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Comic Strip of the Day

CSotD: Oh, and it’s not called the USA anymore …

Published: December 12, 2013 1 minute 4 comments

Nick Anderson
Yesterday I laid out a pretty good rant in anticipation of cartoons rather than reaction to them. As it turns out, the first to land was this Nick Anderson piece, which reflects a slapdown seen at least on my corner of Facebook and presumably his adjacent one.

It's particularly brilliant because of the convergence of the lunatic-fringe rants over the selfie in South Africa with Boehner's slap-down of the lunatic-fringe over their rejection of a budget deal they haven't even seen yet.

Having GOP leadership finally stand up to the screwballs in their ranks is a bit of a milestone on the road to 2014 and 16, though, before we start to celebrate a return to constructive engagement, we should remember how a handful of Republicans stood up to Rush Limbaugh in 2008 and how quickly he rallied the dittoheads in a successful push (Am I spelling that right?) to retain his influence.

Still, the Tea Party is losing its grip, and that's worth a joyous funeral.

The South African selfie has seen some rejection on social media as well, largely since, as I said yesterday, "it would have taken all of five seconds to learn that joy, laughter, singing and celebration are not only appropriate but expected in South Africa."

And, while I linked to a Mail & Guardian piece demanding more frivolity, friends in SA have since cited this article from the Maverick, which notes, with text, pics and a video, that the celebration in Cape Town was better than the main event, because it didn't have so many dignitaries there to be fussed over and protected.

But what began to drive conversations on Facebook was this revelation from the photographer who took the pic-of-the-pic that began the whole foolish conversation: Their actions were in keeping with the mood of the event, and, oh, btw, FLOTUS was simply caught at a bad moment and had, moments before, been laughing and joking along with her group and with the rest of the crowd in the stadium.

Which does nothing to persuade the people who are determined to find offense in a president whose presence in the White House offends them to begin with.

Yes, that's ironic, given the reconciliation being celebrated in a country that once shared our initials.

The word "racism" is tossed around too generically, but one particularly toxic element of the imperialist/colonialist legacy is the assumption that some countries are simply primitive and ignorant and that it is our mission to teach them how to be just like us: Wonderful.

"Racism" is too simplistic, "arrogance" doesn't really convey the condescending, contemptuous dismissal. 

Whatever word describes it, there's something really inappropriate and self-deceiving about a nation that celebrates Martin Luther King's legacy as a great thing for black people holding itself above a nation that realizes that Nelson Mandela's legacy is a great thing for everyone.

 

 

Mike Lynch spotted this interview with SA cartoonist Zapiro, in which he talks about the decisions he made in drawing Madiba the way he did over the years. For both cartoonists and fans of cartooning, it's well worth the five minutes.

 

Juxtaposition of the Day

Bor131212

(Matt Bors)

Deep131212

(Tim Eagan)

And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him. And, behold , there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy. And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?" And they held their peace . And he took him, and healed him, and let him go and answered them, saying, "Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?" — Luke 14, 1-5

And it came to pass , that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. And the Pharisees said unto him, "Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?" And he said unto them, "Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?" And he said unto them, "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath." — Mark 2:23-27

 

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Comments 4

  1. Better to use a more accurate, understandable translation:
    Luke 14:1-5
    New Living Translation (NLT)
    Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
    14 One Sabbath day Jesus went to eat dinner in the home of a leader of the Pharisees, and the people were watching him closely. 2 There was a man there whose arms and legs were swollen. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in religious law, “Is it permitted in the law to heal people on the Sabbath day, or not?” 4 When they refused to answer, Jesus touched the sick man and healed him and sent him away. 5 Then he turned to them and said, “Which of you doesn’t work on the Sabbath? If your son or your cow falls into a pit, don’t you rush to get him out?”
    Mark 2:23-27
    New Living Translation (NLT)
    A Discussion about the Sabbath
    23 One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples began breaking off heads of grain to eat. 24 But the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look, why are they breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?”
    25 Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 26 He went into the house of God (during the days when Abiathar was high priest) and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to his companions.”
    27 Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.
    Of course, I always enjoy someone using the scriptures to make a point.

  3. I prefer the KJV for admonishment, not only because of its beauty, but for its Voice of Charlton Heston authority. It feels like you’re quoting God verbatim, especially to those who are more apt to obey the commands of Charlton Heston than of God.
    As for those who don’t require admonishment, I figure that, in a crowd that gets the “spelling of push” joke, you can ask “Wherefore art thou Romeo?” without getting “Over here in the bushes” as a response.
    Incidentally, I found upon reading Mark Russell and Shannon Wheeler’s “God Is Disappointed With You” that the informal re-telling of the Old Testament is much more effective than it is in the New, and I think it’s because, for all the flourishes of the KJV, the New Testament is more culturally attuned to modern thought.
    Or it may be that we’re simply more familiar with it for having had it quoted at us more often, which may simply be a Roman Catholic thing.

  4. And, by the way, I read neither Aramaic nor Greek, but I find it easy to accept that the word for “ox” might also be translated as “cow,” though the two beasts certainly have very different and non-interchangable uses. I’m a bit puzzled, however, as to how you swap “ass” for “son” and I hope the implications weren’t that closely aligned in the original language as they are in ours.
    Although we should recall the words of Isaiah, “For behold, although his back be strong, yet his mind be weak, and he hath a stubborn will. 12 Therefore I say unto thee, if thou likest not to go unto shul, thou mayest yet become like unto him. 13”

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