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Raising Duncan, Comics.com
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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 base 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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In with the New by Clay Bennett, Comics.com, see reader comments in the Chattanooga Times Free Press
Chip Bok, Comics.com
Congress New Year by Daryl Cagle, MSNBC.com, Buy this cartoon
Don Wright, Comics.com (Tribune Media Services)
Gary Markstein, Comics.com (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
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INTRODUCTION
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Tea Party Elected Office by Adam Zyglis, Buffalo News, Buy this cartoon

Looking Ahead
According to Newsweek, the White House plans to aggressively enforce environmental regulations as they anticipate efforts from Republicans to strip authority from the EPA... The GOP plans to hold high profile hearings examining the alleged 'scientific fraud' behind global warming, a sleeper issue in this election that motivated the base quite a bit.
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Given the "shellacking" that the Democrats received in the November 2010 Elections, here's what we can expect in the coming months and years: whatever legislative agenda the Democratic and Republican parties have for the next two years, it is going to be fiercely debated and fought over with the outcome unknown at the present time.
Here are a few questions to ponder as we begin this new year
- Will the Republicans begin to self-destruct given the conflicting demands of its Tea Party Caucus?
- Will President Barack Obama be able to exploit political divisions within the Republican Party and put it on the political defensive?
- Will President Obama fight for progressive priorities and if so, what are the chances of any measures being enacted?
- Realistically, is there any chance of substantive legislation (Climate Change, for example) being passed given Republican control of the U.S. House of Representatives?
- Will any frivolous "investigations" be launched in coming months in the U.S. House of Representatives and create the kind of political circus that defined our politics after the 1994 takeover of both legislative chambers by the Republican Party?
- Will the economy improve enough and the unemployment rate drop sufficiently to guarantee the President re-election in 2012? If the economy improves, which political party will get credit for it?
- What unexpected, yet-to-be-determined external events will impact domestic politics?
- When will Speaker John Boehner cry in public for the first time in 2011?
Ed Stein examines what's in store when the new 112th Congress descends upon Washington, D.C. later this month.
In With the New by Ed Stein, Comics.com (edsteinink.com)
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I probably shouldn’t draw cartoons I dream up in the middle of the night. I tried for days to come up with a New Year cartoon, without success. Last night at 3 am, this came to me. I’m not entirely sure it works, but deadlines do have a way of making cartoon ideas look better the closer they get. I just like the image of the GOP elephant wielding the scythe as Father Time departs the scene.
The emboldened Republicans come into 2011 with an agenda to undo most of Obama’s accomplishments. Right behind Obamacare on the hit list is the Dodd-Frank financial reform package. It’s not nearly as strong or comprehensive as I’d have liked, but it’s more than the GOP and its Wall Street puppetmasters want. In the fantasy world of the Republican party, government is the only reason anything ever goes wrong, and the private sector, if the busybodies in Washington would just leave it the heck alone, will solve all problems. So the economic meltdown had nothing whatever to do with greed on Wall Street or banks creating trillions of dollars in complex derivatives backed by pixie dust, and we don’t need anyone looking over their shoulders to make sure they don’t do it again.
Now that they’ve preserved the tax cuts for the rich, the rest of us will need to pay for it somehow, which means "fixing" Social Security -- a euphemism for cutting benefits. The next time you hear the term "redistribution of wealth," think about the social safety net being plundered for the benefit of the wealthiest citizens.
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Shellacking by Steve Greenberg, Freelance Cartoonist (Los Angeles, CA), Buy this cartoon
Tim Eagan, Deep Cover, Buy this cartoon
Flat Earth Society by Steve Greenberg, VCReporter (Ventura, CA), Buy this cartoon
Tim Eagan, Deep Cover, Buy this cartoon
The News Cycle by Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune, Buy this cartoon
Shellacked by Rob Rogers, Comics.com, see reader comments in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
I agree that it is silly for Obama to describe the "shellacking" he took last week during the midterm elections as a "communication problem." People are unhappy because they aren't seeing the economy turn around fast enough. History tells us that the party in power always loses big in those situations. It doesn't matter what the president says. Reagan and Clinton, both excellent communicators, experienced the same kind of midterm defeat. <b.The difference is, no one ever accused Bubba or The Gipper of being a Communist.</strong>
-- Rogers on the changed political environment over the past few decades
Clear Message by Randall Enos, Cagle Cartoons, Buy this cartoon
The Orwell Party Returns by Andy Singer, Politicalcartoons.com, Buy this cartoon
Tea Party Returns Gift by Milt Priggee, www.miltpriggee.com, Buy this cartoon
Climate is Gone by Monte Wolverton, Cagle Cartoons, Buy this cartoon
Presidential PowerPoint by RJ Matson, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Buy this cartoon
Lloyd Dangle, Troubletown, Buy this cartoon
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The above cartoon is based on this song by The Fugs - Nothing (1965)
Monday, nothing
Tuesday, nothing
Wednesday and Thursday nothing
Friday, for a change
a little more nothing
Saturday once more nothing...
oh, Village Voice nothing
New Yorker nothing
Sing Out and Folkways nothing
Harry Smith and Allen Ginsberg
nothing, nothing, nothing...
Stevenson nothing
Humphrey nothing
Averell Harriman nothing
John Stuart Mill nil, nil
Franklin Delano nothing
Karlos Marx nothing
Engels nothing
Bakunin and Kropotkin nothing
Leon Trotsky lots of nothing
Stalin less than nothing
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2. Thorny Policy Issues
Dana Summers, Comics.com (Orlando Sentinel)
Bill Day, Comics.com (Memphis Commercial-Appeal)
Dreams by Nick Anderson, Comics.com, see reader comments in the Houston Chronicle
Arcadio Esquivel, La Nacion (Costa Rica), Buy this cartoon
Drowning New Year by Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune, Buy this cartoon
Steve Breen, Comics.com (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Vic Harville, Stephens Media Group (Little Rock, AR), Buy this cartoon
Tax Cuts For The Rich by Patrick Chappatte, International Herald Tribune, Buy this cartoon
Baby Boomers by John Darkow, Columbia Daily Tribune, Buy this cartoon
Robert Ariail, Comics.com (formerly of The State, SC)
Tim Eagan, Deep Cover, Buy this cartoon
Lisa Benson, Comics.com (Washington Post Writers Group)
GOP New Year by Nate Beeler, Washington Examiner, Buy this cartoon
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3. The Fragile Economy
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Chan Lowe, Comics.com (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
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Lowe wonders how much things are going to change economically over the coming year. It's going to be a tough, long, hard slog
In with the New Year, Same as the Old Year
Can you say, "jobless recovery?"
I have admitted before that I'm no economist, but I simply can't grasp, from a linguistic standpoint, how the two words can exist side by side. Maybe people who are disconnected from daily reality, like our members of Congress, can understand it.
In any case, have a Happy New Year!
Shovel Ready by Clay Bennett, Comics.com, see reader comments in the Chattanooga Times Free Press
Kevin Siers, Charlotte Observer/Cagle Cartoons, Buy this cartoons
New Year's 2011 by Dave Granlund, Politicalcartoons.com, Buy this cartoon
Calendar 2011 by Steve Greenberg, Freelance Cartoonist (Los Angeles, CA), Buy this cartoon
Walt Handelsman, Comics.com (Newsday)
Matt Davies, Comics.com (New York Journal-News)
Mike Luckovich, Comics.com (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
On the Eve of 2011 by David Fitzsimmons, Arizona Star, Buy this cartoon
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4. The Winter of 2011: The Winter of Our Discontent
Christmas Blizzard by Clay Bennett, Comics.com, see reader comments in the Chattanooga Times Free Press
Jack Ohman, Comics.com (Portland Oregonian)
Drew Sheneman, Comics.com (Newark Star-Ledger)
Don Wright, Comics.com (Tribune Media Services)
Happy New Year Snow by Aislin, Montreal Gazette, Buy this cartoon
Steve Benson, Comics.com (Arizona Republic)
Bloomberg and Blizzard Response by Dave Granlund, Politicalcartoons.com, Buy this cartoon
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5. TSA: the Traveler's Worst Friend
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Matt Bors, Comics.com (Idiot Box)
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Bors is outraged at the TSA stories coming out of this travel season
Don’t Grope Me, Bro
Government agents are groping us and molesting our children. Obama, once again a mile behind the public and unable to relate, robotically assures us he "gets it" while actually being in a position to, you know, do something about it. Even conservatives who personally volunteered their colons for inspection during the Bush years are second guessing the security state they’ve cheered on for a decade. Everyone is wondering if we can just go back to doing this to Muslims only, please.
Personally, I’d rather live with the risks of terrorism than be inconvenienced and violated like this. Statistically there isn’t much of a need to worry and if someone in the seat next to me tries to light their shoe on fire, I guess I get be on CNN that day. One way or the other.
If you are flying for the holiday I wish you a hassle-free experience. If you opt for the body scanner, I hope the radiation is as low as they claim and the inevitable naked pictures leaked to the internet by an incompetent and/or perverted TSA agent won’t be yours.
Here’s a TSA comic (see below cartoon by Bors from January 1, 2010) I drew around the time of the underwear bomber. I have three comics coming out this week so check back here on your smart phone if you need a break form the relatives.
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New TSA Measures by Matt Bors, Comics.com (Idiot Box)
Lloyd Dangle, Troubletown, Buy this cartoon
Just in time for the holidays: Security Theatre Follies! What'll it be, ogled or groped? by Tom Tomorrow, This Modern World/Salon, see Letters to the Editor in Salon magazine
(click link to enlarge cartoon)
2011 Passing Through by David Fitzsimmons, Arizona Star, Buy this cartoon
Henry Payne, Comics.com (Detroit News)
Nick Anderson, Comics.com (Houston Chronicle)
J.D. Crowe, see reader comments in the Mobile Register, Buy this cartoon
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Crowe has a bit of fun at the expense of homophobes
TSA Love Story
Everybody's buzzing about the aggressive pat-downs by airport security workers. Some say they'd rather get groped than die. Others are put off, but are wiling to go along.
And SOME of you pervs are so desperate for a fondling you buy an airline ticket and never leave the airport. You just keep going through the security checkpoint over and over again, gettin' your jollies. I've seen you. And the next time you cut in front of me, your wrong end is gonna taste the sharp end of my stilleto, bucko. Then there are those people who act like they'd rather be flogged by a mean giant rooster than be touched by a nondescript but chubby TSA screener.
Like homophobes who protest too much about gay people, I think those who are voicing the most outrage about pat-downs are afraid they might like it a little too much.
Shall we call them grope-a-phobes? Let's do.
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6. Final Thoughts
Steve Breen, Comics.com (San Diego Union-Tribune)
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Here's some news you could not possibly use.