Those Mean Lean Republicans

This is liberal cartoon by Bob Englehart. In the cartoon, three tough-looking elephants dressed in red hoodies and hats, and a black shirt are standing with President Obama, who is dressed in a black suit, and and blue tie. The elephants tell the President that if he want their respect, he'll have to mug an old woman who has social security written on her dress. The message that the cartoon portrays is that if Obama wants the Republicans in the Senate and (mainly) the House to go along with what he wants, he's going to have to lower Social Security. However, the Republicans being portrayed as bullies or thugs clearly shows that this is a liberal cartoon. 

The Worst Recovery in History Blues

This political cartoon by Michael Ramirez is a conservative cartoon that pokes fun at President Obama. In the cartoon, Obama is seen holding a guitar and singing into a mic. He's singing, "I got the let them eat cake, I don't care if 1 in 6 Americans live in poverty, cancel the White House tours but I'm still having celebrity concerts at the White House during the Worst Recovery in history blues..." This cartoon mocks Obama because white he talks the talk, he doesn't really walk the walk because he's still having a grand old time at the White House while 1 in 6 Americans are living in poverty. This cartoon could definitely affect presidential popularity and trust, which we've been talking about in class. Obama's been pretty popular, and going into his second term, he had around 50% popularity. However, this could change in the upcoming months. 

Media's Best Surgeons

This Republican cartoon by Glenn Foden is one that discusses how the media has been messing with abortion movements. In the cartoon, there's a sign saying "Planned Mediahood", and as if in an abortion clinic, three doctors come in, their name badges saying, "Network News", "Cable News", and "Print." Under the cartoon, there's a caption that reads, "Aborting Pro-Life stories since Roe V. Wade." In class, we've talked about how much of a role the media plays in policy making. We've seen how the media has grouped up against those who are pro-life. And that's what the cartoon shows. The media has been taking lives since Roe V. Wade. 

Rock-a-bye North Korea

This political cartoon by Jeff Darcy can't really be described as either conservative or liberal. In the cartoon, N. Korea's Kim Jong Un is pictured as a little baby who is wearing a diaper and holding a rattle shaped as a missile with a tattoo of his daddy. This cartoon is an example of foreign policies, which we've been talking about in the presidency unit of our class. A lot of people feel that N. Korea has just been making all this noise for no reason because Jong Un needs to look big and tough like his daddy. However, people aren't taking him all that seriously. Governments may be, but the peoples just don't really care. It will be interesting to see how things move along with these nuclear threats. 

Please, just one more bite

In this conservative political cartoon, by Ken Catalino, depicts how obese the Federal Debt has become. In this cartoon, there's an extremely huge man with "DEBT" written on him, and Obama acting as a server and saying, "Please, Just one after dinner mint." while extending a huge block with "OBAMACARE" written on it. In class, we've talked a little bit about how bad in the debt has become. In the eyes of the Republicans, Obama's healthcare plan is just going to add on the the debt, and ruin the country, not make anything better, and that's what this cartoon depicts. 

GOP Conversions

This cartoon is most likely liberal since it's mocking the GOP. The cartoon is an allusion to Paul's conversion on the Damascus Road, and this cartoon has a caption that says, "The conversion on the road to 2014." In a bright ball of light, it says 58% support for gay marriage with a man dressed in a suit that says "GOP Pols" yelling "Hallelujah!" and dropping a sheet of paper that says, "Moral Opposition." We've been talking about how the GOP needs to readjust it's views in order to win seats come 2014. Supporting gay marriage would be one of the biggest things for the GOP, and would bring up polls. 

Fracking Dems

In this conservative cartoon, the Democrats' views on fracking are being mocked. In the cartoon, a woman, "tax payer", is reading a news paper which reads, "Dems not opposed to all forms of fracking." To her right, two donkeys dressed in construction gear are telling someone controlling a drill to go a little to the left into the woman's purse. This doesn't really relate the anything that we've been talking about in class. However, it is interesting that although the Democrats stress how they don't want the middle class to pay much with taxes; they aren't all that opposed to fracking, and really do want the money, and they just pretend that they don't. 

Big Gulp Freedom

This conservative cartoon by Eric Allie is titled, "Big Gulp Freedom". In the cartoon, a man holding a big soda cup is attached to puppet strings which are controlled by a man whose buttons say on them, "Big Gov".  The word freedom is written, as if the man were saying it. The message that the cartoon portrays is that although we may feel that we're free and independent, our lives are controlled by the puppet strings of big government. This is clearly referring to the regulations that the Democratic Party is always trying to put on everyone and everything. We've talked in class about regulation, and differences in ideology. That's exactly what the cartoon refers to. The Democrats want to have centralized control on everything, from healthcare to how we drink soft drinks. Are we really free under these conditions? Not at all. We're just the puppets controlled by the strings of Big Government. 

The Dow and Unemployment

This conservative cartoon by Larry Wright is titled "Big Dow Jones". In the cartoon, a man is holding a newspaper and says, "Wow! The Dow Jones has gone well over 14,000! All I need now is a job..." The message that is sent through this cartoon is that regardless of how high the Dow gets, or the stock market goes; Americans are still going to be unemployed. The stock market is not going to change the reality of thousands of Americans across the country. This article does not really discuss anything that we have talked about during class. However, I personally thought it was quite interesting how this cartoon depicted how so many Americans would react news like the one mentioned in the cartoon. 

Legalities and Illegalities of the Presidency

     The conservative cartoon by Dan Wasserman is titled, "Obama justifies drone killings" and that's because that's exactly what the message of the cartoon is. In the cartoon, President Obama is in the Oval Office, reading a newspaper with the words "Drone Assassinations" written on it. In the office, there's a portrait of former President Nixon saying, "If the president does it, that means it's not illegal." and President Obama responds saying, "What he said.". In the media lately, Obama and his drones have been blown up like no other. The irony of this cartoon is that Obama and his drones are basically being compared to Nixon and Watergate. We've talked in class about how the media spins things into different viewpoints, and that's what the conservatives are doing. They're making Obama look like a bad guy, and saying that he doesn't care. That's what's expressed by his nonchalant posture in the cartoon. 

Skies Falling and Chickens Talking

     This cartoon by Glenn Fogen is titled, "The Little Chickens"; satirically comparing how big a deal people are making of the sequester to how Chicken Little cried that the sky was falling, and is most probably from a conservative standpoint. In this cartoon, there's a man with an American Flag tee-shirt, a gavel and some chickens titled, media, congress, and O. These probably refer to how these three things have made the sequesters so much bigger than they are. In the cartoon, the man has the chickens saying, "Sequester!!! The sky is falling!!! The sky is falling!!", he has enough of it and kills them with a gavel. The message behind this is that once we get rid of everything that makes these sequesters such a big deal, then as a country, we'll be okay. It's ironic because these are the things that are supposed to make things better for us, when they're actually just making things harder. We talked in class about how media can affect the President and Congress, and spin issues in a whole different way than originally intended, and that's what's happening in this cartoon. 

Obese Budgets

     This political cartoon by Henry Payne is titled "Obamas fight obesity", mainly because it criticizes how the Obamas are fighting obesity, while the federal budget is so huge, and they do nothing about it, and is most likely from a conservative standpoint. The cartoon pictures Barack and Michelle Obama, as well as an "obese" man with the words "Federal Budget" written on him. These symbolize a growing federal budget that's continuously being fed (as symbolized by the ice cream and soda). It looks as though President Obama is patting the budget on the back while saying, "Michelle and I are committed to fighting obesity... in children." while the budget is still eating. This is related to what we've talked about in class because we previously discussed how the media can use things that people say, and turn them around into something else that could be taken a totally different way. That's exactly what this cartoon does. It's ironic how the Obamas are putting more into childhood obesity than the Federal Budget though, one would think that with the upcoming sequesters and such, the budget would matter more. 

On Sequesters and Such

     This cartoon is titled, "The Sequester", and was drawn by Nate Beeler. The cartoon was most probably titled so because it's about how overrated the sequesters are. In this cartoon, there's a bumble bee with the word sequester written on it, heading towards a big blue truck titled spending. The truck is being driven by a man that looks like Barack Obama, and in the passenger seat is an Uncle Sam looking figure. The cartoon most probably means that the liberals are making too big of a deal out of the upcoming sequesters. There isn't too much action actually taking place in this cartoon other than the Obama looking person freaking out over a small bee coming toward his truck, saying, "Look out! We're all gonna die!!!" The message is that the sequesters aren't really that big of a deal, considering how huge out spending is, and is most likely given from a conservative standpoint. The current political event discussed relates to our class discussion because we've talked about how media can influence people, and make such a big deal out of something that really isn't all that chaotic; and that's what's been happening with the sequester. We've constantly just been hearing about how horrible they're going to be. The irony of the cartoon is that a little bee can cause a man in such a huge machine to be so afraid. Yes, the sequesters are going to be a hard thing to deal with, since so many things are getting cut, but they really won't hurt us too much as a nation.