Summer Funnies (summer not)

I try to find a theme or a flow to these weekly collations but that did not happen this week. So I'm posting five here at the top that produced a giggle, followed by five that made me cringe.

And here are the not-so-much, also in no particular order.

Finishing with more horror (hope you can tolerate it but it might be best to feel motivated to some kind of action beyond blogging or tweeting)

The First Casualty Funnies

There is such a thing as “fog of war”, but it can be artificially generated. Observers may be forgiven for believing half of what they see and none of what they hear.

This (below) reminded me of the imminent mayoral election in Houston and specifically John Whitmire's grift on Harris County Republicans' caterwauling about crime.

Conflict Unavoidance Funnies

The Guardian (declined) to publish a depiction of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu by cartoonist Steve Bell, reportedly telling him the artwork perpetuated an anti-Semitic trope.

The London Press Gazette reported:

Bell posted the blocked cartoon to Twitter/X on Monday, saying that after he filed it that morning he received a “cryptic message” from Guardian editors saying: “pound of flesh”.

In Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice the antagonist, Jewish moneylender Shylock, demands “a pound of flesh” as security for a loan made to his Christian rival, Antonio.

Bell said he responded to the desk saying he did not understand the allusion, “and received this even more mysterious reply: ‘Jewish bloke; pound of flesh; anti-Semitic trope’”.

Bell’s drawing includes a note referencing a cartoon by David Levine from the 1960s, picturing then-US president Lyndon Johnson with a scar on his belly shaped like the map of Vietnam.

(Joe Biden) is in a proxy war in favor of a country that jails opponents and cancels elections. His party sues to keep rival political parties off the ballot. He refuses to debate challengers. He insists on running even though most members of his own party don’t want him to. Democracy begins at home, Joe.

Sunday Unprovoked Funnies

They're Repeating The Word 'Unprovoked' Again, This Time In Defense Of Israel

Reading by Tim Foley. pic.twitter.com/Bd43dabViq

— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) October 8, 2023

In 2014, Israelis camped out, clapping and cheering as bombs wiped out entire Palestinian families and as the Israeli military slaughter thousands of innocent Palestinians.

Just in case you heard someone say this attack was unprovoked https://t.co/3vX5xQLsQ9

— Zachary Foster (@_ZachFoster) October 8, 2023

The only place I see discussions about Biden's worthiness to serve happening out in the open is not among the #BlueMAGA I still pay attention to. There appears to be a solid wall of support/denial among Donks to me, delineated by a thin purple line. Even so, the depiction seems a little dramatic, yes? That's no exaggeration of stereotype of the #RedMaga crowd for sure.

Ted Rall was sharply on point this past week.

In a history-making act of performativeness, President Joe Biden appeared at a UAW picket line. But he didn’t picket or offer meaningful government support.

Democrats make a strong argument that Donald Trump has authoritarian tendencies and might even want to replace our democratic republic with a dictatorship. They say that he is corrupt and dangerous. They argue that nothing is more important than to defeat him and prevent him from ever becoming president again. If all that is true, why are they insisting on renominating Joe Biden? He has stubbornly low approval ratings to the point that even most Democrats don’t want him to run again. Could it be that they don’t really want to win?

Then again, the lazy corporate media loses its "Dems in disarray" trope without a corresponding GOP alliteration. (How about "Rudderless Republicans"?)

Helpfully the 'toonists celebrate the fall season and Kevin McCarthy's decapitation.

Nick Anderson and his former employer the Houston Chronicle continue their collaboration with Nick's multi-panel explainer regarding Lone Star Christofascists Tim Dunn, Farris Wilks, and the special legislative session beginning tomorrow on school vouchers.

Larger and individual panel versions at the links above.

And RIP Jay Leeson, the West Texas Prairie Populist.

Sunday 'Crises Not Averted' Funnies

28% of Americans, a record high, tell the Pew Research poll that they are disgusted by both major political parties. It’s not hard to imagine why; the system is distracted by impeachment and other inside the Beltway issues while bread and butter problems that affect ordinary people get ignored by the political class.

An "unprecedented visit to the picket lines"

Biden's had a pretty rough week.

But he hasn't been alone in that.