I don’t know the lead time for Prickly City (AMS), but it’s been a very long time since Harris began a whirlwind of appearances and interviews. There was a fair amount of whining from the Usual Suspects that she wasn’t sitting for interviews with them, but she’s hardly been invisible. What I will grant is […]
Timing is everything, and while Jeff Stahler (AMS)‘s image of the impossibility of getting it back in the tube is hardly a new metaphor, we’re at a stage where we should be wishing there were some way to do it. It’s astounding to have a vice-presidential candidate openly admit that he is willing to tell […]
David Cohen is one of several cartoonists calling out Trump for his refusal to schedule a second debate, but I like his take because it captures the arrogance of a badly defeated Trump declining to admit his loss. As I’ve noted before, I’m not convinced Trump knows when he is lying or making excuses or […]
Pat Byrnes criticizes the press with an imaginary Page One, accusing them of seeking to find faults with the Harris/Walz ticket while giving Trump a free ride. It’s a troubling accusation, because he seems to run afoul of Hanlon’s Razor, which states “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” That, in […]
An example of why they call it “Breaking News” as this Prickly City (AMS) gag gets smashed to bits by its lead time being overtaken by developments. Ah, well. At least Oprah hasn’t endorsed Harris (yet). But even political cartoonists, working on 24-hour lead times, have to consider timing. There’s nothing wrong with Glen LeLievre’s […]
Mike Smith (KFS) begins things by expressing doubt that tonight’s debate will change any votes, and he may be right, not because it won’t be a chance to evaluate the candidates head-to-head but because the people who watch will likely be the people who have already been paying attention. Lisa Benson (Counterpoint) makes much the […]
Prickly City (AMS) reiterates the high-minded, analytical approach familiar to grade-school alumni: “I know you are, but what am I?” Trump having been seen dozing off while he was on trial, the response is to declare that Biden dozes off all the time. It’s not the only example, particularly if you plumb the depths of […]
I’ve often quoted a frustrated exclamation that pops up in commedia dell’arte plays, “I cannot tell if he is a knave or a fool!” The laughs in the farce are based in large part on it not being clear whether the harlequin is lying or truly believes the nonsense he spouts. It hardly matters, because […]
Asked and answered. Thanks, Frazz (AMS). One thing I learned by interviewing politicians and celebrities is that luck and talent aren’t enough. I met a few who were so openly ambitious that they were off-putting, but the majority just had this thing. As one actor told me, “A lot of people want it, but not […]
Two days ago, I complimented Wiley Miller for timing a Non Sequitur (AMS) commenting on the Patriots’ lousy season such that, though drawn weeks in advance, it was accurate and landed as the football season ended. Now it’s Scott Stantis’s turn, with a Prickly City (AMS) the morning after Iowa, and, once more, it’s accurate […]
This could have been a short day for me, because Jen Sorensen has said everything I have on my mind. Instead, I’ll elaborate. One challenge in critiquing editorial cartoons gone wrong is trying to determine if the cartoonist is genuinely mistaken or deliberately lying, but I like to think that deliberate lies come from farther […]
There was a substantial mix of cartoons this morning about the removal of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House, some of them clearly drawn before the vote, others done with apparent haste after the matter had been decided in the late afternoon. Clay Bennett (CTFP) does well with a depiction of the monster shorn […]
As Jeff Stahler (AMS) notes, the writers’ strike in Hollywood has been settled and, as he also notes, that doesn’t mean that Paddy Chayefsky and Rod Serling are being loosed upon the TV studios once more. It also doesn’t mean that I’ll be any less aghast watching the promos during football for the next little […]
When I saw that Jimmy Buffett had died, my first reaction was “Well, that’s a shame,” because he was a nice guy who made pleasant music. But my second reaction was “Here we go” and I have to say that the flood of Jimmy Buffett obituary cartoons has far outflowed my expectations. I don’t much […]
Lemont, the protagonist of Candorville (KFS), spends too much time playing the pedant and correcting people for speaking the way people speak. Sure, he’s correct: “Pin number” is redundant, though I don’t hear people say it nearly as often as I did a decade or so ago. However, “being made redundant” remains both correct and […]