Week in Cartoons II

Copyright © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

Weeks ago, it was too much fun to pick out some political cartoons out of the litter, so this week we'll jump into this exercise again.

This time, Week in Cartoons part deux is bolstered by a cartoon controversy that happened in this last week in the mass media. Those familiar to this most recent media drama may smile at the cartoon pictured above.

Racial caricatures and controversy aside, let's look a the lighter side of things through good ol' fashioned cartoon cynicism.

Copyright © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

My Pittsburgh native bringing shows heavily when I point out this cartoon. Like others my age growing up in Western PA in the 80s and 90s, my world revolved around the wake of Pittsburgh's steel mill collapse, and the void we finally realized we couldn't fill.

In many ways, I empathize heavily with Detroit's troubles, since at one point in history, my home town and the Rust Belt were happily married. Pure stubbornness and lack of wanting to change makes us forget how long our worlds have been divorced.

Copyright © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

Many people doubt both the power of the blogosphere's intellect or the print industry's ability to weather the economic storm. I think this particular cartoon summed up those thoughts nicely.

A voice within the industry that caught my rapt attention was Mark Potts from Recovering Journalist, a man who although spent decades in the journalism business, was still one of the early recognizers of the power of the Internet.

In a recent visit to my George Mason University Online Journalism class, Potts prophesied that by the end of the year, several newspapers will be out of business. Let's hope that this particular scenario doesn't fill in the void.

Dayrl Cagle, MSNBC

This adds another spin to one of Obama's recently fulfilled campaign promise: removing excess brush to help curb forest fires.

Only your money can prevent bank fires - from going out, that is.

As the administration moves on from Day 44 to Day 45, then 46, 47, the bolstering or criticism will only continue. This post on cartoons was short and hopefully sweet at best, but we'll move on to see what else a gaze at the Internet will find.

Obama and the Internet Part I

YouTube: John McCain Gets BarackRoll'd.

This particular video has caused a mini-sensation on YouTube, but it's well-edited and made-up prank on Senator John McCain is not unique.

In fact, it actually follows a sort of Internet tradition, or meme.

From The Daily Meme, a website that's dedicated itself to collecting the Internet's ever-growing list of memes, here's a plain and simple breakdown:

A meme is an idea that, like a gene, can replicate and evolve.

From this simple definition, it almost seems self-evident that the vastly adaptable Internet is capable of creating things as strange but intensely popular as the Rick Roll, which is what that video is so successfully making a parody of.

A successful Rick Roll only requires these steps:

1. Locate Rick Astley's 1987 music video, "Never Gonna Give You Up."
2. Send the link to a friend or complete stranger via facebook, MySpace, IM, etc.
   
3. If the link is clicked and video watched for any amount of time, the Rick Roll is complete.

To those unfamiliar with this meme or the Internet's sense of humor in general, these kinds of questions always pop up.

Q: Why the Rick Roll?
Simply because it's nonsensical and funny. There might be other reasons, but no one seems to agree.

Q: How long has the Rick Roll been around?
Since 2007.

Where did it originate from?
This is a difficult question to answer, given the fast speed that information is published and shared on the Internet. But most seem to agree that the original video prank concept came from a place called 4chan.

It should be noted that since Rickrolling began, 80s pop star Rick Astley has enjoyed some degree of new popularity, to the point that he went along with the joke last Thanksgiving.

This particular meme is so intensely popular that a YouGotRickRolled.com was created by one Internet-goer specifically dedicated spreading the Rickroll to others.

Moreover, a nice-and-simple layman's version of How to Rick Roll Somebody can now be found on YouTube.

And finally, the most popular Rickroll YouTube video has a whopping 17, 149, 897 views when this blog post was published.

In other words, Rickrolling is something big.

So to see this Internet joke weaved into something like politics should perhaps come to no surprise. If anything, the sheer skill that must have gone into piecing the Barackroll'd video together can only be imagined. User hmatkin and his video skills should be applauded.

But still. While Senator McCain was put at the butt of the Rickroll joke like many other pranked Internet users, then-Senator Obama was elevated to not only be the joke instigator, but also the performer. What does this say about him and the Internet?

It's uncertain. As it currently stands, the original Barackroll variation has 6,233,048 video views, and the Republican Convention prank on McCain shown earlier holds about half that number.

Judging only by the YouTube commentators, the Barackroll and its various uses is hilarious and popular. Perhaps being elevated to the same level as an Internet celebrity has its positives.

Regardless, seeing Obama weaved into such a popular Internet tradition seems to say something about this seemingly charmed life he leads among the most technological-savvy supporters.

Or, at least, it says something about the supporters that enjoy Rickrolling others in their spare time.

To which I'll note: if you read this blog post and clicked on certain links, you've been Rickrolled.

Attacking the Deficit

Photo Copyright Doug Mills/The New York Times

Many Election 2009 voters will recall the "line by line, root by root" budget concept Obama proposed while running for presidency. During campaigns, the now-president distilled this idea from a government scale to the family-at-the-kitchen-table scale, where the family leaders group together and decide the next steps of the family budget.

Today, President Obama promised to cut the nation's current deficit by half by the end of his term. Considering the exact numbers of American dollars that're at stake here - namely, $1.3 trillion - this simple vow may indeed be one of the greatest undertakings in history.

A quick breakdown first: in order to obtain the label "trillion," first the dollar must surpass marks such as dozen, hundred, thousand, ten-thousand, hundrend-thousand, million and all its in-betweens, and also billions and its in-betweens. This is not by any means a meager number, and no one seems to be laughing.

Something great that's popped up on my Google news searches this week is the Obameter. Basically, it tracks Obama's many campaign promises from economy, energy, etcetera and rates the process of each so far in the campaign in a simple, but wonderful scorecard.

Ladies and gentlemen, we're officially grading our president.

The grades so far:

• Promise Kept... 15
• Compromise... 3
• Promise Broken... 2
• Stalled... 1
• In the Works... 20
• No Action... 469

Later on, I'll definitely examine where this famed Obameter gets all its information from. In the meantime, time will tell how Obama's campaign promises will pan out.

However, as a first-time voter, I will say that oftentimes my enthusiasm for my president is quelled when I hear the cynicism of my fellow older Americans, who are far too used to being promised with this-and-that, then forgotten once their man takes office.

We'll see how much of that will be the case these next four years.

Maintenance

Expect edits to current entries to happen here and there starting today, since this is still a new venture for me, and a medium that I have yet to fully realize.

Week in Cartoons

Copyright © 2009 Creators Syndicate

There are many reasons to appreciate what political cartoonists can do in images what columnists struggle to put in words. Here's a look of some of the Obama-themed cartoons that have appeared in the last two weeks.

Starting chronologically, it seems that a common theme struck many cartoonists following the Jan. 20 inauguration.

It's humorous to already see First Lady Michelle Obama playing such a cynical role when it comes to her inspiring husband.

Copyright © 2009 Creators Syndicate

Apparently this particular inauguration scene wasn't captured in CNN's Photosynth. Although I wonder whether Lincoln realizes that his digital camera is either faulty or strangely backwards.

Out of curiosity, I wonder how the Washington memorial counterpart decided to capture that moment in our history, given that it doesn't have convenient opposable thumbs.

But after 12:01 p.m., the Obama administration truly began, as did another topic of discussion for the cartoonist pen.

Cagle Cartoons

Less-than-welcoming welcome presents were also a common trend among this batch of cartoons. Depictions ranged from the Oval Office stuffed full like an eight-year-old's cluttered toy closet, or a simple Bush-Cheney portrait stuffed in Obama's desk trash can.

Put succinctly: welcome to the White House, Mr. President.

Another trend worth noting is the emerging caricature for our new president. Just as former president George W. Bush grew (or shrunk) into his small, big-eared cartoon counterpart, President Obama seems to be gaining an increasingly longer chin.

But an administration's beginnings, regardless of how charmed, are never immune to hiccups and scandal.

Cagle Cartoons

This drama unfolded with one unfiled tax after another. According to this cartoonist, each was an equivalent of a small explosion.

Strange as it is, I'm inclined to agree with him.

Although I'm equally disappointed in the sudden appearance of a certain Bill from behind our new secretary of state.

Perhaps as a reflection of how much it occupied the air waves, the drawing pen spent a lot of time on the administration's cabinet blunders.

Copyright © 2009 Creators Syndicate

Although this particular cartoon arguably puts President Obama in a more favorable light regarding the increasingly sticky situation.

It's not safe to say whether the departed cabinet nominees fled or exploded in this particular scene.

Copyright © 2009 Creators Syndicate

Nothing is quite as sickeningly sweet as cartoonists evoking party symbols.

But it's strange how the GOP elephant currently seems to fit the role of "stubborn ass" more than the Democrat Party's animal representation.

In terms of favorable representation of President Obama, this cartoon won the largest cake. Even the long chin is not present.

But The Chin returns with a vengeance once one cartoonist remembers the promises of the campaign, but also the impatience of the American people.

Copyright © 2009 Creators Syndicate

However, it's nice to see Uncle Sam smiling again, even if he's playing the equivalent role of the "are we there yet?" child in a minivan backseat.

On a note a interest, apparently there's a current thought that the Oval Office lacks a computer. From my previous White House visits, I can confirm this as true.

Unless there's one hidden somewhere, just as Uncle Sam is apparently stashed away in an Oval Office closet.

Cagle Cartoons

This one befuddled me. On one hand, it could considered favorable to President Obama in terms of openly admitting mistakes. On the other, we're all delicately reminded that the administration has only existed for two weeks.

Apparently, a Roman Empire soldier was a loyal member of the Bush cabinet. Unless, of course, that character is a thinly-veiled Cheney caricature that I know little about.

In the coming future, I'll make it a habit of bringing in political cartoons to this blog. However, an entry much like this should not be expected for at least two more weeks.

I wait with bated breath until then, to see what our artistically-talented journalists create.

A Shot Across the Bow: Obama and the Abortion Debate

Day 16 and the Obama administration has toed the line of the heated abortion debate.

Washingtonpost.com's Rob Stein called it in a recent article as "trying to blunt the edge of perhaps the sharpest, most divisive wedge issue in the country: abortion."

To me, there is no doubt that the abortion issue can cause an immediate divide even among friends, sometimes regardless of party affiliation. Since I've come into young adulthood and gained a perspective on the issue, it seemed to me that all the gray matter within the wide label of abortion has been distilled into just "yes" or "no."

Only one week ago, thousands of pro-lifers marched in Washington D.C. to tout their side of the abortion issue. Pro-life demonstrators walked the divided debate's latest footsteps, and crossed the sidewalks outside the new administration's White House.

A close friend of mine marched with them. Out of respect of our friendship, I took careful care last week to minimize her sightings of my "Pro-Choice Patriots" pin that I've had on my bag since freshman year.

But this week, I've returned to my normal ways, and the pin is fastened to the canvas as snugly as ever, its tiny message brightly showing in George Mason Patriot colors.

In many ways, it seems as if the debate has once again been heated to a boiling point, given that on the campaign trial, President Obama made his pro-choice stance decidedly clear.

Since then has made no attempt to clear that information from his still-functioning campaign website and the information can still be easily found.

However, as I sifted through his old campaign issues and promises, I was more surprised at the overarching that abortion earned: "women's issues.”

I immediately thought, really - when was the last time we argued abortion purely as a "woman's issue?"

To my friends and foes alike on this issue, we both know that more than just a "woman's issue" has been heatedly argued with abortion. Freedom, finances and religious beliefs are just a few of contenders to the abortion fighting ring.

One of the latest headliners for these three abortion titans was Nancy Pelosi's interview that was supposed to better explain the latest stimulus plan, but instead bounced around the Internet like a bouncy ball in a snoozing bear cave.

In the interview, Pelosi stated that "contraception will reduce cost to the state," this was in reference to a question about the family planning portions of the economic stimulus bill.

That particular bouncing ball awoke this bear in its hibernation den:

"We have reached a new low when high-ranking public office holders in the federal government cast children as the enemy. But at least it explains their enthusiasm for abortion-on-demand," said an online article from Christian News Wire.

The article was titled, "Pelosi on Kids: They're an Economic Drain."

But latest abortion gunfire aside: was the Obama administration successful in beginning the abortion dialogue? I think that remains to be seen.

But echoing the words of his old campaign website, it seems that the administration is attempting to strike at the issue with the weapon of unwanted pregnancy prevention, rather than the deep, opposing trenches of pro-life versus pro-choice.

I myself wait for the next smoke that flares up with this ongoing American issue, and what comes of it on all sides.