Tag: <span>obama</span>

I had a rough week, so sorry about that. Could this be why I couldn’t find any funny cartoons for the third week of May?! Maybe! I did find some clever ones, however, and clever is a close cousin to funny.

Of course, the PB oil spill continues to be the biggest story around. In one way, I’m happy about that, but before you label me an oil-hugger, let me explain that it’s because environmental issues, or green, as the kids call them, are almost always B or C stories in the news. Just blips most of the time. And now everyone is seeing what a terrible natural disaster (MANMADE, you BP asshats) does to the whole world.

Also, this is a great issue for cartoonists to dive into. Yes, it took an oil spill tragedy to get cartoonists to STOP dwelling on Sarah Palin. You forgot about sniping on her for a while, didn’t you, guys? SNAP.

Speaking of, I’ll do another oil cartoon roundup later this week, as there are a couple of great cartoons on that, but will focus on other news with this LA Times editorial cartoons selection.

nate beeler  on incumbents from politicalcartoons.com
nate beeler on incumbents from politicalcartoons.com

I thought I knew what incumbents are – those people already in office- but wondered why there were a number of cartoons about them recently. Ask and ye shall receive. Half hour ago from the LA Times:

Discontent with incumbents and anti-Washington anger are adding up to a potentially record-breaking crowd of congressional challengers this election year.

More than 2,300 people are running for the House and Senate in the midterms, the highest number in at least 35 years…

Like Senator Specter was tossed out on his heinie. Well, there aren’t any dramatic incumbents in California, but I think LA needs to think about other cultures, like the East Coast, more. Like this homeless man. He’s very rude, which is natural back there. Nobody in LA would ever talk like this, nor would they throw food. ( I thought this was a general wearing medals at first, but now I see that it’s fruit on his suit.) However, we’ve all worked on or visited a movie set, so we get the pandering part.

International cartoons LA Times Editorial Cartoons

Doesn’t the LA Times have their own cartoons? Not during the week, no. The LA Times is one of the top 3 national papers, but they use hardly any editorial cartoons since they laid off Michael Ramirez. They have less cartoons than any of the top 20 papers in the country.

They do have 3 cartoons on Sunday, however, here and in the paper (tiny). But they’re edited by Joel Pett, a cartoonist in Lexington, KY. Lexington, really?? As far as I know, Joel has never lived here, and is Lexington in any way similar to Los Angeles? Well, they both begin with L, I guess. Anyway, Joel only chooses cartoonists in his particular cartoon group, which leaves out 15 or 20 of the top editorial cartoonists in the country.

I’m the only New Yorker cartoonist who also does editorial cartoons, so I have a good background in both. As an award-winning cartoonist and editor, and since I’ve been a cartoonist for the LA Times for 6 years, and, maybe, most importantly, actually live IN Los Angeles, I decided it’s time I stepped up to do the job myself. :)  Now, let’s pick today’s winners!

Tony Auth on coastal oil drilling

Tony Auth is a great cartoonist. I picked this one for several reasons: he was first out of the gate on this issue,  on the new coastal oil drilling Obama just approved. (boo, hiss, even though I don’t have all the environmental facts yet. Just because I don’t trust Obama.) It seems to be pretty common that editorial cartoonists will pick a name or word and then decorate it like an insane calligrapher. But he did a good job here, and the oil spatters are truly dramatic, spilling over the name itself.

People from other states (like Kentucky) might not realize that in LA oil rigs are common. Not out to sea, but they have baby ones like 12 feet tall in people’s backyards! They call them grasshoppers or some insect, and they are SO CUTE bobbing up and down. I hate driving to the airport, but I take the long way just to watch them.  I love industrial things. (more cartoons below.)

LA Times Editorial Cartoons The Others (cartoonists)

One cartoon, two versions, about a shocking event in 2009 – President Obama deciding to continue the war. Wow.

I missed the 60 Minutes interview the LA Times is talking about here. (Is that show still on the air?)

Discussing in strikingly personal terms his order to escalate the war in Afghanistan, President Obama said Sunday that sending 30,000 new combat troops was the hardest decision of his presidency so far.

Can you understand now why I get so annoyed with the Times? WTH, “strikingly personal”??? Because he said he felt bad talking to the cadets? Geez, what a revelation.

When Presidents decide war is a good idea, what ARE they thinking?
First go round of this cartoon concept.

It goes on:

Critics have said his plan is confusing and contradictory because although it calls for the new deployment, it also sets a July 2011 date to start withdrawing troops.

I don’t know about contradictory, but I’ve found that the best way to broadcast your intentions, leak your war plans, and help out the enemy is to put the details on Twitter, Mr. President.

(another version of the cartoon is after the jump)

Barack Obama International cartoons

I watched part of the White House Christmas Special that Oprah put on, with my renewed interest in smoggy, buggy, busy Washington, now that I have to DRAW it. I need more pictures and details, to draw it. I can’t tell you how many school trips and family trips we had to Wash DC. Then there was that drug deal gone bad…nah, that’s a little personal, but just let me say that the slums in Washington DC are truly gross. But I can’t remember what the inside of the WH looks like, now that I need it!

Anyway, back to Christmas! I’ve been studying what the layout is of the White House, trying to see the furniture properly, which apparently changes with each new King and Queen. The Christmas tree shown on Oprah’s special took days to decorate, with dozens of volunteers. It was beautiful. I guess it stuck in my mind,  and that’s how this Christmas tree popped out.

Obama needs a night cap for his rendezvous with the Christmas Tree

Did President Obama really do a lot at the Copenhagen Climate talks? Besidess show up, I mean?

Green Cartoons Notable Holidays

Here’s a cartoon about Obama’s blue jeans.

Very expensive blue jeans are like our national health care plan...

I read something about the frou-ha-ha – something about Obama’s blue jeans not being fashionable.

From USA Today:

Fashion bloggers have been, to borrow Obama’s word, “cracking” on the jeans he wore last Tuesday to toss out the first pitch at baseball’s All-Star Game.

“For those of you who, you know, want your president to, you know, look great in his tight jeans — I’m sorry, I’m not the guy,” Obama told Meredith Viera of NBC’s Today show.

First of all, I never heard of the word cracking.  Is that black vernacular? Chicago lingo? The link goes to the Chicago Tribune.

Barack Obama

What’s so bad about Fox News? I do think they report more about sad things like murders on our local Channel 11, and I don’t like our local news team much. But when Obama’s task force starts trying to exclude them from national media events & announcements, it does make the White House look a little “sensitive.” Man up over there.

Obama says no, Fox News

In this cartoon, I’m saying that they do put a negative spin on Obama (“bad info”) at times. :) But geez, everyone’s entitled to an opinion. And he hit them first! This time!

Mike Luckovich’s cartoon after the jump.

Entertainment The Others (cartoonists)