editorial cartoons

Mike Keefe, The Denver Post

Keefe shows what some consider to be the only two outcomes to joining a gang. And it is interesting that the van is going full speed towards either death or prison - he's implying that these kinds of people know exactly what they are getting into and that they can see the end of the road coming up fast. They just don't care. Yay for social commentary.

Walt Handelsman, Newsday

This cartoon is referencing the recent scandal involving (I think, because I didn't really follow the story) Republican officials using party funds to hire strippers or prostitutes. I think that was the story that broke a week or two ago. I honestly don't want to look because I'll be distracted for at least an hour. This cartoon tackles two social issues, though. Some politicians do things that completely counteract their political agenda. As well, the media can take harmless statements and twist them out of context. And then an innocent elephant loses his job. Tough break.

Jeff Stahler, The Columbus Dispatch

This cartoon is self-explanatory. Times are so hard that financial advisers are taking jobs away from teenagers. I have a friend who got a job as an Easter bunny at the mall. She didn't need to, but she did anyway; she also has a college degree. If you happen to read this, said friend, I love you.

Ed Stein, Rocky Mountain News

Well, duh. Of course marriage equality would ruin every other marriage in the nation. Gay men and women getting married is practically like a man being forced to divorce his wife and marry another man. And we can't let that happen, America. We can't. That, and that alone, is what will damage the sanctity of marriage. For shame.

I'd like to commend Ed Stein for drawing this.

Ted Rall, The Los Angeles Times

This comic is poking fun at the parents who have "extreme" ideas on how to protect their children. Like the comic about the touchy republican, this comic shows how people can easily manipulate a situation. The kids in the school district got the book banned, not the parents, but this is something that parents have been known to do in our society. The policy probably passed because a good portion of parents would be horrified to learn that their children could pop open a dictionary and learn what 'oral sex' meant. I wonder what they would do when they realized that 'shit' and 'bitch' are in the dictionary too.

Joe Heller, The Green Bay Press-Gazette

Here's the necessary economy cartoon. It's sad, really; so many people are involuntarily having to give things up everyday. Hopefully someone saw this and laughed about their misfortune.