Another wingnut cartoonist makes stuff up.
There's a reason why "conservative humorist" is such an oxymoron these days. They don't dare poke fun at the Bush administration, even though the Bush administration is to blame for the mess in Iraq, the ballooning deficit, the limp economy, the Plame case, and just about every single mess we're in.
Well, they could dare. They could poke a few holes in the president's hypocrisy or lampoon his ever-shifting excuses for the Iraq war. They could cast a withering satirical eye at Bob "This is EXPLETIVE DELETED" Novak.
But, as
Carl Moore's State of the Union strip makes clear, it's easier and less embarassing to just make stuff up.
Now, really. Nonsense like this makes "Mallard Fillmore" look smart and insightful. Someone kept a straight face while drawing this?
A good political cartoon takes a current event--something rooted in fact--and offers a new perspective that makes the reader grin and, maybe, think. This goes for liberal and conservative cartoonists alike. This one, however, is based on a lie--specifically, a lie told by Karl Rove.
Satire based on something that didn't happen and doesn't exist doesn't really qualify as effective satire. "Mallard Fillmore" and "State of the Union" are cartoons based on straw men, bogus information, and stuff that the cartoonists just made up.
It's gotta be hard to be a conservative humorist these days.
Well, they could dare. They could poke a few holes in the president's hypocrisy or lampoon his ever-shifting excuses for the Iraq war. They could cast a withering satirical eye at Bob "This is EXPLETIVE DELETED" Novak.
But, as
Carl Moore's State of the Union strip makes clear, it's easier and less embarassing to just make stuff up.
Now, really. Nonsense like this makes "Mallard Fillmore" look smart and insightful. Someone kept a straight face while drawing this?
A good political cartoon takes a current event--something rooted in fact--and offers a new perspective that makes the reader grin and, maybe, think. This goes for liberal and conservative cartoonists alike. This one, however, is based on a lie--specifically, a lie told by Karl Rove.
Satire based on something that didn't happen and doesn't exist doesn't really qualify as effective satire. "Mallard Fillmore" and "State of the Union" are cartoons based on straw men, bogus information, and stuff that the cartoonists just made up.
It's gotta be hard to be a conservative humorist these days.
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