CSotD: Friday Funnies … in a minute
Skip to comments
If you follow comic news at all, you are likely aware that the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette finally quit torturing Rob Rogers and fired him yesterday.
Rather than recoup it all, here are some links to coverage: Michael Cavna at Comic Riffs, Rob Tornoe at Philly News, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and the Post-Gazette itself.
Plus, confirming what I wrote the other day, Ed Stein offers this insider Facebook posting that gives the lie to the P-G's claim that it was a matter of Rob not cooperating with the editorial process:
For those who’ve never worked for a newspaper, here’s how it works: the cartoonist is an opinion journalist; it’s his opinion, not the paper’s. Every good newspaper lets its columnists alone. Editing is about correct spelling and grammar, not content. Every once in a while, the editor kills a cartoon, either because it’s not clear enough or it is factually incorrect, not because the editor disagrees with it.
On a personal level, Rob is a really nice guy and it's been painful watching this process unfold, but, while we've run into each other at a couple of industry get-togethers, I don't know if he's got family obligations or if, like me, he's a free agent and can live on beans and rice without remorse.
I was at one paper where Corporate was making life hell, but I was able to hang in until I found another job because it was just me and the dogs. But my boss had two kids on the verge of college, a wife who was a tenured teacher in the local school district, a substantial mortgage and, to make leaving even harder, his in-laws had relocated and bought a house in the area.
So I say that being fired isn't the worst of outcomes, but I say it advisedly because it really depends on why you might need the gig.
Still, I've been in two situations where I was being pressured to quit because they didn't want to pay unemployment and it's a relief when it's finally over.
That's the personal side: I wish Rob the best and I hope he can take a deep breath and move on.
The professional side is less cheerful, because this represents part of the Cult of Trump, for which we go back to 1965 and this classic "Wizard of Id."
If the Post-Gazette were hiring an editorial cartoonist this morning — and I'll bet they're not, despite the vacancy — they would not likely hire a progressive like Rogers. Fair enough.
But that's not the same thing as first harassing, then firing, a popular regional cartoonist who has been a mainstay at the paper for 25 years, not just for his political cartoons but for his weekly salute to Picksburgh's unique local culture, "Brewed on Grant Street."
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette operates in a market that voted strongly for Hillary Clinton in 2016: 55.9% vs 39.5% for Trump, according to the NYTimes reporting.
This returns us to the question I raised the other day, of whether a newspaper should be trying to lead opinion or reflect it, and, clearly, the effort by the Post-Gazette to stifle criticism of Trump is an attempt to change opinions in Allegheny County.
And they have the gold, so they make the rules.
Some of the remaining journalists at the paper have urged people not to cancel their subscriptions to the paper, because they're still turning out good reporting on local issues.
Oh, please. I see by the mighty Wikipedia that Pittsburgh has a metric ton of media outlets, only one of which has fired a well-respected local cartoonist for failing to worship at Dear Leader's altar.
The notion that you have to support this One-Percenter rightwing fascist bullshit in order to know what's going on in town is simply not true, and suggesting that you support my job despite my colleague losing his is, at best, simple-minded and, at worst, a sign of collaboration.
Robert Di Nero might have phrased it differently.
On to the Friday Funnies
We'll ease into the funny stuff with today's Retail, which is not unconnected to all of the above.
And my favorite quotation from "War and Peace," as Pierre reflects on his experience as a POW:
“People speak of misfortunes and sufferings,” remarked Pierre, “but if at this moment I were asked: ‘Would you rather be what you were before you were taken prisoner, or go through all this again?’ then for heaven’s sake let me again have captivity and horseflesh! We imagine that when we are thrown out of our usual ruts all is lost, but it is only then that what is new and good begins. While there is life there is happiness. There is much, much before us. I say this to you,” he added, turning to Natásha.
At one of two places I was being harassed into quitting, I noticed the people who bitched and moaned but would never leave, while I pretended to be cheerful while plotting my escape.
Go thou and do likewise.
Meanwhile, Mark Anderson thinks of the glitches in the system you might not have considered.
And I'm going to tiptoe on the fringes of the Prime Directive with this Zits by noting that Jeremy's Dad's music list, judging by the icons, includes the Stones, the Beatles and some prodigious Woodstockian and psychedelic output.
I wouldn't have been so apologetic in that last panel, but, then, my kids have a fair amount of that stuff in their own playlists alongside their own generation's stuff.
Dude, you need to raise'em right.
And this Argyle Sweater not only cracked me up but reminded me of a girl I dated one summer named Susie Hilburn because I wondered if Scott Hilburn would be getting a lot of pushback on this gag until I remembered that Susie was Jewish.
Which probably makes me the only person who saw this cartoon and thought of Jimmy Webb.
Comments 1
Comments are closed.