The Sorensen Monologues
Hillary and Bernie supporter smackdown
I usually hate it when pundits try to play peacemaker, lamenting divisiveness and partisanship when there may be very good reasons for such behaviors to exist. But when it comes to the Democratic primaries, which I’m observing with no particular sense of attachment, I think things have taken an unnecessarily ugly turn lately. Yes, supporters and surrogates of both candidates have said stupid things. Hillary would do herself a favor by avoiding going negative on Bernie and his supporters, which only backfires (as some of her more prominent defenders demonstrated spectacularly over the weekend). I question some aspects of Hillary’s record, but she doesn’t deserve the outright demonization coming from some quarters of the left.
Let’s not lose sight of the big picture. Ted Cruz is my senator, okay? We’re bickering over two pretty acceptable candidates while the political equivalent of the bubonic plague is threatening to descend on the United States.
The Trump-supporting union member
Well, Ted Cruz has won Iowa, an outcome I find no less gooseflesh-inducing than a Trump victory. A few days ago, a disturbing report surfaced about Trump making inroads among union members. According to a study conducted by Working America, white working-class voters who support Trump cited his tendency to “speak his mind” as the quality they most admired. This attribute was more of a driving factor among his supporters than agreement with his policy positions.
Possibly the biggest blow to labor under a Trump or Cruz presidency would come in the form of extremist Supreme Court nominees. Trump has mentioned Clarence Thomas as his favorite justice. With unions already under assault at the state level, a Supreme Court tilted even more toward radical market fundamentalism and against worker rights would be absolutely devastating.
If Flint’s water problem happened to rich people
You would think the wealthiest nation on earth could do better than this. Of course, these public health disasters are what we can expect when basic government services get chipped away over the years by ideological zealots. Curiously, reports are surfacing that cost-cutting may not have been the primary reason for the water supply switch, raising the possibility that politics were somehow a factor. Whatever the case, it seems unlikely that a deep-pocketed GOP donor would have had to wait a year and a half to get Gov. Rick Snyder’s attention.
Behind the scenes at the Trump girl group tryouts
In case you haven’t seen the “Freedom Kids” performance at the Trump rally, proceed here. Have a stiff drink ready.
Do I detect a trendlet of little girls spouting wingnuttery on behalf of GOP candidates? There was that Ted Cruz ad starring his daughters a few weeks ago, and now this. Of course, when people make fun of these performances that are (ironically enough) practically Maoist in their ideological zeal, they are accused of picking on poor, defenseless children. So let me be clear: I am mocking the grownups who are using these kids as mouthpieces to spew belligerent, jingoistic twaddle the kids probably don’t even fully understand.
Unequal exposure: Sexy show names for male comedians
When I learned the name of Daily Show alum Samantha Bee’s new show recently, my heart sank a little. “Full Frontal?” Really? Here’s my theory about why prominent comedy shows hosted by women have titillating names. From a studio exec’s point of view, having a female host is a risky proposition. Some viewers will simply assume that a show hosted by a woman is just “for women.” Also, to be a comedian is to be an authority figure, and some people just aren’t into watching a lady in that role. (Whenever I write about this, I get comments from guys protesting that they like female comedians, so let’s just agree I’m not talking about you.) The solution, as far as the entertainment industry is concerned, is to go “Full Hooters” with the name, making the show appear non-threatening to the easily-emasculated.
Note for nitpickers: I’m well aware of the arguments behind reclaiming female sexuality and am fine with women being desnudas or whatever, but Sam Bee is a political humorist. The name seems gratuitous. It occurred to me that the title might have been inspired by Jessica Valenti’s book Full Frontal Feminism, but that’s using the concept in a very different context. My point here is not to pick on Bee, who I admire and who is probably under incredible pressure to make the show succeed, but to illustrate a double standard that’s hard not to see as a sad commentary on the state of women in comedy and the media.
Oregon militants: Patriots… or Owl Qaeda?
I’m fine with a little healthy civil disobedience, but once you add guns to the mix and threaten to use them against the powers that be, you’re no longer just a protester. You are, at the very least, a militant. As many others have rightly noted, the kid gloves treatment these extremists are getting would likely be denied to other groups attempting to occupy a government building with weapons. Not that I don’t support letting them slowly run out of Twinkies.
Did you know the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge was established by Teddy Roosevelt and hosts over 320 bird species? Speaking as an occasional birdwatcher, it looks awesome. Hopefully those bozos will be gone in time for the Harney County Migratory Bird Festival to proceed in April as planned.
And yes, somebody actually had to write this for their website:
Cartoon Flashback: More things for Islamophobes to worry about
Here’s a comic from 2010 that seems extra-appropriate for current times. If only the me of the past knew how bad things would get in 2015.
Mr. and Mrs. Perkins go gift shopping, Star Wars edition (2015)
A holiday tradition returns, with Mr. and Mrs. Perkins once again searching for the perfect gift for Auntie Perkins. You can see the previous installment (from 2013) here.
The news has been so crazy lately, it feels a little strange not drawing an overtly political strip this week, but I think the degree to which Star Wars has permeated our consumer culture is political in its own right.
The never-ending death spiral
Australia illustrates what a country has to do to solve this problem. The U.S. is doing pretty much the exact opposite.
America reacts to the Planned Parenthood attack
Just in case somebody wildly misinterprets this cartoon, I do not in fact support issuing tracking collars to white males, nor do I blame all of Christianity for the shootings at Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs. I’m merely illustrating the ludicrousness of the GOP’s recent rhetoric against Muslims.
Between this and their incendiary lies about Planned Parenthood, the current crop of Republican candidates have shown themselves to be dangerously unfit for the presidency. But you knew that already.
How to Tell the Difference Between ISIS and Muslims
The GOP is demanding that the Democratic presidential candidates use the term “radical Islam” to refer to ISIS. Yet it’s hard to imagine them making similar demands that various acts of homegrown terrorism be called the work of “radical Christians.” Many would argue that simply committing such an act means one is not a true Christian. By the same token, ISIS is not Islamic, as Islam is understood and practiced by the overwhelming majority of the world’s Muslims. So why insist on the label, unless you have an axe to grind about a faith you deem inferior? Why add to the Islamophobic backlash that has already led to a Texas mosque having its front door hit with feces?
ISIS thinks in terms of a “clash of civilizations,” and (surprise!) so do American right-wingers. Anyone framing this issue as The West vs. Islam is playing right into ISIS’s hands.
