CSotD: Faith, the gaining and losing of it
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It’s a lovely morning here in the US for those in the center or somewhat to the left of center, and who ignored the doomsayers and crepe-hangers and negative pollsters, choosing as Clay Bennett (CTFP) points out, to vote and let their voices be heard anyway.
Is it “heroic”? Does it deserve a medal?
Well, it would certainly be easier to stay home in the face of discouraging prospects, but, instead, people stood in line for hours to fulfill their duty as citizens of a democracy, and, as it turns out, the results confounded the pundits.
It’s always fun to see the rich toff get his top hat knocked off by an urchin’s snowball, though, in his joy at the returns, Dr. MacLeod uses a naughty word that is not likely to get his cartoon published in very many mainstream newspapers.
John Deering (Creators) adopts a more socially acceptable way to say much the same thing, though he apparently drew this before yesterday’s votes were in and was commenting on calls for Biden to step aside, based on polling data.
I’m giving him a pass on the overused Scream motif because it fits the foolish hysteria of those who somehow believe, first of all, in such early polls, and, second, that the Democrats could, at this late date, come up with a substitute candidate with any possible chance of success.
It’s about turnout on election day, not horse-race chatter in the run-up.
Meanwhile, Bob Gorrell (Creators) offers this reason why Biden cannot possibly win re-election, which is that he can’t win because he won’t win because … um … Dumpster fire!
In football, a player facing empty taunts will point up at the scoreboard to show who’s winning. Between Trump’s farcical courtroom appearance and last night’s election results, this is a good moment for that answer.
Some people stood in line for two and a half hours in order to vote, and, if this nation truly is evenly divided, we saw who showed up and who didn’t. Or maybe the division isn’t even after all.
It should instill some renewed faith in those who have been reading stories about how young people are turning aside, plus some hope in our nation’s future as a democracy.
Have faith, hope and charity: That’s the way to live successfully! How do I know? The Bible tells me so!
Though, as they say, “Past performance is no guarantee of future results” and it needs to happen all over again in November.
Mike Luckovich pointed out the stakes before yesterday’s elections and could run the same cartoon again before the November elections, though I suspect people won’t have forgotten the stakes.
Particularly since one of the things I have faith in is that there won’t be any shift in rhetoric between now and then.
Juxtaposition of the Day
Speaking of dubious rhetorical tricks, Chappatte and Sorensen point out the traps being set for those who question what is happening in the war between Israel and Hamas, or between Israel and Palestinians, depending on how you define what’s happening.
The issue, as they note, is being framed such that the only politically correct answer is to accept that attacks on Gaza are attacks on Hamas and that any collateral damage is somewhat unfortunate, but certainly unavoidable.
Ann Telnaes responds to Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, who has been making the rounds of US news shows insisting that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza, despite the lack of water, hospitals shutting down for lack of power and fuel, and a body count that has now “reportedly” topped 10,000.
I put reportedly in quotation marks because Gaza casualty figures come from a Hamas-run health organization whose figures have, in past times, lined up with those of other, non-aligned observers, but are now being discounted because they are from the other side, which seems in keeping with the heads-you-lose-tails-I-win proposition Chappatte and Sorensen commented on.
If nothing else, we seem to assume that there is Our Side and the Other Side, which is in line with the Biden Administration’s declaration that we stand behind Israel, and its call for emergency aid to that country.
OTOH, as Matt Wuerker (Politico) points out, things appear to be going a bit sour as Israel has ignored Biden’s warning not to overstep a reasonable response and has openly rejected his call for a temporary cease fire.
There has, granted, been some response to his repeated demands that humanitarian aid be permitted to enter Gaza and that American citizens be permitted to get out, but it has been slow and begrudging, leaving him, as Wuerker puts it, unable to come up with a solution that both continues American support and meets reasonable international standards.
Perhaps there isn’t one, but, in terms of our own politics, this is a bad time for Biden to lose the faith of progressive Americans.
And if that weren’t discouraging enough …
Marty Two Bulls offers a somewhat light-hearted, if contemptuous, response to the CBC’s revelation that Buffy Sainte-Marie is, in fact, an Italian-American rather than a Canadian Cree.
My experience is that most Indians/Native Americans/First Nations People have such low expectations for wasi’chu culture that it’s hard to shock them, plus a talent for droll humor, and Two Bulls’ commentary fits each of those elements.
But the story, which you can read about here or watch in its entirety here, seems rock solid, and the Fifth Estate has a strong record of getting things right.
Responses around Indian Country vary, though there is a strong element of understandable regret from First Nations artists who might have won career-advancing awards that the more famous pretendian captured.
For my part, I’m particularly discouraged because my admiration for Buffy came when she was the only person on Sesame Street who believed in Big Bird’s friend Snuffleupagus, not because she had seen him but because Big Bird was her friend.
I guess I can’t summon that kind of faith myself, because now I can’t help hearing
Can you remember the times
That you have held your head high?
And told all your friends of your Indian claim
Proud good lady and proud good man
Your great-great-grandfather from Indian blood sprang
And you feel in your heart for these ones
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