Cartoons: what are they good for?

Seems to me you can look at editorial cartoons several ways: they give a humorous take on current evens; they reveal corruption; they attempt to assuage/salt wounds felt due to recent events; they double-down on our outrage at current events; [add you own reason for liking cartoons here].

If you're unhappy with the current state of the U.S. Congress, this one's for you.

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David Fitzsimmons, The Week

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Can Fox News be represented as a hen house? Maybe. I'm reminded of The Musicman's

Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little,
Cheep cheep cheep, talk a lot, pick a little more (LyricsMode)

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Tom Toles, The Week

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Big Pharma is always a good target, especially since it's so greedy.

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Milt Priggee, The Week

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And Smokey the Bear brings us the message of the day.

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Dan Wasserman, The Week

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--Marge

Cartoons: US riots you rarely hear about and other news

After wading through uncounted, but numerous, digs at Trump and Hillary, I was about to bag posting today when I came across the cartoon below. It refers to a riot in Milwaukee. A little research yielded a truly interesting piece by Milwaukee resident and medieval historian, Andrew Larsen. Take a look: The Milwaukee Riots. He starts with the observation that "Riots seem shocking to modern Americans, but college students riot with almost predictable regularity in this country."

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Michael Ramirez, The Week

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What would a mention of the news be nowadays without reference to the Trump-Hillary polls? While typing this a devilish idea occurred to me: what if they were a couple? Then a second one sprang up: what if we smooshed the parties together and declared Hillary president, Donald vice president and were done with the whole sordid business? Then we could move on...or maybe not. At any rate here are the latest polls courtesy of RealClearPolitics.

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Bob Gorrell, The Week

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Now, for an upbeat note, here's Walt Handelsman's take on the emergency response to flooding in Louisiana. Obama has taken flack for seeming uninterested, so here's what his Live Updates page reports.

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Walt Handelsman, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: traveling penalty

Donald or Hillary, Hillary or Donald, Donald or Hillary, Hillary or Donald, it just goes on and on.

Instead of siding with one or the other, I offer a cartoon that's probably true for both.

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Mike Luckovich, The Week

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In this cartoon the mosquitoes show the most wisdom.

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Walt Handelsman, The Week

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If you were traveling on Delta Airlines this week, you have my sympathies.  Reuters predicts that more airline outages will be seen...and lived through.

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Pat Bagley, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: Zika, academic testing, and Trump (again)

The 2016 Summer Olympics start today with the lighting of the cauldron by someone not Pelé. Here's cartoonist Nate Beeler's take on the event.

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Nate Beeler, The Week

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And school starts soon. Cartoonist Marshall Ramsey calls it "testing." Former venture capitalist and education philanthropist Ted Dintersmith and Education Fellow at the Technology & Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard (whew!) Tony Wagner co-wrote an article about academic testing and what it does not accomplish: Opinion: America desperately needs to redefine ‘college and career ready'. Is it old-fashioned or misguided to wonder what happened to learning for the sake of learning?

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Marshall Ramsey, The Week

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Then there's Trump...again. This time he's insulted the parents of Capt. Humayun Khan, who was killed in Iraq. Trump claims to have sacrificed as much as the Khan family did; the twitter-verse weighed-in.

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David Horsey, The Week

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Meanwhile, Paul Ryan, Republican Speaker of the House, responds.

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Mike Luckovich, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: Bernie-love lives on, despite the DNC

Apparently Julian Assange of Wikileaks doesn't want Hillary to win either (see link below). More disturbing is the suspicion that Russia is trying to influence the 2016 election. The New York Times reports "Spy Agency Consensus Grows That Russia Hacked D.N.C." To say nothing of the hit on my misplaced trust in the democratic process.

The cartoons below tell the story of the convention, mostly from a pro-Bernie viewpoint. Hat's off to cartoonists David Horsey and Drew Sheneman, both beautifully on-topic.

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David Horsey, The Week

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Drew Sheneman, The Week

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David Horsey, The Week

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Steve Sack, The Week

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John Deering, The Week

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Drew Sheneman, 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: is there a mystery candidate?

Batten down the hatches, the GOP convention starts Monday in Cleveland. It should be quite a show.

In 2012 the Onion published a video, GOP Introduces New "Mystery Candidate" With Paper Bag Over Head. The text of the article reads "Republicans will reveal the identity of the Mystery Candidate only after he, or she, wins the election." Cartoonist Bob Gorrell remembers.

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Bob Gorrell, The Week

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Trump will go into the convention with his new running mate Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. (Be aware, Hillary's campaign ads are posted smack dab in the middle of the article.)

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Gary Varvel, The Week

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So, is the GOP deceased?

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Tom Toles, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: who you gonna turn to?

It's beginning to look like all systems everywhere are rigged. Is that paranoia? If so, I got it.

If Trump lived on Jupiter, this is what he'd say.

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David Fitzsimmons, The Week

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Even if the Republicans lose the presidential election, there's still their jerry-rigged, uhm gerrymandered, systems that falsely represent the voters. BTW, the symbol on the table in front of Trump is an altered one for the KKK according to Forbidden Symbols.

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Bob Englehart, The Week

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So, who's winning in the presidential race? Does it really matter?

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Chan Lowe, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: putting Benghazi to rest

We have two topics today--the House Benghazi Report of 2016 and Brexit.

In the case of the report: House Benghazi Report Finds No New Evidence of Wrongdoing by Hillary Clinton. According to this reference, expenses to produce the report over a period greater than 2 years are estimated to be more than $7 million. Here's how some cartoonists view it.

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Pat Bagley, The Week

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John Darkow, The Week

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Drew Sheneman, The Week

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At least 62% of Scots want to remain in the European Union; The Guardian asks, Can Scotland remain in the EU after Brexit?  The Telegraph reports on where the EU referendum won and lost, saying Northern Ireland, Scotland and London only areas not to vote for Brexit. Here's some humor to go along with the news.

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David Horsey, The Week

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Marian Kamensky, The Week

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--Marge

Cartoons: thwip, thwack and ping

Today I'm riffing on the US's do-nothing Congress, the NRA, the GOP's victimhood (they earned it), and internet trolls.

Nate Beeler at the Columbus Dispatch makes a subtle comment on U.S. gun control. A copy is available for sale at Cagle's Political Cartoons.

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Nate Beeler, The Week

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Steve Sack at the Star Tribune makes it clear that the NRA is a carrion-eating buzzard feeding the Congressional pigeons. A copy is available for sale at Cagle's Political Cartoons.

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Steve Sack, The Week

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Independent cartoonist Chan Lowe at Tribune Content Agency brings up a good point about the GOP.

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Chan Lowe, The Week

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David Horsey at the Los Angeles Times defines troll for us. He can also be found at Tribune Content Agency.

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David Horsey, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: Taming Trump

Looks to me like we're trapped as a nation between Trump and the NRA. Then there are the conspiracy wackos. Is there peace in Canada?

Republicans may think they can tame Trump once he's been nominated, but it looks like he's already lost his voter base. Take a look at the video in Favorability of Trump’s GOP Lowest in Bloomberg Poll’s History.

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John Darkow, The Week

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The Washington Post reports, In wake of Orlando shootings, gun control getting a fresh look from GOP

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Pat Bagley, The Week

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Bernie Sanders fights on, offering No Concession in Address to Supporters.

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David Horsey, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: two candidates are left, the third is a maybe

Today's mix looks at where Hilary, Donald and Bernie are in their campaigns.

Hilary has clinched the Democratic presidential nomination. To make it final there's the convention. When, where is the 2016 Democratic National Convention?

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Tom Stiglich, The Week

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A week ago Joe Klein at Time Magazine said Donald still rules the airwaves, saying "He excels at “winning the news cycle”." This week it's a different story; the difference is Hilary found her voice.

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Walt Handelsman, The Week

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Bernie's not gonna quit...At least not until the fat lady sings.

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John Darkow, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: time to vote Libertarian?

It's looking more and more like the contest for president will be between Donald and Hillary.

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Steve Kelley, The Week

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But you don't have to vote either-or; Don't fall for 'lesser of two evils' argument. That is, if you're willing to vote Libertarian. W. James Antle III explains Why the Libertarian ticket is an invaluable experiment for the GOP. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul calls himself a libertarian Republican. While the Tea Party has been described as like the Libertarian Party, Libertarians insist they're not the Tea Party.


-- Marge

Cartoons: open carry

Today's collection looks at our response to the Zika virus threat; VA health-care lines compared to standing in line at Disney World; and Wall Street crime.

It's open carry against mosquitoes now. Consumer Report asks Does 'Natural' Mosquito Repellent Work?

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Nate Beeler, The Week

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VA Secretary McDonald recently compared health-care lines to Disney.

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Gary Varvel, The Week

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News just in: Wall Street Crime: 7 Years, 156 Cases and Few Convictions

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David Horsey, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: cots, bathrooms, and beer

This week's cartoons talk about the TSA (US Transportation Security Administration); "perverts" in public bathrooms; and Budweiser's new name.

According to the Business Insider, The TSA is in a full-blown crisis. More than 450 American Airlines passengers stranded in the terminal overnight due to long lines is not good. And what does the TSA have against mother's milk?

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John Darkow, The Week

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So who are the "perverts"--the transgenders or those pretending to be transgender in your local bathroom? Time Magazine discusses the issues in Everything You Need to Know About the Debate Over Transgender People and Bathrooms.

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Drew Sheneman, The Week

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And for frothier news, how about the fact that Budweiser Will Call Its Beer 'America' Through the Election.

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Steve Breen, The Week

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--Marge