Comedians, artists and certainly political cartoonists tend to possess an anti-authoritarian, skeptical, irreverent streak. This makes the staunchly conservative cartoonist an especially odd bird.

Rightwing Cartoon Watch seeks to highlight far right cartoons, but also document the broader range of opinion from conservative cartoonists on the hot issues of a given week. While a primary goal is to challenge GOP talking points and fallacies, we also seek to celebrate the fine American tradition of editorial cartooning - and have a little fun in the process.

Which cartoonists dare to criticize their own party? Who seems to literally illustrate GOP talking points? Who are their favorite targets? Who mocks liberals - and who seems to truly hate them? Who’s funny? Who’s independently minded and who’s a hack? Read, and decide, for yourself!

Rightwing Cartoon Watch #15 covers a two-week period, from 2/12/07 to 2/25/07. Hot topics include Bush’s troop escalation (the so-called “surge”) and the field of presidential candidates on the Democratic - and Republican! - sides. Plus, for how many issues can a cartoonist still work in an Anna Nicole reference?

IRAQ

Eric Allie firmly believes in Bush’s escalation plan. The cartoon concept is more clever than most of Allie’s. But Sadr is not the only problem in Iraq, and we’ll see what happens.

Nowak goes one further on Allie, not only voicing support in Bush’s escalation plan, but comparing Sadr to a drain clog! (Wait, does this mean Nowak is acknowledging things haven’t been great in Iraq? I don’t think he meant to do that!)

Lisa Benson delivers a relatively neutral criticism, partisan-wise.

Gary McCoy accuses the Democrats of being cowards. *Yawn.* Even the generals are saying that a solely military victory is impossible. Conventional “victory” and “failure” no longer really apply.

Mike Lester accuses Hillary Clinton of being misguided and playing into the terrorist hands - funny, since she hasn’t been at the forefront of troop withdrawal. But come to think of it, shouldn’t everybody be working for us to get out of Iraq, even if they disagree about the best route? Most Iraqis have no interest in attacking America. As for the terrorists coming to America, what the hell does that have to do with Iraq? That is, apart from the recent NIE’s findings that our actions in Iraq, and our continued presence, has stirred up much greater resentment and terrorist recruitment?

Michael Ramirez makes a similar charge, that Congress has “undercut” the war effort and that Muslim terrorists are happy about their actions - both points are debatable if not outright false. As we’ve covered before, bin Laden released his 2004 pre-election tape to get Bush re-elected.

Chuck Asay yet again makes the monstrous claim the Democrats want things to get worse in Iraq. (In his folksy style, of course!)

Meanwhile, here Asay has Nancy Pelosi let a soldier get shot at and pinned down so she can do her makeup. Liberal chicks, I tell ya.

In case you’ve forgotten since he told you last week, Eric Allie wants you to know he thinks the Democrats are on the same side as the terrorists. And this presupposes, yet again, that opposing Bush’s monumental stupidity and recklessness somehow helps the terrorists.

Paul Nowak offers his usual partisan attack, but shows much more originality than usual to do so.

Many, many conservative cartoonists went with the knife-in-the-back motif, but the bloodiest renditions were from Michael Ramirez, targeting all of Congress…

…And from Eric Allie, who singles out that villainous Democrat hated by servicemen everywhere, Jack Murtha. (60 Minutes report on troop dissent, anyone?)

Ken Catalino notes Britain’s newly-announced timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.

While we’re on this subject, let’s re-cap, shall we? Cheney says the British leaving Iraq is a positive sign. But if Australia were to pull out, he’d be disappointed. Huh?

Or as Jay Leno put it, “The British announced they were pulling their troops out of the Iraq. Dick Cheney immediately called it good news. He said, ‘It’s a sign that we’re winning.’ How come when our allies pick up and leave, that’s a victory for us? But when we leave, it’s a victory for al Qaeda? How does that work?”

Henry Payne delivered this clever cartoon right after Valentine’s Day.

IRAN

Holbert acknowledges there weren’t WMD in Iraq but suggests that Iran is a legitimate threat. Of course, the current strong expert consensus, based on various monitoring and tests, says Iran does not have a nuclear bomb - do they have any WMD? (I don’t know why Holbert is using “wolfen,” since it’s an adjective in English - is he making fun of Bush’s linguistic skills, or does he think it adds to the child’s tale feel?)

Glenn McCoy is apparently a big fan of cowboy diplomacy, also known as Statecraft for Idiots. Bomb Iran!

Hahaha. Rabid rightwinger Eric Allie does love to project! Iran does not have a nuke. And if Iran is arming anyone in Iraq, it’s the Shiites, not the Sunni insurgency! Bomb Iran!

Michael Ramirez at least shows some visual flair with his latest entry in the Bomb Iran! campaign.

Is there any limit to how far Cox and Forkum will go to push for Bombing Iran?!? Don’t be silly!

Gary Varvel at least may be suggesting Iran’s on the path to getting a nuclear bomb and doesn’t actually have one. Or maybe I’m giving him too much credit. (Umm, maybe Bomb Iran? Bomb them at a time to be determined later?)

Cox and Forkum have no such uncertainty. Bomb Iran!

Iran still doesn’t have a nuke. Who cares? Bomb Iran!

Sorry, Iran still has no nuke. I’m down with the whole condemn’shallow-news-coverage thing, but I can’t get jiggy with the whole “Bomb Iran!” thang, y’know?

It’s cartoons like this from Asay that just cry out, “Mock me.” Yet again, Asay, you imbecile, mandatory teacher-directed school prayer is what’s illegal, and you’d realize it was a bad idea if your grandkids were forced to pray to Mecca in science class. I think most sane adults can agree that elementary kids shouldn’t be smoking, nor should their teachers smoke in front of them, and breathing asbestos, which can cause serious health problems, isn’t a good thing either! Nor, for that matter, is playing in traffic - what the hell is Asay advocating here? Umm, rising water… yet again, Asay tries and fails to pull off a reductio ad absurdum. The main idea is that those damn liberal female teachers worry about inconsequential stuff - such as the physical safety and civil rights of their young charges, apparently - but don’t adequately appreciate that Iran, which by all accounts still doesn’t have nukes, is somehow going to blow up American children in the heartland!!! Aaaahhhh!!! Stop, duck, and cover! Can we get some of those astronaut diapers to ship to Asay? It’ll save him from having to change his underpants so often.

Chip Bok highlights a little hypocrisy and delivers a decent punchline. My only question - who is this figure? Why not make it Bush? Is Bok softening the blow? Still, good cartoon.

NORTH KOREA

Peanuts references are always popular. This gag from Glenn McCoy has been done before but isn’t bad.

I like this cartoon design, even though Cox and Forkum are full of crap as usual. As we covered last week and in other, previous installments, North Korea didn’t have any nukes under Clinton. They got them under Bush and his naive “silent treatment” diplomacy. The problem isn’t that Clinton was an “appeaser.” The problem is that the Bush administration believes in pugnacious chest-beating and are idiots when it comes to diplomacy. (In fact, recent news shows they were even more inept than previously known in dealing with North Korea.)

Ramirez clearly doesn’t like the new North Korea deal either, and like other conservative cartoonists, shies away from blaming Bush for either the deal itself or six years of a botched approach that allowed the current situation. That said, I included this because it’s a strong visual concept with good artwork that conveys a clear point of view.

BUSH

Ken Catalino has pretty consistently mocked the Bush administration’s love of slogans, and their love of changing slogans versus changing their actual approach.

This Ramirez cartoon ain’t bad. Not that Bush has any good policies, not that the economy is good for everybody, and certainly not that there’s “progress” in Iraq, but boy, cable news largely sucks. (You’ll see a lot of Anna Nicole and Britney references in this installment.)

CONGRESS

Nowak is such a hack I feel obligated to include any cartoon of his that’s actually a bit funny. Not that Bush has been doing a bang-up job! After four years of running things exactly his way with disastrous results, doesn’t Bush need a little more supervision?

Chip Bok’s cartoon isn’t too bad, although some congresspeople are very knowledgeable, and it might help matters if the Bush administration would speak honestly, and to the complexity of the situation in Iraq.

This is a bit of an odd cartoon. Not every Democrat is calling for peace, nor for withdrawal from Iraq. More importantly, Iraq has nothing to do with 9/11. Most congresspeople, regardless of party, support America’s presence in Afghanistan. And where is bin Laden again?

PELOSI

I only included this lame Ramirez cartoon because he repeats the same gag he used last week, only with even less cleverness. In Ramirez’ defense, many editorial cartoonists draw several cartoons every week and individual editors decide which ones to use, so multiple cartoons on a single subject isn’t solely a sign of obsession or lack of creativity by the cartoonist. That said - this story was debunked long before Ramirez submitted it, and boy, is this cartoon lame.

Again, debunked. Pelosi didn’t insist on the plane, nor its size. But why let the truth get in the way of a good attack?

Glenn McCoy is at least a bit more clever, with a good punchline. (I only heard about this Jet Blue story from late night shows!)

Another Peanuts reference. Agreed, Pelosi would be better than Bush. (However, I don’t think she’s going to dismiss her own gender to do so.)

THE PRESIDENTIAL FIELD

Ramirez is surprisingly non-partisan in his disdain here.

Likewise, Nowak spreads the ire pretty evenly.

Scott Stantis does the same, but ties in Anna Nicole as well. It’s a hot topic this time around!

THE DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL FIELD

Conservatives love them some Dem-on-Dem action. They also love to depict Hillary Clinton in an unflattering way - although at least here, she’s not drawn as ugly, with horns, etc. Watch the memes as they develop…

This was a silly story (the Geffen remarks), but Obama came out fine, I’d say, even if others feel differently. But Hillary’s dangerous! And ruthless, I tell you!

Nowak sez: Ya can’t trust Hillary! This cartoon is fairly well-constructed, separate from the accuracy of its premises. As for Hillary always being a “Yankees fan,” I had to go back to 1999 to find what Nowak was talking about, since I knew she was a Cubs fan. I’m not a big Hillary fan (and have no problem with giving her grief if she roots for the Yankees!), but as with all candidates, she should be quoted and represented accurately, and as Bob Somersby of The Daily Howler will show you, that ain’t been happening. (But that’s nothing new under the sun.)

Henry Payne picks up on Obama’s smoking. I think his main attack is that Obama has an attractive package, but he’s shallow or not good for the country. I don’t know of any instance of Obama smoking in front of kids, nor of him promoting smoking, let alone for profit. Is Payne really suggesting that Obama is a bad man, corrupting the youth of America, unift for the presidency, because he smokes?!? That would be pretty damn funny coming from the party of “hands-off-tobacco!”

Lester sure likes to cartoon about racism, or rather, people talking about it. This cartoon riffs on a statement from Obama’s wife during the 60 Minutes interview. As Howard Kurtz explains:

But here’s why that is badly out of context. Michelle Obama was responding to the following question from Steve Kroft:

“This is a tough question to ask, but a number of years ago, Colin Powell was thinking about running for president, and his wife Alma really did not want him to run. She was worried about some crazy person with a gun. Is that something that you think about?”

“I don’t lose sleep over it, because the realities are that, you know, as a black man, you know, Barack can get shot going to the gas station.” So it wasn’t like she was volunteering this out of the blue.

Chip Bok runs with a comment Obama’s already retracted and apologized for. But why not run with it?

Mike Shelton does Bok one better. Remember, kids, that immediate apology was a sham! Democrats hate the troops! (We’re still waiting for the uproar over McCain saying the same thing!)

I’m tempted not to give Bob Gorrell “Most Offensive Cartoon of the Week” merely because this attack is so clichéd and pathetic. Gorrell tries to point out the name similarity for an added barb, but no, Gorrell, you ass, the Democrats are not on the side of the terrorists, and Bin Ladin and Al-Qaeda don’t want the Democrats to win the White House in 2008. Let Cheney bomb Iran and see how well that serves the United States - and Al-Qaeda. (Actually, please don’t. Stick to the crappy propaganda cartoons instead.)

THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL FIELD

I find these cartoons fascinating because here Republicans attack their own. Who do they hate? Who do they trust? Who will they pick? Jerry Holbert uses a light touch to bring up Saint Rudy’s infidelities. (The Anna Nicole references keep coming!)

Holbert apparently thinks Romney is all image, or an empty vessel, or at the least is questioning his authenticity.

Meanwhile, Mike Lester uses a punchline based on Romney’s Mormon faith.

THE LIBBY TRIAL

This cartoon is well-constructed, but a complete hack job. Notice Ramirez doesn’t even bother to say what Joe Wilson “lied” about. That’s because he didn’t!!! The liars in this situation were Libby, Rove and possibly Cheney! Of course, Ramirez uses a very narrow, selective focus to ignore the glaring issues of the case - not to mention, if Wilson had lied, which he didn’t, why would that excuse the White House smear campaign, outing a covert agent, and perjuring one’s self? Ramirez really must get all his news from the National Review, Rush Limbaugh and Fox News, based on his grasp of facts, unless he’s an utter hack. Everything here has been discredited years ago for those who, ahem, read newspapers and blogs. Here, Michael Ramirez, read the Firedoglake archive on this issue or read Marcy Wheeler’s book to get yourself up to speed. If you’re feeling generous, buy a copy for Rich Lowry at the National Review while you’re at it, but until you acknowledge the basic facts of the case, please, don’t bother trying. (As if that’s ever stopped him before!)

Chip Bok offers a funnier take.

Henry Payne also offers a lighter take. (Boy, the Anna Nicole references are spilling out all over like… umm, best not to finish that sentence.)

EDWARDS BLOGGERS

We covered this pretty extensively last week, as has most of the blogosphere. A few points to Gary McCoy for at least delivering a good punchline. As for its substance, a quick response:

1) No, it really doesn’t bother me, unless they made those comments after being hired by Edwards.
2) No comments from McEwan that I’ve seen are vulgar.
2) The media were all over this! It’s not as if they hid this.
4) McCoy submitted this cartoon on 2/19/07, six days after the second and last blogger in question, McEwan, resigned. Come on, Gary, while you’re flogging dead issues, can’t you work Chappaquiddick in again while you’re at it?
5) Will McCoy and other conservative cartoonists challenge William Donohue’s bigotry? (They haven’t and won’t.)
6) Will McCoy and the GOP echo chamber take on Duncan Hunter for hiring Henry Jordan as his South Carolina campaign co-chair, probably a more crucial role than either blogger held? That would be the Henry Jordan who offered this gem at a state Board of Education meeting:

“Screw the Buddhists and kill the Muslims,” Dr. Henry Jordan said during the board’s finance and legislative committee meeting. “And put that in the minutes,” he added.

Gotta love that liberal media. (And those loving, tolerant Republicans.)

THE ENVIRONMENT

I’m only including this cartoon because its gag is so damn clichéd, and it seems someone every week uses it. Points from Ramirez for lack of originality, points for him for good artwork, at least.

Yeah, those Greens, they know nothing about science and engineering! I’m sure there are stupid Greens out there, but as whole, they’re much better informed on environmental issues (duh). Seattle and other “green” cities are also not only doing fine, they’re prospering. It’s also hard to export American goods when they don’t meet foreign countries’ environmental standards.

Since Varvel shows the “drowning polar bears” heading for New York, I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt that he’s not denying global warming exists here, but who knows? Regardless, the polar bears look so happy!

HPV VACCINE

Umm… this Lisa Benson cartoon is pretty creepy. It is pretty damn funny that conservatives are suddenly questioning a corporation making profits and their motives! While there are legitmate issues to raise here, is Benson aware that this vaccine has a better than 99% chance of preventing a type of cancer that can, among other things, leave women sterile? (Not that cancer alone isn’t bad enough as it is.)

Note to all conservatives: This isn’t about sex. It’s about preventing cancer. And parents can have their kids opt-out. So what’s the problem?

I swear, Asay must have flunked out of his debate and rhetoric classes as a student. Here he again tries a reductio ad absurdum coupled with a false comparison. It’s also interesting that like Chris Muir, who out’sources the artwork for his lousy strip, Day by Day, Asay generally has a man or a child explaining the common sense way the world works to a liberal chick. Personally, I wish more gun owners took gun safety classes - but that’s a far cry from arming middle schoolers with handguns in school! Asay is actually comparing sex ed and a vaccine that prevents cancer to standing up to a school bully by brandishing a handgun! He’s coming down precisely on the wrong side of this argument. Cancer kills people. So do guns - especially in the hands of middle schoolers! (For that matter, as a dedicated pro-lifer, Asay must know that sex, a very natural thing, creates life.) Asay is either arguing that carrying a handgun is a good way to deal with a bully, which is absolutely insane, or he is arguing that telling the truth about sex to middle schoolers, and protecting them against a disease that could kill them if they contract it from sex, is as dangerous as giving them handguns. Either way, Asay is a goddam loon, but I think he’s arguing for the latter - because Asay has previously suggested he thinks premarital sex is a behavior that’s only recently sprung up and is leading to the moral decline in America or something like that. I am sure of one thing: Our country would be a far stranger, far poorer and far more dangerous place if Asay was running things. This cartoon is a worthy companion to Asay’s Colonial Williamsburg Crime Initiative from the last installment, and wins my “Most Insane Wingnut Cartoon of the Week” award. (Asay has a unique worldview - thank god - but he deserves some credit for not being a cookie-cutter wingnut, for being a decent artist, and for being pretty entertaining - albeit for some audiences, not in the way he intends.)

THE DIXIE CHICKS

Yeah, selling music is all about bashing Bush! Hey, Glenn McCoy, assuming that was the case, what would that say about Bush? (Have you seen the latest polls on Iraq?)

I couldn’t find any instance of the Dixie Chicks calling America a “fascist regime,” or comparing themselves to Solzhenitsyn, and they certainly didn’t at the Grammys! This appears to be yet another straw man from hack Nowak. Rather than playing victim, Natalie Maines expressed gratitude and poked fun at herself, saying “For the first time in my life, I’m speechless,” and “I think people are using their freedom of speech, and using their voices, here tonight, like this loudmouth did.”

Regardless of one’s feelings about the Dixie Chicks’ music, or their political opinions, what happened to them was ridiculous. Consumers have every right to boycott an act they don’t like, but I found it especially chilling that Clear Channel, who had previously been a sponsor for a Dixie Chicks concert, told DJs if they honored listener requests to play a Chicks tune, they would be fired. That’s not a consumer boycott. That’s a corporation abusing their empire to enforce their own blacklist as well as intimidation of employees (in addition to being really crappy management). What Solzhenitsyn faced was much worse, and it would be ludicrous to pretend otherwise, but it’s no secret which side of the political aisle most censorship advocates are on. (As he did last week, Nowak really likes to project.)

Another straw man, and a nasty one. I can’t find any incident of the Dixie Chicks saying they were “attacked by our own government” (their concern was about the venom and death threats from former fans and others), and they sure as hell didn’t say anything about the Duke lacrosse case! Most people, regardless of political leaning, would condemn the Duke case as an abuse of prosecutorial power (hence the investigations into the D.A.’s office and such). More differences: the Chicks were attacked, and their lives were threatened, and they did not make false claims about that - nor did they compare their treatment to getting raped! There’s more than a whiff of misogyny in this cartoon.

ANNA NICOLE AND BRITNEY

In contrast, I don’t mind this railing against pop culture, not that it’s ever been great and that we’re suddenly seeing a decline! There’s some good stuff out there, but there will always be crap. This isn’t a political battle, it’s an aesthetic one.

This cartoon may have been better placed in the “environment” category, since Lester’s main target seems to be anyone who wants to stop climate change, but this cartoon was light and funny enough I put it here.

Again, liberals and conservatives can find common ground! The Daily Show did my favorite send-up of the Mother Theresa-Princess Di treatment of Anna Nicole. Out here in L.A., the first night the local news did 20 minutes on Anna Nicole, and 5-10 minutes every subsequent night - and it’s still going! Granted, Hollywood shows are mostly sycophantic crap, but the most nauseating moment for me was changing channels and catching the end of creepy Pat O’Brien closing his show by saying perhaps “Anna Nicoled died… [pause][pause][pause][pause][pause]… of a broken heart.” That’s as poetic and profound as a Hallmark card soaked in high density saccharine and cat urine, that is.

For the second installment in a row, Scott Stantis and Michael Ramirez are in a weird simpatico! Check out this Stantis cartoon from 2/20/07…

…And Ramirez’ from 2/23/07.

OTHER

This isn’t the most original gag from Stantis, but it’s pretty appropriate - for too much of the world, sadly.

Umm, because they killed an unarmed man and tried to cover up the evidence? Investigate the matter and let justice be done, whatever that may be.

Blue Herald covered the Putin speech this cartoon references earlier. Here’s the relevant section:

I would like to quote the speech of NATO General Secretary Mr Woerner in Brussels on 17 May 1990. He said at the time that: “the fact that we are ready not to place a NATO army outside of German territory gives the Soviet Union a firm security guarantee”. Where are these guarantees?

The stones and concrete blocks of the Berlin Wall have long been distributed as souvenirs. But we should not forget that the fall of the Berlin Wall was possible thanks to a historic choice - one that was also made by our people, the people of Russia - a choice in favour of democracy, freedom, openness and a sincere partnership with all the members of the big European family.

And now they are trying to impose new dividing lines and walls on us - these walls may be virtual but they are nevertheless dividing, ones that cut through our continent. And is it possible that we will once again require many years and decades, as well as several generations of politicians, to dissemble and dismantle these new walls?

As I remarked in that comment thread, Putin is not someone I’d want in charge of anything, and it’s sad to see some of what he’s done to Russia. He’s not exactly a “tear down the wall” kind of guy in the vein of Gorbachev or a champion of civil liberties and transparent government. However, that doesn’t mean all his observations about the world stage are wrong.

I missed this story, but had to include this cartoon because it’s so damn weird and entertaining (if xenophobic underneath).

LOCAL/NON-POLITICAL

Mike Lester delivers an entertaining cartoon.

Varvel ties in the bizarre diaper-wearing astronaut plot to the Jet Blue debacle.

Varvel also rightfully mocks the persistent stupidity of newspeople standing in a storm to report on a storm.

(Apologies, I hope to get RWCW back on its optimal schedule at some point, but it ain’t likely to happen this month!)

As usual, feel free to vote for the most offensive cartoon(s) of the week in the comments, and check out Bob Geiger’s most recent round-up of editorial cartoons for a palate cleanser. See you next time!