CSotD: Names and words that begin with F
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Steve Sack ignores the command from Central Cartooning to quote Stuart Smalley and, instead, makes a point not so much about Franken's situation but about the absurdity of being called out for pretending to grope one woman by a guy who was going to sue 16 women — but apparently forgot — for accusing him of really groping them.
Though it's only right to point out the Official White House Explanation, which is that Franken admitted it and apologized, so he's guilty, while the President has denied that he did anything wrong, so obviously he's innocent.
Because the President of the United States would never say anything that isn't true.
Though, if I'm going to call out cartoonists for being lazy and ill-informed, it's only fair to note that Michael Ramirez cited something a little less obvious and a little more relevant from Franken's career. (Disclaimer: I have a blurb in the paperback edition.)
I don't particularly like the cartoon, because, while Franken has criticized Limbaugh and others for their attitudes towards women in general and sex in particular, he was quick to call himself out for past commentary.
But simply drawing Franken and quoting the Stuart Smalley character is more insult than commentary, so point to Ramirez for being incisive and well-informed.
And this sidebar: It appears that the Franken disclosure was a bit more orchestrated than it might appear. Which is okay as long as nobody whines over other disclosures that are similarly cynical and Cyrillic in their origins.
Yesterday, I said I had doubts about the claim the photo was staged with her cooperation, and that claim has been traced to a Russian bot. So good for me, but a more serious matter is that the campaign of disruption involves both starting rumors and then planting objections to the rumors.
My instinct is to be cautious of helping spread this sort of thing even by furiously rebutting it. Given their own strategy of stirring up arguments, it's clear that division is one of their goals and you only help when you play along.
And as someone with newsroom experience, I also know that repeating an error even in a correction spreads it. That is, you should not write:
In Wednesday's story about Mayor Smith, we reported that he has a pet elephant named Daisy. Daisy is, in fact, a Labrador Retriever. We regret the error.
It has been shown that this will strengthen readers' misperception, including many who didn't read the original story, and you'll wind up having more people believe that Mayor Smith owns an elephant.
The proper phrasing is:
Yesterday's story about Mayor Smith mischaracterized his pet, Daisy, who is, in fact, a Labrador Retriever. We regret the error.
I'm not sure how you apply that to bot-inspired rumors, but engaging with trolls does bring Sack's cartoon back to the fore, because of the old political aphorism about wrestling with a pig.
None of which is intended to let Franken off the hook, though, as noted yesterday, he has stepped up as well as anyone could and the target of the offense has accepted his apology, which should somewhat put it aside, at least as soon as the rest of the cartoonists have turned in their Stuart Smalley pieces.
However, Scott Stantis offers a commentary not simply on Franken's situation but on the entire ongoing topic, and I'm willing to bet I'm not the only man in America who has been running through his mental files reassessing certain events and encounters.
As well we should, though I would note that, while it's too late for yesterday, young women today are being taught to be more direct, while young men are on notice to clean out their damn ears and listen better.
Whatever infighting and mudslinging we see in the next few months should, I hope, drive at least that latter message home, while I hope the former is also picking up emphasis.
It's good to get justice but even better not to require it, and that's a message for all concerned.
On a lighter fucking note:
Nick Anderson comments on a ridiculous story coming out of his home state, where Sheriff Snowflake has taken upon himself the job of policing local morality as well as local lawbreaking.
Now, I wouldn't put this on my car — if nothing else, the nail that sticks out gets hammered — but I will defend to the death, or at least the acute pain or perhaps the slight inconvenience, her right to do so.
Fortunately, I don't have to, because the issue came up some 40 years ago, and while the findings of a county court in Michigan are probably not applicable in Texas and there have been other, similar cases, the explanation by this judge is worth reading:
(And, no, it wasn't easy to track this text down and thank god for wiseass law students.)
Juxtaposition of the Day Part One
(Monty)
Monty gets top placement because the strip's been pursuing this concept in an arc for several days (starting here), but not so long that Edison Lee's version could be more than pure coincidence.
"Breaking the Fourth Wall" has become common, but there's a Twilight Zone/Truman Show element to this approach that I find more amusing than simply addressing the audience or playing with the frames.
Juxtaposition of the Day Part Two
The innocence of Dog Eat Doug melds into the cynical existential horror of today's Free Range in a microcosm of King Vidor's classic 1928 silent film "The Crowd."
The film begins with the birth of the protagonist, whose father proudly proclaims that any boy can grow up to be president and that his lad is headed for greatness, a prediction the boy believes right up to the point where he heads off to New York City to seek fame and fortune, sparking a landmark sequence in cinematography:
If only he'd had Sophie to advise him instead of Eleanor Boardman.
(See? I'm not a sexist anymore!)
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