Plugged and Harnessed

Graeme MacKay, 10/13/11:

I try to avoid local cartoons, since they're inevitably confusing to everyone outside that particular area.

And I also don't pick on non-US cartoons as much as I could, for similar reasons: they're unfamiliar just because they're foreign to me.

But this cartoon is one I just couldn't resist, even though it's about Bob Bratina, the mayor of the fine city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

I'm assuming that the criticism here is that Bratina isn't independent enough -- that he's a tool of the city council -- but that's a creepy, unpleasant image, even if Bratina does have a shiny harness proudly emblazoned with "The Mayor."