Is anyone else sick of the Chris Christie "will he or won't he " dance? Maybe not if if your presidential hopes lie in either Rick Perry or Mitt Romney beating Barack Obama.
It was a busy week of news. Catch up and laugh at the same time with our Week in Political Cartoons slideshow.
Nate Beeler / Washington Examiner (click to view slideshow)
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi marks his 75th birthday today, but as our cartoonists are quick to note, the notorious horn-dog has very little to celebrate. From his own personal legal woes to the possibility of Italy being swallowed by Europe’s ongoing debt crisis, one wonders how much longer Italians can tolerate Berlusconi and his bunga bunga parties.
We’ve had a lot of funny cartoons about Berlusconi and his antics come in over the years from our foreign contributors. Here are some of the best:
Martin Sutovec / Slovakia
Petar Pismestrovic / Kleine Zeitung, Austria
Patrick Corrigan / The Toronto Star
Frederick Deligne / Nice-Matin, France
Joep Bertrams / The Netherlands
Kap / Spain
Manny Francisco / Manila, The Phillippines
So much for ObamaCare. After a couple of years of relatively small increases, the cost of health insurance skyrocketed in 2011, outpacing rises in pay and inflation. It's enough to make you sick.
At least enjoy a laugh and check out our Health Care Costs Surge cartoon slideshow.
David Fitzsimmons / Arizona Daily Star (click to start slideshow)
Will he or won't he? New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has repeatedly said he's not running for president, yet the GOP faithful continue to beg the Garden State Republican to jump in and save them from their slate of lackluster candidates.
What do cartoonists think about the Christie's presidential dance? Check out our Christie for President cartoon slideshow to find out.
Rob Tornoe / PoliticalCartoons.com (click to view slideshow)
If you watch Wall Street on a daily basis, make sure to take some dramamine, or the constant ups-and-downs will make your legs weak. Since the first week of August, the Dow has closed up or down more than 200 points a total of 16 times.
I prefer to get my stock market news from political cartoonists. Check out their thoughts in our new Wall Street's Wild Ways cartoon slideshow.
Steve Greenberg / PoliticalCartoons.com (click to view slideshow)
Thomas Nast self-portrait.
Nast's cover of Harper's Weekly from January 3, 1863, with the first depiction of Santa Claus as a bearded, plump man.
On this day back in 1840, Thomas Nast, the father of the American Cartoon, was born in Landau, Germany. He came to the United States as a young man and quickly became one of the country's most influential cartoonists, drawing for Harper's Weekly and becoming a celebrity in the process. Following his death on December 7, 1902, Thomas Nast’s obituary in Harper’s Weekly stated, "He has been called, perhaps not with accuracy, but with substantial justice, the Father of American Caricature."
Nast’s drawings were instrumental in the downfall of Tammany Hall’s William “Boss” Tweed, who so feared Nast’s cartoons that he unsuccessfully attempted to bribe the cartoonist to stop. Tweed said famously, “Stop them damn pictures! I don’t care what the papers write about me. My constituents can’t read. But, damn it, they can see the pictures!”
Tweed was eventually convicted for stealing between $40 million and $200 million from New York City taxpayers through political corruption.
Nast is perhaps best known for his political cartoon that first showed the GOP as an elephant, and the Democratic Party as a donkey, symbols that both parties (and cartoonists) use to this day.
He also created the bearded, plump image of Santa Claus we recognize today, for the cover of the 1862 Harper's Weekly Christmas season cover. At the time, most depictions of Santa Claus showed jolly St. Nick as a tall, thin man.
I always laugh at this cartoon by my friend Sandy Huffaker, about the changing taste of editors and publishers when it comes to political cartoons today:
The Palestinian leadership has decided to bypass the stalled Middle East peace process and appeal directly to the U.N. to gain its long-desired statehood. Israel is outraged by the move, while the United States tries to convince other countries to deny the Palestinians the votes they need.
Want to know what the nation's top cartoonists think about Palestinian statehood? Then check out our new Palestinian State cartoon slideshow.
Nate Beeler / Washington Examiner (click to view slideshow)
Every Monday, we collect the best cartoons of the week drawn by some of the world's top political cartoonists, and jam them into one big, terrific cartoon slideshow.
Check out a different perspective of world events and view our Best World Cartoons of the Week cartoon slideshow.
Frederick Deligne / France (click to start slideshow)
Say goodbye to the Summer, because Autumn has arrived. Break out your rake, say goodbye to the beach, and check out our Return of Fall cartoon slideshow.
Joe Heller / Green Bay Press-Gazette (click to view slideshow)
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Class warfare was the name of the game this week. Critics used the phrase to criticize President Obama's new jobs plan, due to its call to increase taxes on the wealthy. Maybe it's the reason Mark Zuckerberg is punishing us with all these new Facebook changes.
To see what the news looks like through the eyes of our cartoonists, check out our big Week in Political Cartoons slideshow.
Bill Day / PoliticalCartoons.com (click to start slideshow)
Stupid Facebook! As most of us have just gotten use to all the previous changes, here they are again updating our "user experience" to entice us to put our entire life on their web servers!
(Did I mention we're on Facebook, and how much we love it? Don't forget to "Like" us.)
To find out what cartoonists think of Mark Zuckerburg's recent updates, check out our Facebook Changes cartoon slideshow
Randy Bish / Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (click to start slideshow)
Tonight, Republican Presidential candidates face off in swing-state Florida in yet another bid to win the hearts and minds of conservative voters. You'd better tune in - you don't know what the GOP crowd will cheer for next.
Check out what our cartoonists think of tonight's get together with our new GOP Debate cartoon slideshow.
John Cole / Scranton Times-Tribune (click to view slideshow)
Satirist Will Durst has some suggestions for the U.S. to help move us out of the poverty line:
Okay, so we're broke. Not "have to stretch to next payday" broke. Really broke. Our accounts are overdrawn, the credit cards are maxed out; and if that's China on the phone, tell them we just stepped out. Yes, again.
Daryl Cagle / msnbc.com (click to view more Cagle cartoons)
We're in an economic hole so deep we're bumping elbows with blind moles. Can feel the heat from the core of the earth on the soles of our feet. Need a co-signer to play pinball. We're so broke, Greece won't play backgammon with us anymore.
And it's no use pretending we're not broker than a television set in Elvis' bedroom either. That'll just make it worse. First thing, we have to stop acting like we're still rolling in the green. Can't keep ordering the prix fixe menu anymore. Got to learn to lay off the foie gras. Its hot-dog time in America again.
What this country needs right now is tough love to get through these rough times. Common-sense solutions. I'm not talking about the futile recommendations Super Congress is busy formulating. Those won't be remedies. Those will be more mere, election-year platitudes. As inevitable as gratuitous gore in a Danny Trejo movie. Like cookies in day care. Erasers on golf pencils.
When this sort of thing happens to families, they find ways to tighten their belts. Come up with plans to cut back on expenses and bring in extra money. Exactly what we should be doing now. So allow me to offer up a few modest proposals to help get this country back on its feet.
• Do we really need nine Supreme Court Justices? Couldn't we slide by with seven? Considering recent decisions, I'd hazard to say a junior grade Justice Department law clerk could flip a coin and handle the job as well.
• There's no reason why the feds should continue to fund expensive Congressional elections in the Bible Belt. What we do is give the candidates an IQ test and the one with the lowest science score wins. A cheap alternative for the same result.
Bill Day / Political Cartoons (view more cartoons by Day)
• Pretty apparent we can't afford to indulge in high-priced fossil fuels anymore. Time to shift into bio-fuels. Ethanol, sure, but a better bet would be methane, especially with the incredibly abundant supply being regularly emitted out of our representatives in D.C.
• As far as revenue is concerned, what about renting out our armed forces to the highest bidder? We could use them to thwart or promote revolutions. Oh wait, we already do that. Well, we should charge more.
• Check out at all the wasted white space on the side of the Washington Monument. Perfect spot for a skinny vertical billboard wouldn't you say? Don't worry; we'll just advertise one tall latte at a time. Or two. The exclusivity makes it worth more.
• Institute a $25 cover at all borders. If we can't stop the people from streaming over, let's at least make a couple of bucks off of them. Once that's established, we add on a two-drink minimum.
• Instead of working surreptitiously to influence foreign elections, we could offer up our official endorsement for a hefty charge. Or, if it would better assist our client's needs, we'd announce our uncompromising support for their opponent. I'm thinking that option would be the more popular. And command a premium fee.
Will Durst is a political comedian and columnist for Cagle Cartoons Inc. Read more of Durst's columns here.
Today, President Obama proposed $1.5 trillion in new taxes aimed primarily at the wealthy as part of a deficit reduction plan. Predictibly, politicians on the right have labeled this "class warfare" and claim Obama wants to "punish success."
What do cartoonists think about all this class warfare stuff? Check out our Class Warfare cartoon slideshow to find out.
Kap / PoliticalCartoons.com (click to view slideshow)
Every Monday, we collect the best cartoons of the week drawn by some of the world's top political cartoonists, and jam them into one big, terrific cartoon slideshow.
Check out a different perspective of world events and view our Best World Cartoons of the Week cartoon slideshow.
Emad Hajjaj / Jordan, (click to view cartoon slideshow)
By now, you've all heard the story of the rapid rise and fall of Solyndra, a company that produced solar-power panels in a California factory subsidized by U.S. taxpayers that has now filed for bankruptcy and laid-off its 1,100 workers. The GOP has accused Obama of ignoring signs of financial trouble at the company in its haste to grant a $535 million loan guarantee and participate in the groundbreaking of Solyndra's factory.
Cartoonists are always available to shed some light on a potential controversy. Find out what they think in our new Solyndra Scandal cartoon slideshow.
Pat Bagley / Salt Lake Tribune (click to view cartoon slideshow)
This wasn't a good week for President Obama. Not only is the economy still struggling, but he's getting opposition from both Republicans and Democrats on his new jobs bill. And the whole Solyndra bankruptcy didn't help is job creation street cred either.
Check out a week's worth of news through the eyes of the nation's best cartoonists with our new Week in Political Cartoons slideshow.
Eric Allie / PoliticalCartoons.com (click to view slideshow)
Texas Governor and GOP front-runner Rick Perry has gotten himself into hot water with his opinion that Social Security is a giant "ponzi scheme."
Wonder what voters in Florida will think of that? Cartoonists know - check out their work in our new Perry and Social Security cartoon slideshow.
Jeff Parker / Florida Today (click to view slideshow)
Here’s what my daughter Susie has to say about her newest graphic report for the Cartoon Movement about the war that’s being waged against women’s health in the United States.
Some issues are straight forward and can be elegantly distilled into single panel editorial cartoons. Some are full of gray areas and require some deeper exploration. I think this story and the issue of faith-based crisis pregnancy centers in general falls into the latter category. They may do a great deal of good for some women, but at the same time they’re also standing in the way of legal choices for many women. This isn’t just about abortion! These centers provide misleading and even false information to women, pregnant or not, regarding contraception and basic reproductive health issues — and from people who are not licensed medial professionals, or even licensed counselors. To find this happening in what most would consider the liberal playground of San Francisco was surprising, and deserved further investigation.
With two prime-time debates under his belt, the country is getting a glimpse at the man leading most Republican polls for President, Texas Governor Rick Perry. The question is, do they like his rhetoric on social security being a "ponzi scheme," or his Texas bravado of being offended at the notion that he can be bribed for as little as $5,000?
Cartoonists love a new character to play with, and Rick Perry seems full of possibilities. Check out their thoughts in our new Probing Rick Perry cartoon slideshow.
Pat Bagley / Salt Lake Tribune (click to view slideshow)
As President Obama attempts to push through a new jobs bill to help our struggling economy, economists see signs that the chances of a short-term recovery are uncertain at best. And critics of Obama's plan say the President has little to show for its previous job-creation efforts, as unemployment continues to remain alarmingly high.
What do cartoonists think of the economic pickle we seem to be stuck in? Check out our Uncertain Recovery cartoon slideshow to find out.
Nate Beeler / Washington Examiner (click to view slideshow)
Every Monday, we collect the best cartoons of the week by some of the world's greatest cartoonists and put them together into one big, spectacular slideshow. It offers a peek into how people from around the globe view not only the United States, but the events that shape our world and our lives.
Obviously, the 10th anniversary of 9/11 was the big event last week, so to see what cartoonists from Spain to Singapore think, check out our Weekly World Cartoonist Slideshow.
Martin Sutovec / Slovakia (click to view slideshow)
My first editorial cartoon, in Fortune Magazine, back in 1981.
I’m in the process of moving, and digging through many years of accumulated junk in my house, and I came across this yellowed old tearsheet from the beginning of 1981, which I think is my first, published editorial cartoon. Reagan had just taken office and was appointing his cabinet; Fortune Magazine commissioned young Daryl to draw the new “Reaganomics” economic team that was “coming out of the starting gates.”
I was fresh out of college, new to Manhattan, starting out as a cartoon illustrator and just about to start working for Jim Henson’s Muppets, back in 1981. The “four horsemen of the economy” are Donald Regan, Martin Anderson, Murray Weidenbaum and David Stockman, with Ed Meese and Reagan watching.
I’ve been finding a lot of yellowed, crispy oldies as I dig through the moving muck. There are mountains of Muppets in the garage. Moving is hell.
A spooky snapshot from my exhibition with Plantu now at the Théâtre de La Ville in Paris.
I have an exhibit in Paris with Le Monde’s front page cartoonist, Plantu, at the Théâtre de La Ville from September 10th through 30th.
The show features our graphic novel style “conversation” about the ten years since 9/11 that we did as a book project for Casterman, the Tin Tin publishers in Belgium.
Plantu’s poster for the exhibit is below, and below that is a clip from last weekend’s Le Monde, promoting the show.
Editorial cartoons are taken more seriously, and are seen as more important in France than they are here. I remember that, soon after 9/11, Time Magazine stopped running editorial cartoons because they thought “jokes” were inappropriate in such serious times. In fact, cartoonists do their best work when times are troubled and passions run high.
Plantu's poster for the show.
Le Monde on our exhibit.
RELATED: Remembering 9/11 Cartoon Slideshow
In Their Own Words: Cartoonists Recall Their 9/11 Experience
Five Interesting 9/11 Tenth Anniversary Cartoons
Today, we remember the loss of life and heroic sacrifices made by so many 10 years ago on September 11, 2001. I wanted to pull out five interesting takes on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Don't miss out complete 9/11 Cartoon Slideshow.
Dwayne Booth / PoliticalCartoons.com
Pat Bagley / Salt Lake Tribune, PoliticalCartoons.com
Martin Sutovec / PoliticalCartoons.com
John Cole / Scranton Times-Tribune, PoliticalCartoons.com
Rob Tornoe / WHYY, PoliticalCartoons.com
RELATED: Remembering 9/11 Cartoon Slideshow
In Their Own Words: Cartoonists Recall Their 9/11 Experience
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