Tuesday, February 26, 2013

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. 

Sunday, February 24, 2013

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. 

Friday, February 22, 2013

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.