Not even the Funny Pages are sacred anymore...

I don't know about you, but I love to read the funnies in the daily newspaper.  Between the economy, politics and the stresses of everyday life, it can be good to unwind with a little humor.  The packaging is great too- three or four frames, a pun or two and a 10 second investment of time.  A good comic strip can uplift your whole day.  

That is, until the line is blurred between escapism and politics.  Granted, you can argue that comics have been used as political tools since Methuselah was an kid, but political cartoons are generally (as they should be) confined to pages dedicated to editorials and politics.  Now that it is en vogue for celebrities to spout their idiotic political views, ie. Sean Penn (Jeff Spicoli from “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”), I guess comic strip geniuses feel like they have artistic license to do the same.

Just check out these three comics strips from today’s Charlotte Observer.  That's right, 3 pro-Obama cartoons in the same newspaper on the same day.  Can you guess how many comics were pro-McCain?  That's right, kids.  Zero.  Nada. Zilch.  As you know, I'm no McCain cheerleader, but the lack of equal coverage is blatant.  And it's the DEMOCRATS who want "the Fairness Doctrine" passed!  For those of you who don't know what the Fairness Doctrine is, it is basically a left wing idea designed to bring down conservative talk radio and other such media outlets under the guise of equalizing time for political speech.  Bottom line, if Liberal talk radio had a market, it wouldn't be teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.  Google "Air America Radio" for more details...

Back to the topic at hand...

Let’s take a look at “Get Fuzzy” first.  This is one of my fav strips.  The interchange between the guy (Rob) and the cat (Bucky Katt) is usually hilarious.  Note the shirt on Rob this morning.  He’s been wearing an Obama T-shirt all week.  Many of the recent strips have been about lambasting Bucky’s “uber-conservative nut-job ideals”.  Feel free to look it up.  I have to admit that they’re funny.

Next, let’s examine “Jump Start”.  This is not a comic that I read very often.  Happened to check it out today and lookie what I found.  I’ll have to monitor this one a little more closely to see if all the strips are as worshipful to the Obamessiah as this one.

 

Last is “Doonesbury”.  Admittedly, Doonesbury has always been a leftist political cartoon.  The past two day’s strips have featured a Barbie-like Sarah Palin doll, complete with a push-button nose that squeaks out supposed GOP talking points.  A little trivia for you here- the artist of the Doonesbury comic strip is Garry Trudeau.  His wife?  Television journalist Jane Pauley, formerly of NBC’s “Today” show and “Dateline NBC”.  So much for preserving journalistic integrity, huh?

Again, I have no problem with satirical political cartoons.  They are as much a part of the fabric of Americana as apple pie.  I just wish that they’d stick to the editorial pages, regardless of political affiliation.