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Fitzsimmons Apologizes for AZ Shooting Remarks Made on CNN

Saturday, I posted on my blog the comments Arizona Daily Star cartoonist David Fitzsimmons made on CNN on Saturday as the news broke of the shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Fitzsimmons lives near the scene of shooting and went there when he heard about it.

Yesterday, he issued the following statement and apology:

“Today I have offended many with my emotional, partisan and inappropriate remarks, broadcast on CNN, regarding the horror of this day. As Congresswoman Giffords battles for her life let us join in prayer for her, for the dead and for the injured. Reflecting on the moment, I know my remarks would have disappointed Congresswoman Giffords, a public servant who is admired for her nonpartisan, gracious and intelligent approach to public discourse.”

The Arizona Daily Star added:

Columnists are human and have strong and immediate reactions to awful news, but those are best kept private until facts are known. As Fitzsimmons acknowledged on CNN, he wasn’t reporting and didn’t know at the time who the shooter was or his motivation.

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Nancy Pelosi's Year in Cartoons

Democrat Nancy Pelosi said she had no regrets as she handed over the House speaker role to Republican John Boehner. Judging how cartoonists covered Pelosi over the last year, maybe Boehner shouldn’t be too thrilled.

Click to view our Lame Duck cartoon slideshow.

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IN MEMORIAM: Editorial Cartoonist Deaths – 2010

Paul Conrad (1924 – 2010)
One of the most influential editorial cartoonists to ever put pen to paper, Conrad won three Pultizer Prizes for the cartoons he drew for the Los Angeles Times.  He was also named in Richard Nixon’s enemy list in 1973, a badge he wore with honor. Here’s my blog post about the death of Paul Conrad.

Eugene Gray Payne, Jr. (1919 – 2010)
Gene drew cartoons for over 20 years at the Charlotte Observer, and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1968.

R.P. Overmeyer (1948 – 2010)
A long-time Cagle.com contributor, R.P. is most well-known as the creator of the weekly cartoon strip Hollywood Dog.

Edward Sparkman (1921 – 2010)
Sparkman drew sports cartoons for the Tampa Tribune for over 40 years and created Bucco Bruce, the winking pirate logo that adorned the football helmets of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for 20 seasons.

Frank Interlandi (1925 – 2010)
Frank drew cartoons for the Los Angeles Times for nearly 20 years, sharing the page with Paul Conrad.

Ed Ashley (1922 – 2010)
Ed drew cartoons for the Toledo Blade during the 1970s and 1980s, where he also did advertising layouts and artwork.

Michael Glen Gauldin (1954 – 2010)
Gauldin drew cartoons for the Arkansas Times, and served as Press Secretary for then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton.

Howard Joseph Brodie (1915 – 2010)
Brodie drew sports cartoons for the San Francisco Chronicle, and was a combat artist during WWII, which he spent in the army.


Other editorial cartoonists we lost in 2010:

Chuck Therrien (1924 – 2010)
Therrien drew cartoons for the Curry Coastal Pilot for 15 years during the 1990s and 2000s.

Herman Gutierrez (1924 – 2010)
A commercial artist by trade, Gutierrez sketched daily cartoons to accompany a chosen letter to the editor for the Corpus Christie Caller-Times for 30 years.

Al Cabral (1925 – 2010)
Cabral was a cartoonist and sports illustrator for the Standard Times, who featured his sport germ characters and his comic strip Dr. Pett the Vet.

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Shooty's California Flag Cartoon

Everyone here knows how much I like to abuse the poor bear on California’s flag.

Well now my buddy, Slovak cartoonist Martin “Shooty” Sutovec, has decided to draw a California flag cartoon of his own. That poor bear has suffered mightily at the hands of cartoonists.

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Lame Duck Cartoons

It may have been a “lame duck” congress, but by passing several major pieces of legislation including a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, I guess the term “lame” is in the eye of the beholder… or the cartoonist.

 
Click to view our Lame Duck cartoon slideshow.

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New Years Resolution Cartoons

Have you made any New Years resolutions this year? If one of them is to laugh more, then check out our New Years Resolution cartoon slideshow.

Click to view the New Years Resolution cartoon slideshow.

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Best Sarah Palin Cartoons of 2010

We can’t look back at 2010 and forget the contributions of everyone’s favorite Mama Grizzly, Sarah Palin. From notes on her palm to her decision to ‘refudiate’ conventional wisdom by starting in a reality TV show, Palin has certainly continued to be a cartoonist’s dream. So enjoy our collection of the best Sarah Palin cartoons of 2010.

Click here to view the 2010 Year in Sarah Palin cartoon slideshow.

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My Own Cartoon Year in Review

Look!  Here’s my own cartoon year in review slideshow from msnbc.com.

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Christmas Cartoons Galore

Merry Christmas everyone! We have Christmas cartoons galore for you to share and enjoy with your friends and family!

Obama Christmas Cartoons

Nate Beeler / Washington Examiner, PoliticalCartoons.com
Nate Beeler / Washington Examiner, PoliticalCartoons.com

Merry Christmas Cartoons

Jeff Stahler / Columbus Dispatch, Cagle.com
Jeff Stahler / Columbus Dispatch, Cagle.com

Christmas Foreclosures Cartoons

John Darkow / Columbia Daily Tribune, PoliticalCartoons.com
John Darkow / Columbia Daily Tribune, PoliticalCartoons.com

Christmas Economy Cartoons

Rob Rogers / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Cagle.com
Rob Rogers / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Cagle.com

Christmas Nativity Cartoons

Jeff Parker / Florida Today, PoliticalCartoons.com
Jeff Parker / Florida Today, PoliticalCartoons.com

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Gays in the Military

Few issues currently create as much debate as allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the United States military. Even with the Senate’s repeal of the controversial Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, many in congress, the military and the country remain on opposite sides of the argument.

When cartoonists weigh in on such a controversial subject, as Mike Keefe of the Denver Post did with the cartoon to the right (view more of Keefe’s cartoons here), you can expect some readers to respond in kind.

Allowing gays to serve openly in the military has become an important issue to Keefe. Here is what he has to say on the subject:

“The question of whether gays should be permitted to serve in the military is basically a question of civil rights. I know of no study that says sexual orientation affects job performance in any legitimate area of employment including military service. Twenty-two of the twenty-six countries that contribute military forces to NATO permit gays to serve. Denying gays the opportunity to serve their country is denying them a basic right of citizenship.”

Keefe has weighed in with multiple cartoons about gays in the military. Here are some of his best. What’s your opinion?

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Green Bay Cartoonist Reflects on Brett Favre

There have been hundreds of cartoons drawn about Brett Favre over the course of his 20-year career. But no cartoonist has had a better vantage point over the years than Joe Heller, the staff cartoonist for the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

Joe was there when Brett first took the field, won his first MVP, brought home a Super Bowl championship and began playing his annual “I’m retiring” game. Looking through Joe’s cartoons over the years, you can see an evolution of opinion forming.

“At first it was fun and exciting going to two Super Bowls,” Heller said. “And yes, the paper did send me to New Orleans in 1997 and San Diego in 1998 to cover SB week in cartoons.”

“The rest of the time I chronicling the ups and downs of the team. However, as Favre began his annual routine of retiring and returning and retiring and returning; the image of Brett as a MVP superstar turned to a tedious routine indecision.”

Here are a collection of Joe’s best cartoons, chronicling the career of Brett Favre:


Joe Heller is the cartoonist for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. To see more of Joe’s cartoons, click here.

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Taking the 'Christ' Out of Christmas Cartoons

One thing we can count on every year is the media’s constant drum-banging about the so-called “War on Christmas.” Apparently, nothing going on in the world is quite as important as whether people, companies and towns wish each other “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays.

Like most issues, cartoonists take sides on this reindeer-filled battlefield. Mike Lester, the cartoonist for the Rome News-Tribune, approaches the notion of political correctness around the holidays with a deft hand and sarcastic sense of humor.


Cartoonist Brian Fairrington is also a harsh critic of the “Happy Holidays” P.C. crowd, and even developed his own ending to ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.’


Salt Lake Tribune cartoonist Pat Bagley sees the “War on Christmas” as largely missing the point, as the holiday became less about Christ and more about commercialization a long time ago…


Meanwhile, Joe Heller of the Green Bay Press-Gazette things we should honor the true symbols of Christmas – the blowhards…


Lastly, John Trever of the Albuquerque Journal doesn’t think there’s any room left for Christ. After all, the electric bill is already through the roof…