Cartoons: Trump's privacy is more important than mine or yours

Twitter-King Trump's claim that Obama wiretapped him lingers on. In the meantime he has repealed the internet privacy rules passed last year using the

Congressional Review Act (CRA) that allows Congress and the president to overturn recently passed agency regulations. A successful CRA bill also prevents the agency from implementing similar rules in the future. (The Hill) 

There's a timeline of Trump's "false wiretapping charge" at Politifact.

Here's a visual aid.

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Glenn McCoy, The Week

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And who really knows the current state of the Republicans' "new" health care plan?

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Steve Sack, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: the truth is out there -- somewhere

During this week--Wikileaks news just keeps comin'; it's beginning to look like conspiracy theorists rule the day; an informal poll recognizes that we all, that's 100%, want this election to be over; and MetLife fired Charlie Brown.

Between Russians trying to hack our confidence in the election process, Wikileaks trying to discredit Clinton; and undercover video stings (see The hacking, leaking, undercover election), what's a voter to do?

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Glenn McCoy, The Week

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The Washington Post Magazine reports that this is The Conspiracy Theorists’ Election. On the 40th anniversary of the Moon Landing (July 16,1969), Time Magazine looked at 10 of the most enduring conspiracy theories.

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Drew Sheneman, The Week

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I'm guessing we all agree on one thing:

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Tom Toles, The Week

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And MetLife fired Charlie Brown...

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Steve Breen, The Week

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A-a-nd I've been wondering: if Trump doesn't accept that he lost the election, what 's he gonna do? Show up at the White House with a moving van? Take the podium at the Inaugural? Crash a Joint Chiefs of Staff national security meeting? Just sayin'.

-- Marge

Cartoons: everyone has a story

The mix today looks at the Flint Michigan hearings; an Edward R. Murrow quote about campaigns as circus; whether voters are anti-republican establishment or anti-democrat establishment; and the true winner of the 2016 election.

In the congressional hearings on who dropped the ball in Flint, there are several ways to look at it. Here are two: The poisonous conservative thinking that caused the Flint crisis and Will Anyone Accept Responsibility for Flint?

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Clay Jones, The Week

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I never knew that newscaster Edward R. Murrow could be so wise. Here are some of his quotes.

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David Horsey, The Week

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Journalists appear to be defining Bernie Sanders as an anti-Democratic-establishment candidate and Donald Trump as an anti-Republican-establishment candidate. The Washington Post has a series called The great unsettling. This may come closer to the truth.

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Glenn McCoy, The Week

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And now, ta-da, the true outcome of the 2016 presidential election:

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Scott Stantis, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: safe spaces vs. no safe space

Glenn McCoy, The Week

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Today's cartoons look at 'safe spaces' vs. the constant barrage of conservative hatespeak.

First of all what's a 'safe space'? Basically it's about people In College and Hiding From Scary Ideas. According to author Judith Shulevitz:

Safe spaces are an expression of the conviction, increasingly prevalent among college students, that their schools should keep them from being “bombarded” by discomfiting or distressing viewpoints. Think of the safe space as the live-action version of the better-known trigger warning, a notice put on top of a syllabus or an assigned reading to alert students to the presence of potentially disturbing material.

The Wall Street Journal gives us the Roots of the ‘Safe Space’ Controversy.

Some would argue that college is a place for expanding one's mind and world view. At least that's what it used to be. Now college is where you get training for a profession, then try to get hired.

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Nate Beeler, The Week

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Then there's everyday life in America.

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David Horsey, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: root causes

It's been a tough week around the world, but toughest for Nepal and Cleveland.

So, what is a root cause? According to Wikipedia:

A root cause is an initiating cause of either a condition or a causal chain that leads to an outcome or effect of interest. Commonly, root cause is used to describe the depth in the causal chain where an intervention could reasonably be implemented to improve performance or prevent an undesirable outcome.

The root cause of the current state of Nepal was the earthquake.

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Steve Sack, The Week

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I'm not quite sure what the full extent of the root causes of the riots in Cleveland are, but pretty sure most of them are related to racism.  BTW, the driver of the police van has been charged with the depraved-heart murder of Freddie Gray, who was unlawfully arrested for carrying a pocket knife (not a switchblade).

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Drew Sheneman, The Week

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The root cause for Republicans taking over Congresses in America is in part gerrymandering, although Democrats attempt to do it too. Partisanship and polarization contribute.

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Glenn McCoy, The Week

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In a time when many legislative bodies are grappling with raising the minimum wage, the Minnesota House has lowered it for tip workers. Seems to me the root cause here is depraved-heart greed.

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Steve Sack, 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