There’s a good reason I draw a lot of beach cartoons in the summer…because it makes me feel good. I did this in June at the height of the oil spill disaster, as a “what if” it happened in California…

a make believe oil spill in california cartoon

Surfers are pretty passionate here. I don’t think oil would stop them.

And the politics around Meg Whitman vs Steve Poizner were kind of hysterical! They really were screaming on tv and calling each other a LIBERAL, as if that was the worst epithet they could think of! Okay, I agree. (You will recall that both of them are filthy rich, so there were lotsa ads. More cartoons on Whitman and Poizner here.)

However, Ms. Ebay has suddenly become a lot more liberal herself, pandering to the Hispanic news sources and saying she’s in favor of illegal immigration now. Maybe I won’t even bother to vote this time.

My newest cartoon on Meg Whitman is up on CalWatchdog right now.

Caption: If we get a disastrous oil spill, is California prepared to clean up…wildlife? (pelican), clean up surfers? (surfer with surfboard), clean up political campaigns? (campaign signs: you liberal! you’re a liar! you’re a scuzzball- hate you.

Last week someone emailed me complaining that I “explained” my cartoons. Let’s call him “Chris.”

Well, my main issue is that not only do I often not understand them, it’s that you often admit in the commentary below your cartoons that you have grave doubts that your audience will understand them. I think there was one in which you said you didn’t even get it yourself. Other times, you go to great lengths to explain the cartoon and why you think it’s funny. Chris

ESL cartoon English as a Second Language

Another man wrote me to complain about the cartoon above. (We’ll call him Anthony, since his name is Anthony.)

I saw this cartoon and decided immediately that you are out of touch with reality.  For you information, even school districts in Kentucky, (not known as a bastion of education reform) require all students in high school to take Spanish as a second language. It’s obvious from your cartoon your are a RACIST AND BIGOT!

Spanish is spoken by thirty four million Americans in the U.S. and that number is growing. Only right wing, Bible thumping school districts, like those in Texas, would not teach the fastest growing second language in the U.S.!

A little education for you, since it’s apparent you failed your ESL!

Spanish was the language spoken by the first permanent European settlers in North America. It was brought to the territory of what is the contemporary U.S. in 1513 by Ponce de León. In 1565, the Spaniards, by way of Juan Ponce de Leon, founded St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest, continuously occupied European settlement in the continental U.S. …

Your Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh mentality is apparent!

Chris, meet Anthony.

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Will BP PLC do anything they promised? We’ll see. I wish they’d save the money they spend on their TV ads, and spend it by helping clean up their mess, but that ship has already sailed. Losers.

Nothing funny about this environmental and financial disaster, but cartoonists have a way of pointing their pens in a way that the newspapers and sources have only begun to do the last month or so. News sites were so neutral before, it was disgusting! That’s not reporting, that’s siding with the enemy! I think cartoonists are more honest.

daryl cagle oil spill at the dance cartoon, at cagle.com

I was really impressed by Daryl Cagle’s cartoon of Obama dancing with the devil BP (who looks rather like a Smurf. And is that a Snidely Whiplash mustache on Obama?) I’ve seen dancing steps before, but not in oil!

Side note: I wonder if Daryl is a fan of Dancing with the Stars…:)

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Yay, sparklers! They’re illegal in California, or at least LA. Does that mean I don’t have any? Want to take a guess?

2nd amendment cartoon on the 4th of July

They’re not legal in Philadelphia, either, but they have them in the Amish counties! Yup, Dwight Schrute territory. Right next to the special quilt fabrics and needles.

The writing on the corner is a soupcon of Outsider Art. What crazy people and others do – lots of word and writing to get the idea across.

That little boy looks so happy.

More on gun control to come, of course.

Cartoon caption: Amendment 2a: The right to bear sparklers. Happy 4th to our troops.