The Sorensen Monologues
Archive for December, 2017
Behind the Red White and Blue Curtain
The Republican tax bill — and the way it was passed, in gross violation of democratic norms — resembles the hyper-corruption we typically see in authoritarian kleptocracies. As the cartoon lays out, there are many ways in which the US is moving towards the kind of dystopian state we used to satirize.
It’s not a stretch at all to note these similarities between the authoritarian tactics of the present-day GOP and Russian oligarchs. Yet I’ve noticed a knee-jerk reaction among some readers whenever Russia comes up. Some object because they see concerns about Russian interference in the 2016 elections as somehow overshadowing the fact that America had plenty of problems with its own political system before Russia got involved. To which I respond, duh. This does not obviate the fact that Russia’s efforts were highly effective. If you follow international news, it’s clear that these influence campaigns are a global problem. Of course, this cartoon isn’t even about election interference, except for the panel about Fox spreading BS about the Mueller investigation.
Another hot take that makes me groan is that criticism of Russia in 2017 amounts to “red-baiting” or McCarthyism. These people have their heads stuck up a 20th-century butt. (Don’t think about that too hard.) You see, in 1950s America, the McCarthyites were the people in power. They persecuted essentially powerless actors and writers for having political sympathies largely imagined. Today’s America is a completely different context. The people in power — virtually unchecked power, mind you — are the ones colluding with a repressive, right-wing traditionalist, crony capitalist Russia. If anything, they are the neo-McCarthyites, quashing dissent by charging peaceful protesters with felony rioting, infiltrating leftist activist groups, and implying entire demographic groups are criminals or terrorists.
Cartoon Flashback: Hedge Fund Nation
I neglected to post on Tuesday, as I used a “classic” cartoon this week. But better late than never, and this one is as timely as ever given the looting of the country that just occurred with the sociopathic Republican tax bill.
As I wrote in 2010, when this was first published: “One almost gets the impression from the GOP that something is wrong with you if you’re still doing actual, useful work.”
Mr. and Mrs. Perkins Go Gift Shopping 2017
Regular readers will note that I do one of these every couple years or so. This year, Mr. and Mrs. Perkins find themselves in a strip mall evoking a fascist dystopia. When I was first starting out as a political cartoonist, I did not anticipate having to actually satirize Nazism in America, but here we are.
Since someone is bound to mention it, I am aware of the Cats That Look Like Hitler website, which I discovered in the earlier, somewhat more innocent days of the internet.
