Cartoons: men in the hot seat

With so many women stepping forward, I'm guessing just about every man in America is in the hot seat.

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Scott Stantis, The Week

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Of course, those on the distaff side have been there for a long time.

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Gary Varvel, The Week

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My apologies if my references to gender are poorly worded; it's increasingly difficult to know how to talk about men, women, and those self-identified.

-- 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: 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: reap the whirlwind

This week there are rumors and dire predictions (of course) about Russian military activity in Syria; pleas for financial help with wildfire expenses; and Donald Trump.

The BBC asks and partially answers Who are these Russian fighters posting pics of themselves in Syria?

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Scott Stantis, The Week

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The Seattle Times tells us Ten things to know about the Washington wildfires, including how to help with fire-relief efforts. Meanwhile Congress returned from recess on Tuesday. Provocateur Ted Cruz promises another shutdown.

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David Horsey, The Week

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And D.Trump just keeps on doing his thing.

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John Darkow, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: eyes on the Court

Today just standing back and letting the cartoons speak for themselves...

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Pat Bagley, The Week

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Scott Stantis, The Week

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Nate Beeler, The Week

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Drew Sheneman, The Week

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Steve Sack, The Week

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Enjoy the 4th. If sunshine's available, be sure to get some.

-- Marge

Cartoons: it doesn't take long

Today's collection of cartoons talks about insidious threats that have or had a potential for proliferation.

Measles.

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Pat Bagley, The Week

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Drug-toting drones.

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Milt Priggee, The Week

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The wealth of the 1%.

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Steve Sack, The Week

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Red-light cameras. (These may be going away due to popular demand.)

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Scott Stantis, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: a stew spiced with irony

Not finding much humor in the cartoons being offered today, so I'm going for irony.

What if Lindsay Graham's and John McCain's boots were the ones put on the ground in Iraq?

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Ben Sargent, TheWeek

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What would Teddy Roosevelt do today about the fat cats ruling Washington?

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David Horsey, TheWeek

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It's easy to see today's football players as the gladiators of our day, much as the Roman gladiators were the working class heroes of their time, according to Evan Andrews.

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Scott Stantis, TheWeek

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Is there an exit strategy for fighting ISIL?  Will we need one?

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David Horsey, TheWeek

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-- Marge

Cartoons: quaking, hedging, fleeing, and shooting

Reporters have a wealth of news to give us this week, sad to say.

The number of earthquakes is up in Oklahoma. Meanwhile, gas producers in Pennsylvania quake at proposed taxes.

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John Cole, The Week

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The CDC keeps losing (or misplacing) infectious toxins.

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Drew Sheneman, The Week

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Violence in Chicago may be somewhat comparable to that in Central America.

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Scott Stantis, The Week

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The Mideast, specifically Palestine-Israel, appears to be imploding.  This opinion in Al Jazeera asks if Hamas provokes Israel to attack Gaza.

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Dana Summers, The Week

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Russia is proving deadly, as well. Hopefully, this will not be the final result.

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David Fitzsimmons, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: Putin's Press

While looking for an example of how Russian President Putin controls information in his country, I came across this interesting site--Trust.org, sponsored by Thomson Reuters Foundation.  An article found at Trust, "Russian court puts Putin foe under house arrest, bars Internet use," speaks of just one dissident's arrest but gives enough information to see the extent of Putin's control.

Now for the cartoons--

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Michael Ramirez, US News

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Dan Wasserman, US News

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Jack Ohman, US News

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Scott Stantis, US News

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Paul Combs, US News

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-- Marge

Cartoons: Brass pork

When it comes to cutting defense spending in the U.S., nobody's happy.  Least of all the generals.  And the number of generals has been growing -- "Today's Military: The Most Top-Heavy Force in U.S. History." To get an idea of how the defense budget stacks up, take a look at this:  "America’s staggering defense budget, in charts."

Meanwhile, here's how some leading editorial cartoonists see the budget and the military.

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Jack Ohman, US News

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Dana Summers, US News

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Matt Davies, US News

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Scott Stantis, US News

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As you were...

-- Marge

Cartoon goulash

The cartoons I'm offering today are a mixture of ones that tickled my funny bone or hit green on my truth meter.

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Marshall Ramsey, "The Christmas Miracle," US News

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Ken Catalino, "Got Milk," US News

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Jack Ohman, "GOP Candidate School," The Week

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Michael Ramirez, US News

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Scott Stantis, 'Bull run," the Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: Black Thursday

Thanksgiving is the new Black Friday.  See below.

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Paul Combs, US News

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Scott Stantis, US News

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Drew Sheneman, US News

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Chan Lowe, US News

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There's an article by Kevin Roose giving "5 Black Friday Shopping Myths" with the photo below. (Not everyone agrees with him, so take a look at the comments.)

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Daily Intelligencer, Black Thursday/Friday crowd at Macy's

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-- Marge

Cartoons: NSA spying, uhm surveillance, as seen from the ground...

Lately I feel at times, when googling something or sending an email, I'm being watched. Turns out it may be true: "New Details Show Broader NSA Surveillance Reach." According to this article:

The system [surveillance network] has the capacity to reach roughly 75% of all U.S. Internet traffic in the hunt for foreign intelligence, including a wide array of communications by foreigners and Americans. In some cases, it retains the written content of emails sent between citizens within the U.S. and also filters domestic phone calls made with Internet technology, these people [current and former officials] say.

So here are some observations for you, NSA, from leading cartoonists.  They were found at the U.S.News website.
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Steve Breen, USNews

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Walt Handelsman, "I called my sister...," USNews

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Scott Stantis, "Still on the grid," USNews

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Jack Ohman, "The Worst Job at the NSA...," USNews

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David Horsey, "Modern Life," USNews

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By the way, you might be interested in this site--JokeBlogger.

--Marge