Gates Speaks' in The Root.
- 'The Depressing Cycle of Racial Accusation' in Slate.
- 'Profiling in Shades of Gray' in the Washington Post. 23AR2009072302632.html
- 'The Black Man at the Door' in the Washington Post.
- 'Affirmative Action's Untimely Obituary' in the Washington Post.
- 'Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man' in the New Yorker. The article was written by Professor Henry Louis 'Skip' Gates.
- 'The Race Dialogue We Won't Have' in the Washington Post.
The so-called Birthers reared their ugly heads again in a number of different ways.
Chan Lowe, the editorial cartoonist for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, wrote this in explaining his cartoon
"Birther" True Believers
There must be a great deal of consternation and disappointment among certain circles that Barack Obama has been in office for six months already, and to date has not placed a mark on the Oval Office wall indicating the correct direction of Mecca.
Since the Muslim rumor has proven to be unsubstantiated, one must resort to a backup line of attack, the notion that the Hawaii Certificate of Live Birth is a forgery, and that Obama, actually born in Kenya, is therefore not qualified to hold office.
One can only wonder whether the "Birthers," as they are called, would have been so zealous in their pursuit of truth and justice had John McCain been elected, considering that his claim to naturalized birth (Canal Zone) is much more tenuous.
Nor can we escape the irony that several of our very first presidents--among them the sainted George Washington and Thomas Jefferson--were born British subjects, since there was not even a United States at the time within whose borders they would have come into this world. But nobody is questioning their legitimacy.
This whole affair would be comical, except that it does play to the worst aspects of the American character. In stressful times like these, such messages of hate have a way of rapidly infecting a fearful and ignorant populace. And there are certain public figures, who, for their own selfish reasons, are pouring fuel on the flames.
For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.
Chan Lowe, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press, see reader comments in the newspaper
Lou Dobbs ON CNN: "Let's See the Birth Certificate!"
Lloyd Dangle, Troubletown
Tom Toles, Washington Post
Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mike Thompson, Detroit Free Press
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Additional Reading
- 'Just Asking' in Political Wire.
- 'Challenges to Obama's Citizenship Grow' from several sources.
- 'Reasons To Stop Obsessing Over Obama's Birth Certificate' from the rightwing web site Townhall.com. You should really read this rare burst of sanity from the wingnuts.
- "Playing to the Wackos" from several sources.
- 'McCain Campaign Investigated, Dismissed Obama Citizenship Rumors' in the Washington Independent.
- 'Daily Show Takes on Dobbs' from Political Wire.
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3. Healthcare Reform: If Not Now, When?
Once again, editorial cartoonist Chan Lowe of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel tell us what's on the mind of many people here on 'Daily Kos'
If someone were to post a detailed breakdown of the health care coverage congress has voted for itself at our expense, and the amount (or lack of same) congresspersons have to cough up in premiums and co-pays, then mobs armed with pitchforks, scythes and torches would be storming the Capitol doors.
There is really no word to describe the level of hypocrisy displayed by those who enjoy government-paid Cadillac health coverage for themselves and their families, yet who cry "socialism" at the mere breath of a government-offered program for the masses as an alternative to private coverage, or to no coverage at all.
For these parasites, there appears to be no fear of government bureaucracy interposing itself between patient and doctor. Maybe it's because they are the very bureaucracy that they so roundly condemn.
Evidently, the unwashed proletariat that sent them to Washington is not entitled to, or cannot be trusted with, the same type and level of care. In fact, they tell us we can't afford it. Maybe the point of letting them enjoy what we would like to have for ourselves is a way of lifting the burden of daily worry from their shoulders, so that they can be free to make intelligent and selfless decisions on our behalf.
On the other hand, giving them a taste of what we have to face might concentrate their thinking.
Won't happen.
Chan Lowe, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
David Horsey, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Tom Toles, Washington Post
Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Joel Pett, Lexington Herald-Leader
Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press
Health Care Pill
J.D. Crowe, Mobile Register
Gary Varvel, Indianapolis Star
Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press
Mike Thompson, Detroit Free Press
Nick Anderson, Houston Chronicle
Matt Davies, New York Journal News
Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Steve Breen, San Diego Union-Tribune
John Darkow, Columbia Daily Tribune
Monte Wolverton, The Wolvertoon
Jimmy Margulies, New Jersey Record
Gary Varvel, Indianapolis Star
Stuart Carlson, Universal Press Syndicate
R.J. Matson, Roll Call
Tom Toles, Washington Post
Larry Wright, Detroit News
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Additional Reading
- 'Politics Driving Opposition to Health Care Reform' in Political Wire.
- 'The Can't-Do Blue Dogs' in the Washington Post.
- 'Ten Questions on the Health-Care Overhaul' in the Wall Street Journal.
- 'Why Health Care Will Pass' in the Washington Post.
- GOP Strategists Worry Attacks Will Backfire' in Political Wire.
- 'The Ghosts of Clintoncare' in the Washington Post.
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4. President Barack Obama: Respected But Not Feared as a Political Leader By His Opponents?
No one doubts Barack Obama's intellectual prowess and legendary skills as an accomplished politician. Six months into his first term, the question must be asked: respected as he is by friends and (most) foes alike, does anyone fear him politically? After all, many of the so-called "Blue Dogs" opposing him on healthcare reform and other initiatives would not have been in Congress were it not for Obama's landslide victory and resulting coattails last year. Post-partisan politics and ushering the country into a post-ideological era are worthwhile goals but great presidents put the fear of God not only into their opponents but also members of their own political party.
Can Obama do that to achieve his legislative goals? It remains to be seen.
Clay Jones, Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, VA)
Waterloony
Mark Streeter, Savannah Morning News
Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune
Jeff Danziger, Cartoonists and Writers Syndicate
Patrick Corrigan, Toronto Star
Ted Rall, Universal Press Syndicate
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Additional Reading
- 'Poll: US image abroad surges under Obama' in the Associated Press.
- 'Obama Complains About the News Cycle but Dominates It, Worrying Some' in the New York Times.
- 'Obama Gets High Marks on Leadership, Empathy' in a new Gallup Poll.
- 'He Promised Change, but Is This Too Much, Too Soon?' in the Washington Post. An excellent article by long-time reporter Dan Balz.
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5. Investigating the CIA and Cheney: Will it Ever Happen?
Top Bush administration officials in 2002 debated testing the Constitution by sending American troops into the suburbs of Buffalo to arrest a group of men suspected of plotting with Al Qaeda, according to former administration officials.
Some of the advisers to President George W. Bush, including Vice President Dick Cheney, argued that a president had the power to use the military on domestic soil to sweep up the terrorism suspects, who came to be known as the Lackawanna Six, and declare them enemy combatants.
How Dick Cheney Would Have Handled the Gates Incident
Monte Wolverton, Cagle Cartoons
Ben Sargent, Universal Press Syndicate
Charlie Daniel, Knoxville News Sentinel
Vic Harville, Stephens Media Group
Mike Thompson, Detroit Free Press
John Sherffius, Boulder Daily Camera
Jeff Danziger, New York Times Syndicate
Jim Morin, Miami Herald
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6. Our Favorite Republicans: What are They Up To?
Jeff Danziger, New York Times Syndicate
Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press, cartoon submitted by Kossack Sandy on Signal, see reader comments in the newspaper
Dick Locher, Chicago Tribune
Robert Ariail, The State (SC)
Jed Lewison, Daily Kos
Robert Ariail, The State (SC)
Kevin Siers, Charlotte Observer
Kevin Siers, Charlotte Observer
Jim Morin, Miami Herald
Top Ten Things Overheard At Sarah Palin's Farewell Party
(from the The Late Show With David Letterman)
- "More tiny hot dog appetizers? You betcha"
- "Don't forget to schedule an appointment with Joe the Mover"
- "Quiet down! We don't want to wake the Russians"
- "Todd, I've always wanted to know -- what do you do exactly?"
- "John McCain passed out in the dip"
- "Where can I check my pelt?"
- "Bad news -- the new governor just quit"
- "Please accept this gift from all of us at Lenscrafters"
- "'Dancing with the Stars' called, they got your resume"
- "I haven't seen you since the 'Fire Dave Letterman' Rally"
Matt Davies, Journal News (NY)
Mike Peters, Dayton Daily News
Jeff Danziger, New York Times Syndicate
Lee Judge, Kansas City Star
Don Wright, Palm Beach Post
Pat Oliphant, Universal Press Syndicate
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Additional Reading
- 'Palin's Next Step Is Still a Mystery' from the Wall Street Journal.
- 'Ensign’s Chief of Staff Leaving' in the Las Vegas Sun.
- 'Sanford: Let’s Change the Subject' in the State.
- 'The Pickering Diaries' in Harper's magazine.
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7. Sotomayor: Smooth Sailing
Matt Bors, Idiot Box
David Horsey, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Vic Harville, Stephens Media Group
Jim Morin, Miami Herald
Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press
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8. Economy: Will the Recession End This Year?
R.J. Matson, St. Louis Post Dispatch
Jeff Danziger, New York Times Syndicate
Jim Morin, Miami Herald
R.J. Matson, St. Louis Post Dispatch
Goldman Sacks Loots and Pillages
John Cole, Scranton Times-Tribune
Jack Ohman, The Oregonian
The Patience Of Jobs
John Darkow, Columbia Daily Tribune
Adam Zyglis, Buffalo News
Stuart Carlson, Universal Press Syndicate
Nick Anderson, Houston Chronicle
Ted Rall, Universal Press Syndicate
Jeff Parker, Florida Today
Bob Englehart, Hartford Courant
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9. The Trouble Spots: Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan
Paresh Nath, Khaleej Times (UAE)
Matt Bors, United Features Syndicate
Paresh Nath, Khaleej Times (UAE)
Steve Sack, Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Spiritual leader
The Shah of Iran, Reza Shah Pahlavi, left his country on January 16, 1979 paving the way for a new government led by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. On April 1, 1979, Khomeini established an Islamic republic in Iran, calling it "the first day of the government of God." Revolutionary fervor ran high as armed vigilante bands and kangaroo courts made bloody work of the Shah's last partisans and what remained of the secular left. Under Khomeini's fanatic rule, firing squads summarily carried out death sentences. His followers seized the American embassy and numerous hostages on November 4, 1979
Herblock, Washington Post, April 8, 1979
Ted Rall, Universal Press Syndicate
Peter Nicholson, The Australian
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Additional Reading
- 'The Irresistible Illusion' in the London Review of Books.
- 'News From Tehran: How to Talk to a Regime at War With Itself?' in the Washington Post.
- 'A Letter to a Former Friend' in Foreign Policy magazine.
- 'Iran: The Tragedy & the Future' in the New York Review of Books.
- 'The Real News From Pakistan' in the U.K.'s Prospect magazine.
- 'Confidence in Obama Lifts U.S. Image Around the World' in the latest Pew Research Poll.
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10. R.I.P Frank McCourt
Brian Duffy, Des Moines Register
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11. An Interesting Revelation: Vice President Walter Cronkite in 1972?
Vice President Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite could have been vice president of the United States, and that would have both ended the war in Vietnam with some dignity and prevented Watergate from becoming "our long national nightmare."
Read the rest of this article in the Washington Post by Frank Mankiewicz, a senior aide to both Bobby Kennedy, Jr. in 1968 and Senator George McGovern in 1972.
Jimmy Margulies, New Jersey Record
Ed Stein, United Media
Bruce Beattie, Daytona News-Journal
Nate Beeler, Washington Examiner
J.D. Crowe, Mobile Register
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12. Texting While On the Road
There is a growing concern that sending text messages while driving is a traffic safety danger. Presently, nine states ban text messages but only by young drivers with learner's permits or temporary driver licenses. In four states -- Arkansas, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia -- school bus drivers cannot send text messages while they are driving.
Jimmy Margulies, New Jersey Record
Tony Auth, Philadelphia Inquirer
Bruce Beattie, Daytona News-Journal
Dan Wasserman, Boston Globe
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13. Final Thoughts
Were Mark Twain alive today and using Twitter to promote his books, would you respect him as much as people do nowadays?
Taylor Jones, Hoover Digest
... and did you know that the Alabama Beverage Control only supports "Baptist-Friendly Booze?"
J.D. Crowe, Mobile Register
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Additional Reading
- 'The News About the Internet' in the New York Review of Books. 'Daily Kos' and 'Firedoglake' are among a number of web sites mentioned in the article.
- 'Porno Wine Label' in CroweBlog in the Mobile Register.
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A Note About the Diary Poll
Mike Keefe, Denver Post
As everyone knows, discrimination of any kind generally has to with a person's behavior. Racism, on the other hand, is at times difficult to decipher for it largely has to to do with one's attitudes.
Ever since Harry Truman desegregated the armed services on this day sixty one years ago, there have have been a number of high and low points (see the complete list of important events, some of which I could not include in the poll due to space limitations) in this struggle to achieve racial equality. From legal cases to large-scale demonstrations to boycotts to police brutality to killings, the modern civil rights movement traversed through a long, torturous, and, at times, murderous road. Even so, there has been discernible political and economic progress since Lyndon Johnson signed into law both the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts in the mid-1960's. Making social progress and eradicating racism in this society, however, has been a much tougher nut to crack. Every now so often, one hears of instances of hate crimes and wonders, "Will this ever end and, if so, when?"
As you ponder your choices in the diary poll, I am in particularly interested in reading your thoughts on this issue of race that has bedeviled our country for centuries. If you or a member of your family or friends were involved in any way, shape, or form in the 1960's Civil Right Movement, do share your experiences.
