CSotD: Independence Day Eve
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One of today’s major themes is how you balance celebration with reasonable criticism. Jennings offers a disapproving State of the Union illustration that demonstrates how our current administration, and thus our nation, is seen overseas.
His major criticism is the profiteering, with bags of cash and crypto, stacks of bills and money dangling over the side of the boat, a timely reaction to the latest revelations.
He also puts all sorts of gilded decor on the boat, including the brand-new eagle Trump has hung on the White House. Thinking of gilt as tacky is purely subjective, but others have noted that the eagle parallels the Reichsadler that was a symbol of Nazi Germany.
I had a GF who was working for a money-management firm and came back from lunch one day to find that the CDs with the quarterly reports had arrived and were ready to be shipped out to clients. On the cover was a man in a T-shirt leaping through a flaming hoop on a motorcycle, with the caption “We go though fire for you!”
In the background were several uniformed men watching, and she noticed the collars on their jackets. “Those are Nazis,” she pointed out. The younger people pooh-poohed it, but then looked it up and, yes, indeed, those were Nazis. “Well, nobody will notice,” they said, to which she asked “How many of our clients are Jewish?”
They spent the rest of the afternoon removing the slips with the illustration from every one of the jewel cases.
It would be nice to think the United States of America was being led by someone who not only had an observant assistant but was willing to listen.
Jennings riffs on an iconic picture of America, but fills it with criticism. Political cartoonists are like the attentive assistants that every leader needs to hear.
Telnaes makes a more direct commentary on the profiteering of the presidency, and, like Jennings, ties it into an iconic image of the nation.
It’s important to point out that neither Jennings’ nor Telnaes’ cartoons have to run on July 4, though obviously they carry far more weight this week, when our minds are on our nation, than they would at some other time.
This piece ran October 11, 1934, a date with no particular national significance, yet it seems deeply patriotic as a commentary on division within the nation.
There aren’t any grandmothers left who can instruct young boys about the sacrifices of the Civil War, but we do seem to be adrift in a pair of solitary communities, and the message of the cartoon would be as relevant today, and on July 4, than it was 92 years ago.
(Wonder whatever happened to that artist?)
Speaking of relevant dates, Bennett cites several: The ratification of the 13th amendment that banned slavery, the ratification of the 19th that gave women the vote, the Supreme Court unanimous decision in Brown v the Board of Education that ended segregated schooling and the passage, and signing, of the Voting Rights Act, followed by the date in which the second Trump administration began and, Bennett charges, the Tree of Liberty was attacked and destroyed.
Again, this doesn’t have to run on July 4, but this is a time of year in which we tend to take inventory of our nation, and it’s a criticism that some will reject and some will take to heart, but he’s presented it with a challenging clarity, since you don’t have to have memorized those particular dates to understand how the tree stood in those general time periods, and where it stands now, whether you find those moments in history to have been glorious or regrettable.
He just lays it out. You’re free to agree or not, though certainly some truths are self-evident, even in a country that is a continuing work in progress.
Juxtaposition of the Day
Varvel is often critical of Democrats and of liberals in general, but this is the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and so he lays his criticism aside and offers a non-partisan celebration of the nation, and its landmark event.
By contrast, Benson sees the nation’s 250th birthday as an opportunity for a mean-spirited attack on the Democratic Party. There’s no discernible content to her cartoon except that we are a divided nation and it’s all the fault of those people over there, who are so hateful that they are blind to the glories of our nation. Or something.
I often put myself in the position of a newspaper editor and ask myself if I would choose a particular cartoon for my editorial page that day. Varvel’s contribution is somewhat bland and predictable, but it’s not a bad way to mark the moment.
On the other hand, I certainly wouldn’t send half my readers the message “Happy Fourth of July! We hate you!”
The critic giveth, and the critic taketh away. Varvel is a committed Christian and often promotes religion in his cartoons. This one seems to serve as a reminder that Washington was a man of faith, and thus links to the popular notion among religious-minded conservatives that we are, at heart, a Christian nation.
Context not only matters, however, but, in this case, points to the fundamental America principle that, while individuals are free to have their own religious convictions, it is inappropriate for them to impose their beliefs on the rest of the population.
In that letter, Washington continued “but—it will be time enough for me to turn preacher, when my present appointment ceases; and therefore, I shall add no more on the Doctrine of Providence.”
Politicians in a democracy ought not to preach, as Mario Cuomo agreed, in explaining why he didn’t let his faith guide his legislative policies:
I protect my right to be a Catholic by preserving your right to believe as a Jew, a Protestant, or non-believer, or as anything else you choose. We know that the price of seeking to force our beliefs on others is that they might some day force theirs on us.
I love dogs and I like fireworks, and I don’t find the two in conflict except very specifically once in awhile.
I’ve had about a dozen dogs since 1953, and only two of them were afraid of thunder and fireworks. One of them would just tremble a bit and come sidle up to me for reassurance, but the other one was more dramatic. In fact, he was useful, because in Colorado Springs, most weather comes from the West, so by the time it clears Pikes Peak, you’ve only got about 10 minutes before it hits.
But Taylor would sense its thunder well in advance, and so when he threw up on the kitchen floor, we knew we had 20 minutes to start closing windows. Not Lassie, but useful enough.
If you have a dog with that kind of response, you have a responsibility to keep it safe, just as you do to give it rabies and distemper shots and keep it from running out into traffic. For July 4th, that can mean a Thundershirt or doggy downers or just a reassuring cuddle. We’ve got one guy at the park whose dog so hates fireworks that they’ll go for a drive in the country tomorrow evening, and dogs love to go for a drive.
It’s easier to take care of your dog than to police your entire community, though it would be nice if fireworks were confined to civic events and not drunken midnight stupidity attacks. Still, I like fireworks and they’re part of July 4. (Lasers are something completely other. Light shows are part of tripping. I don’t do that anymore.)
Anyway, it’s nothing new, and in Farmer Boy, we see young Almanzo Wilder and his buddies gathering grass to stuff the cannon on Malone’s town square, prepatory to having it touched off. I don’t think anyone does that anymore.
However, in 1914, cartoonists rallied for what they called a “Safe and Sane” Fourth:
Obviously, the campaign had limited effectiveness, but, then again, I haven’t known a kid who blew off his fingers since 1963, and he only lost a tip or two. Well, okay, 2015, but I didn’t know him personally.
Anyway, I love my dog, I like fireworks, and you can’t fix stupid. Combine all three and you’ll do just fine.
Check here tomorrow for some patriotic nostalgia.
Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.
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