CSotD: Brushing Against the Ridiculous
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I’ve often observed here that it’s tough to do multi-panel political cartoons because the news rarely cooperates by producing enough examples to fit the format. Granted, Tom Tomorrow generally does better than average at it anyway, but here’s an example of the subject matter cooperating with plenty of material that only needed a clever twist or two.
There’s an old saying, “It is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous,” which is credited to all sorts of people, but until I hit the Quote Investigator, I hadn’t heard Pierre-Jacques Changeux’s variant, perhaps because I’d never heard of Pierre-Jacques Changeux:
(T)he sublime must not be forced, lest it brush against the ridiculous and, as a consequence, destroy itself.
We rarely seek the sublime in political cartooning, but there is still the danger of spoofing and exaggerating to the point where you lose sight of the original inspiration.
David Rowe consistently tap-dances on the line between the sublime and the ridiculous, to the point where excess is his trademark and his readers would be disappointed if he went purely for the sublime.
By contrast, Telnaes tends to take an understated approach to her sarcasm such that the knife slips in quietly. As in Tom Tomorrow’s case, she didn’t have to invent much, given that Dear Leader has said that negotiations with Iran had become boring. But while Tomorrow twisted the facts, making them seem even more outrageous, she goes the opposite direction and insists that reality is already absurd, if you strip away the platitudes and examine it for what it is.
Commentators often react to Trump by saying “Imagine if Biden or Obama had done this!” Telnaes seems more inclined to ask, “Imagine if he were just some schlub, and not protected by the aura of fame and power!”
And speaking of things commentators say, Judge addresses the perennial question of whether Trump is consciously lying or honestly believes the things he says, because the answer is mostly “What possible difference would it make?”
You can take the same bizarre lack of empathy that lets him serve take-out fast-food burgers in the White House and expand it to a global level, such that, as Judge depicts it, he doesn’t see the horrors taking place, and thus sees no reason to address them at all, much less to do it effectively.
And he’s found an audience equally willing to accept delusional platitudes rather than make an effort to see reality. Once again, the question of what they honestly believe is answered by asking what possible difference it could make.
They’ve got Dear Leader assuring them that everything is fine, and Jesse Watters cheerfully mocking any troubling issues that might otherwise prove disturbing.
And as long as we’re talking about Jesse Watters, and as long as it’s Pride Month, part of the ongoing nonsense being weaponized is a cult of faux-masculinity that German mocks as anything but macho.
Wondering if Dear Leader is closeted is only a gag and not a serious question. The more important point, however, involves something we all should have learned at 14, which is that the guys who talk about it aren’t the guys who are doing it.
And those who obsess over their manhood clearly see it dangling by a thread, just as white supremacists fear that they have nothing other than skin color to make them competitive in society or the workplace.
Bad luck for any comic strippers who have slush fund gags in the hopper, because it appears Dear Leader has recognized the fact that, as the phrase goes, “that ol’ dog won’t hunt.” Expect to see a few non-operative gags in the coming days.
Today’s La Cucaracha appeared hours after Trump seemed to be withdrawing the ridiculous proposal, having faced the obvious fact that even his lickspittles are pushing back against the idea.
Aside from whether his staff actively protects him from bad news, even Dear Leader couldn’t avoid knowing that a meeting of Republican senators became a shouting match as they rejected the concept of paying those convicted of an attempted coup.
We haven’t really had a complete report on his latest medical examinations, but there are enough damaging clips of him “blinking” that only his most faithful followers are convinced he’s fit for the job.
Dear Leader has had a tough week overall, and while he can blame the court system for denying him the right to stick his name up on the Kennedy Center, and poor Petey got slapped down for trying to discriminate against trans recruits, it was harsh reality and ceaseless mockery that forced Trump to cancel his 250th Anniversary Concert.
Not only is the concert off, but the cancellations revealed that there is a for-real congressionally-approved 250th commemoration group, and there is a bogus 250th partisan grifting organization, and the furious musicians didn’t realize they’d been booked by the latter, not the former.
The grift goes on: Trump bought stock in Dell Computers before announcing that everybody should buy one, and before Dell was awarded a $9.7 billion contract, and he purchased stock in Dana White’s company before announcing the MMA South Lawn extravaganza.
But given the week he’s just had, I’m wishing I’d bought stock in whatever company supplies ketchup to the White House, because those walls have got to be dripping.
Juxtaposition of the Day
Trump has been having trouble maintaining his popularity as gas prices continue to strain pocketbooks, but Australians are seeing some relief, Herbert notes, in the form of a delivery of 5,000 electric cars from China.
Badiucao reminds us that development of EVs doesn’t cancel other issues within China, but Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen reports
EV take-up in Australia is at record levels. When we came to office, one Australian bought an electric vehicle every 50 minutes. Now, one Australian buys an electric vehicle every three minutes
Bloomberg reports that EV sales in Europe have gone up 44% since the start of the war in Iran, and BYD EV’s start at the US equivalent of $21,653.03 in Canada, but aren’t permitted to be imported to the US.
Tariffs are only one of the reasons.
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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