Comics I Don’t Understand

From NPR

Cue the global warming gags.

Sarah Palin complained that this week’s Newsweek cover is sexist, and… well, I think I sort of agree, though we might be dealing with semantics here: Certainly Newsweek chose this particular photo with the inten of trivializing Palin (the photo is real, but was taken earlier this year as part of a spread for Runner’s World magazine). And they probably wouldn’t have used this sort of photo to trivialize a male politician (can you imagine a cover story about Obama’s domestic policy agenda being illustrated with this?

Of course what I found most interesting about all this was Palin’s comment on the cover, ending with “If anyone can learn anything from it: it shows why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, gender, or color of skin” — clear proof, I guess, that she writes her own material. I mean, I sort of maybe know what she’s kind of getting at here, but…

And actually what makes that quote more interesting is the fact that it was written (apparently) on the same day that she vigorously defended racial profiling on the Sean Hannity show.

I’m wondering whether anybody knows… When the President travels to campaign for, say, a gubernatorial candidate, who pays for the Air Force 1 expenses, security for the President, police overtime onsite, etc?

And just for the record, I can’t speak for Virginia, but no matter what you might hear, the New Jersey election was not a referendum on either Obama or the Democratic Party: it was a referendum on Jon Corzine. When New Jerseyans went into the voting booth yesterday, Barack Obama was the last thing on our minds: We were too busy holding our noses as we decided whether the thought of reelecting Jon Corzine was distasteful for us to vote for Chris Christie.

Personally, I voted for Chris Daggett, since in this case voting for the third party candidate wasn’t taking a vote away from any decent candidate. He had me at “I’m not Corzine or Christie.”

As it happens, despite recent polls predicting up to 20% of the vote for Daggett, he ended up with about 5%. Which means, God help us, New Jerseyans got the governor we deserve.

So… Was anybody’s kid exposed to Obama’s speech today and come home a gay, socialist Kenyan? My son’s school, which originally offered concerned parents the option of sparing their children from having to listen to the speech, changed their minds and banned the speech altogether.

Today’s civics lesson, kids: School policy should be set based on the fear of upsetting a vocal minority, even if that minority doesn’t even offer a rational explanation of their concerns.

I got a message from my son’s high school this afternoon assuring me that he would not be forced to watch Obama’s speech next week, and that the school would provide an alternative educational program for all students whose parents opted them out of watching the speech. I understand this sort of thing is going on in schools all across the country.

Is there any explanation for this other than mass insanity? I could understand it if Obama were intending to ask children to tell their parents to support his health care reform, or suggest they go through their mothers’ pocketbooks and send him all those little pieces of green paper with presidents’ pictures on them… but apparently he’s only going to offer a pep talk about working hard in school.

Just the sort of underhanded thing you’d expect from a native-born Kenyan!

Does anybody sincerely think this is controversial? And if so, why not just follow with an opposing viewpoint such as a clip from Ferris Bueller?

Michael Jackson was four years older than President Obama.

Not that President Obama has asked me for my opinion, but…

Of course I understand that as a role model for kids, the fact that he’s trying to quit smoking is a good thing — but honestly, with all his many responsibilities, do we really want him dealing with the distraction and crankiness that come with nicotine withdrawal?

(Of course, having just signed a major anti-smoking bill, he doesn’t have a lot of choice, does he?)

• A related controversy

The New York Post. Because it’s inconceivable that anybody’s going to top this one (and yes, “inconceivable” does mean what I think it means).

But it turns out the Post continues to believe no mistake was made. Editor-in-Chief Col Allan said, “The cartoon is a clear parody of a current news event, to wit the shooting of a violent chimpanzee in Connecticut. It broadly mocks Washington’s efforts to revive the economy. Again, Al Sharpton reveals himself as nothing more than a publicity opportunist.”

Well, of course he is. But like the broken clock that’s correct twice a day, Sharpton’s absolutely right this time.

It is being said, metaphorically, that George Bush turns over the keys to the White House to Barack Obama today. Which got me to wondering… Does anybody know offhand whether the White House door actually has a key? I have this mental image of Bill Clinton slipping out some night to hit McDonald’s, locking the door behind him.

I’m sure there’s always Secret Service agents standing guard at every entrance, but can the front door be locked if necessary?

Is Barack Obama technically unemployed right now?

Without the Obamaland sign, it makes sense to me. With it, on the other hand…

You don’t think so? Then try rewriting it with the colors reversed and see how it looks.

The reality is, the majority of white voters — or close to it, anyway — will probably be voting for Obama today; and according to the most recent polls, upwards of 95% of black voters will be voting for… Obama.

So with all due respect, Mr. Billingsley… Okay, actually I’ve been sitting here for ten minutes trying to complete this sentence. I can’t. This comic is just ugly and I’m sure Senator Obama would feel the same way.

“among whites who call race an important factor, Obama does less well.”

People actually get paid for coming up with this sort of information.