DarylCagle.comEvery Friday, we collect the best political cartoons of the week and stuff them into one big, glorious slideshow.
So just relax and catch up on a week’s worth of news with our Best Cartoons of the Week slideshow.
Our conservative cartoonist Gary McCoy is no stranger to controversey. After Rush Limbaugh called Sandra Fluke a “slut” for defending President Obama’s healthcare policy forcing insurance companies to cover contraceptives, McCoy drew a harsh cartoon about Fluke that seemed to set the internet on fire:
Following Fluke’s address to the Democratic National Convention last night, McCoy has drawn another harsh cartoon about the Georgetown Law School graduate that has riled up our readers and been criticized as misogynistic:
I asked Gary to comment about the cartoon, and here’s what he sent me:
Why is it that a group of people so adept at filling out welfare claim forms while simultaneously watching Family Guy, and able to ignite an American flag using only a pair of reading glasses and two, foot-long strands of underarm hair, are so lost when it comes to understanding a simple cartoon? My recent Sandra Fluke cartoon seems to have infuriated many of the same crowd who popped blood vessels over my last Fluke cartoon, and are just now hanging their Anger Management Class diplomas on their bedroom walls.
To me, it’s hilarious that the left was so incredulous at Clint Eastwood’s RNC speech, in which he, in improv-like fashion, mocked an imaginary President Obama sitting in an empty chair onstage (a perfect metaphor at that.). Yet, they see nothing wrong with inviting for their convention, a divisive, hard-core, pro-abortion ‘women’s rights advocate’ who, despite what her camouflaged congressional testimony held, has in fact pushed for government subsidized (i.e., taxpayer funded) birth control and contraceptives.
And for those whose definition of a misogynist is anyone who criticizes an extremely ideological feminist who complains before the nation that despite attending Georgetown University on a $40,000 scholarship, she can’t afford nine-dollar-a-month birth control, I can only say, shave your armpits for crying out loud! You’re blocking my view.
Here’s a sampling of our readers’ thoughts:
Jerry Chandler: Since her testimony was about medical issues and this cartoon still flogs the lie told by the right about what she said – Foul.
Sherry Russell: Why is a beautiful young woman portrayed as Bella Abzug?
Mike Villwock: While he didn’t completely quote limbaugh in this cartoon by avoiding the use of the word ‘slut’, he leaves no doubt of his low opinion of women by suggesting that those you use birth control are out there whoring it up.
Keith Lewis Simmons: It’s not funny because the issue isn’t all about having sex, unless you’re an ignorant rube. The truth is that hormone therapy is life-saving for many, many women. And men. (See, that’s funny. Not insulting to women’s health, just their psyche.)
Daniel Shrader: Did any of these conservatives actually listen to this woman’s testimony, or did they just get all their info from the fat ass Limbaugh.
Bob Flisser: McCoy is one of the finest minds of the 12th Century.
Julie Slapyawitmah Palm: Heath care for men – totally fine and not worth mentioning, even when Viagra is included. Health care for women – paying people to be “sluts,” as Rush put it. Misogyny.
What do you think of McCoy’s cartoon – fair or foul? Comment below or drop us a line on our Facebook page.
Michelle Obama gave her big Democratic Convention speech last night, and based on the reaction from both readers and pundits, the First Lady hit the ball out of the park.
We got a lot of feedback after the speech from our readers and cartoon fans on our Facebook page, and some of it was directed at Taylor Jones’ caricature, which is posted to the right:
Denise Sevier Fries: Made me cry…and I’m Canadian!
Patty Anderson O’Daniel: A breathe of fresh air after seeing that plastic FLOTUS wannabe last week… So genuine, caring and passionate! Someone we can relate to!
Denise Sevier Fries: Taylor Jones (the artist) is obviously channeling Picasso with all the disproportional facial features etc…but in this case, imitation is NOT a form of flattery.
Kathryn Rogers: Musial Michele brought it all home….AWSOME lady!
Dottie Turner: Mr. Cagle. Is it a prerequisite for all characatures that they be insulting? Mrs. Obama is a beautiful woman, she is well spoken, thoughtful and endearing. Mrs. Romney, on the other hand bears a rather striking to ‘the bride of chucky ‘.
Don Mitchell: Personable, eloquently delivered.
Ben Stewart: She connect with me much better than Ann did. All I really got from Ann was trust my husband, but Mrs. Romney failed to give me a reason to do so.
Emad Wilson: Her speech was quite,appropriate and invigorating.
Personally, I think Taylor’s caricature of the First Lady is great. It’s hard for cartoonists to draw attractive people – almost as hard as it is for us to draw positive cartoons about politics. I haven’t drawn Michelle much in my cartoons, but here’s an old one during the 2008 campaign where then-candidate Obama’s patriotism was questioned:
What did you think of Michelle Obama’s speech? Comment below, or drop us a line on our Facebook page.
I spent yesterday in Delhi speaking to packed rooms of intense students at Amity University and at the International School of Media and Entertainment in Noida. Speaking to the college audiences here is great fun.
In the evening I met with about twenty Indian cartoonists at the American Center in Delhi; the handsome group in the photo below:
What was remarkable about the meeting is that all of the Indian cartoonists wanted to make the point to me that their careers are in peril. Cartoonists in India feel they are being squeezed out by timid editors who are afraid of the reactions of government officials and powerful patrons who fear negative reactions to strong opinions in editorial cartoons. The cartoonists told me about job losses and repeated stories about how the only work is for illustrations, at very low fees. They paint a grim picture.
They were all aware of a recent issue here where historical cartoons are being edited out of text books. They knew about Aseem Trivedi and other cartoonists who are facing prosecution, but they describe the problem more as self-censorship, and a fear of the adverse attention that cartoons draw. A number of them described the situation as the “death” of their profession.
Frankly, I was surprised by the tone, looking at the newspapers here it seems that there is a lively debate, and I see Prime Minister Singh savaged in cartoons every day. The newspapers are filled with stories of the current government coal scandal with wagging fingers pointed this way and that to blame for every social and economic problem.
That said, I had a great time with the cartoonists, I got to see much of their work, I was flattered that they all knew my work, and I was impressed at their professionalism and commitment to our art form. There is a lot of talent and promise in India for cartoonists, even though the mood is glum.
Indian cartoonist Aseem Trivedi, this year’s Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award winner (along with Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat) plans on turning himself over to the police in Mumbai in the next couple of days over controversial cartoons he posted on his web site that parody India’s national symbols.
Trivedi was charged in January with treason and insulting India’s national symbols, and if found guilty, he could face up to two years in prison and a fine of up to 5,000 rupees (about $100).
In the cartoon below, Trivedi took India’s national emblem of the Four Sarnath Lions of King Asoka that sit above the motto “Satyamev Jayate” (truth alone shall triumph) and re-drew them as bloodthirsty wolves on the re-worded motto “Bhrashtamev Jayate” (long live corruption):
In another offending cartoon, Trivedi drew the Indian parliament building as a toilet:
There is a long tradition of editorial cartoonists using symbols of states to express opinions about governments. Drawing a legislature or parliament building as a toilet is common. I recently drew our Capitol building in Washington as a toilet:
The offending cartoon below by Trivedi shows the “Mother of India” being held down by politicians and bureaucrats, about to be raped by corruption:
The Indian Constitution allows for “the right to freedom of speech and expression.” Trivedi’s critics argue that while he is allowed to mock and poke fun at politicans, it is a crime to mock the national emblem, the parliament and the Indian flag.
Read an interview that Trivedi gave to Cartoonist Rights Network International, here’s a quote:
“I am democratic. I am patriotic. I have a twenty-four year life without any charges of corruption. I am only making cartoons. … I am talking about nationalism. I love my country. I am reacting [to the corruption] in my own way. Someone is protesting. Somebody is a doing hunger strike in India. [As for me,] I am a cartoonist.”
There is a lot of sensitivity in India about cartoons that offend religious sensitivities, but cartoons that bash the state must be fair game. I would argue that editorial cartoonists must disrespect governments and symbols of governments as a professional obligation.
I’m continuing my US State Department sponsored speaking tour of India. Yesterday I spoke in “tiny” Raipur – a state capital with a population of over one million, which doesn’t rate a single mention in my Frommer Guide to India. My lecture was organized by Cartoon Watch Magazine and its cartoonist editor, the gracious Triambak Sharma.
I traveled from Raipur to Delhi to Agra to see the Taj Majal, a three hour drive each way from Delhi. That’s me at the right, standing in front of Agra’s Red Fort, which is pretty cool, and suffers from being in the Taj Majal’s shadow.
The poverty here is disturbing. I thought I had seen poverty in Latin America, in Brazil and Mexico – it was nothing compared to India. And the fact that the poor and the rich are living so close together is stunning. I hear a lot about America losing the middle class – India’s extremes put that into perspective (although India has a growing middle class).
I have to get used to speaking here – so far I’ve only spoken to art college students. They usually stare blankly and intently, but they stir and murmur when I show cartoons about Pakistan, like the one below.
The cartoon below also makes the audiences murmur here. In India, is against the law to insult the sensibilities of someone of another religion, and I’m told that they would never see such a cartoon here (although, I should mention that whenever I crucify someone in a cartoon, I get some angry mail from Americans). It is also taboo in India to draw the president, but cartoons about the Prime Minister are savage.
The taxi rides here are like thrill rides. The traffic lights and lines in the road are simply ignored. We barrel head on into other cars every few seconds, only to swerve away at the last moment. The drivers whisk past lazy cows, skinny dogs, rickshaws, throngs of pedestrians and rusty bicycles, at high speed, with only an inch or two of clearance. I’ve read that India has the highest rate of traffic accidents – this must be true.
Here’s a little movie that I made on a rickshaw ride in Old Delhi today. I think the traffic here is charming.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijCVmAmjmg4&w=600&h=450]
I can’t stand the political conventions and I don’t understand why the media all goes along with presenting days long commercials for the candidates. I’ve had enough if it – so it seemed like a good time to head off for India. I’m doing a speaking tour of India through the US State Department speakers program. I’ve never been to India before – they have lots of great cartoonists and a vibrant free press (with some interesting government restrictions).
Yesterday I spoke to a crowded room of about 300 students at the Sir JJ Academy of Applied arts in Mumbai. Those are the students (right), they are a spirited bunch, sitting on the cold floor, Indian style, in the dizzying humidty to listen to me talk for a whopping two hours. I wish I had thought to take a picture, just outside the door, of the mountain of about 600 shoes. They told me that, as the speaker, I need not take off my shoes – that’s good. I can’t imagine how they can find their shoes after class. I would have been there for an hour, sorting through shoes. I need to remember to put name tags on everything.
Here I am (below) at Rudyard Kipling’s house, next door to the JJ Academy. I’m told this is the “best art college in India” and the student’s work that I saw was quite impressive. Thy asked good questions and seemed to have a good time. I had a meeting with a bunch of newspaper editors for dinner. This is a crazy huge, diverse country full of cartoon fans. Such drama.
Clint Eastwood’s awkward prime-time GOP convention speech last night seems to have completely upstaged Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Last night, Eastwood interviewed and scolded an empty chair where an imaginary Barack Obama said (here’s the video, if you somehow missed it).
Here are the initial reactions from a handful of our cartoonists. Expect to see many more…
Every Friday, we collect the best political cartoons of the week and stuff them into one big, glorious slideshow.
So just relax and catch up on a week’s worth of news with our Best Cartoons of the Week slideshow.
With Governor Chris Christie set to give the Keynote Address at this year’s GOP Convention in Tampa, I thought I would round-up five cartoons about the New Jersey straight-talker. One thing’s for certain – he was born to draw:
It makes sense that a cartoonist’s first thought when trying to memorialize the life of Neil Armstrong would be those iconic footprints he left on the moon (even though in most photos, it’s really Buzz Aldrin’s footprint).
When five or more cartoonists draw the same gag, we refer to it as a “Cartoon Yahtzee.” There is a basic rule of thumb to go by, “if one other guy drew it, he’s a plagiarist; if five other guys drew it, they’re hacks; if a dozen other guys drew it, they are honoring a tradition”.
I thought we might get another “Cartoon Yahtzee” with cartoonists drawing the flag on the moon at half staff. So far, I’ve only seen a couple examples of those.
In South Africa, the country has been gripped by an deadly incident last week that has been dubbed the “Hill of Horror.” Police shot and killed 34 striking miners in the deadliest security incident since apartheid ended in 1994.
This story has largely gone unnoticed in the U.S., where the news has been dominated by Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin. So I thought I’d turn to Jeremy Nell (who goes by the pen name “Jerm”), a South African cartoonist I syndicate nationally through Cagle Cartoons, to describe the event and showcase some of his cartoons.
Jerm writes:
To tell you exactly what happened is a tricky. This is why there is an official investigation ordered by the president.
In short, unionised workers at the Lonmin platinum mine, in the north west of the country, engaged in very aggressive strike action over wages. Temperatures escalated and the standoff between the miners and police ended in tragedy, with some armed miners (wielding sticks, pangas and guns) attacking the police who then fired live ammunition into the crowd. (The question of “who fired first” is being investigated.) On Thursday, 34 miners were killed (and another 10 were killed on the days leading up to it), and nearly 80 were injured. Furthermore, 2 police officers and 2 security guards were killed.
My cartoon, that followed, is really just one of disappointment in my fellow South Africans. Instead of pointing fingers, I felt it necessary to reflect on the freedoms for which Nelson Mandela fought. What happened at Lonmin is one of the bloodiest moments in South Africa’s post-apartheid history. Actually, I think it is.
Looking at the photos and footage, one would be forgiven for thinking that South Africans are still oppressed.
My second cartoon wonders about the type of language South Africans throw around. With anti-apartheid songs like “Kill The Boer”; with the president singing songs such as “Umshini Wami [bring me my machine gun]”; with politicians telling cops to “shoot to kill”; and with “kill for Zuma” rhetoric (Jacob Zuma is South Africa’s president) being vomited out of Julius Malema’s mouth, is it any wonder that many South Africans are filled with hate?
Perhaps we should look inside ourselves and think about the words we say and the songs we sing.
Speaking of former ANC Youth League president, Julius Malema, I opted for a slightly more lighthearted approach after he grabbed the opportunity to selfishly address the Lonmin miners and fire them up (as he typically does) by blaming the police (and mine bosses and Jacob Zuma and anyone else who slots into his populist strategy).
The phrase “tjatjarag” is homegrown and difficult to explain. Urban Dictionary defines it as ” To be over-eager and excitable in an annoying manner.” (which is kind of on the money).
If you want to follow more of Jerm’s South Africa cartoons, bookmark his blog.
