Funny Papers for the End Times
Remember the good old days, back when we thought that the election of Barack Obama meant that finally, finally, a stake had been driven through the heart of Dick Cheney and the Bush Administration? No more torture, no more renditions, no more trampling of human rights, no more fake terrorist threats, no more wars for gas and oil, no more demonizing of constitutional rights and habeas corpus, no more ridiculing of science and intellect, no more selling our laws to the highest bidder, no more secret prisons, no more secrets…. Ah, those were such heady times.
Who’d-a-thunk the dirge to this dream would sound like footsteps — like the sound of Obama soft shoeing to a song called “Bipartisanship,” to appease the racists, the birthers, the deathers, the tenthers, the teabaggers, and the corporate whores whom they all serve? Who’d a thunk that, one year down the road, we’d find the scales tipping, as favor and credibility fell back into the camp of thieves — to the same political hacks who hijacked our laws, our constitution, our democracy, our integrity as a country?
It’s pretty depressing, really.
But this is nothing new. The entire history of our country has been one overlong struggle to forge something we euphemistically call bipartisanship between the powerful and the powerless, between Christians and non-Christians, between capitalists and their workers, between the oppressors and the oppressed. Think about it: slavery, Native American genocide, Slave Code, Black Code, Jim Crow, segregation, racial code, labor laws, environmental protections, voting rights, equality….
Only by brute struggle has noble law ever been enacted to keep in check the baser nature of our society. Only by brute struggle has the so-called collateral damage — genocide, lynchings, segregation, inequality and oppression — been stopped in its tracks. And this has never ever — not one single time — occurred through mutual agreement. Think about it.
It’s just that, at some point along the way — between Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush, Jr. and, now, Obama — the collateral damage to our democracy grew exponential.
Still, life goes on.
The Grim Whacker
On a Brighter Note
We’d like to introduce the King of Crosshatch, Charles Padgett. While I can’t put my hands on his birth certificate, I can attest that he was, indeed, born in a real state — Georgia — not some exotic terrorist state like Hawaii. He was born. Elsewise, how could he draw all these cool cartoons?
At this point (if you’re anything like me) your finger is poised to right-click your mouse and start stealing images. I can hardly blame you. But I have a better idea. Drop me a line here at canarypapers and I’ll tell you how to get a high resolution file for a mere $10 bucks a whack. It’s fast, it’s easy and — best of all — it’ll keep Charles knee-deep in ink.
Keep checking back. We’ll post a new funny every few days until Mr. Padgett says, “Enough!” By that time, Obama will surely have said the same, and decided to do the right thing and — come hell or high water – quit pandering to those spittle-flecked nutjobs who have highjacked the political process. Or not.
In the meantime, check out these other CP classics:
- remote control
Freedom Fighters
My Burial Diary
Coming Soon!
A cover shot of CP’s ”Journal of Perfectionism” plus some cool ads for Goatmeal, Premature Burial and the award-winning PBS series, “Pilgrim on My Pillow.”
