CSotD: Politics? Who, Me?
Skip to comments
Filling in for Mike Peterson while he’s on assignment to the mysterious Misty Isles, I’m Brian Fies.
When I began my temporary stewardship of the Comic Strip of the Day, I said that I don't do politics on the Internet. It just makes people mad and never changes anybody's mind. On the other hand, presidential elections only come around every four years, for the first time in history the Republican Party just nominated a non-Republican as its candidate, and I think/hope I can discuss how effectively (or ineffectively) political cartoonists are handling the event without tumbling into the abyss. I'm here to talk comics, not politics.
Melania Trump threw cartoonists a slow pitch over the middle of the plate with a speech whose best parts were apparently lifted from Michelle Obama. Cartoonists were only a bit slower than the Internet's instant meme generators to depict Melania reciting the Gettysburg Address or praising her daughters Sasha and Malia. Some of them were pretty funny–I laughed at the one about immigrants stealing jobs from hard-working Americans–but it's an easy knee-jerk reaction. I went looking for cartoonists who drew their second thought instead of their first.
Kevin Siers of the Charlotte Observer focused more on Donald Trump's defense of his wife than on her misstep, drawing a parallel with Hillary Clinton's defense of her husband and her own decisions. I think this is a more thoughtful take. Melania's not the problem–she didn't write that speech (no matter what she claims) and she's not running for office. The more interesting angle is Trump's reaction to it: prickly defensiveness, "everybody does it," and failure to take any responsibility or even acknowledge any fault.
Roll Call's R.J. Matson has a similar take, dissecting Trump more than his wife. I also think he does a nice job of caricaturing both of them, exaggerating their features without going into full monstrous Pumpkinhead and Morticia Addams territory. I don't necessarily have anything against extreme caricature except I think it's easy to make anyone you don't like look like a slavering hell-beast, which in turn makes your point easy to dismiss. A cartoonist really interested in influencing hearts and minds might benefit from a milder style.
My sense is that Melania's getting piled on because she's an easy target. Cartoonists and pundits are frustrated because they haven't laid a glove on her shameless husband for anything substantial, so they're taking it out on her. In the big picture, a few plagiarized lines in a would-be First Lady's speech are not a big deal. It's a distraction that'll be forgotten in a week. I feel a little sympathy for Melania; like Jessica Rabbit, she's not necessarily bad, she's just drawn that way.
Cartoonist Mike Luckovich of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has his eyes on a larger prize: the vast viewing audience watching with different measures of fascination, horror or glee as the Republican Party executes itself at its own convention. The detail that sells the whole cartoon is the box of popcorn at lower left; at least some of those witnesses are there for entertainment. Luckovich's cartoon captures the most common real-world reaction I've heard among people I know, who can't quite believe what they're seeing and can't quite look away. Bread and circuses.
Finally, I liked Tom Toles's take on the principled Republicans who thought Trump was utterly unfit to lead them, mounted an insignificant and futile effort to block him, and today can only look around in dazed befuddlement wondering what hit them. The capper, "Formerly the party of strong national defense," is a cold twist of the irony knife. All that tough talk about protecting the country and they couldn't even hold the gates of their own convention.
This whole post makes me uncomfortable. Squirmy. Itchy. Back to the comics page tomorrow.
Comments 3
Comments are closed.