Political Cartoons
Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Draw Cat Butts
Back in college, I was a Poli Sci and Economics major for a year. My plan was to be president of the World Bank by 30. But then I fell in love with a film major in an Intro to Philosophy class (if you’re reading this Ashley, please call), and switched to film. I ended up studying classics and philosophy, and now, instead of ending world hunger (or worsening life for the world poor or whatever) I draw cartoons of cat butts. But politics and cartooning go way back, and for as long as there has been political disaster and dirty dealings, there’s been someone commenting on and doodling about it.
In honor of the election this past week, I asked my fellow Toonstackers to share some cartoons about politics. Because sometimes we need to laugh, or cry, or laugh cry, or ugly laugh cry or whatever.
And that usually fixes things.
- Navied
Brendan Loper
Multi-year election cycles wasting billions of dollars to select a person that you’re not even that happy with. The American system of government is a flawless gem of human ingenuity. But one does wonder whether somewhere a better way of doing things is stuck in committee or stone.
Sofia Warren
I’m just calling it like I see it.
Amy Kurzweil
People say we’re politically polarized. At least I think that’s what they’re saying— I wouldn’t know since I filled my ears with cotton and put this tape over them. Hey, we all need a break sometimes. Do you ever stop to think about how many people there are, and how each of them have things to say, and how some of them are saying those things with a megaphone? It’s exhausting! See this is why we’re so polarized, there’s too much information and too many people with too many needs so it’s a lot easier to just think what the various megaphones are telling me to think. But I resolve to sheep no more! I choose: cotton and tape! No more uncomfortable consideration of needs that conflict with my own, no more exercise of reason in evaluating various conflicting arguments. What peace I’ve found! You might hear that noise-canceling earphones work for this purpose too, but those expensive symbols of capitalist corruption are clearly a ploy of the government to lull me with white noise and so keep me in the auditory dark, whereas cotton and tape is the man-made, salt of the earth, noise-blocker of real Americans. See, ever since I put in the cotton and tape, it’s become increasingly clear to me that I am totally alienated from all other people and that I actually can’t hear anything they’re saying, probably because they don’t want me to hear it. Thank god I stopped participating in society so I could discover this grand conspiracy to keep me from participating in society. But you can’t blame me for my social exit from the realm of human discourse, it’s way way too loud in there.
Jason Katzenstein
Was Solomon a centrist king?
ToonStack NewsStack:
Buy a copy of Jeremy Nguyen’s new book Can I Pet Your Dog?, now available in bookstores! Order here or from your favorite local bookseller.
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Listen to Hilary’s podcast What’d You Do This Weekend?
Sofia Warren’s Radical: My Year with a Socialist Senator is out and available to order here.
Order Send Help! a desert island cartoon collection by Ellis Rosen and Jon Adams, out now!
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The same goes for Sofia Warren’s advice newsletter, You’re Doing Great!
See more cartoons from Ellis Rosen’s weekly Junk Drawer!