This is going to look like a short entry, but I’ll be sending you lots of worthwhile places, so pay attention to the links and you’ll have enough cartoons to keep you happy.
The thing is, everyone saw this half of the process coming, so they’ve had plenty of time to come up with a commentary. I like Ed Hall’s the best because Trump is excessively prideful and that asterisk, now a permanent part of him, probably hurts more than anything that might happen next.
We know he doesn’t like being portrayed as a baby, but he doesn’t see all the cartoons that do that. Hall’s cartoon, rather, is a statement of fact and it doesn’t matter whether Trump ever sees it, because he already knows it’s there.
There are several “Scarlet Letter” cartoons, and I like this one by Steve Sack because of the reference to “I,” which keys on Trump’s narcissistic personality.
The Hester Prynne parallel is perfectly valid, but it was a branding more for the public than for Prynne herself, and, for a true narcissist, being held up for contempt simply reinforces their exquisite sense of martyrdom.
So it’s a good cartoon in that it depicts the situation, but it’s really aimed at the rest of us, not at ol’ Hester Trump, who will be absolved by his Senate flunkies, at which point he’ll consider the matter over.
Except for that damned asterisk.
And speaking of asterisks that are going to be permanently attached to politicians, WTF was up with Tulsi Gabbard voting “present” last night?
I was watching the vote on MSNBC and Claire McCaskell almost fell out of her chair, and immediately dismissed it as what it was: A lightweight move by a lightweight politician.
But if you’re looking for some laughs, go to Twitter and check out the hashtag #VotePresentLikeTulsi
Gabbard’s excuse is that “After doing my due diligence in reviewing the 658-page impeachment report, I came to the conclusion that I could not in good conscience vote either yes or no.”
It was not lost upon Twitterati that the woman is running for president ferchrissake.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, Mike Thompson notes the unique grouping that Trump has joined.
It’s more blunt than the Scarlet Letter though somewhat less reflexive of Trump’s wounded pride than the asterisk-in-the-rain, but it’s certainly true and captures the permanent nature of the distinction.
Now, if you haven’t had enough of this stuff, Thompson offers a lengthy collection of impeachment cartoons from the USA Today group of which he is a member.
He’s also assembled a collection of his own cartoons over the decade about to end.
And if all that, plus chasing down Tulsi Gabbard jokes on Twitter, doesn’t keep you out of trouble for a while, here’s more:
Tom Heintjes over at Hogan’s Alley has posted a large collection of vintage Christmas cards from a large variety of cartoonists.
I’ll admit to a particular soft spot for custom cards, since my dad was an amateur cartoonist who mostly confined his hobby to Lions Club newsletters and so forth, but created a family card each Christmas. (That’s me, reaching for the cane.)
And, finally, there are any number of cartoonist interviews floating around the Intertubes, but this Buffalo News feature with Adam Zyglis is particularly well produced and worth a stop, look and listen.
I regret that I have but one * for my country.
I think Hall’s IDEA was good — but the eight-pointed symbol he drew does not make me think, “asterisk”, a five-pointed symbol on every keyboard I can recall.
With only an instant to make a visual “point”, I think * would have worked far better.
The asterisk on my keyboard is six-pointed. When I type it in a Word document it’s still six-pointed. When I type it here in my comment, it’s five-pointed: *** I finally saw an eight-pointed one via Google image search, but I had to scroll down to find it.
And now I’ve officially spent more time thinking about asterisks than I have in my entire adult life.
Your computer should support displaying 46 different asterisk styles with anywhere from 4 to 16 points including a couple without any points.
https://unicode-search.net/unicode-namesearch.pl?term=ASTERISK
Since the thread has continued, I’ll note that when I use an asterisk in handwriting, it has eight points, being made up of a plus and an x, superimposed.
For what it’s worth, Ed’s eight-armed asterisk at least makes it clear that it’s neither a star nor a snowflake.
It should also be pointed out that Kurt Vonnegut, Jr’s use of the asterisk works quite well here too.
* Note to self:
Asterisks come in many forms!
Good to know. Thanks for the new knowledge.
I love your dad’s Christmas Card drawing!
The collection makes a nice yearly diary of the family. His cards were a treasure.