Cartoons: tiki torches and swastikas

As if you haven't had enough already, here are some more comments on the fray in Charlottesville.

This one made me laugh.

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Chip Bok, The Week

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Here's a primer for would-be neo-Nazis.

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David Horsey, The Week

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And a little history lesson--it won't hurt, I promise.

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Tom Toles, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: Lost in translation

Today I'm looking at Mitch McConnell's Health Care Folly; a reminder of what's on the GOP's plate (since they rule the U.S. government now, however ineffectively) and Trump's Russian connection(s).

This cartoon by David Horsey is, to me, priceless.

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David Horsey, The Week

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Do I see fear in the Senate and House leaders' faces? The one in the middle is clueless.

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Chip Bok, The Week

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From what I see here on the sidelines, Trump is doing everything he can to quell investigation of his alleged Russian connections.

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Tom Toles, The Week

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Especially since he sat talking privately with Putin for an hour, using a Russian translator.

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Clay Jones, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: only the 2016 GOP presidential race is funny (and that not so much)

Today's comments include Bernie Sanders on climate change and terrorism, ISIS, a no-Syrians policy in America, innocent Muslim bystanders, and the 2012 vs. 2015 presidential races.

While some scoff, Bernie has a good point and doubles down on [the] climate change-terrorism link in a CBS news piece, which reported:

"If we are going to see an increase in drought, in flood, and extreme weather disturbances as a result of climate change, what that means is that people all over the world are going to be fighting over limited natural resources," the Vermont senator said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation," elaborating on an argument he made during the CBS News Democratic debate Saturday night. "If there is not enough water, if there is not enough land to grow your crops, then you're going to see migrations of people fighting over land that will sustain them. And that will lead to international conflict."

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Chip Bok, The Week

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I must admit it feels good to reduce ISIS to cockroaches.

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David Horsey, The Week

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The New York Times reports: G.O.P. Governors Vow to Close Doors to Syrian Refugees. I take exception to the word 'prudent' in the video; sounds like doublespeak to me.

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Jack Ohman, The Week

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Molenbeek, a Muslim community in Belgium, is where Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected architect of the Paris attacks, lived. The residents of  Molenbeek are telling us, 'We are not terrorists'.

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Chan Lowe, The Week

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I keep wondering, if I were to vote for a Republican candidate, who could I possibly vote for?

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John Cole, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: Just a-huggin' and a-chalkin'

For some reason Hoagy Carmichael's song "Huggin' And Chalkin'" comes to mind when I stand back and look at this week's cartoons. Certainly watching the news has undertones of an exercise in futility. But, there is some good news, as seen in today's last cartoon about a movement called Black Lives Matter.

President Obama is being controversial again, a state that seems to be linked to his simply being. Now it's his move toward normalizing relations with Cuba.

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Steve Sack, The Week

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With what looks like a price war on oil, was it smart to buy a hybrid? My opinion is yes.

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Chip Bok, The Week

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Congress rewards Wall Street yet again.

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David Horsey, The Week

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Republican, Reschmublican--despite their griping about the budget/national debt, Congress doesn't give a fig about either.

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Glenn McCoy, The Week

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There's protesting of "Excessive Force and Police Brutality" going on in the US and UK.

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Mike Keefe, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: the war continues but may turn a little foggy

Naturally, editorial cartoonists are having a field day with the election results. Some are looking at results not related to Republicans.

If Congressional action continues as it has recently, we have nothing to fear from a Republican one.

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Adam Zyglis, The Week

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New Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said as leader he hopes to work with President Obama and Democrats in the Senate, according to an interview with Time.

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Steve Sack, The Week

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Millennials Want Jobs, Not Vote Pandering. Unfortunately the Koch Brothers won.

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Chip Bok, The Week

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Now that marijuana is legal in more places, it's easier to tune it all out.

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Tom Toles, The Week

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While looking for an article that gives information on the topic of 'corporations as people', I found this: "Porn stars demand Google's help to combat piracy." Seems it's easy to forget that Google is a corporation, too.

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David Fitzsimmons, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: Thorny places

In Ferguson, Missouri, riots followed the shooting of robbery suspect Michael Brown, an incident that they tried to keep quiet.

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Adam Zyglis, The Week

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During the riots, reporters were arrested.

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Jack Ohman, The Week

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As a result of the riots and police actions,

...federal and state officials for the first time offered a sweeping response, criticizing the police reaction and calling for changes. Gov. Jay Nixon (D) announced that the Missouri State Highway Patrol would take over running security in Ferguson from the local police, which was followed by a remarkably different night in Ferguson that saw hugs and calm replace tear gas and fear. (Washington Post article about the shooting) 

War in Iraq continues. Although there may be hope on the horizon with Haidar al-Abadi stepping in as Prime Minister.

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Dan Wasserman, The Week

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Mike Keefe, The Week

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This last cartoon is a reference to M.C.Escher, perhaps best known for his constructs that jumble planes.

On the American homefront, there are many tributes to Robin Williams. In this one Jonathan Winters is speaking. I, for one, was deeply affected by Robin's death and already miss him.

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Chip Bok, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: Ebola, suing Obama, Russian hackers and agribiz

Well, at least it's not wars and rumors of war this week.  Instead we have the Republicans approving Boehner's lawsuit against Obama, threat of bodily harm by the Ebola virus, and Russian hackers stealing more than a billion usernames and passwords.  Also there's a comment on whether junk food is cheaper than healthy food.

Just the day before beginning summer recess, Republicans voted to sue Obama.  I think the following cartoon adequately describes the U.S. Congress' actions since Obama entered office.

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Adam Zyglis, The Week

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A majority of Americans disapprove of the GOP's lawsuit, according to the Huffington Post.

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David Fitzsimmons, The Week

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Meanwhile, Ebola spreads.

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Drew Sheneman, The Week

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Promising experimental drugs and vaccines are being developed for reputedly incurable Ebola, but there are obstacles, some man-made.

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Chip Bok, The Week

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It would be easy to say that the theft of 1.2 billion user login credentials by Russian hackers is a response to current sanctions, but the records were amassed earlier.  It's possible that release of the information about the hack was timed for maximum affect.

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Mike Luckovich, The Week

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Finally, Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?

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Pat Bagley, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: keep flapping

No theme today, just some funny and apt glimpses into life and the news...

I can sympathize with Bush calling for the TV controller, but that's about it.

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Chan Lowe, US News

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Cartoonist Sheneman's depicting an IRS operative as a medieval executioner has a ring to it.

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Drew Sheneman, US News

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In keeping with the fairy-tale aspects of the IRS investigation--

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Chip Bok, The Week

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And finally, don't we all have to just keep flapping at times?

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Jack Ohman, US News

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--Marge

Cartoons: Canary in a coal mine

Drew Sheneman, The Week

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Big news this week is Big Coal.  The EPA has proposed a rule to cut emissions; read all about it in "Everything you need to know about the EPA’s proposed rule on coal plants." Here's an excerpt:

The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday proposed a rule designed to cut carbon dioxide emissions from existing coal plants by as much as 30 percent by 2030, compared with 2005 levels. The regulation has prompted heavy lobbying from industry and environmental groups, and the ensuing battle promises to become, as the Natural Resources Defense Council Climate Director Peter Altman put it, “the Super Bowl of climate politics.”

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John Cole, The Week

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Of course, the Republicans have a lot to say about it (and anything the Obama administration proposes or does).  Here are a couple of cartoonists' views.

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Walt Handelsman, The Week

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Jack Ohman, The Week

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Meanwhile, we ordinary folk are left wonderin'.

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Chip Bok, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: Net what?

Frankly, I gave up on net neutrality years ago. In this polarized world increasingly ruled by greed, both corporate and individual, and big-money power, a delicate thing like neutrality doesn't have much of a chance. Of course this is just my point of view. For a survey of what's happening in net neutrality, take a look at the Huffington Post section on the topic.  CNN recently reported in "New chapter begins in net neutrality fight:"

The Federal Communications Commission faced a big setback on this front in January, when a court struck down its "Open Internet" rules. The FCC had barred ISPs from blocking or "unreasonably discriminating" against Web content, but Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500) successfully challenged the regulations on the grounds that the so-called "net neutrality" rules had overstepped the commission's legal authority.

Interesting that this was reported in CNN's money section.

Here's how some leading editorial cartoonists view the topic.

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John Cole, Cagle

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Nate Beeler, Cagle

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Milt Priggee, The Week

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--Marge

Tracking the tracker

With Snowden, the federal government's current policy of hiring temporary contractors whenever possible essentially backfired.  According to an article at Bloomberg Businessweek, "Snowden's Access to NSA's Deepest Secrets Disputed."  Quoting from the article --

Snowden, who leaked a PowerPoint deck on the NSA’s secret Prism spying program and a trove of other classified information that he stole from the agency, has depicted himself as a highly skilled mole who exposed the NSA’s deepest secrets to the world. News coverage of the leaks has helped promote this storyline. Yet current and former intelligence officials familiar with his role within the agency present a different picture—one of a 30-year-old outsider with a talent for self-promotion, whose junior position kept him at a distance from the NSA’s most sensitive spy operations.

With that in mind, let's take a look at the fun editorial cartoonists are having with Snowden's current situation: he was last seen 'hiding out' at the Moscow airport.

From Jeremy Nell at Cagle, "Where's Snowden:"
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Jeremy Nell, cagle.com

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From Chip Bok, also at Cagle, "Snowden in Moscow:"
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Chip Bok, cagle.com

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From Christopher Weyant at politicalhumor.about.com, "NSA Like Me:"
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Christopher Weyant, politicalhumor.about.com

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From Scott Stantis at the Chicago Tribune, "With 'Friends' Like These:"
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Scott Stantis, Chicago Tribune

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And my personal favorite, from Walt Handelsman at USNews:
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Walt Handelsman, US News (July 19, 2013)

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According to Huffington Post, 38% of those polled at first said Snowden did the right thing, and later said it was wrong (not necessarily the same people, just the same percentage).

-- Marge