R. COBB: Just another day on campus

Here at esnl, we regard the Ron Cobb as the greatest editorial cartoonist of the 20th Century. We first encountered his unique style a razor-sharp insight in the late Los Angeles Free Press on moving to California in the fall of 1967. If the mark of a great artist is a body or work transcending time and place, he certainly made his mark, as exemplified in the timely offering for nearly 60 years ago:

Over 280 of Ron cobb’s Cartoons

Mr. Fish: THE PROFIT

From the World’s Greatest Living Editorial Cartoonist™:

Mr. Fish: BEAR NAKED

From America’s Greatest Living Editorial Cartoonist:

Mr. Fish: I Read the News Today, Oh Boy

From the World’s Greatest Living Editorial Cartoonist, via Clowncrack:

Here at esnl, we’re very partial to cartoons which play on famous works of art, and Fish’s creation is a timely and topical take of The Raft of the Medusa, a massive 1819 creation by French artist Théodore Géricault.

From Wikipedia:

Completed when the artist was 27, the work has become an icon of French Romanticism. At 491 by 716 cm (16 ft 1 in by 23 ft 6 in), it is an over-life-size painting that depicts a moment from the aftermath of the wreck of the French naval frigate Méduse, which ran aground off the coast of today’s Mauritania on 2 July 1816. On 5 July 1816, at least 147 people were set adrift on a hurriedly constructed raft; all but 15 died in the 13 days before their rescue, and those who survived endured starvation and dehydration and practiced cannibalism (the custom of the sea). The event became an international scandal, in part because its cause was widely attributed to the incompetence of the French captain.

Fish’s take is simply brilliant, capturing the sheer horror of today’s headlines and placing it in historical context [note Hitler, who also invaded Ukraine, Burger King Trump, Putin’s foremost American facilitator, and the grinning visage of Mao Tse Tung, the founder of modern China, the nation emerging as the one clear winner of the Ukrainian invasion.

It is. perhaps, the best single summation of what historians see as the long 20th Century, which began with the horrors of World War I and culminated in Trump’s election.

Mr. Fish: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

From Clowncrack, the website of America’s Greatest Living Editorial Cartoonist™:

Mr. Fish: THE OFFERING OF THE APPLE

From Clowncrack, the website of America’s Greatest Living Editorial Cartoonist™:

Mr. Fish: PIG PEN & INC.

Another great offering from America’s greatest living editorial cartoonist, via Scheerpost:

Mr. Fish: PARTY INVITATI0N

From America’s Greatest Living Editorial Cartoonist, a perfect follow to our post on the gentrification of Rosie the Riveter [click on image to embiggen]:

Mr. Fish: GODGLE SEARCH FOR MEANING

From Clowncrack, the blog of America’s greatest living editorial cartoonist:

COVID = Death to the poor, riches for plutocrats

The arrival of COVID in all its varieties has laid bare another pandemic, one far more dangerous than a mere virus. It is, of course, the pandemic of raptor capitalism, that virulent plague of hyperconcentration of wealth that has infected the entire planet with wealth inequalities never before seen in the history of Homo sapiens.

Inequality Kills: The unparalleled action needed to combat unprecedented inequality in the wake of COVID-19, an important new report from the international charity Oxfam, reveals the impacts of COVID in its social dimensions in starkly clear language and images.

While the COVID virus may be indiscriminate in its choice of human hosts, the vast majority face massive hurdles its victims face, ranging from lack of access to health care, lost income, and the collapse of the middle class to increased spousal abuse.

But one group has fared very well indeed during pandemic time, as the report notes:

In July 2021, the world’s richest man launched himself and his friends into space in his luxury rocket while millions were dying needlessly below him because they could not access vaccines or afford food. Jeff Bezos’ own iconic Marie Antoinette “let them eat cake” moment will forever be more accurately quoted: “I want to thank every Amazon employee and customer because you guys paid for all of this.” The increase in Bezos’ fortune alone during the pandemic could pay for everyone on earth to be safely vaccinated.

The world’s small elite of 2,755 billionaires has seen its fortunes grow more during COVID-19 than they have in the whole of the last fourteen years—fourteen years that themselves were a bonanza
for billionaire wealth.

This is the biggest annual increase in billionaire wealth since records began. It is taking place on every continent. It is enabled by skyrocketing stock market prices, a boom in unregulated entities, a surge in monopoly power, and privatization, alongside the erosion of individual corporate tax rates and regulations, and workers’ rights and wages — all aided by the weaponization of racism.

Consider this graphic from the report:

More from the report:

The gap between rich and poor nations is now expected to rise for the first time in a generation. People who live in low- and middle-income countries are around twice as likely to die from COVID-19 infection as people who live in rich countries.

That at least 73 countries face the prospect of IMF-backed austerity risks worsening inequality between countries, and every type of inequality within countries. Women’s rights and progress toward gender equality will be hit hard by these austerity measures, amid a crisis that has already set back the goal of achieving gender parity by a whole generation to 135 years, when previously it was. What makes this situation even harsher is that women in many countries face a second
pandemic of increased gender-based violence — while, as with every crisis, having to absorb the shock of a mountain of unpaid care work that keeps them trapped at the bottom of the global economy.

The cost of the profound inequality we face is in human lives. As this paper shows, based on conservative estimates, inequality contributes to the deaths of at least 21,300 people each day. Every four seconds, inequality contributes to the death of at least one person.

We leave the last word to America’s greatest living editorial cartoonist, created to accompany an excellent post by Chris Hedges at Scheerpost:

Mr. Fish: PIGPEN AND INC.

Mr. Fish: SANTA GOES GREEN

From Clowncrack, his wonderful blog, where you can also find some delightful Christmas goodies [yes, we see the irony]:

Mr. Fish: Clarity at Last

From his website, Mitch hitchin’:

Peter Brookes: Unimpeachable

From the Times of London:

Mr. Fish: GOP Almighty!

From his inevitably eviscerating website:

ToonTime: Impeachment follies continue

We begin across the pond with a cinematic reference from the Independent::

Dave Brown: The sequel

Next, via Twitter:

Ed Harris: A jury of his peers

The Seattle Times echoes:

David Horsey: Still in lockstep

On to Newsday:

Matt Davies: Inflaming

And a Canadian look at the evidence:

Michael de Adder: Not a friendly wave

The Chattanooga Times Free Press examines the evidence:

Clay Bennett: Exhibit A

The Arizona Daily Star offers a plea:

David Fitzsimmons: Impeachment verdict

And a closing statement from the Birmingham, Alabama, News:

JD Crowe: Drawing conclusions

Next, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution weighs in with a spin on a recent lawyerly faux pas:

Mike Luckovich: Unseen

The Charlotte Observer does the same:

Kevin Siers: Zooming Birds of a Feather

The same media mishap draws another response from the Times of London:

Peter Brookes: Grabbing ’em by the pussy

The Boston Globe ponders a division:

Patrick Chappatte: Conspiracies in the halls of power

On to the Newark Star-Ledger:

Drew Sheneman: Trump has terrible taste in lawyers

Same subject, different take, via the Sacramento Bee:

Jack Ohman: Billable Billboard

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune, collateral damage:

Steve Sack: Gotcha

While the New York Daily News sees problems ahead:

Bill Bramhall: Georgia criminal investigation

And the Rutland, Vermont, Herald goes straight to the source:

Jeff Danziger: QAnon Revealed

And to close, this from the Salt Lake Tribune:

Pat Bagley: Ballots vs. Bullets

ToonTime: The Grate-est Show on Earth

The Impeachment Show, to be precise

We begin with the Lexington Herald Leader:

Joel Pett: The MAGA mob GOP politicians fear most

The Charlotte Observer eyes the panel:

Kevin Siers: Jury of His Peers

The Chattanooga Times Free Press offers a similar take:

Clay Bennett: The Jury

The Salt Lake Tribune also weighs in on the GOP’s deciders:

Pat Bagley: Checking One’s Soul at the Door

And the Las Vegas Sun covers the inevitable:

Mike Smith: You knew it was coming

Next up, the Baton Rouge Advocate:

Walt Handelsman: Trump Legal Advice

The Minneapolis Star Tribune covers Trump’s case:

Steve Sack: Trump’s defense

And a Twitter toon lends an ear:

Michael de Adder: Knocking on the door

On to the Washington Post:

Ann Telnaes: Sketches of the second Trump impeachment trial

Followed by this, via Twitter:

Ed Hall: Go tell the Spartans

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, an origins story:

Mike Luckovich: Where they came from

From the Chicago Tribune, an ongoing problem for the GOP:

Joe Fournier: Quelling QAnon

Finally, via the Arizona Mirror:

Steve Benson: Pillow Talk

Mr. Fish: Public Enemy No. 1

From his irrevocably irreverent website:

ToonTime: The Trump hangover continues

First up, and via his Tweetstream:

Ed Hall: Yeah, that should fix it.

Next, another take, via Twitter:

Michael de Adder: Miss Educated

And from the Seattle Times:

David Horsey: Long overdue reality check

Newsday weighs in:

Matt Davies: Beneath the Surface

While the Washington Post goers too Greene 2.0:

Ann Telnaes: The media is the enemy of the people, take two

From the Lexington Herald-Leader, family ties:

Joel Pett: Proud Boys, proud parents

The Sacramento Bee imagines:

Jack Ohman: Impeachable you

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ponders the evidence:

Mike Luckovich: See, we wear masks

Next up, a forlorn follower, via the Chattanooga Times Free Press:

Clay Bennett: Cold Comfort

And to conclude, two takes on the same theme, starting with the Salt Lake Tribune:

Pat Bagley: Cancel Culture

And the second, via the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Steve Sack: Cancel Culture

ToonTime: It’s not easy being Greene

Marjorie Taylor Greene, that is, wingnut first term Republican Representative from the Peach State and Queen of the Jewish Space Lasers.

We begin with the Arizona Mirror and delusions defined:

Steve Benson: Would you believe it?

From Canada via Twitter, by their fruits ye shall know them:

Michael De Adder: Bananas Republican

From the editorial cartoonist of the Newark Star-Ledger, a tea party:

Drew Sheneman: Madder than a March Hare

The Sacramento Bee casts a jaundiced eye:

Jack Ohman: House, floored

The Minneapolis Star Tribune crosses a barrier:

Steve Sack: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene

Speaking of infection, this from the Baton Rouge Advocate:

Walt Handelsman: Infected

From the New York Daily News, smoke and no mirrors:

Bill Bramhall: Bad habits die hard

From the Buffalo News, a mad hatter:

Adam Zyglis: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene

From the Rutland, Vermont, Herald, holding on by a thread:

Jeff Danziger: Marjorie Taylor Greene

New up, the Holland, Michigan, Sentinel:

Don Landgren: MTG Shadow

From Forward Kentucky, Capitol Hill-billies:

Steve Greenberg: Jewish lasers

Another laserly take, via his Tweetstream:

Ed Hall: Jewish Space Lasers

From the Washington Post:

Ann Telnaes: McConnell pot, meet Marjorie Taylor Greene kettle

Finally, from the Salt Lake Tribune, a house divided:

Pat Bagley: Lunatics running the asylum

Mr. Fish: Brain Drain

The quintessential evocation of surveillance capitalism, via Scheerpost: