The Week in Editorial Cartoons, Part I – Union Busting in Wisconsin

(10 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

Crossposted at Daily Kos and Docudharma

THE WEEK IN EDITORIAL CARTOONS

This weekly diary takes a look at the past week’s important news stories from the perspective of our leading editorial cartoonists (including a few foreign ones) with analysis and commentary added in by me.

When evaluating a cartoon, ask yourself these questions:

1. Does a cartoon add to my existing knowledge base and help crystallize my thinking about the issue depicted?

2. Does the cartoonist have any obvious biases that distort reality?

3. Is the cartoonist reflecting prevailing public opinion or trying to shape it?

The answers will help determine the effectiveness of the cartoonist’s message.

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INTRODUCTION

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For over two years, many editorial cartoonists had documented the orchestrated protests by the Tea Party in defiance of the Obama Agenda in every respect.  While mocking the know-nothings of this Rightwing movement in every way imaginable, often many of them had wondered about this: when would the Democratic pushback start to these scurrilous and distorted charges by the Right?  And, would it largely come from Congressional Democrats or by the Obama Administration?  Alas, whatever response the Democrats could muster prior to the November 2010 Elections was not only weak but largely ineffective.  The Republicans made significant gains in state legislatures, captured the majority of governorships, the United States House of Representatives in convincing fashion, and came close to regaining the United States Senate.

For several weeks now, many of us have been glued to our television screens watching the turmoil in the Middle East from Tunisia to Egypt to Libya and several other countries. Democratic voices rose up to defy authoritarian regimes seeking basic human dignity and political rights.  Coincidentally, on the same day the protests were to begin in Madison, Wisconsin, independent cartoonist Ed Stein (formerly of the Rocky Mountain News) posted this prescient cartoon.

Stein explained his reasons for drawing it

Ed Stein, Comics.com, see the large number of reader comments in Stein’s blog

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This May Take Some Time

I keep wondering when conditions here will become so intolerable that Americans take to the streets.  Nine percent unemployment, much worse than that for minorities and young people.  Millions of homes foreclosed.  Bankers raking in megabuck bonuses after having brought the economy to its knees.  Tens of millions without access to health care.  A crumbling infrastructure.  Income disparity rivaling that of third world countries.  Egypt has less of a gap between rich and poor than the United States. The top one percent in this country now takes in 26% of all income, and controls a third of the nation’s personal wealth.  Yet we continue to pursue policies that make the problems worse…

What disturbs me the most in both is that the Republicans seem to have succeeded in taking taxes completely off the table.  In their words, “we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem,” as if in the real world the two could possibly be separated.  When we spend more than we make, we have both.  In the past, both cuts and tax increases were always on the table.  Even the sainted (and misremembered) Ronald Reagan raised taxes when it was necessary to reign in the deficit.

Missing from this discussion is the conversation we ought to be having first: what is our responsibility to each other as a society — the social contract.  It’s as though the only issue out there is the size of the deficit.  Yes, it’s huge, and we’re in a pickle if we don’t address it, but how can we address it in any rational way until we decide what programs are essential to the well-being of the citizens of this country?  Only then can we decide if we spend too much or too little on education, on health care, on clean air and water, on Social Security, and create a tax base and a budget that accommodates our needs.  That neither party even bothers to talk about it is what makes me want to man the barricades.  Let’s show those Egyptians what we can do.  Anyone want to join me?

Read Stein’s comment in full

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Many of the issues of fairness and equity raised by Stein are at stake not only in Madison, Wisconsin but all over the country.  The most important component of the Democratic Party — labor unions — have staked a strong position in opposition to draconian measures sought by the Republican Governor of Wisconsin in trying to resolve the state’s fiscal issues.  While WI public sector unions have compromised on wage and benefits packages, they have rightly refused to give up collective bargaining rights.  It is a right that unions have had in this country since 1935.  And one that has led to the emergence of the middle class in this country.  Battles fought over the past century by working class people have resulted in benefits accruing to everyone else in the private sector as well.  That is an undeniable fact.

At a time when some of the biggest contributors to Democratic politicians (yes, labor unions) are under assault, where is the Congressional Democratic leadership?  With the exception of a handful of politicians (like Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT), why aren’t more Democratic politicians vigorously defending worker rights?  While it is understandable that President Barack Obama’s plate is full of international and domestic problems, his support of unions in this instance can generously be characterized as “tepid.”  Indeed, why aren’t cabinet officials like the Secretary of Labor and others out there on television and radio offering the Democratic response to this collective Republican assault?  

Let’s hope all of this is about to change.  We know what happens when the Democratic response is chaotic and weak.

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In this diary, you’ll find a wide range of editorial cartoons covering just about every aspect of this fight in Wisconsin.  From the pervasive influence of shadowy businessmen to the efforts of the WI Governor to bust the unions to teachers and other state workers defending themselves in determined fashion, the cartoons detail what this fight is all about: will more and more power continue to accrue to the rich privileged elites at the expense of the working classes?  Or, will we have a just and fair society?  That, in essence, what this fight is all about.

Towards the end of the diary, I have also included 30+ cartoons on a number of other issues including developments in the Middle East, deficit reduction, the state of the economy, recent utterances by several prominent Republicans, Rahm Emanuel’s mayoral victory in Chicago, and the earthquake in New Zealand.  As usual, I’m a bit late in posting this long diary.  But, you get an extra 30 or so cartoons than I’d promised yesterday.  There are 113 editorial cartoons in the diary (80 on the protests in Wisconsin) and I will post at least another 20 on various topics in the comments section if you all keep this diary “alive” for a few hours.

Hope you enjoy this week’s edition.  Comments encouraged.  Thanks.  

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1. Big Business and the Republican Party: Scratching Each Other’s Backs

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Thompson is mad about growing income and wealth inequality between the haves and have-nots in this country

The War on Public Employee Unions

The gap between the richest 1% of Americans and the rest of us is wider today than at any time since just before the start of the Great Depression. Writing for Forbes.com, Eva Pereira noted recently that since 1983, 43% of all financial wealth created in America went to the top 1%, 94% went to the top 20% while the remaining 80% of Americans were left to divvy up just 6% of the wealth created since the early 1980s.  As a result, the Website econproph.com pointed out, income inequality in America is even greater than in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen, nations that revolted in part because of income inequality…

Having sucked the wealth out of workers in the private sector, Republicans are now targeting workers in the public sector for wanting decent pay, health care coverage and a retirement spent above the poverty line.  To this end, Republicans have been busy sowing intra-class warfare by stirring up resentment among the middle class against public employee unions. Apparently, Republicans are hoping that you can always hire one-half of the working class to kill the benefits of the other half, to tweak a quote by railroad baron Jay Gould.  Pay no attention to that man in the gated community who shipped your job overseas, destroyed the value of your home, drained the wealth out of the country and tanked the economy, go after your neighbor for having health care coverage.

Tim Eagan, Deep Cover, Buy this cartoon

Lloyd Dangle, Troubletown, Buy this cartoon

Jack Ohman, Comics.com (Portland Oregonian)

Unions and Middle Class by Mike Keefe, Denver Post, Buy this cartoon

Gargantuan Banks by Bruce Plante, see the large number of reader comments in Tulsa World, Buy this cartoon

John Sherffius, Comics.com (Boulder Daily Camera)

Joel Pett, McLatchy Cartoons/Lexington Herald-Leader

(clink link to enlarge cartoon)

Unions by David Fitzsimmons, Arizona Star, Buy this cartoon

Jim Morin, McLatchy Cartoons/Miami Herald

(click link to enlarge cartoon)

Bruce Plante, see reader comments in Tulsa World, Buy this cartoon

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2. It is ALL About Union Busting

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Englehart is not surprised at all with what is presently unfolding in Wisconsin

Well, Wisconsin, what did you expect?  This is what happens when you elect a tea party toady governor.  There are so many things I’m thankful for.  I’m thankful I don’t live in Wisconsin.  I’m thankful that conservative Republicans don’t dominate here in Connecticut and never will.  I’m thankful the good, decent, educated citizens of Connecticut see through that tea party madness.  In fact, I rejoice when I think about it.

Conservatism, as it’s practiced today, is a response to terrorist-generated fear.  The old standards of conservatism have been pushed aside by the modern reaction to terror.  Look at the record.  I’ve read that we’re supposed to become more conservative as we get older.  That hasn’t been the case with me.  When I was a young man in my twenties, I was much more conservative, mainly because I was afraid I couldn’t handle the responsibilities of husband, father and homeowner I’d taken on at such a young age.  As I was able to meet them and conquer them, I became more confident in myself.

Conservatives always come off as being heartless, cruel, hypocritical and selfish dogs-in-the-manger.  Now, the governor of Wisconsin, who wants to change a deal already made in good faith, and is refusing any sort of compromise, is adding a new one.  Contemporary conservatives are without honor.

Union Hunting by RJ Matson, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Buy this cartoon

Stuart Carlson, Washington Post/Universal Press Syndicate

(click link to enlarge cartoon)

Walker’s War Against the Unions by Randall Enos, Cagle Cartoons, Buy this cartoon

Ben Sargent, Washington Post/Universal Press Syndicate

(click link to enlarge cartoon)

Union Busting by David Fitzsimmons, Arizona Star, Buy this cartoon

Joel Pett, McLatchy Cartoons/Lexington Herald-Leader

(click link to enlarge cartoon)

Bill Day, Comics.com (Memphis Commercial-Appeal)

Matt Davies, Comics.com (Connecticut News)

GOP and Public Worker Unions by Dave Granlund, Politicalcartoons.com, Buy this cartoon

Paul Szep, Comics.com

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3. Collective Bargaining Rights of Unions: The Very Basis for an American Middle Class

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While Sorensen is unhappy but hardly surprised at the hardline positions adopted by the Republicans, she has some choice words for Democrats, too

A Teachable Moment

If there’s one thing to understand about the Wisconsin battle, it’s that it’s not really about the budget, but a premeditated and politically-motivated attack on the teachers’ union.  The teachers have already ceded to pay cuts — but now Walker is going to start firing them  one by one if they don’t give up their bargaining rights forever.  Never mind the fact that the Wisconsin budget was left with only a modest shortfall by Walker’s Democratic predecessor.  To top it all off, Walker has added an additional $140 million projected shortfall to the next budget with his wealthy donor-friendly tax cuts…

If you had any lingering doubts that Wisconsin is part of a broader movement to attack workers’ rights,  it’s important that Americans understand that Walker is in tight with the billionaire right-wing activists, the Koch Brothers, whose foundation Americans For Prosperity is picking ideological fights in several states:

The effort to impose limits on public labor unions has been a particular focus in Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, all states with Republican governors, Mr. Phillips said, adding that he expects new proposals to emerge soon in some of those states to limit union power.

Even if Wisconsin teachers manage to preserve their bargaining rights, my feeling is that the bigger picture does not look good. The forces aligned against what few unions remain are just too powerful. In this Gilded Age we live in, moneyed elites have managed to convince millions of ordinary, struggling Americans to reject one of the last means of recourse workers have left.  It doesn’t really matter if Scott Walker goes down — they have the ideological vision, and the willingness to take the heat for it. Something weak-kneed Democrats might want learn from.

Steve Sack, Comics.com (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

Jack Ohman, Comics.com (Portland Oregonian)

A Seat at the Table by Adam Zyglis, Buffalo News, Buy this cartoon

Bob Gorrell, Nationally Syndicated Cartoonist, Buy this cartoon

Dan Wasserman, Comics.com (Boston Globe)

Bruce Beattie, Comics.com (Daytona Beach News-Journal)

Pat Oliphant, Washington Post/Universal Press Syndicate

(click link to enlarge cartoon)

Steve Sack, Comics.com (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

Wisconsin Protests by Joe Heller, Green Bay Press-Gazette, Buy this cartoon

Public Union Benefits by Jimmy Margulies, New Jersey Record, Buy this cartoon

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4. Public School Teachers: A Convenient Scapegoat

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Jones is not fooled at all by the transparency of the greed on display by Scott Walker and his rich benefactors

Wisconsin

The governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, says to balance the budget and to save the state from it’s fiscal crisis then the public employees will have to put more into their health care and pension cost and in a bold stroke, eliminate their collective bargaining rights.  First off, what do the bargaining rights have to do with the budget?  The amount of the budget shortfall is about the same, tada…. as the amount the Governor and his Republican party gave to corporate interests in tax breaks.  This issue, as you know has brought out thousands of public employees and their supporters to Madison at the state capitol to protests.

This has nothing to do with the budget.  The governor has excluded firemen and police unions, as they contributed to his campaign.  He and his party say there’s no room to compromise.  These “greedy” teachers and their other union colleagues are willing to negotiate and pay more into their health insurance and pension.  The GOP still says no deal.  Why?  They want to kill these unions.  

Greedy Teachers by Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune, Buy this cartoon

Lalo Alcaraz, LA Weekly, Buy this cartoon

Jeff Danziger, Yahoo Comics/New York Times Syndicate

(click link to enlarge cartoon)

Signe Wilkinson, Comics.com (Philadelphia Daily Inquirer)

Stuart Carlson, Washington Post/Universal Press Syndicate and

(click link to enlarge cartoon)

Paul Fell, Artisans

(click the cartoon itself to enlarge)

Teachers by Joe Heller, Green Bay Press-Gazette, Buy this cartoon

States Target Public Workers by Jimmy Margulies, New Jersey Record, Buy this cartoon

Drew Sheneman, Comics.com (Newark Star-Ledger)

Jeff Stahler, Comics.com (Columbus Dispatch)

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5. Turmoil in the MidEast and the MidWest

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Stein recognizes authoritarian behavior whether he sees it in other countries or at home

I couldn’t resist this one.  In the Arab world and wherever else there’s a popular revolt against autocratic rule, it’s the dictator who ultimately flees. Not so in this country, evidently.  In Wisconsin, where Republican Governor Scott Walker has proposed outrageously punitive restrictions of collective bargaining rights for select public unions, sparking massive demonstrations, it’s the Democratic supporters of the unions who have fled to avoid a vote on the measures.

What Walker has proposed will certainly pass the GOP-controlled legislature when the Dems return. It’s a union-busting package, pure and simple, having nothing whatever to do with balancing the budget.  In fact, the unions have already agreed to the proposed salary and pension cuts, but this is driven not by budget necessity, but by the reflexive Republican hatred of unions.  It would be a little easier to swallow if the pain were spread equally, but the bill unfairly selects only those public unions that have traditionally supported Democrats and spares those that have not.  Teachers get the axe, but Republican-leaning police and fire unions are spared.  So much for sharing the burden.

Worse, this is a trial run for Republican governors in other states who are salivating at the chance to decimate their own public unions.  After a few more years of this kind of authoritarian rule, will Americans rise up and throw the bums out?  One can only hope.  In the meantime, the wrong people are being forced to flee.

Dictators by Clay Bennett, Comics.com, see the large number of reader comments in the Chattanooga Times Free Press

Mark Streeter, Savannah Morning News, Buy this cartoon

Mike Peters, Dayton Daily News

(click link to enlarge cartoon in Peters’ archives

and look for cartoon from 2/18/2011)

Robert Ariail, Comics.com (formerly of The State, SC)

Jeff Darcy, Cleveland Plain-Dealer, Buy this cartoon

Matt Davies, Comics.com (Connecticut News)

Protests Home and Abroad by Dave Granlund, Politicalcartoons.com, Buy this cartoon

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6. Democratic State Senators in Wisconsin: Did They Have Any Other Choice?

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Rogers is impressed by the defiance of the Wisconsin Democrats.  He strongly believes that despotism of all kinds must be resisted and at all times

Tri-Corner Hat

With all this talk about revolutionary protests in the Middle East, it is nice to see that the American people have not forgotten how to stage an impressive protest.  Wisconsin’s Republican Governor, Scott Walker, is trying to cripple public employee unions by taking away their collective bargaining rights.  Rather than acknowledging the sacrifices the unions have made and working to find a compromise, Walker is refusing to budge.  He is beginning to look more like a despotic leader of a military regime than an American Governor.

Signe Wilkinson, Comics.com (Philadelphia Daily News)

Don Wright, Comics.com (Tribune Media Services)

Chip Bok, Comics.com

Jack Ohman, Comics.com (Portland Oregonian)

John Sherffius, Comics.com (Boulder Daily Camera)

The Supporter by Clay Bennett, Comics.com, see reader comments in the Chattanooga Times Free Press

Hiding Democrats by Joe Heller, Green Bay Press-Gazette, Buy this cartoon

Wisconsin Protests by Joe Heller, Green Bay Press-Gazette, Buy this cartoon

Scott Stantis, Comics.com (Chicago Tribune)

Signe Wilkinson, Comics.com (Philadelphia Daily News)

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7. Cartoons of the Week – Other News and Developments

Turmoil in the Middle East

Jeff Koterba, Omaha World Herald, Buy this cartoon

Vacation by Cam Cardow, Ottawa Citizen, Buy this cartoon

The Blind Leading the Blind

Tea Party Leading the Parade by John Darkow, Columbia Daily Tribune, Buy this cartoon

Boenher and Jobs by Randall Enos, Cagle Cartoons, Buy this cartoon

The Fragile Economy

Tim Eagan, Deep Cover, Buy this cartoon

Job Outsourcing by Milt Priggee, www.miltpriggee.com, Buy this cartoon

The Debt Commission

The Big Show by David Fitzsimmons, Arizona Star, Buy this cartoon

The Off-Center Center by Jen Sorensen, Slowpoke, Buy this cartoon

Cozying Up to the Chamber of Commerce

Paul Szep, Comics.com

Jack Ohman, Comics.com (Portland Oregonian)

Bush’s Dodge

Steve Benson, Comics.com (Arizona Republic)

Bush Will Not Visit Switzerland by Rainer Hachfeld, Neues Deutschland (Germany), Buy this cartoon

Donald Rumsfeld’s Lies

Donald Rumsfeld Book by Bob Englehart, see reader comments in the Hartford Courant, Buy this cartoon

RJ Matson, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Buy this cartoon

The 2012 GOP Presidential Ticket

Oscar for Michele Bachmann by Dave Granlund, Politicalcartoons.com, Buy this cartoon

Chan Lowe, Comics.com (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

Breast Feeding with Michelle, Michele and Sarah

Nothing gets the right wing more lathered up than Michelle Obama, Wife of the Great Pretender, opening her mouth to render an opinion — even if it’s about something as innocuous and well-meaning as encouraging mothers to breast feed…

In the ever-lengthening record both ladies are accruing for ill-thought-out and malevolent utterances, this little episode is a particularly inglorious entry.  In fact, it’s painful to witness two mature adults demean themselves so.

Fortunately for them, they’re oblivious.  The rest of us aren’t so lucky.

Read Chan Lowe’s complete comment on his newspaper’s blog

Two Great Public Intellectuals of Our Time

When Monkeys Fly by Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune, Buy this cartoon

Limbaugh Blasts Michelle Obama by Taylor Jones, Politicalcartoons.com, Buy this cartoon

Are You Smarter Than IBM’s Watson Super Computer?

Mike Luckovich, Comics.com (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Clay Jones, see reader comments in the Freelance-Star (Fredericksburg, VA), Buy this cartoon

Super Computer My…

IBM has this “Super Computer” that got to play on Jeopardy! Yeah, that’s swell.  I suspect Republicans and Tea Partiers wouldn’t like it when it gave answers they don’t agree with.

One thing I can’t stand is mass stupidity.  Especially when the masses choose to be stupid.  There’s no evidence Obama was born in Kenya, or that he’s a Muslim.  Yet a majority of Republican primary voters say he is.  Hell, only 28% believe he’s a natural born citizen of the United States, according to the Public Policy Polling. That’s a lot of stupid. Have any of these people ever requested proof of any candidate’s citizenship before Obama?  Eric Cantor and John Boehner both say Obama was born in America, but they don’t want to tell their party to believe that.  I don’t even want to say it’s a crazy belief.  Guys, it’s a crazy belief.

— Jones pointing out the stupidity that is so evident among many Tea Party-types

Anarchic Crude – A New Blend of Mideast Oil

Ken Catalino, Nationally Syndicated Cartoonist, Buy this cartoon

Robert Ariail, Comics.com (formerly of The State, SC)

The NBA Season in Full Gear, With Football Over

Drew Litton, Comics.com

Rob Rogers, Comics.com (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Seatgate

Yes, Egypt’s pending democracy is important news.  But don’t let it overshadow the tragedy that was Super Bowl XLV, where 400 fans, some who spent thousands of dollars on tickets and traveled all the way to Dallas, were denied seats.  Now those angry fans are suing the NFL and the Dallas Cowboys for “Seatgate.”  My question is, “what did Jerry Jones know and when did he know it?”

— As a Washington Redskins fan, I’m glad to see Rogers put some heat on the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones

Chicago – Rahm Emanuel’s Kind of Town

Scott Stantis, Comics.com (Chicago Tribune)

Rahm Emanuel by Taylor Jones, El Nuevo Dia (Puerto Rico), Buy this cartoon

Terrible Tragedy in New Zealand

Christchurch Earthquake by Shlomo Cohen (Israel), Buy this cartoon

New Zealand by Bob Englehart, see reader comments in the Hartford Courant

Today’s cartoon is for bird watchers who know that New Zealand’s official bird is the kiwi.  It’s a unique animal found only in that island nation.  It’s the size of a chicken and has 2 inch wings making it flightless.  Interesting fact: their nostrils are at the end of their beak.  When I heard of the quake, I immediately thought of this bird.  It’s so cute and so sad.  I’ll say a prayer for the people of New Zealand, who also call themselves kiwis.

— Englehardt expressing his sympathies for the people of New Zealand

8. Final Thoughts

Dave the Rave is a long-time Kossack and a good guy who also happens to be a wonderfully talented cartoonist.  In addition to the hilariously funny cartoon that he drew about the techniques used by Kos to sell DK4 to all of us — and one I used in the tip jar comment of this diary — he also drew the below cartoons.

If you or any organizations you are associated with can use his graphical services, please contact him.  His email address is in my opening comment.  I should mention that I’m neither his representative nor do I have any financial stake in this promotion.

Obama As Sisyphus by Dave the Rave

Mideast Penguins by Dave the Rave

Tinfoil Penguins by Dave the Rave

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A Note About the Diary Poll

At the 83rd Annual Academy Awards on Sunday night, the British movie The King’s Speech is expected to do very well.  Nominated for twelve awards, even if it wins four or five, that would be quite an achievement.

British movie making and Hollywood have long been linked for over a century and it is hardly surprising that movies made in Britain have done very well in this country.  Winston Churchill was wrong.  The Americans and the British are not separated by a common language.

I have included some of the better-known British movies in the diary poll.  It is certainly not a list of the best ever movies associated with Britain.  For a more complete list, check the below websites and if your favorite British movie isn’t on the poll, do mention it in your comments.

And don’t forget to take the diary poll.

1. 100 best British films: the full list.

2. 100 Favorite British Films.

3. Best British Movies.

4. British Films Selected by the London Critics’ Circle as Best Film or Best British Film.

5. Cinema of the United Kingdom.

6. The magnificent seven? Are these the best British films ever?.

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