Plymouth Rock Landed on HIM!

Lisa Benson, 11/27/13:

The Pilgrims -- who landed two hundred miles off course from the English settlements around Jamestown, showing they probably could have used a "navigator" -- had a death toll of nearly half of the colony (45 of 102 colonists) over the first winter, implying that their health care was not all it could be (particularly on the nutrition side).

Benson might not be alluding to either of those facts here, but I'm not sure what she is saying: that Obamacare is complicated? That it stretches back in time to 1620? That we all hate pudgy bureaucrats with briefcases?

High-Speed Rail Cartoon or Minimum-Wage Cartoon? You Decide!

Lisa Benson, 11/12/13:

Yes, Poverty is an Airstream trailer parked on the tracks of the Train to Nowhere, which is also the Cost of Living.

Um, what?

The "Ten Entitlement Programs or Fewer" Lane

Lisa Benson, 10/15/13:

Benson is just begging Obama to mint that trillion-dollar platinum coin, now, isn't she?

The only other alternative would be that she's forgotten that "cash" is actually created by the government.

Icy Hot!

Lisa Benson, 10/1/13:

Global warming means it never gets cold anywhere ever again!

And it really takes chutzpa to publish a cartoon like this within a week after the largest study yet of global warming declared a 95% certainty that it's really happening and really cause by human activity -- glad to know Benson is as able to ignore the real world as ever.

Don't Fish Usually DIE When You Over-Feed Them That Much?

Lisa Benson, 9/20/13:

I have to admit, I didn't expect to:

a) agree with Lisa Benson on a substantial criticism of Obama

b) see Benson complain that Obama's policies primarily benefit people who are going to vote Republican anyway.

Evil Is the Name of My Robe

Lisa Benson, 9/19/13:

Strict gun laws don't actually stop murderers from bringing in guns from nearby jurisdictions with much looser laws, so obviously we need strict federal regulations on guns to be applied uniformly across the country to stop such events from happening over and over again.

Do you think Benson meant to say that?

Starchair Enterpoop Flies Again!

Lisa Benson, 8/30/13:

Which part of "you've already spent the money, and now you need to pay your bill" don't you understand?

And what part of "the debt limit is a bogus artificial mechanism that countries with constitutions less than 200 years old don't have, and which only causes needless trouble and downgrades to our government's borrowing power" is unclear?

Paging Dr. Howard. Dr. Fine. Dr. Howard.

Lisa Benson, 8/14/13:

There is some mysterious, alchemical process by which the massive multi-state bureaucracy and stack of insurance companies of Obamacare will mystically turn into a single-payer program like Medicare, saving vast sums of money and aligning the USA with the best practices of every other advanced country in the world.

...and Benson thinks that's horrible.

Hey! Look Over There!

Lisa Benson, 7/17/13:

The people riling up the abortion debate, and creating widespread surprise, unhappiness, and unrest, are those calling for fewer restrictions on abortions.

Benson also believes that it's been unseasonably cool in the Northeast recently, that the Pacific Ocean is terribly dry, and that sharks are small, cuddly, and covered with fur.

Archer Daniels Midland Demands Their Handout On Time!

Lisa Benson, 6/25/13:

How dare Congress sully a bill giving lots of money to rich agribusinesses by including aid to poor, hungry people, the same way they have for several decades?

HALO Jumpers Gone Wrong

Lisa Benson, 6/15/13:

Hey, remember how before Obamacare health insurance premiums were dropping substantially?

Neither does anyone else...except Benson, I guess.

Closed the Armored Cockpit Door

Lisa Benson, 4/26/13:

Sure, the line for most right-wing commentators is that Obama and the Democrats caved hugely and immediately to Republican demands -- they had an issue with possible public leverage, but gave up immediately -- but that's not good enough for Benson; if Obama is doing anything other than Boehner's orders, he's doing wrong.

Morning, Ralph. Morning, Sam.

Lisa Benson, 4/24/13:

There is no such thing as a "lone" terrorist* -- every single attack is planned and organized by an evil shadowy world-wide cabal.


* "Terrorist," of course, only means "foreigner who uses a bomb." Nice, quiet white Americans with guns have never qualified.

If It's Not Perfect, It's No Good At All

Lisa Benson, 4/23/13:

Somebody promised an utterly unbreachable wall on the Mexican border, and we don't have that!

Oh, sure, immigration is so low that we might have a net outflow of people to Mexico, but as long as one single person is able to cross a border illegally, everything is horrible!

Sign O' the Times

Lisa Benson, 4/17/13:

Cops and EMS techs don't actually exist in the real world, only on signs? And bombs damage the image of those public servants? Is this cartoon trying to actually say anything? (Other than badly bobbling "a sad thing happened, and it is sad.")

Whenever I look at this cartoon, my brain hurts.

Tradition!

Lisa Benson, 3/29/13:

This one is getting to be like "global warming," so I should have a quick pithy version ready to stamp on these:

The most traditional value is stopping other people from doing things you don't want them to do!

(Hm. Still needs work.)

Over Macho Grande

Lisa Benson, 3/28/13:

OK, so in the tower marked "politics," someone -- is he the "U.S. Senate," or is that supposed to be the name of the airport? -- is playing solitaire while "DOT Cuts" plummets helplessly towards the Earth.

So...the Senate could have ended the sequester? (Or maybe just the parts of it that are particularly painful to rural, Republican-leaning districts?) Because they have budgetary authority, instead of the House? And DOT Cuts is a self-directed thing that just happened, but could have been saved through unspecified means?

Does any of that make sense?

Or is this just Benson throwing some random imagery down on paper and hoping that people realize that she's blaming Democrats for everything -- since that is, after all, her job?

Will This Be on the Final?

Lisa Benson, 3/15/13:

It's so much simpler when poor people just accept that they don't deserve health care, and go off to die quietly, isn't it?

Slightly Unattractive People ARE Evil!

Lisa Benson, 2/23/13:

California needs more money to cover its responsibilities -- so, logically, it must need to raise taxes.

A bold statement for Benson!

Price Controls Now!

Lisa Benson, 2/19/13:

Increased demand for a good in limited supply -- for example, from increased economic activity -- will lead to a price rise for that good until demand is suppressed enough to match supply.

Why does Benson hate the free market so very, very much?