Obameter Part III

Last March, we checked the Obameter. Now it's that time of month again.

A quick breakdown of the current Obameter, with all the changes from March 23 in red:

• Promise Kept... 26 / + 7
  
• Compromise... 7 / +1
  
• Promise Broken... 6 / +3
  
• Stalled... 3 / +0
  
• In the Works... 60 / +16
  
• No Action... 412 / -26

For immediate reference, today is eighteen minutes into Day 89 of the Obama administration. Eleven days left in the first 100 days media coverage.

It's a little fun to contemplate whether things will change once the calendar reaches day 101.

Week in Cartoons IV

Copyright © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

It's been awhile since the last look at cartoons. As things go, much has happened - namely, the tea parties of this last week, as well as the three bullets that put an end to the Somali pirate hijack and kidnapping.

This week's look in cartoons will focus on the former, or the Tea Party of 2009.

Cagle Cartoons

Many things were thrown around during the protests, the least of which were physical. While this cartoonist jokes that the reciprocating tea bag was ten times worse than its tinier counterparts, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart had a ball Thursday night when it recounted MSNBC's coverage.

Hint: MSNBC heavily favored the word "teabagging" as the verb to describe the national protests. Unfortunately, that particular verb has a very lewd second meaning that won't be uttered here, but was perfect for The Daily Show's nighttime television slot.

Copyright © 2009 Creators Syndicate

Name puns may be among the oldest tricks in the book, but a dash of commercialism is a little less known. None of these signs are accurate depictions of the tea party protests, although the possibly that at least one of these popped up somewhere in the nation shouldn't be discounted. There is always something, somewhere.

Copyright © 2009 Creators Syndicate

Caricatures are as old as political cartoons themselves, but another tradition that's most unfortunate is reader inability to recognize caricatures.

Though the large, cigar-touting man on the far left is clearly conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh and his immediate tea cup fellow is likely conservative talk show host Sean Hannity, the remaining bathers are a bit of a mystery. The first name to come to mind for the third man from the left is Dick Cheney, the former vice president.

And although it's not on the Tea Party 'o9 topic, here's a little bit of extra flavor from the recent pirate headlines:

Cagle Cartoons

Starving Journalist

For my new blog, started two weeks ago, go to Starving Journalist at Wordpress.

It's updated at least every-other day, and focuses on news, online and social media-related trends and phenomenon.