Normal Parliament Sessions

Jack Ohman, Sacramento Bee

Via Raw Story, the above cartoon by Jack Ohman of the Sacramento Bee, published last Thursday, has Texas Governor Rick Perry all hot under the collar–so much so that he (or some flunky) wrote a letter to the editor, which the Bee published on Friday. Here it is:

Re “Business is booming in Texas” (Editorial cartoon, April 25): It was with extreme disgust and disappointment I viewed your recent cartoon. While I will always welcome healthypolicy debate, I won’t stand for someone mocking the tragic deaths of my fellow Texans and our fellow Americans.

Additionally, publishing this on the very day our state and nation paused to honor and mourn those who died only compounds the pain and suffering of the many Texans who lost family and friends in this disaster. The Bee owes the community of West, Texas an immediate apology for your detestable attempt at satire.

– Gov. Rick Perry, Austin, Tex.

So far, Ohman’s editor Stuart Leavenworth is standing up for him. You can read his full response at the above link. From Raw Story:

Stuart Leavenworth, the editorial page editor of The Sacramento Bee, said the cartoon illustrated Perry’s “disregard for worker safety, and his attempts to market Texas as a place where industries can thrive with few regulations.”

Earlier this year, California Gov. Jerry Brown chided Texas for having a high percentage of workers earning minimum wage. Perry responded about a month later by running radio ads in California that encouraged business owners to move to his state. Perry claimed building a business in California was “next to impossible” because of regulations and taxes — regulations and taxes that his state lacked.

Ohman wrote about the “controversy” on his blog today. He says that a number of readers chastised him for the cartoon.

Their comments ranged from “you are a sick human being” to “insensitive and tasteless.” I’m not sure I am clinically qualified to give myself a direct diagnosis, but I am pretty sure I am not a sick human being. Let’s explore the question of tastelessness.

The Texas chemical plant had not been inspected by the state of Texas since 2006. That’s seven years ago. You may have read in the news that Gov. Perry, during his business recruiting trips to California and Illinois, generally described his state as free from high taxes and burdensome regulation. One of the burdensome regulations he neglected to mention was the fact that his state hadn’t really gotten around to checking out that fertilizer plant. Many Texas cities have little or no zoning, resulting in homes being permitted next to sparely inspected businesses that store explosive chemicals….

When I have to come up with these ideas, I can assure you that I am not really deliberately trying to be tasteless. I am not. What I am trying to do is make readers think about an issue in a striking way. I seem to have succeeded in this cartoon, one way or the other.

The question is whether it is tasteless or not.

My answer, respectfully, is that it isn’t.

Having said that, what normal person doesn’t mourn those poor people fighting the fire and living by the plant? I certainly do. What makes me angry, and, yes, I am driven by anger, is that it could have been prevented. I guess I could have done a toned-down version of the cartoon; I am not sure what that would have been, but I think many readers’ objections just stemmed from the fact that I used the explosion as a metaphor, period. The wound is fresh, the hurt still stings.

Personally, I thought the cartoon was brilliant–a perfect example of the old saying “a picture is worth a thousands words.” Apparently it got a pretty big rise out of Perry when the thousands of gallons of ink spilled on news stories hasn’t. Perry should be ashamed to show his face in public after what happened in West, Texas. Why on earth do Texans keep reelecting this guy?

Ohman recommended that Perry read this outstanding investigation by Pro Publica, which I read and recommended a few days ago: What Went Wrong in West, Texas — and Where Were the Regulators? Perry should either read it or have his flunky read it to him. Then he should wake up and realize that millions of Americans disapprove of his laissez-faire, Ayn Randian approach to government, and cartoonist Jack Ohman expressed our feelings perfectly.

But I don’t expect Perry will take responsibility for his role in the West, Texas disaster, because he can’t handle the truth.

 © Chappatte in "International Herald Tribune"

The faculty at the University of Lisbon are not alone in their quest to understand how people respond to these crises. After the events of September 11, 2001, Jewel James decided to create a series of healing poles as a gift to the people of the United States. Barbara Robins, a friend and colleague of mine, is a scholar of Native American literature and culture, and she has interviewed James as part of her ongoing research about healing through art. You can get an article by Robins here. When the poles were finished, James, a Lummi artist, had the poles transported as a traveling exhibit across the United States. Visit the website at the National Library of Medicine blog for more information and to see images of the poles.

My question for this blog entry has to do with the way that editorial cartoons, for example after the Boston Marathon bombings, offer readers a way of healing after tragedy. For Boston, some cartoons express rage, some express sorrow, and some express frustration and confusion. This piece, by Jerry Holbert , relies on readers’ knowledge of the figure of Justice. Holbert has retained some of the traditional elements here: the figure’s eyes are covered, and she holds a sword. However, the figure doesn’t hold a balance in her other hand. Instead, she grips the sword with both hands, seemingly ready to strike.

The caption uses the words ‘wounded,’ ‘bruised,’ and ‘bleed,’ words which no doubt will resonate with Boston residents, especially at this time. The last sentence of the caption expresses a kind of resolution to readers, that justice will be done. It assures readers that even though the community has been harmed, something will be done in response to the tragedy. Further, interaction between the image and the language suggests something else: it issues a warning to the people who committed the atrocity, an implied promise that they will not go unpunished.

In light of the Boston bombings and through my participation at the conference, I had time to reflect on 9/11, and I remembered that the image below made a strong impact on me. There’s a short article at Wired.com about it. It takes patriotic symbols, like the Statue of Liberty and the U.S. flag, and repurposes them. The Liberty statue very clearly becomes a mother figure, but instead of holding aloft a torch she holds a gun. The U.S. flag, which is often raised on a flagpole to fly in the wind, is instead wrapped around a baby. These visual discourses of motherhood, safety, and violence coalesce into a statement: a response from the nation. The linguistic caption reinforces the visual message by using the lexemes dangerous, mother, and children all in the same sentence.

I do not wish to claim here that editorial cartoonists have the intent of offering some kind of healing to their readers. I think it’s much more complex than that. After all, artists in this situation might be expressing their own anger and confusion, so they may not be thinking about healing when they create their cartoons. However, some readers may find elements of healing in those cartoons, even when the cartoons are at the same time expressing anger, disgust, frustration, and confusion: an array of reactions to tragedy.

Can readers find healing in these kinds of cartoons? Even if the cartoonist does not intend the message of healing, even if the cartoonist expresses something more akin to anger, perhaps these kinds of cartoons begin to create a space for readers to begin the process of healing.

Song of elastic elections
Shahrokh Heidari/Radiokoocheh.com

© Chappatte in "International Herald Tribune"

Repeated entry inside Indian territory by Chinese has become a normal news , may be for us and the government too. So let them enter and take up all our country and we will see when we can schedule a meeting with their officials to solve the issue peacefully.

What is the Government upto , only they know the best . Feels so helpless to realize someone is capturing our country slowly since decades and claims our part of land as theirs and we let them do so ? The government prefers to remain silent on the issue as it prefers on any other topics . The opposition is helplessly accusing as they always do and all goes to deaf ears. We the Mangoes of India, we are busy watching IPL,or at the most discussing Chinese invasions over office coffee breaks , office gossips and over a peg or two. Rural mangoes probably may not even know about the news.Looks like no one is bothered.

If  the East India Company can what is the harm if China ends up ruling us or even taking away half our country ? Who cares !! In India nobody cares .. capture a 5 year old girl or parts of country nobody cares !!

Leave it to Barack Obama to grand-stand and say a bunch of nonsensical blather.  “Whatever they thought they could ultimately achieve, they’ve already failed.”  “We will determine what happened. We will investigate any associations that these terrorists may have had. And we’ll continue to do whatever we have to do to keep our people safe,” Obama said.  I”m wondering how the bombers “failed”? Their goal was to kill people and perhaps Barack could explain their “failure” to the families of the people who were killed and maimed.  I’m sure eveyone is taking comfort in Barack and company doing whatever they have to do to keep people safe. He’s really doing a “bang-up” job.  He’s right about one thing he said,  “The families of those killed and those who were wounded “deserve answers.”  But if you think they’re going to get any from team Obama, just ask the families of the folks killed at Benghazi and the families of the victims of Obama’s Fast and Furious operation.

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My rant for Monday morning

Well here we are, another Monday morning.  People went to worship services yesterday, then probably out to a restaurant for lunch. Then home for a nap and/or some television, or to do a little work around the yard. What a great and wonderful nation we live in. Yeah, there are plenty of folks who think America is a very bad country. One that has been “unfair” or “racist” or any number of ungodly things because there are still poor people and people of color have such high unemployment, etc. Most of the people who hate this nation are liberal, left-wing socialists who think that no one should be exceptional, no one should be rewarded above another, even if one is far more intelligent, gifted or talented. In fact people who aren’t so gifted in the medical profession should be doctors and surgeons and nurses. People who can’t swim should be life guards and people who can’t fly a plane should be pilots according to the liberal way of thinking, because that’s only “fair”. People who are physically weak and can’t pass written exams should get to be fire fighters if they happen to be people of color. Quality doesn’t matter any more. The perfect example is for us to take into consideration who we have acting as president of the United States. Talk about dumbing down America. Talk about affirmative action! The least qualified (actually not qualified) person in America squats in the White House.  The guy who can’t pass a background check or even get a job here in America because he failed an E-verify check calls for “universal background” checks for citizens to buy a gun.

Yeah, the United States has a guy in charge who never had a real job. Who never made a payroll. Whose entire life is a lie. Whose past is filled with Marxist ideology and his past associates are all radical left-wing Marxists/Socialists. We have a guy acting as president, who committed perjury taking the oath of office … swearing to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States yet claims it’s a flawed document. How can one defend and protect something he believes is flawed? It’s not possible. That in and of itself proves Barack Obama is a liar. I’ve been called racist and bigot many times since Barack began his eight year occupation of the White House. “He’s black and that’s why you hate him” I’ve been told time and again. That’s not exactly true. I hate his white side also. You see, I don’t care what color a person is. But I do care what that person is doing to America … whether white or black or a little of both. If that person in every act is weakening this nation, then in my mind he/she is an enemy of the United States. Barack Obama falls into that category, along with his wife and every political appointment he has made.  Our problem is the Congress is made up of nothing but traitors and criminals. Yes, every last one of them. I know, I know, “what about Alan West, or Marco Rubio, or Rand Paul or Michelle Bachmann”? Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch. All of these people know Barack Obama is a fraud, yet for the sake of their careers they “go along to get along”. Plain and simple. The men are women and the women are weak.

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Sara Noble over at the Independent Sentinel has a great piece well worth the read:

Dianne Feinstein: It’s About Legal Gun Owners Not Terrorists

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Cartoon by: Bob Gorrell

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Cartoon by: Chip Bok

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Cartoon by: Gary Varvel

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Cartoon by: Glenn Foden

Editorial Cartoon by Daryl Cagle, published with permission

This editorial cartoon expresses well the mourning we share after the Boston Marathon bombing.

Daryl Cagle is the publisher of Cagle.com and owner of Cagle Cartoons, Inc, which distributes editorial cartoons and columns to over 850 newspapers.

Editorial cartoons are as popular as ever and put to use in a variety of ways in print and on the web. Take a look at the excellent roster of talent at Cagle.com and you’ll see there is something for everyone.

Read Daryl’s blog at: http://www.cagle.com/daryl. View his site at: Cagle.com. Get permission to reprint his cartoons at: PoliticalCartoons.com.

Let’s see … oh yeah, I read a while back on some liberal blog site (who  used a government web-site written mostly by Kathleen Sebelius to back up his claim) that millions of people are already benefitting from Obamacare and seniors are saving “billions” of dollars right now.  Well, it seems that ignorance really is bliss because those claims don’t seem to be entirely accurate. Now that Congress passed the bill they’re starting to find out what’s in it and they aren’t liking what they see …

The Hill

Baucus warns of ‘huge train wreck’ enacting ObamaCare provisions

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said Wednesday he fears a “train wreck” as the Obama  administration implements its signature healthcare law.

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The left is really mad that the gun confiscation bill failed in the Senate the other day and liberals are ranting, saying just about every ungodly thing they can think of.  Oh, the phony outrage of liberals. Blubbering over losing a round in their goal to do away with the 2nd amendment.  Listen to this fool at MSNBC blame the NRA for the Boston Marathon bombing …

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It is hilarious watching liberals throw little hissy fits over the gun grab bill failure. One guy said “big money” won for “big gun” … and this is after Bloomberg threw $12 million of his own money pushing the bill.  Barack threw his own little fit looking like the man-child he is.  Any victory for freedom and the Bill of Rights really gets Obama riled up.

Thanks to The Hope For America for the image

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Testimony is wrapping up in the Kermit Gosnell trial. I’m wondering when any liberal will express just a little outrage over the carnage committed by Gosnell. One of the last witnesses testified she saw one baby alive in a toilet. She said the baby was “like swimming” … “Basically trying to get out”.  Adrienne Moton, an employee at the clinic, then took the baby and   snipped the back of its neck while its mother was still in the room.

HERE

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Cartoon by: Glenn McCoy

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Cartoon by: Gary McCoy

All in all, looks like BJP is in a bigger fix! Nitish Kumar, the Bihar CM wants a secular candidate (without naming himself  :D )and prefers supporting L.K.Advani as the candidate (whose involvement in Ayodhya Movement has been pardoned by Nitish, I suppose  :) )  while Sena declared its choice already.

Lets see if the NaMo mantra will cross the major barriers of objecting allies or not !!

Will the NaMo mantra work for NDA allies ?