DarylCagle.comIn honor of the premiere of “Game Change,” the new HBO film about the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s Vice Presidential candidate, I thought I’d pluck five terrific cartoons from the 2008 primary about everyone’s favorite hockey mom from Wasilla.
Every Friday, we collect the best political cartoons of the week and stuff them into one big, glorious slideshow.
So just relax and catch up on a week’s worth of news with our Best Cartoons of the Week slideshow.
On Tuesday, I posted a conservative cartoon about Sandra Fluke and the Rush Limbaugh birth control rant on my blog by Gary McCoy, who I syndicate through Cagle Cartoons. Since then, there’s been a firestorm of criticism about the nasty tone of the cartoon coming from all quarters of the internet. Media critic Jim Romenesko even posted this side-by-side comparison on his blog:
Today, Now with Alex Wagner host Alex Wagner brought up the cartoon on her msnbc show and debated the finer points of basic healthcare on International Women’s Day.
Here’s the clip:
Here are just a taste of the emails and comments we received about the cartoon:
Susan S.: “This cartoon (and Limbaugh’s remarks) say more about the originators than they do about Ms. Fluke. When did personal insults and ad hominem attacks become acceptable substitutes for political debate?”
Neil J.: “Since when did Rush draw cartoons? Demonizing is sick & wrong for cartoonists and talk radio. Thanks for continuing to poison the dialogue. Epitome of how wrong republicans have become for themselves and the rest of our great country.”
George B.: “Dear Gary, How would you like someone to do this to your daughter? I won’t take a look at any of your cartoons again. Incredibly distasteful!”
Jon J.: “Not funny, just stupid. Did Rush pay you to publish this piece of s#%t? Really, not happy to see you denigrate your brand with crap like this.”
Chris K.: “Since the woman was specifically NOT asking the Government to cover her birth control but a private organizations health insurance this cartoon is just promoting a lie.”
Robert E.: “That cartoon is just an example of the low intelligence and drivel you’d expect from the foul-minded Limbaughers.”
Sandy S.: “After being totally disgusted by the implied content, I couldn’t help but wonder – with Rush’s sponsors are leaving him faster than the captain did on the sinking Costa Concordia, is he now supplementing his income doing political cartoons?”
Amid all the talk about birth control and female reproductive rights, you might have forgotten that today is International Women’s Day. Countries around the world are celebrating the gains made by women in business, politics and education.
It’s sad that we don’t have many female editorial cartoonists working today that can express themselves on a topic like this. Maybe that itself is a sign of how far women’s right still have to go. Or maybe it means women just don’t like to draw cartoons.
Check out our International Women’s Day cartoon collection, and share it with a friend!
Our good friend, cartoonist Michael McParlane, couldn’t help himself when it came to drawing this cartoon about the Catholic Church and the ongoing debate about birth control.
Here’s what McParlance said:
I’ve always felt that most, if not all religious “leaders” are misogynistic war-mongering perverts. Birth control ought to be an individual decision and not subject to legislation.
Today Apple announced the release of its new iPad, and while Apple CEO Tim Cook talked about its sharper display and fast processor, all I could think about were the poor schmucks who bought an iPad 2 last week.
Regardless, we here at Cagle.com love the iPad (download our free msnbc.com Cartoons iPad app here), and cartoonists always love to draw about the latest fad or newfangled device available for them to play with.
Here are some cartoons about Apple mania that should be right up your tech alley…
For those of you feeling weary of this GOP Primary and hoping it will end soon can start crying now. Super Tuesday has come and gone, and we’re no closer to having this race sorted out then we were yesterday.
Yes, Mitt Romney won Ohio, but not by much. Santorum managed to snag Tennessee and Oklahoma, but is still being kept in check by Newt Gingrich, who won his home state of Georgia and is helping to split the conservative vote.
About the only thing anyone can agree on is that Super Tuesday has set up a long, draw-out slugfest to the GOP nomination. With that in mind, here are some cartoons that I thought fit the mood moving forward…
With the talk of Rush Limbaugh’s attack of Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke still making news, the only cartoon we received so far supporting Rush’s position has come from our conservative cartoonist, Gary McCoy. I thought this right wing cartoon was pretty nasty. In fact, it made me wince. But I thought I’d let you be the judge:
Here’s an example of the comments we received about this cartoon:
letdogsvote: “Cartoonist made “pro choice” women appear: fat, ugly, bitchy, slutty, selfish, and obnoxious. Whatever political point Cartoonist intended to make here has been caught up in his generalized portrayal of pro choice women.”
fnordtastic: “I am a firm believe in being able to laugh at yourself, but this cartoon is devoid if any humor.”
Flat Roger: “Gary McCoy continues his string of “hate pornography” with this one and shows he has the same lack of class and intelligence about the issues as Limbaugh.”
Bastard-Captain Queeg: “Were this an attempt at trolling, it’d be an easy 10/10. Sadly, the cartoonist is actually serious. Of course government should pay for birth control, it’s in their best interest to do so.”
Sarah Rimmington: “Wow. That cartoon is horrific.”
Ewen Cluney: “There are many issues where I am willing to accept that liberals and conservatives have a difference of opinion, based on different subcultures or different reasoning, but the portrayal of Sandra Fluke and her testimony (and for that matter the birth control issue in general) by Limbaugh and other conservative commentators has been outright factually wrong.”
Kirk Houser: “”Wince”? McCoy’s cartoon is nothing but “hate porn”. This is just as bad as Limbaugh. Hope the backlash is severe.”
What do you think about the cartoon? Comment below or post a note on our Facebook page.
RELATED:
Last night, with a tear trickling down his right cheek, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced his victory in Russia’s presidential election. Opposition leaders call the election a sham, rife with fraud, which is nothing new for the former KGB officer. Remember, he’s already served two terms in the Kremlin before term limits forced him to step down in 2008. Instead of quietly stepping down, he got around that by becoming prime minister for his successor, Dimitry Medvedev (although some prefer the term “puppeteer”).
American cartoonists (and news media, for that matter) seem more focused on Mitt Romney and birth control then they do in worldwide events. Fortunately, we have some of the worlds best cartoonists, and here are what a handful think of Putin’s victory…
