David Horsey writes an appreciation of the musical “Hamilton,” praising the way it purposefully departs from a true historical setting in order to illuminate the timeless issues its real-world characters faced.Which may be the case (I haven’t seen it), and I don’t have a problem, for instance, with productions of “Hamlet” set in modern totalitarian […]
(Gary Varvel) (Bob Gorrell)These two conservatives were fast out of the gate with a pair of cartoons that seem to go deeper into the DACA issue than the more liberal response so far, much of which has been plays on “dreams” and “nightmares.”Pointing out that Dreamers are in a tough spot is like pointing out […]
Ann Telnaes sets today’s mood, and, while riffing on the Presidential seal is hardly revolutionary, this is the right moment and a good job, and she makes a statement that covers much that is being said.The other reason to have her lead off is that she’s the current president of the Association of American Editorial […]
Amid several other cartoonists’ attempts, Jeff Stahler gets the best perspective on the phony phone call issue.This isn’t a particularly profound cartoon, but attempts to place the claim in more profound contexts have fallen flat, I think because they’ve attempted to put the President’s lies in a rational setting that goes beyond the self-preservation instincts […]
Darrin Bell’s familiar metaphor suggests solving the current situation is more difficult that we thought.Or not.But it doesn’t make it any easier.The notion that, by slowly turning up the heat, you can boil a frog without it trying to escape isn’t true, but it’s a useful concept, particularly if you add a little Orwell to […]
There are several cartoons floating around about “the smoking gun” of Don Jr and his meeting with someone who unexpectedly turned out to be an agent of the Russian government, though he was told only that she was an agent of the Russian government. She denies it. He denied it for awhile. Now he only […]
It’s not easy to come up with topical cartoons, and poor Tim Eagan gives us a case study of how quickly things can fall apart.This is brilliant work. It’s an excellent predator/prey metaphor and he did a truly great job of melding Putin’s face with that of the self-satisfied lion.Really, really nice work.And then the son […]
Let’s start with a nice cup of … frustration, courtesy of Between Friends. The empty pot was also in yesterday’s strip, so it may be the start of an arc, but it’s certainly a memory.Anyone who has worked in an office — at least before we started piling up those damned Keurig cups in our […]
I’m going to have to keep the comments brief, because my self-imposed 1,000 word limit won’t get me through everything that cracked me up or made me think this morning. Fill in the conceptual gaps in my prose as needed; not much of it will be. Imago iocosus ipsa loquiturI decided to lead off with the […]
We’ll repeat yesterday’s process of beginning with the inescapable political stuff and then going to the Laffs Section, and Jack Ohman leads off with this compete analysis of the “Undecided Voter,” which also does a good job of commenting on the nitwits who think it makes them sound wise to say “They’re both the same.”Honestly, […]
Gary Varvel is only one of many cartoonists who may be giving voters more credit than they deserve, but his commentary is general enough to be a good jumping off spot for today’s rant.That is, he’s right: Trump seems determined to destroy his own chances, blowing holes in his campaign at every opportunity and sometimes when […]
To start with …… well, to start with, I like Dave Granlund’s cartoon because I think it probably says what he wants it to say, which is that Clinton has pneumonia, that she seems to have the situation under control and that it has political freight.I also got a kick out of Gary Varvel’s take […]
Steve Benson offers this take on a House bill that would forbid display of the Confederate flag in VA cemeteries. My initial response was that, while I agree in principle, I know of one cemetery that might be an exception: Woodlawn National Cemetery in Elmira, NY, in which are buried the remains of nearly 3,000 Confederate soldiers […]
I’m becoming discouraged about this topic, and now the past few days have seen a flood of cartoons making the same claims: Bernie Bots and Bernie Bros are going to hand the election to Trump.Well, except that it’s graduation time, so we’ve got a few “college is expensive and you won’t get a job” cartoons. […]
This is probably partisan rancour on my part, but I think Walt Handelsman has pretty much boiled it down here.I’ve said this before, but Clinton reminds me of the honor student who is president of everything, who gets the top grades, who becomes valedictorian and who, a minute before the bell rings, raises her hand […]