Dim Bulbs

Randy Bish, 7/20/11:

Because Thomas Edison, tireless inventor, holder of 1093 patents, actually wanted technology to stand still, and for new inventions never to supplant old technology.

Perhaps Bish needs a trip to Menlo Park for a little refresher course on what Edison really stood for.

Sad Murdoch Is Sad

Dan Wasserman, 7/18/11:

It's so sad when a billionaire scandal-rag owner finally gets the what-for he's given other people for the last forty years.

No, wait. What's the other thing? Glorious.

Parent-Teacher Conference

Chuck Asay, 7/19/11:

Remember: children must be taught that some things are shameful and evil, and that they should never, ever do them. Oh, and cheating's bad, too.

(There's not a single education-related story that Asay won't link to sex education somehow -- he's like that guy on the bus who keeps ranting about the Trilateral Commission.)

It's Warren Buffett's World; We Just Live in It

Jeff Koterba, 7/19/11:

Today Koterba's got a little shout-out to the bond wonks -- ah yeah!

(Translation: BH bonds are currently, and uniquely, being rated by the market as safer than Treasuries.)

She's a Goddamn Marvel of Modern Science

Matt Bors, 7/18/11:

It'll be a damn sad day in American when being effectively insane is a disqualification for running for high office, rather then the prerequisite it is today.

And I resent Bors for trying to hurry that day along -- the only real question at hand is: is Bachman crazy enough to be President?

If You Find Yourself in a Hole

Tom Toles, 7/18/11:

Every other cartoonist has done a version of the "digging out from under the debt ceiling" cartoon by now, so it's finally Toles's turn.

But, since he's not in favor of the blindingly obvious metaphor everyone else uses -- if you're shoveling out something under the debt ceiling, it must be the stuff pushing you up to that ceiling, i.e., spending -- he instead comes back from vacation with that eternal friend of the lazy cartoonist, a panel complaining that politicians are practicing politics.

We All Shine a Light

Bob Englehart, 7/16/11:

Why on earth is the Fox News logo behind Teh Grauniad's [1] logo? Are we suppose to link the two somehow, or think that Murdock's own companies are actually investigating him?

Or did Englehart just put that in so that American readers will recognize something in this cartoon?


[1] Inside-British-journalism joke, misappropriated so that you'll think I'm more of an insider than I actually am.

What Good Is Money If It Can't Inspire Terror In Your Fellow Man?

Chris Britt, 7/15/11:

For a cartoonist working in a town named Springfield, having a guy who runs a power plant grabbing money and actually named "Burns" has got to be the biggest gimmie in the world.

And Britt, feeling the wind at his back, takes full advantage of the opportunity.

And, in Today's Random Partisan Slam....

Clay Bennett, 7/15/11:

Haw! Haw! Get it! Bennet puts no credit in the Republicans' fiscal policies! It's a meta-cartoon!

Well, either that, or it's yet another "Boo! The other guys are evil and incompetent!" cartoon about nothing in particular.

Today's Epistomological Questions

R.J. Matson, 7/15/11:

Is that can actually falling off the vanishing point? And if, in the world of this cartoon, the vanishing point is a place objects can reach and plummet from, how can any of us be safe?

National Treasure -- or Treasury?

Rick McKee, 7/15/11:

Selling off our national monuments to balance the budget is exactly the kind of forward-thinking, free-market solutions that our Congressional leaders would embrace -- and, if there's a low-bid sweetheart deal for some major campaign contributors, all the better!

Normally, I wouldn't expect Obama -- that first guy is meant to be Obama, right? -- to along with that kind of plan, but he's moving closer to the Republican position every day, so another week or so should do it.

Is She Proud Mary?

Hap Pitkin, 7/14/11:

Yes, the Boulder Big Wheel Rally is a real thing.

And also a fine example of Two Things Make a Cartoon!

Lock Up Your Sisters! Congress Is In Town!

Paul Fell, 7/14/11:

So Congress is in cartoon "robber" shorthand, having stolen a big bag of...something from...somewhere.

But they'll pay! Because the Junkyard Dog of Fall Elections is going to get them!

Until someone remembers that all of Congress stands for election in even-numbered years.

And then we all just scratch our heads, and try to puzzle out what Fell could have possibly been thinking of.

Is This What They Call Truck Farming?

Ann Cleaves, 7/14/11:

California's 405 freeway will be under serious construction this weekend...in the vicinity of Los Angeles, rather than in any of the agricultural areas of that fine state.

So I know what this cartoon is referring to, but I'm vastly less clear on what it means.

Don't Forget to Charge the Baby!

Dick Locher, 7/13/11:

Either there just was a big tech merger involving, one one side, a company starting with the letter "M" and, on the other, a firm whose logo has a woman in a hospital bed...

...or Locher is in one of his "screw it, let's just draw stuff" moods again.

Dunning Letter

Bob Gorrell, 7/13/11:

Because there's no reason why forcing the government to stop paying its debts would, you know, actually affect the money the government pays out or anything, right?

TL; DR

John Auchter, 7/13/11:

"Minor city no-one else cares about."

See? Easy.

East, West, Each as Stupid as the Other

Pat Bagley, 7/13/11:

Ah, it's been a while since we had a good "Republicans are Bond villains" cartoon, hasn't it?

But why are we all pretending anyone really cares about the corporate jet loophole? (Is it just the official synecdoche term for this particular budget foofaraw?)

Going Over Like a....

Scott Stantis, 7/13/11:

So Elmer Fudd is flying a gigantic concrete balloon, upside down?

I suspect this is another in Stantis's odd little series expressing his disdain for Chicagoland's public art, as seen last month.

Does This Mean Angier is Da Nang?

V.C. Rogers, 7/13/11:

It's always a secret Communist plot when one thing looks like another thing! Sorta, kinda. If you squint. Really hard.

Is the Ponytail As Distracting To Everyone Else?

Kevin Siers, 7/11/11:

Obama murdered the economy with chloroform and duct tape! And he's going to get away with it, too!

(After that, he's probably coming to get your guns!)

Two Men in a Boat

Paul Fell, 7/12/11:

Now, now, let's not get all rude and personal here...and, besides, don't we all know that the intransigence in the House is all really Eric Cantor's fault?

Turn Your Head and Cough

Eric Semelroth, 7/12/11:

Shouldn't it be the elephant that's the patient, since he's the one having the reflex reaction?

And what's up with the donkey's sock, anyway -- is that somehow germane to the joke here?

Hoist By His Own Ringtone

Milt Priggee, 7/12/11:

It would be really rude to point out that the phones hacked were all mobiles, and thus cordless, wouldn't it?

So forget I mentioned it.

Shall Not Perish From My Plate

Chris Britt, 7/11/11:

This might not exactly be reason for rejoicing or anything, but I seem to recall that there are currently fifty states, so Illinois, at the 23rd fattest, is right in the middle of the pack.

But don't let that get in the way of a good Fat Abe joke or anything.