Jump to August 2012 archive page: 1 2 3

  • Olympics Cartoon Review

    Mike Keefe/Politicalcartoons.com

     

    Enjoy the last weekend of the Olympics with our Olympics Cartoon Review slideshow.

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  • Olympics cartoon round-up

    Our cartoonists have been watching the Olympics as attentively as everyone else on the planet. As we enter the final weekend of competition, here is a quick round-up of some recent cartoons...

    Randy Bish / Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (click to view more cartoons by Bish)

    Peter Broelman / Australia (click to view more cartoons by Broelman)

    Bob Englehart / Hartford Courant (click to view more cartoons by Englehart)

    Randy Bish / Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (click to view more cartoons by Bish)

    Peter Nicholson / Australia (click to view more cartoons by Nicholson)


     

  • Productivity up, wages down

    Kirk Walters / Toledo Blade (click to launch slideshow)

    There are many people stuck in the ranks of the unemployed, desperately looking for work. But for millions of others, work continues to be a struggle. With stagnant wages, less vacation time and a need to keep up with more workplace demands, workers are being squeezed for every ounce of productivity money can buy. 

    Check out what our cartoonists think in our new Productivity up, wages down cartoon slideshow.

     

     

  • July was a scorcher, even for cartoonists

    If you lived in the U.S. last month, I'm not breaking any news by saying July was hot! In fact the average temperature across the continental U.S. was 77.6 Fahrenheit, which is a full 3.3 degrees above the 20th century average, making it the hottest July on record! Drought now covers nearly 63 percent of the lower 48 states, where average precipitation is 0.19 inch below average.

    Despite our air conditioned studios, cartoonists feel the heat too. Here are some funny and timely heat-related cartoons:

    Pat Bagley / Salt Lake Tribune (click to view more cartoons by Bagley)

    Cam Cardow / Ottawa Citizen (click to view more cartoons by Cam)

    Rob Tornoe / PoliticalCartoons.com (click to view more cartoons by Tornoe)

    Joe Heller / Green Bay Press-Gazette (click to view more cartoons by Heller)

    Chris Weyant / The Hill (click to view more cartoons by Weyant)


     

  • Obama's Re-Election Campaign

    Rick McKee/The Augusta Chronicle, Politicalcartoons.com

     

    As Obama attempts to secure his title of President, Mitt Romney is hoping to take it away.  Everything from the economy to jobs to the housing crisis have taken their toll on the President.  He has tried to weather these storms while campaigning the nation to keep him in office.  Check out our cartoon slideshow all about Obama's Re-Election Campaign.

  • Reid vs. Romney

    Daryl Cagle/NBC.com, Politicalcartoons.com

     

    Senator Reid has come out and accused Mitt Romney of not paying taxes for the last ten years.  Offering nothing but "a credible source" as his proof he continues to stand by his claims.  Romney and the GOP are crying foul and are saying "put up or shut up."  Will Romney cave in and release his tax records?  Check out our Reid vs. Romney cartoon slideshow.

  • Five Mars Curiosity cartoons

    As thousands of people watched live in the wee hours of the morning, NASA's new Curiosity probe successfully completed a complicated landing on Mars. It was only on the surface for about ten minutes before it tweeted the first of what's bound to be many photos. 

    Here are the initial reactions of a handful of our cartoonists...

    Dave Granlund / PoliticalCartoons.com (click to view more cartoons by Granlund)

    Bob Englehart / Hartford Courant (click to view more cartoons by Englehart)

    Larry Wright / PoliticalCartoons.com (click to view more cartoons by Englehart)

    Randy Bish / Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (click to view more cartoons by Bish)

    Christo Komarnitski / Bulgaria (click to view more cartoons by Komarnitski)


     

  • Will Durst: A Staggeringly Stumbling Trip

    Bill Day / PoliticalCartoons.com

    Satirist Will Durst weighs in on Mitt Romney's gaffe-filled overseas trip...

    Mitt Romney has to be more relieved than an Iowa corn farmer in the middle of a thunderstorm to be back on home soil. Arms wide. Head back. Wet face. Smile. Podium steps. National Anthem. 

    The American electorate may harbor an ambivalent attitude towards the former governor of Massachusetts, but the reaction to his European Vacation from folks across the big pond could only be described as decisively derisive. If diplomacy were a hurdling sport, the guy stumbled over the lane chalk. 

    The plan was for the GOP nominee to embark on a low-risk, three-country jaunt to raise his suspect foreign policy bona fides, but the seven-day charm offensive proved to be light on charm and heavy on offense. Good will hunting transformed into ill will gathering. 

    Adam Zyglis / Buffalo News

    The first stop was Great Britain, where the Wee Bairne of Bain managed to pretty much insult the whole country. Romney told an interviewer that security problems surrounding the Olympics were disconcerting. And the gates of Hades opened and all sorts of evil tabloid creatures sprung forth. 

    He only said the same exact thing they had been saying for weeks in Merry Olde, but you know family. Siblings are allowed to call their father a harebrained lovable loser: cousins, not so much. 

    David Cameron snapped that London was a busy, world-class city and "not in the middle of nowhere," which some interpreted as a snub targeting the man who famously saved the 2002 Winter Olympics. But the prime minister only demonstrated his own geographic ineptitude. Salt Lake City isn't in the middle of nowhere; it's in Utah. 

    Ann Romney traipsed along to offer moral support to her horse Rafalca, competing in Olympic dressage. Dressage being a French word describing an event where horse and rider perform predetermined movements. Like inter-species dancing. Which has to be illegal in at least half of the states Willard leads. 

    Dave Granlund / PoliticalCartoons.com

    The Overseas Gaffe Express moved to the Middle East where Mr. Romney stuck a prayer in the Wailing Wall, presumably pleading to be struck dumb. Retroactively. Later he gave a speech saying Israel's financial acumen and culture provided it with a major advantage over Palestine. Sort of ticking off the Palestinians. Not to mention a couple of Israelis who thought he called them thrifty. 

    The trip landed for a final stop in Poland and everyone held their breath. But all that happened on the outskirts of the evil continent of Europe was an aide cautioned a reporter to stop peppering the candidate with questions because they were in a holy site for Poles. And to emphasize the sanctity of the joint, he told the reporter to kiss his butt. Only he didn't say butt, rather the word that rhymes with class. A quality of which he is obviously bereft. 

    The campaign was hoping to use this journey abroad to muffle the outcry over tax returns and set up the vice-presidential pick, but now even the most partisan Republican has to wonder how many consecutive blows to the head their candidate can take without visible bruising. Need to line up a platoon of makeup artists for Tampa. 

    Britain, Israel and Poland. Not what you call the Group of Death. Those aren't the tough ones, Mitt. Got to rate their collective degree of difficulty in diplomatic terms at about a negative 2. But one thing you got to give him -- at least he stuck his dismount. 

    Will Durst is a political comedian and columnist for Cagle Cartoons Inc. Read more of Durst's columns here.  

  • Cartoonists mix the Olympics with politics

    Part of what a political cartoonist does is mash together current events into a visually compelling, sometimes funny piece of commentary. With the Olympics in full swing, cartoonists are blessed with a plateful of terrific visual metaphors to add to their arsenal.  

    Here are five cartoons that use the backdrop of the Olympics to add a bit of might behind their political punch: 

    Rick McKee / Augusta Chronicle (click to view more cartoons by McKee)

    Adam Zyglis / Buffalo News (click to view more cartoons by Zyglis)

    Chris Weyant / The Hill (click to view more cartoons by Weyant)

    Nate Beeler / Columbus Dispatch (click to view more cartoons by Beeler)

    Randy Bish / Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (click to view more cartoons by Bish)

     

  • Cartoonist talks about controversial Chick-fil-A cartoon

    We’ve received a lot of great cartoons about Chick-fil-A from both sides of the argument. Some cartoonists supported the First Amendment rights of a CEO voicing his own personal opinion, while other cartoonists thought spending corporate profits on anti-gay causes was bigotry that deserved to be called out.

    The largest response came in reaction to this tough cartoon by Jimmy Margulies of The Record:

    I asked Jimmy to comment on the cartoon, and here’s what he wrote:

    I received both praise and condemnation for this cartoon. Those who agreed with me seemed to really like it. Those who did not expressed their disagreement in a few different ways. Some took the cartoon literally, suggesting I was saying that Chick-fil-A discriminates against its gay customers. I explained the cartoon was an exaggeration. Others felt that I was supporting the boycott of the restaurant and that I was denying the owner his freedom of speech. I explained that the cartoon took no position on the boycott, and that the owner is free to express his views, as well as give money to fund opposition to same sex marriage, but that I found this position objectionable, so I was using my cartoon to speak out about the injustice on the issue of same sex marriage.

    Given the potency of the issue, I was glad my cartoon became part of the debate.

    As you can imagine, readers on both sides of the argument weighed in on this polarizing cartoon:

    Edward Bartunek: Disguesting and a insult to honest, god fearing, hardworking, Americans!

    Teri Lesesne: I elect to boycott companies that spew inaccurate information and use their “fame” as a platform for hate. You are free to support them. That is what freedom is all about. But freedom has to be for everyone.

    Kerry Wilson Cook: It doesn’t matter. Us gay people don’t go to chickfila anyway. We are all too health conscious to eat the slop that is fast food!!

    Jamie Lockett: I wonder how political cartoonists would feel about mayors banning newspapers that carry their cartoons simply because those mayors didn’t like the content.

    Robot Anna: Let’s please not appropriate the civil rights movement, thanks.

    Jordan Fouts: I like how the same people who suck the invisible thumb of the free market get so mad about boycotts.

    Joyce Linnae Crady: I hate boycotts. They hurt innocent workers & the economy. I vote for religious freedom and freedom of speech. As long as Chick-fil-A doesn’t discriminate in their establishments, they have a constitutional right to their beliefs and a right to express them.

    Sunny Arts: This comic is an affront to the efforts of the civil rights movement – when segregation was truly being preached and enforced. Nobody is shoving gays to the ‘back of the bus’.

    Steve Paysen: Have you seen the support of Chic Fil A today? I’d say you first of all are wrong in your portrayal, and who are you to take away the right of any man to answer a question with his conscience?

    Terry Lee: Talk about rhetoric. Let’s be clear. People aren’t upset or up in arms about a man’s opinion or religious belief. People are boycotting this business because the BUSINESS donates large sums of money to anti-gay political/hate groups. He is free to express his opinion, certainly. I also am free to take my money elsewhere and encourage others to do the same.

    What’s your opinion of the cartoon? Comment below, or drop us a note on our Facebook page.

  • My Muppet cartoons

    I just drew another Muppet themed editorial cartoon, about Chick-Fil-A, below.  I worked for the Muppets from the 1970′s into the 1990′s; the Jim Henson organization made my career as a cartoonist so whenever the Muppets make the news I feel nostalgic.

    I drew this one when Congress was cutting funding to PBS.

    I remember when Stephen Colbert testified before Congress, in character, and Republicans complained that they might as well have Elmo testify before Congress, another good occasion for a Muppet cartoon.

    This one was when the evil Goldman-Sachs traders derisively called their customers “Muppets,” for them, synonymous with “suckers.”

    The Children’s Television Workshop folks announced that Cookie Monster would no longer eat unhealthful cookies.

    I drew this one when I was a local cartoonist in Hawaii, and Hawaii was running up to a vote to legalize gay marriage (which failed).  A conservative Christian group was outraged by the cartoon and organized a noisy protest outside my newspaper, the Midweek, demanding that the cartoonist “come out!” (I wasn’t really inside, I was at home in California, pretending to be a local Hawaii cartoonist.)

    Here are some examples of what I drew and designed back in my Muppet years … the good old days.  I still love the Muppets.


     

  • Chick-fil-A Controversy

    Nate Beeler/The Columbus Dispatch, Politicalcartoons.com

    Radio host, Mike Huckabee, created the Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day on August 1st.  Thousands of people flocked to their Chick-fil-A to show their support for the family owned chain.  However, others are protesting the chain and creating their own day called Same Sex Kiss Day at Chick-fil-A.  Whatever side of the debate you are on you will love our Chick-fil-A Controversy cartoon slideshow. 

  • Tough job market cartoons

    Daryl Cagle / NBCNews.com (click to launch slideshow)

    It continues to be a tough time for people to find or keep work, and our politicians don't seem to be able to do anything about it. As both sides squabble, jobless claims continues to rise and more are forced to cobble together multiple part time jobs to pay the bills. 

    Check out what our cartoonist think about the situation in our new Tough job market cartoon slideshow.

     

     

  • Cardow’s Rejected Olympics Cartoon “Too Cynical”

    Brilliant Canadian cartoonist Cam Cardow, the staff cartoonist for the Ottawa Citizen, had the cartoon below rejected for being too cynical and unfair. “I think it’s fair comment,” Cam wrote on his Facebook page, “but I’ll accept the cynical tag.”

    Cam expanded his thoughts behind the rejected cartoon:

    It’s not that I think Canadian athletes are mediocre, (because they are not) it’s just got to do with them up against some really tough competition this year,” Cam wrote. “As a result, some of Canadian coverage I’ve seen has been the proverbial making lemonade when given lemons. There hasn’t been a lot to celebrate from a Canadian perspective so far. In contrast, we have the U.S. coverage which can’t keep up to their medals and victories. It’s not a criticism, just pointing out the reality of it.

    Here is the cartoon Cam drew in place of the rejected one:


     

  • Pounding Chicken With A Bible

    Jimmy Margulies / The Record

    On what Mike Huckabee calls "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day," columnist Jason Stanford weighs in on the bible and fast food...

    It can be hard for consumers dedicated to civil rights or family values to keep things, err, straight. For example, you can buy Oreos (gay) and General Mills products such as Cheerios, Chex, Total, Trix and Wheaties (all gay), at Wal-Mart (anti-gay). You can buy Girl Scout cookies (gay) and donate to the Salvation Army (anti-gay) outside the Home Depot (gay), but you would have known that already if you had Googled (gay).

    One Million Moms says you shouldn’t shop at J.C. Penney because they hired lesbian Ellen DeGeneres as their spokesperson and featured same-sex couples in their ads, proving they “cater to homosexuals and their sinful lifestyle choices.”

    The American Family Association says you shouldn’t read Archie comic books because they created a gay character. The Family Research Council says you ought not buy video games made by EA because a few of its games have gay characters. Oh, you also can’t shop at Toys R Us because they sold this stuff.

    And when Starbucks came out for marriage equality in Washington state, the National Organization for Marriage announced a Dump Starbucks boycott, leading one special snowflake in Colorado to buy Starbucks coffee and then dump it into the gutter.

    If you’re not a dialed-in activist or a paranoid zealot and are just trying to get the kids out the door in the morning with a hot breakfast in their stomachs and a healthy lunch in their backpacks, it can be hard to do the right thing with your dollar. And we’re only talking about gay rights, and not partisan contributions, environmental policies, or labor rights, let alone worrying about what’s healthy or affordable.

    But then Chick-fil-A happened. We already knew they closed on Sundays to be with their families because we might have on occasion rolled up after a long Saturday night looking for the miraculous cure that only comes from their fried chicken biscuits. And we know there’s a God because those chicken biscuits are so good.

    John Cole / Scranton Times-Tribune

    This all started on July 16 when Chick-fil-A’s president and chief operating officer Dan Cathy gave a sincere and direct interview with the Baptist Press about how his religious beliefs informed his business practices. When asked about opposition to Chick-fil-A giving millions to advocates for so-called traditional marriage, Cathy chirped, “Well, guilty as charged.”

    That’s when the Chick hit the fan. Odds are if you’re a Democrat, your social media networks exploded with outrage. The Jim Henson Company, the folks who brought you Kermit and Miss Piggy, severed its ties to the restaurant chain with a Facebook post. Actor Ed Helms said he was never going there again. Former governor Elliot Spitzer declared his own boycott, which surely came as a relief to chickens, fast food workers and indeed the entire South.

    But that doesn’t make their chicken biscuits any less delicious. I began to bargain, asking my conservative friends if they’d agree to eat Oreos and Girl Scout cookies so I could go to Chick-fil-A. I thought about organizing a sit-in that might stretch from lunch until dinner.

    Then I read Cathy’s interview in its entirety and noticed another of his quotes: “We are very much supportive of the family—the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.”

    Cathy and I have things in common. We both like chicken biscuits, and each of us runs a family business. He sponsors a bowl game, and I once coached my youngest son’s flag football team.

    But I’m on my second marriage. According to Cathy, that’s not a “traditional” marriage, and the grafted family tree that works together to raise my sons doesn’t meet his definition of a family unit. My life doesn’t fit Cathy’s definition of biblical principles.

    It’s too easy for straight allies to think of gays and lesbians as separate from us. They need rights we already enjoy. They face bigotry we deplore. But it happens to them, not us. Chick-fil-A has performed a miracle. I’m a middle-class white guy in America, and Chick-fil-A has finally made me feel what it’s like to be discriminated against. Also, I have lost my appetite for those chicken biscuits.

    Jason Stanford is a Democratic consultant and columnist for Cagle Cartoons Inc. Read more of Stanford's columns here.  

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