CSotD: More Saturday Morning Cartoons

We’re not doing political cartoons today, but let’s start with something blatantly political: This past Sunday’s Non Sequitur (AMS).

Danae is not alone in her attitude, which is a weakness of the system. When I was going through some newspapers from 1898, I came across an opinion piece by Elizabeth Cady Stanton in which she proposed that, when women gained the vote, all new voters should be required to pass a basic test of literacy and intelligence. As she said:

First of all, it should be noted that, towards the end of her heretofore glorious and celebrated career, Stanton began to veer off the rails and was relegated to less visible roles within the movement.

But, in any case, her dream of voter testing became real among Southern states as a corrupt way to bar Black voters, which in hindsight seems both inevitable and proof of why it was a very bad idea.

Either we go to an aristocratic system whereby voters must qualify — perhaps by being landowners — or admit that democracy must include the ignorant and the gullible if we’re including the well-informed, intelligent non-elite.

Besides, we’re seeing rich, educated people say some damned stupid things.

Meanwhile, Will Bunch divides the electorate into those who take in news from various sources, those who only ingest propaganda and those who read no news at all. He cites an NBC poll showing that the last group, the truly ignorant, are overwhelmingly supportive of Dear Leader.

I don’t believe there is a valid test to qualify voters, because it would not only inevitably be misused but, even if balanced, would be elitist and unfair.

But I wouldn’t mind if political pollsters posed a few questions to go along with their results, so that a report might read, “Among those who think Bolivia is a country in Europe …” or “Voters who believe that Elvis Presley is still alive said … “

It might put those November prophecies into sharper focus.

Bearing in mind that Toby is absolutely correct in this Buckets (AMS).

Juxtaposition of the Day

Reality Check — AMS

Moderately Confused — AMS

I really thought Andy Rooney had settled this one about 40 years ago, and I disliked Andy Rooney’s 60 Minutes segments. He was an experienced journalist who could have resolved about 80% of the things he wondered about by picking up his phone like any cub reporter.

The answer in this case is that they put air in the bag so the chips aren’t crushed to powder in transit. And they print the weight of the actual chips on the bag, so you know how much of the product is in there.

Bolivia is in South America. Elvis is dead. Chips shouldn’t be crushed.

Speed Bump (Creators) also pinged an ancient memory, but this one is in the “whatever happened to?” category.

When cell phones first became a thing, I often saw on-line videos of people staring at their phones and walking into lampposts or falling into fountains. Either we’ve gotten better at watching our paths or we’ve lost our sense of wonder over such pratfalls.

I predict that we’re one evolution away from giving birth to children with independently operating eyes like chameleons so they can keep one eye on the phone and one on their pathway.

Quick one: This Rhymes With Orange (KFS) reminded me of a couple I knew who were customizing an expensive condo with touches that included an elaborate basement man cave with a bar, until she began having an affair with the builder, threw out the husband and revised the wet bar into a ballet barre for her daughters.

Which I guess made it a girl cave.

I gather, as F-Minus (AMS) suggests, that travelers who have run out of things to whinge over have added people who want to switch seats to the list. Well, in the words of Roseanne Roseannadanna, it’s always something.

I remember one flight in which they refused to let us sit mom-and-kid, dad-and-kid, and insisted we break up into a group of three and a single. So we threatened to make the three-year-old be the single and by-yompin-yiminy they managed to somehow find a way to do it our way instead.

My rule on the topic is based on the Code of Hammurabi, or, if you prefer, Exodus 21:24: “An aisle for an aisle.”

BC (Creators) makes me suspect that somebody associated with the strip has purchased an e-bike.

A couple of guys at the dog park have them and their conversation seems to center around frequent maintenance and, in particular, batteries that don’t hold the charge promised and, as in the cartoon, cost about as much as the whole bike.

I’ve already got enough stuff that requires my attention, and my money, thanks.

Juxtaposition of Pearls, plus an Announcement

I’m not sure what motivated Pearls Before Swine (AMS) to take a pair of swings at the Intertubes this week, but the timing was excellent.

I’ve given up on Xitter. I had my feed well-curated but somehow when they changed their address from twitter.com to x.com they opened the floodgates to so much hate, semi-porn and offensive idiocy that I have quit trying.

As Ken Kesey said to Pancho Pillow, “Why should I take your bad trip?”

Which brings up a reminder to cartoonists: As newspapers cut strips, you can’t expect your work to promote itself. If you don’t have a Facebook or Instagram, get one. If you have one, update it. It’s frustrating to try to link to a strip and find the cartoonist hasn’t posted in the past two months or, sometimes, the past two years.

And check out our list of Patreons and other funders. Make sure we’ve got you, and that our information is current.

And bless the occasional angel

Janis Ian has been profiling cartoonists throughout this month on her Facebook page, and while I’ve seen some of my favorites featured, I’ve also discovered some new ones. You should scroll through and see what you find, and remember her instructions to always attach the artist’s name and include a link to their site.

Janis has been writing songs that matter for about as long as I’ve followed music but somehow manages to stay more than a year younger than I am.

Maybe “mattering” helps preserve youth.