Cartoons: mixed messages

Today's mix of cartoons includes a comment on Jon Stewart's departure from TV, one on mindless violence in theaters, and a perspective on the recent Republican debates.

Follow this link for a video of Jon Stewart’s final sign off for The Daily Show. He was one of the best for holding Fox News at bay. I'll miss that.

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Steve Sack, The Week

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CBS in Washington, DC, asks readers in a poll: Amid Recent Attacks, Do Movie Theaters Need More Security? Not many have answered yet so there's still time to have your say.

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Steve Kelley, The Week

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USA Today reports, "Thursday's Republican primary debate nabbed a huge 24 million viewers Thursday, ranking as the most-watched primary debate ever." I'm guessing Donald Trump was the reason.

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Bill Day, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: Already missing Jon Stewart

"Jon Stewart to Leave 'The Daily Show' This Year," says the Rolling Stone. And it's sad news indeed. For me Jon Stewart is the voice of reason in a stridently polarized world. His forte was commenting on the news of the day.

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John Darkow, The Week

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Another reporter, this one supposedly a 'real' one, is leaving his post, having been shot down for gross inaccuracies, "Brian Williams' False 2003 Iraq Helicopter Claim Draws Scrutiny To Other War Exploits."

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Adam Zyglis, The Week

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Forbes has an interesting comparison of the two: "Brian Williams, Jon Stewart And The Line Between Real And Fake News."

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Chris Britt, The Week

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Meanwhile, more trouble on the internet superhighway: "Cost of Anthem's data breach likely to exceed $100 million."

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Gary Varvel, The Week

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And, of course, my (almost) weekly shot at the filthy rich.

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Walt Handelsman, The Week

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-- Marge

DIY: staying sane in crazy times

Rick McKee, The Augusta Chronicle

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With reports of war, aggressive actions, tyranny, children in distress and increasing violence of all sorts multiplying exponentially, it's time for some psychological self-preservation.  One could just turn off the TV and radio and stop reading, or at least tune out the news, but that seems somewhat self-defeating. And, considering the current state of the world, it may be dangerous not to have some warning.

Another possibility for self-preservation is humor, particularly satire.  Dr. George Simon, psychologist and responder to Ask the Psychologist, writes "Satire [is] Snideness that Satisfies."

To me Jon Stewart's presentations of the news in The Daily Show feel like fresh air in the way he cuts through the feldergarb.

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Jon Stewart, Let's Buy CNN Kickstarter, The Daily Show

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Stephen Colbert's presentations in the Colbert Report are similar to Jon's but more clearly satiric, in that you're often not quite sure whether he's being serious or sarcastic.

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Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report

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Other resources for satire are The Onion, The Daily Currant, and National Report.

If you feel you must act out, here are "Fourteen Insane Ways to Stay Sane During These Crazy Times." Be warned: doing any of these things will probably get a reaction, maybe adverse.

-- Marge

War on Christmas cartoons

Fox News would have us believe there's a war on Christmas.  It must be so because the reporters there have repeated it over and over (as they do many news items).  And some other reporters and cartoonists have run with the idea.  For example, Jon Stewart at "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central. (Sure miss Jon's point of view.)

Bearman (who may not have a first name)  at Bearman Cartoons posted this cartoon in 2011:

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A cartoon by Jeff Koterba, dated 2011, is posted at Cagle Post --

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Pat Bagley weighs in on the war on Christmas at The Week Magazine with this one:

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And at TruthDig, "drilling beneath the headlines," I found one by Nick Anderson:

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So, is there a war on Christmas?  Jeff Sorensen at the Huffington Post says "The War on Christmas Doesn't Exist."

-- Marge