There are days when we look around at the business we are in - the business of media and communications - and we are sickened by nearly everything we see.
What happens when our media and communications structure is filled with bright, talented individuals who would rather slack off, do sloppy work, and simply ride the latest trash gossip all the way until the next tabloid non-story comes along? You get nearly two weeks worth of penis jokes aimed towards a guy named Weiner, all started by a media parasite who is finally partly right about something for probably the first time in his sad, pathetic little life.
In case you've been hiding out in the mythical cave Osama Bin Laden was alleged to have occupied, you'd be hard-pressed not to have heard about the troubles of New York Congressman Anthony Weiner.
The story began when the propaganda hack Andrew Breitbart - who seems to have a personal vendetta against Congressman Weiner - began pushing a new story. Breitbart claimed he'd discovered Weiner had sent a lewd picture to a young woman, using Twitter. Most ethical media types should have blown off Breitbart's story. After all, Breibart was wrong about Shirley Sherrod, wrong about ACORN, wrong when he teamed up with known right-wing smear artist James O'Keefe, and wrong in a whole host of other incidents.
Still, much of the media is lazy and bored. "Looking at the budget realties or the effects of climate change is hard work," they whine. So they took the weak, easy path, and followed Breitbart's half-truths.
Initially, the Congressman lied. He claimed his Twitter account had been hacked - which is so easy to do that even not-so tech-saavy people can do it. The bored media machine, spurred on by Breitbart, wouldn't let the story go, though.
So yesterday the Congressman came clean, admitting he'd sent a lewd picture of his crotch to a young woman on his Twitter account as part of a joke. The Congressman then went further, and admitted he'd taken other questionable pictures of himself over the years, and sent them to a few select women during that time.
In the media frenzy to focus on the fact that - SHOCK - a Congressperson LIED, the media also forgot to perform their due diligence.
To cover that professional oversight, we'll do it for them, in rapid fashion.
The Congressman admitted to sending explicit - but not pornographic - pictures to women over the last few years. Until July 11, 2010, the Congressman was technically single - so there wasn't even an ethical problem there, let alone a legal one. Wouldn't it be great if all the elected officials we have, who choose to be more sexually adventurous, would be single, trying to connect with other single people, using generally private methods? We'd much prefer that to Congressmen who have their parents pay their lover's husband to cover up their extramarital affair; or have a toe-tapping Congressman trying to find a quickie sexual liason in an airport bathroom; or even a Presidential candidate having donors bribe his videographer to cover up his affair.
We could even go further. For example, we could ask how Mr. Breitbart got the other photos he's now passing around, claiming they're also images of Congressman Weiner. The first photo was on a public Twitter feed, but the others appear to have been private. No one is asking yet how the piece of human trash that is Breitbart got his hands on those pictures.
The point of our trying to shame some of our fellows in the media, by pointing out their failures to do their jobs well, is simple.
When a press conference with a member of Congress, of either party, regardless of the tawdry topic, ends with some joker in the back yelling, "Were you fully erect" - and the media STILL doesn't understand why their consumers don't take them seriously any more, the problem isn't just the propaganda masters at Fox News. The whole so-called "News Media" now shares the blame for the sick, sad thing they've become.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Marie's Picnic
Things don't always turn out the way we plan. For example, when we began putting together Friday's 'Daily Felltoon', some of our normally reliable online tools weren't quite their usual, fully-functioning selves (If you missed Friday's cartoon Click Here, or Friday's commentary Click Here).
When it comes to the jobs numbers and the economic situation in the United States, the Obama administration is learning a hard lesson about those plans right now.
The lesson isn't what some currently are saying - that America just can't pull itself up by its bootstraps right now. As we pointed out last Thursday, the problem isn't that Americans aren't willing to do the hard work to pull our economy back from the brink.
Our political leaders, however, are a different story.
From the left, the excuse that's heard most often is one that resounds with a story of fatalism - a story we're frankly tired of hearing. As Paul Krugman pointed out over the weekend, we know exactly what the problems are, and we know how to solve them. It is true that we don't have access to some tools to help pump up demand - for example, we can't cut short-term interest rates because they're basically zero. So that tool for driving demand isn't available. But that's NOT the only tool in our toolbox.
As Krugman also states, "We should be using fiscal stimulus; we should be using unconventional monetary policy, including raising the inflation target; we should be pursuing aggressive measures to reduce mortgage debt. Not doing these things means accepting huge waste" - waste, something modern conservatives claim to hate almost as much as taxes.
No, the problem on the left simply lies in not having the political will to do what's needed. Yes, House Democrats are claiming they'll push for more infrastructure spending and other stimulus measures in the face of Friday's jobs report. Sadly, their claims are reminiscent of those many on the Left made during the poorly-handled health care reform debate - too little, too late.
On the right, the sad fact is that they simply don't care. The compassion-free attitude of modern so-called conservatives, as Charles Blow noted over the weekend, is the real problem. The richest of the rich have been able to con many poor into thinking that someday, they'll be rich too - so the rich should never have to pay any more taxes, if we're going to repair our economic standing.
As Mr. Blow also noted, that's a false choice. We've said it repeatedly, as has anyone else who understands the economic problems America faces: BOTH sensible tax increases - especially on those who can most afford it - as well as sensible spending cuts are THE ONLY way to get our economic house in order. BOTH - not either/or.
Yet those on the right - even when they grudgingly admit corporations are swimming in cash and don't need big tax breaks, as Bill Kristol pointed out over the weekend - still insist that tax cuts WITHOUT additional sources of revenue are the only way forward. As Nicholas Kristof pointedly noted, if Republicans and conservatives are so set on finding a country that meets their current ideology of how things should be, they should move to Pakistan.
Unfortunately, this lack of courage on the left and lack of concern for others (and acceptance of reality) on the right are putting most Americans in the position of ants at a picnic, scrambling for scraps, while our so called leaders still feast, seemingly without care.
It's highly recommended that both sides change their tune, and stop focusing on their own pieces of cake before the 2012 elections - or they could find themselves politically headless come November 2012.
When it comes to the jobs numbers and the economic situation in the United States, the Obama administration is learning a hard lesson about those plans right now.
The lesson isn't what some currently are saying - that America just can't pull itself up by its bootstraps right now. As we pointed out last Thursday, the problem isn't that Americans aren't willing to do the hard work to pull our economy back from the brink.
Our political leaders, however, are a different story.
From the left, the excuse that's heard most often is one that resounds with a story of fatalism - a story we're frankly tired of hearing. As Paul Krugman pointed out over the weekend, we know exactly what the problems are, and we know how to solve them. It is true that we don't have access to some tools to help pump up demand - for example, we can't cut short-term interest rates because they're basically zero. So that tool for driving demand isn't available. But that's NOT the only tool in our toolbox.
As Krugman also states, "We should be using fiscal stimulus; we should be using unconventional monetary policy, including raising the inflation target; we should be pursuing aggressive measures to reduce mortgage debt. Not doing these things means accepting huge waste" - waste, something modern conservatives claim to hate almost as much as taxes.
No, the problem on the left simply lies in not having the political will to do what's needed. Yes, House Democrats are claiming they'll push for more infrastructure spending and other stimulus measures in the face of Friday's jobs report. Sadly, their claims are reminiscent of those many on the Left made during the poorly-handled health care reform debate - too little, too late.
On the right, the sad fact is that they simply don't care. The compassion-free attitude of modern so-called conservatives, as Charles Blow noted over the weekend, is the real problem. The richest of the rich have been able to con many poor into thinking that someday, they'll be rich too - so the rich should never have to pay any more taxes, if we're going to repair our economic standing.
As Mr. Blow also noted, that's a false choice. We've said it repeatedly, as has anyone else who understands the economic problems America faces: BOTH sensible tax increases - especially on those who can most afford it - as well as sensible spending cuts are THE ONLY way to get our economic house in order. BOTH - not either/or.
Yet those on the right - even when they grudgingly admit corporations are swimming in cash and don't need big tax breaks, as Bill Kristol pointed out over the weekend - still insist that tax cuts WITHOUT additional sources of revenue are the only way forward. As Nicholas Kristof pointedly noted, if Republicans and conservatives are so set on finding a country that meets their current ideology of how things should be, they should move to Pakistan.
Unfortunately, this lack of courage on the left and lack of concern for others (and acceptance of reality) on the right are putting most Americans in the position of ants at a picnic, scrambling for scraps, while our so called leaders still feast, seemingly without care.
It's highly recommended that both sides change their tune, and stop focusing on their own pieces of cake before the 2012 elections - or they could find themselves politically headless come November 2012.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Friday Funday: All About The Cartoons
While there are other topics we could talk about today - like the 2012 GOP candidates stepping all over each other, and themselves, in New Hampshire, we think the most valuable subject we could talk about today is one of our favorites: cartoons.
This weekend, there will be three different events for you, our readers, to get out and see in different places around the country - and all of them are related to cartoons and cartooning.
If you're in the Midwest, near Lincoln, we invite you to stop by this evening (Friday) at the Haydon Gallery in the Haymarket, to meet Paul face-to-face - along with four other troublemakers cartoonist friends of ours. The event is a fund-raiser called "A Toon For Meadowlark," to help raise funds for the Meadowlark Music Festival.
The cartoonists are legends, and include our own Paul Fell; Mike Edholm, our current President of the North Central Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society; John Hambrock, of The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee; Milt Prigee, whose work has been seen in Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, The New York Times, and Washington Post; and Tom Richmond of Mad Magazine.
You'll be able to meet the cartoonists, buy some of their works, and talk with them beginning at 5:30 tonight.
If you're going to be in the Southeast or Mid-Atlantic regions this weekend, you may want to take a road trip to a comic art convention called HeroesCon, happening in Charlotte, North Carolina. Our friend Eric Menge (who also happens to be the husband of our editor, Amy) writes an online graphic novel called Snow by Night. He and his cartooist/artist Brittany will be there to promote their graphic novel, sell copies of Chapter 1, and meet with fans. If you go, they'll be at table SP-45. Stop by and say h, and check out Snow by Night in hard-copy form!
If you're near our West Palm Beach offices, we recommend stopping by the Norton Museum of Art, to check out the "Out of This World" exhibit beginning this Saturday. The exhibit will feature costumes, pictures, comic artwork, and related items from such entertainment and comics legends as Star Trek and Batman (and now we all know who Tom Richmond loaned his Batman costume to).
As most people know, we love comics and cartooning - so we're glad we get to share these opportunities to meet some of our favorite cartoonists this weekend. Remember - without cartoon art, you'd likely have to sit around and watch news clips and pictures of pretend Presidential candidates steal the media spotlight from actual announced candidates.
We shudder to think of what a horrible world that would be.
No matter where you go this weekend, we hope you enjoy some cartooning - even if it's just the characters on a cereal box.
This weekend, there will be three different events for you, our readers, to get out and see in different places around the country - and all of them are related to cartoons and cartooning.
If you're in the Midwest, near Lincoln, we invite you to stop by this evening (Friday) at the Haydon Gallery in the Haymarket, to meet Paul face-to-face - along with four other troublemakers cartoonist friends of ours. The event is a fund-raiser called "A Toon For Meadowlark," to help raise funds for the Meadowlark Music Festival.
The cartoonists are legends, and include our own Paul Fell; Mike Edholm, our current President of the North Central Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society; John Hambrock, of The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee; Milt Prigee, whose work has been seen in Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, The New York Times, and Washington Post; and Tom Richmond of Mad Magazine.
You'll be able to meet the cartoonists, buy some of their works, and talk with them beginning at 5:30 tonight.
If you're going to be in the Southeast or Mid-Atlantic regions this weekend, you may want to take a road trip to a comic art convention called HeroesCon, happening in Charlotte, North Carolina. Our friend Eric Menge (who also happens to be the husband of our editor, Amy) writes an online graphic novel called Snow by Night. He and his cartooist/artist Brittany will be there to promote their graphic novel, sell copies of Chapter 1, and meet with fans. If you go, they'll be at table SP-45. Stop by and say h, and check out Snow by Night in hard-copy form!
If you're near our West Palm Beach offices, we recommend stopping by the Norton Museum of Art, to check out the "Out of This World" exhibit beginning this Saturday. The exhibit will feature costumes, pictures, comic artwork, and related items from such entertainment and comics legends as Star Trek and Batman (and now we all know who Tom Richmond loaned his Batman costume to).
As most people know, we love comics and cartooning - so we're glad we get to share these opportunities to meet some of our favorite cartoonists this weekend. Remember - without cartoon art, you'd likely have to sit around and watch news clips and pictures of pretend Presidential candidates steal the media spotlight from actual announced candidates.
We shudder to think of what a horrible world that would be.
No matter where you go this weekend, we hope you enjoy some cartooning - even if it's just the characters on a cereal box.
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