Editorial Explanations: February 11, 2010

The editorial cartoonists of this nation [1] have infallible solutions for the problems of the world, and a laser-like precision in targeting those solutions. In fact, sometimes they can be too laser-like, so much so that those of us who aren't precisely in the beam of that laser can't even tell what a particular cartoon is about.

That's where I come in; I explain editorial cartoons so that you don't have to spend your days wondering what the significance of the monkey marked "The Gold Standard" was. Today's crop includes:

Richard Bartholomew, 2/11/11:
You ever heard the phrase "if you give them an inch, they'll take a mile"? Well, if you let democracy topple one Middle Eastern dictator, then you're just setting the stage for a bloody purge in US daytime television. Do you want blood in the halls of ABC? Then prop up those dictators with all your might!

Nick Anderson, 2/11/11:
If the right-wing fringe of the Congressional GOP forces a budget showdown, and really does shut down the government, it will mean the end of everything that is good and true. Just like it did in 1995.

Mike Luckovich, 2/11/11:
The camel of Freedom will always triumph over the Pyramid of Evil Dictators! ....Maybe, thirty years later. Or maybe not (Myanmar, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, etc.)

Lisa Benson, 2/11/11:
Just in case any of those people out of work for a year or two are cheered up by the news that the recovery is finally getting going, Benson is here to inject the spectre of the usual big-business boogeyman, Weimar-era superinflation. Doomed! Doomed! You're all doomed!

Rob Smith, Jr., 2/11/11:
Politicians have high opinions of themselves. Although, let's be honest: no one connected with Glen Beck should be tossing any brickbats....

Mike Keefe, 2/11/11:
Kids are stupid. Also, teachers suck. And get off his lawn, while you're at it!

Steve Artley, 2/11/11:
Egyptian metaphor rundown: Camels on Monday. Mummies got Tuesday. The crook and flail was Wednesday. Thursday was for pyramids. Today is for Sphinxes. (The weekend is a bye; cartoonists can repeat their favorites or pick from the secondary menu: animal-headed gods, scarabs, blowing sands, and the ever-popular shadowy religious loonies. The first cartoonist to use the Aswan Dam in an honestly funny cartoon will win the secret prize.)

Ann Cleaves, 2/11/11:
President Obama asked everyone to be nice, and so they will. The End.

Clay Bennett, 2/11/11:
Cutting taxes at all will kill the heart of the USA. Either that, or the US just fell in (messy) love because of the arrows of the tax-cut fairy.

Paul Fell, 2/11/11:
The USA is on the verge of falling into a feral all-against-all fight for resources, in which every chickens' beak will be turned against every deformed dog's jowls.

John Sherffius, 2/11/11:
The GOP budget is not healthy for children and other living things, man. Fight the power!

Jeff Stahler, 2/11/11:
Ha ha, First Lady! A year after you told us to eat healthy, we're fatter than ever! Guess we showed you and your good intentions, huh?

Chuck Asay, 2/11/11:
Asay honestly believes that if you ask Americans directly, they'll be in favor of starving poor children to death. This explains much about his cartoons.


[1] And those of other nations as well; but the cartoons I see are mostly American.