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Syria Doggies, Turkey, Immigration and Cookie Monster!

Here are my new cartoons!  The most recent one is about Obama’s response to the crisis in Syria.  Drawing Arabs as dogs is deeply insulting – I suppose that just puts dogs onto cartoonists’ palettes of cliches.  I may get some angry mail for this one.  I’m annoyed by Obama’s worthless response to Syria, at the same time, I’m happy that Obama isn’t jumping in to chew it up in this Syrian dogfight when both sides look to be bad guys.

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This one is a drawing of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.  He’s a pretty easy caricature, and I think I nailed him.

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… still, I hate to put labels in cartoons – particularly when the label is to identify someone who is drawn with an identifiable caricature, something lousy cartoonists do when they can’t draw good caricatures.  Sometimes I just can’t depend on the readers to know what the guy will look like and I have to put in a label – still I hate it, so I distributed a second version of this one without a label.  I suppose this would work as an illustration for an op-ed piece about the turbulence in Turkey.  He’s a fun guy to draw.  I love the shape of his head.  I also like his middle name – it sounds like something Paris Hilton’s dog would say.

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This one is about the split in the Republican party on immigration Reform.  I suppose we’ll see if any reform-candy comes out of that pinata next week.

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The next one is a Muppet cartoon, with Cookie Monster the Republican enjoying all the White House scandals.

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Regular readers here know that I worked for the Muppets for the first half of my career and I’m a big Muppet fan.  I draw a Muppet themed cartoon about once a year – this is a good excuse to show a few more …

I drew this one back in the George W. Bush days when we were all talking about torture and water-boarding.

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I once illustrated a whole childrens’ book about Elmo – who claims a permanent space in my brain – oh!  I hear the voice!  I drew the one below when we got the news about the CEO of Chick-fil-A opposing gay rights, and the Muppets spoke out against it and in favor of gay rights – makes me proud of my Muppet roots.
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This one was when congress was threatening to cut funds to public broadcasting – and Sesame Street.

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When the Sesame Street people decided to make Cookie Monster love vegetables, and made cookies a “sometimes food” I drew this one.
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I drew this one when there was a scandal at Goldman Sachs, and it was revealed that greedy, Wall Street types derisively call their clients “Muppets.”

108292 600 Syria Doggies, Turkey, Immigration and Cookie Monster! cartoons

 

 

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Cartoonist Talks About Controversial Chick-fil-A Cartoon

We’ve received a lot of great cartoons about Chick-fil-A from both sides of the argument. Some cartoonists supported the First Amendment rights of a CEO voicing his own personal opinion, while other cartoonists thought spending corporate profits on anti-gay causes was bigotry that deserved to be called out.

The largest response came in reaction to this tough cartoon by Jimmy Margulies of The Record:

I asked Jimmy to comment on the cartoon, and here’s what he wrote:

I received both praise and condemnation for this cartoon. Those who agreed with me seemed to really like it. Those who did not expressed their disagreement in a few different ways. Some took the cartoon literally, suggesting I was saying that Chick-fil-A discriminates against its gay customers. I explained the cartoon was an exaggeration. Others felt that I was supporting the boycott of the restaurant and that I was denying the owner his freedom of speech. I explained that the cartoon took no position on the boycott, and that the owner is free to express his views, as well as give money to fund opposition to same sex marriage, but that I found this position objectionable, so I was using my cartoon to speak out about the injustice on the issue of same sex marriage.

Given the potency of the issue, I was glad my cartoon became part of the debate.

As you can imagine, readers on both sides of the argument weighed in on this polarizing cartoon:

Edward Bartunek: Disguesting and a insult to honest, god fearing, hardworking, Americans!

Teri Lesesne: I elect to boycott companies that spew inaccurate information and use their “fame” as a platform for hate. You are free to support them. That is what freedom is all about. But freedom has to be for everyone.

Kerry Wilson Cook: It doesn’t matter. Us gay people don’t go to chickfila anyway. We are all too health conscious to eat the slop that is fast food!!

Jamie Lockett: I wonder how political cartoonists would feel about mayors banning newspapers that carry their cartoons simply because those mayors didn’t like the content.

Robot Anna: Let’s please not appropriate the civil rights movement, thanks.

Jordan Fouts: I like how the same people who suck the invisible thumb of the free market get so mad about boycotts.

Joyce Linnae Crady: I hate boycotts. They hurt innocent workers & the economy. I vote for religious freedom and freedom of speech. As long as Chick-fil-A doesn’t discriminate in their establishments, they have a constitutional right to their beliefs and a right to express them.

Sunny Arts: This comic is an affront to the efforts of the civil rights movement – when segregation was truly being preached and enforced. Nobody is shoving gays to the ‘back of the bus’.

Steve Paysen: Have you seen the support of Chic Fil A today? I’d say you first of all are wrong in your portrayal, and who are you to take away the right of any man to answer a question with his conscience?

Terry Lee: Talk about rhetoric. Let’s be clear. People aren’t upset or up in arms about a man’s opinion or religious belief. People are boycotting this business because the BUSINESS donates large sums of money to anti-gay political/hate groups. He is free to express his opinion, certainly. I also am free to take my money elsewhere and encourage others to do the same.

What’s your opinion of the cartoon? Comment below, or drop us a note on our Facebook page.