Last week, an air traffic controller fell asleep in the middle of the night at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, forcing two airplanes to land without any guidance from the tower.
Jeff Darcy, the staff cartoonist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer (click to view more of his cartoons), choose to highlight the ghost of Ronald Reagan, who fired more than 11,000 air traffic controllers back in 1981 when they ignored his order to return to work.
“You liberals just can’t let it go, can you? Even after 30 years,” wrote a reader about Darcy’s cartoon. “When you put your own want and greed before public safety, you get what you deserve. The air traffic controllers had it coming then, as do the public-sector unions today. They’re nothing but greedy bullies.”
What do you think: is Darcy’s cartoon fair or foul?
As the U.S. economy limps out of a devastating recession, home foreclosures continue to be a drain on economic growth. Some estimates show that as many as 5 million properties are over 60 days late on their mortgage payments.
Last week, President Obama ordered the U.S. to begin a military offensive in Libya to establish a no-fly zone and protect civilians from being killed by crazy Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Now, Obama is facing scrutiny from both sides of the aisle who claim the mission goals are both hypocritical and vague.
Every Friday, we collect the best political cartoons of the week and present them in one oversized slideshow for you to enjoy. This week, we saw a new offensive begin in Libya, celebrated the one year anniversary of Obamacare and witnessed the passing of a movie icon.
Obituary cartoons are often among the most favored by readers, and most despised by cartoonists, more often than not involving the famous person at the pearly gates of heaven.
There are lots of things to remember Elizabeth Taylor for. From her Oscars and iconic movie roles to her many, many husbands, even her relationship with Michael Jackson, Taylor was larger then life. But with her violet, almond-shaped eyes, I think Taylor is most renowned for her beauty, and so far it seems a lot of cartoonists are focusing on her eyes in their cartoons.
Here’s my newest cartoon about Libya and its crazy leader, Moammar Gadhafi. The U.S. complains about being broke, and we’re already engaged in two separate wars that have cost billions, yet here we are once again leading the charge against a power-crazy despot unwilling to step down:
People in foreign countries like to talk badly about the United States, but whenever it comes to a U.N. Resolution or an incident that requires force, we always seem to be the ones leading the way, bearing the weight of the engagement:
It’s not as if Gadhafi doesn’t deserve to be taken out. The power-hungry leader turned his weapons on his own people, killing innocent civilians in a last-ditch effort to remain in power, despite country-wide protests that followed the example of places like Tunisia and Egypt:
But none of that matters to Gadhafi. It doesn’t matter how much blood is shed, or who’s shedding it, as long as at the end of the day, he’s still in charge:
Happy Birthday Twitter! Yesterday marked the social networking Web site’s 5th anniversary. That’s right, it was only back in 2006 that Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey purchased Simon Oxley’s stock art Twitterbird image and launched what would become a global network where celebrities bicker, athletes vent and revolutionaries band together.
At Cagle Cartoons, we’re big fans of Twitter (you can follow me @dcagle), so I thought we’d mark the occasion by presenting some of the best cartoons about twitter to come through our Web site.
John Cole’s cartoon of the iconic twitterbird showcases the importance of Twitter following the disputed Iranian presidential elections back in 2009. Twitter become Iran’s lifeline to the outside, a way for Iranians to tell the world what was happening on the streets of Tehran in real time, as well as communicate among themselves.
John Cole / Scranton Times-Tribune (click to share)
Twitter was instrumental in helping spread the footage of the death of Neda Agha-Soltan, who become iconic in the struggle of Iranian protesters against the disputed election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Arizona Daily Star cartoonist David Fitzimmons captures the symbol that Neda became for the Iranian people in his cartoon…
David Fitzsimmons / Arizona Daily Star (click to share)
John Cole captures the lighter side of Twitter, as journalists accustomed to daily deadlines have quickly had to adapt a changing world of instant news 140 characters at a time.
John Cole / Scranton Times-Tribune (click to share)
Recently, Twitter has helped organizers gather large crowds in the Middle East and overthrow dictators who held power for years. Dutch cartoonist Joep Bertrams captures this force in his cartoon…
Joep Bertrams / The Netherlands (click to share)
Meanwhile, Denver Post cartoonist Mike Keefe shows the implications of the growth of “social media” and Twitter…
Mike Keefe / Denver Post (click to share)
Keefe also sees Twitter as a de-evolution of human communication…
President Obama and his family touched down Saturday in Brazil as part of a five-day South American trip intended to focus on jobs. Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff, like most international cartoonists, thinks Obama is more interested in oil than anything else.  Greedy, oil-thirsty, domineering American presidents are an enduring, international theme.  Sometimes it is good to be reminded of the one-dimensional way the world sees us.
The caption at the top of the cartoon translates to: “Obama reaches Rio…”
Obama (dressed as a conquistador)Â is asking the Brazilian beach-goer, “Where is the pre-salt?” Â (The pre-salt layer, according to Wikipedia, is an oil-rich geological formation on the continental shelves off the coast of Africa and Brazil.)
Here are some more cartoons by Latuff about Obama’s trip to Brazil:
