Cartoons: we serfs

Net neutrality: are you for or against?

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Drew Sheneman, The Week

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America has a new motto: Government of the rich people, by the rich people, for the rich people.

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RJ Matson, The Week

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This one seems to be particularly true.

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Mike Luckovich, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: let the TV cameras roll

This week we take a look at Trump's ever-more-closed empire; GOP senators as downed Confederate soldiers; and Trump's idea that he can pardon himself and his cronies, if worse comes to worse.

Felix Salmon at Salon says Scaramucci may be Trump’s most dangerous enabler yet.

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RJ Matson, The Week

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Scaramucci seems to have absorbed the Donald's approach to news.

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Jack Ohman, The Week

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And we're back to the semi-repeal of Obamacare, again.

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Milt Priggee, The Week

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According to Trump he can pardon himself and his cohorts if the need arises. Others disagree.

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Mike Luckovich, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: for many the doctor is out

After 7 years of trying to repeal Obamacare, the House Republicans have come up with its replacement-- the  American Health Care Act (AHCA).  The Atlantic reports in The People Helped by the Republican Health-Care Bill stating:

Though most old and sick people will be worse off under the GOP bill, it might be a boon—real or perceived—for people earning just above the Obamacare subsidy cutoff.

If it doesn't help sick people, what's it for? They could have spent the time working to make Obamacare better. Wikipedia gives a history of the GOP's efforts to repeal Obamacare (ACA).

Here are some of the editorial cartoonists' comments.

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Steve Sack, The Week

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RJ Matson, The Week

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Adam Zyglis, The Week

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Meanwhile President Trump lives in a conspiracy theorist's world.

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Jack Ohman, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: next, the impeachment

No doubt some (the protesters) are saying Trump's Inauguration was a success and some (his supporters) are saying it was spoiled by the protesters. At any rate he's been sworn in and the CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) says he's now eligible for impeachment.

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Gary Varvel, The Week

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Setting up the Inaugural ball appears to have been difficult, with a number of performers declining to appear. Here's what NPR has to say about it: For The Inauguration, Trump's Music Picks Look A Lot Like Richard Nixon's.

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David Horsey, The Week

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Those of us on the sidelines may be feeling like a great shadow has fallen across America.

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John Cole, The Week

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And the threat of Russian interference still hangs in the air.

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RJ Matson, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: of tweets and tyrants

Silly me, I thought when the election was over Trump would fade away and I wouldn't have to look at his cartoony orange hair any more. So guess I'll have to bite the bullet and follow the Big Man more. What got me most about Trump this week was the news that he will continue as President to be Executive Producer of "The Celebrity Apprentice."

Yes, Trump has been named Person of the Year by Time Magazine; no, it's not more fake news. The Washington Post has this to say about it: Donald Trump is (finally) named Time’s ‘Person of the Year’.

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RJ Matson, The Week

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This is just wishful thinking.

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David Fitzsimmons, The Week

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A thumbs up to the Kellogg Company for saying last week that "ads for its brands would no longer appear on Breitbart." This is quoted from an article in the New Yorker about Breitbart's response. Has the former Executive Chair of Breitbart really been designated by Trump as his chief strategist in the White House? Answer: Yes.

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Steve Sack, The Week

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I ran across a large volume of Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America, published in 1835, this week. He spoke of the "tyranny of the majority," a concept the founding fathers understood well. It's ironic that

The Electoral College was created for two reasons. The first purpose was to create a buffer between population and the selection of a President. The second as part of the structure of the government that gave extra power to the smaller states. (Marc Schulman, History Central)

and the Electoral College is what put Trump in office. This article at Vox is to me most illuminating: "The people’s tyrant: what Plato can teach us about Donald Trump."

-- Marge

Cartoons: Fair and balanced?

Today I'm looking at Fox News, the U.S.'s Republican-dominated Congress, and the view that many voters have of this presidential election.

The dust appears to be settling at Fox News according to this article in The Week Magazine:

Roger Ailes is gone. So is Greta Van Susteren. Megyn Kelly is rumored to possibly be on the move. Gretchen Carlson settled her sexual harassment charges against Ailes for a cool $20 million. And then there's Gabriel Sherman's bombshell report for New York magazine about Ailes' 20-year reign at Fox News. All of this has spawned obsessive speculation about the future of America's No. 1 cable news channel.

But I doubt that "fair and balanced," which used to be the objective of responsible journalism, will ever describe this news channel--its brand of "conservative messaging" is/was too popular.

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Scott Stantis, The Week

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The U.S. Congress left the concept of fair and balanced behind some time ago. Now it's mostly Republican. See the Wikipedia entry for the 114th United States Congress for some good graphics showing the numbers of Republicans vs. Democrats. With Trump running as a Republican, Congress may find itself in a bind.

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RJ Matson, The Week

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Meanwhile many voters feel betrayed.

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Bob Englehart, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: It's Trump's Republican Party Now

At the beginning of the GOP convention it may have been this:

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Chan Lowe, The Week

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Now it's this: (Nice play on Grant Wood's "American Gothic," RJ.)

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RJ Matson, The Week

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Somewhere along the way dissenting Republicans got booted:

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Dana Summers, The Week

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A-n-d It’s Donald Trump’s Republican Party Now. Don't you just love the butt heart?

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Michael Ramirez, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: Broken politics and American heart

Today there's a cartoon about Jeb!, one on D. Trump and the GOP, one on the US budget and one looking at the real Americans. They're pretty much self-explanatory and chosen for hints of humor.

Jeb spoke out in the recent Republican debate and there's hope his campaign may be revived. Here's the transcript.

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Dana Summers, The Week 

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Now that Trump has allied himself with the GOP, will the GOP nominate him to run for president?

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Gary Varvel, The Week

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Everybody on the bus, today we ride for free.

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RJ Matson, The Week

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Where do politics and opinion end and the real America begin?

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Pat Bagley, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: have the bullies won?

Now the question is--how much sheer bedlam did Boehner keep down?

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David Horsey, The Week

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Will the GOP ever get itself under control?

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Drew Sheneman, The Week

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I love a good pun, even a near miss.

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John Deering, The Week

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Planned Parenthood got yelled at. This from Slate Magazine:

Watching Republicans repeatedly interrupt and yell at Planned Parenthood's Cecile Richards on Tuesday, one might get the impression that there's some kind of national uprising against the existence of affordable women's health care. Republicans repeatedly excoriated the organization for focusing on contraception and Pap smears instead of on mammograms, which are typically done at radiology centers. ... Viewers got a laundry list of things that Republicans felt should be funded instead of low-cost birth control and STI treatment at Planned Parenthood. Rep. Glenn Grothman even argued (bewilderingly) that since there's medical care he can get "as a guy," then Planned Parenthood—and by implication, its gynecological services (?!?)—is unnecessary. The message was clear: Taxpayer-funded gynecological care is an illegitimate use of government funding.

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Mike Lukovich, The Week

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OK, OK, there is/was water on Mars.

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RJ Matson, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: McKinley (again), Republicans, and Trump

Today we have some reactions to renaming Mount McKinley Denali; an on-target observation about Republicans; and the (currently) obligatory jab at D. Trump, who says he's a Republican.

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Chan Lowe, The Week

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Drew Sheneman, The Week

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Mike Luckovich, The Week

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RJ Matson, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: I identify as...

Rachel Dolezal told Matt Lauer, "I identify as black." Her statement has struck a chord with at least two cartoonists.

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David Horsey, The Week

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Nate Beeler, The Week

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Meanwhile, we been trumped. And Jebbed.

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Chan Lowe, The Week

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Gary Varvel, The Week

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Does it really matter who's president anyway?

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RJ Matson, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: a new hero for America

Pleasant as Christmas was, it's over and the world moves on. At least the Middle East was/is relatively quiet.

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Rick McKee, The Week

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According to the Center for American Progress, "The Fossil-Fuel Industry Spent Big to Set the Anti-Environment Agenda of the Next Congress."
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Pat Bagley, The Week

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The Hill answers the question: What is the cromnibus? Elizabeth Warren slams Citigroup's influence on it.

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RJ Matson, The Week

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And our new hero is...

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Dana Summers, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: sour drops for Halloween

For today, here are some cartoons playing on the Halloween theme and some that caught my attention.

The GOP base may be alive, but is it aware?

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John Cole, The Week

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According to the Wikipedia article on low information voters:

Some low-information voters' views are more moderate than those of high-information voters, they are less likely to vote, and are looking for a candidate they find personally appealing. They tend to be swing voters, and they tend to vote split-ticket more than well-informed voters do, researchers say because they lack a coherent ideology.

Seems to me this Wikipedia article sounds biased. Voting a split-ticket may be a good thing; it might help to break up some of the partisanship in Washington.

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David Fitzsimmons, The Week

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A hazmat suit is a costume, too, just a hopefully well-functioning one.

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RJ Matson, The Week

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Creationists aren't going to like this one.

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Chan Lowe, The Week

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This cartoon depicts its environment beautifully well. But it begs the question: does anyone have faith in the reality television genre?

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Rick McKee, The Week

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--Marge