CSotD: It’s come to this …
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Obviously, it's the mission of political cartoonists like Adam Zyglis to criticize the administration. Specific to this cartoon, I like it, but it will do more to rally the existing troops than to recruit new ones.
Then again, I'm not sure how you would lure the faithful away, other than having Ted Patrick tie them up in a motel room and read them Rousseau, John Locke and the Federalist Papers until they break down.
Which is a pretty good analogy, since cult members generally only know the portions of the Bible their puppetmasters have chosen to teach them – generally skipping the entire Christian half and yet calling themselves Christian – while the True Believers in our country have much the same familiarity, for much the same reasons, with the Constitution.
Still, as someone once noted, only half of the people in Trump's basket of supporters fall into the category that can't be reasoned with, and the goal is to reach the others, many of whom do seem to be waking up to what they've done.
Perhaps, to paraphrase something someone else once said, it was necessary to elect the ticket to see what was in it.
However, we still face the question of how much the people in the middle are swayed by arguments on the editorial page, where the back-and-forth is so expected that it risks becoming background chatter.
Often, it's only when the conversation drifts over into the area of pop culture that we see the great middle begin to question the status quo.
I don't know how much Archie and Edith are paying attention to the continuing mockery of Trump and Spicer on SNL, but I've heard comparisons to Chevy Chase's portrayal of Gerald Ford.
Ironically, Chase later conceded that his impression was unfair and unjust, that Ford was neither as clumsy nor as absent-minded as SNL made him seem.
But the fact remains that SNL, at its best, has always been political and has sometimes been effective.
As were Johnny Carson and Jay Leno. Once they zeroed in on a candidate, he was dead meat, whether the barbs were fair or not.
Ask Bob Dole. Ask Al Gore.
Similarly, it's hardly surprising to see Non Sequitur pick up a cudgel and go after Trump. In fact, when a paper I worked at dropped the hyper-partisan, rarely amusing Mallard Fillmore, they put Non Sequitur on the editorial page alongside Doonesbury, on the theory that, while it's not always specifically political, it's generally a source of biting social commentary.
But Ziggy? Ziggy, ferchrissake?
Man, if you've got Ziggy dissing you, it's time to rally the people.
Perhaps a fire at the Reichstag or a terrorist attack on a radio station, but you've gotta do something.
Not that I don't like a good political cartoon
Sean Kleefeld has some R. Cobb cartoons posted, noting that he misses him.
Me, too, though I'll admit most of Cobb's work that I saw was in the CU Daily, which was, at the time, hardly geared to persuading Archie and Edith of anything.
On the other hand, that sort of commentary was part of what ended a war, lowered the voting age to 18 and drove a president from office, plus helping to set up another for a forced resignation.
Political activism was cool. Being involved was cool, even if it just meant going down to the demonstration to get your fair share of abuse.
Side note: Cobb did not design this poster, which features Joan Baez and her sisters, Mimi and Pauline, in a blatant appeal to political activism as a source of personal satisfaction and solidarity with the cool kids.
However, he did design the ecology flag, which became very popular, and eventually Nixon formed the EPA and Gaylord Nelson spearheaded Earth Day.
Now Trump wants to get rid of the EPA.
Eternal vigilance is indeed the price. Pay up or shut up.
On a lighter note, this Juxtaposition:
(Monty)
All the world's a comics page, and all the men and women merely players …
Near Juxtaposition of the Day
If I'd known Bug Martini was coming up with this, I'd have held yesterday's Andy Warner cartoon until now.
Because, obviously, you can't be doin' that stuff in the backseat of your car, whether the car is driving itself or you've got another couple in the front seat.
Not until the 18-wheelers no longer have drivers.
And even that assumes that the robotic trucks won't be programmed to sound their airhorns at inopportune moments.
Now here's your moment of In Your Dreams, Pal
If you believe this, I've got a bag of oregano to sell you.
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