Humor – Page 11 – The Wrongologist

Sunday Cartoon Blogging – November 14, 2021

The weekend got off to a good start with Bannon indicted and Britany freed. But the final outcome at COP26 is the big news. The final agreement was announced on Saturday. It calls for reductions in coal and fossil fuel use and a transition to renewables. Those are all firsts in the more than 25-year history of UN climate talks.

Still, countries like Saudi Arabia or China were resistant; so the wording had to be significantly watered down. Wednesday’s draft mentioned phasing out coal, but Saturday’s speaks only of accelerating “efforts towards the phase-out of unabated coal power”.

What seems to have happened is a lot of speechifying, including Boris Johnson sounding a lot like Greta Thunberg. But not much happened in terms of concrete political action.

There is some good news: a net-zero pledge from India, a commitment from the US and China to work together, and a toothless but significant global agreement to reduce methane emissions.

One thing that is easy to overlook is that there were no climate deniers among the countries represented at COP26, a first. But a preliminary analysis of the agreement published by Carbon Brief suggests that, all told, the agreements coming out of COP26 may shave only 0.1 degree Celsius off of future warming.

The disconnect between rhetoric and reality has several possible explanations, but Occam’s Razor suggests it can be explained best in three words: Talk is cheap.

As Wrongo has said, not all the climate change news is bad: the probabilities of the worst-case scenarios seem to be falling a bit. The flip side of this is that, at present, the probability of the best-case scenario (holding global warming to 1.5 degrees C. above the pre-industrial baseline) also seems to be fading, and all of the medium-range outcomes look pretty terrible. On to cartoons.

Climate warriors won’t fight:

Infrastructure Week finally arrives:

Not everyone is enthusiastic about Infrastructure week:

GOP is unfriending the infrastructure-positive Republicans:

Ted Cruz is one of the smarmiest politicians ever, so it isn’t a surprise that he tried to score political points by going after Sesame Street’s Big Bird, who tweeted that he had gotten his COVID-19 vaccine. “My wing is feeling a little sore,” he said, “but it’ll give my body an extra protective boost that keeps me and others healthy.” It was a nice thing to tell children now that they can get the vaccine. Cruz didn’t see it as nice, nor did the Right-wing blowhards on Fox News and Newsmax. They were livid about Big Bird’s message:

Republicans turn back the clock:

Sunday Cartoon Blogging – November 7, 2021

A few start-of-the-week thoughts. First, compare and contrast: The result of New Jersey’s election for governor must be “legal and fair” no matter the outcome, Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli said in his first comments after the AP declared incumbent Democrat Phil Murphy the election’s winner. BTW, Ciattarelli hasn’t conceded the election. Republicans say NJ’s Murphy won in a squeaker, an almost illegitimate (and certainly embarrassing) margin of 77,000 votes.

OTOH in Virginia, Republican Glenn Youngkin won a landslide victory by 79,000 votes. Terry McAuliffe the Democrat in the Virginia race, conceded. And Youngkin’s 17 year-old son was reported to have tried to vote twice for his dad. That’s a problem since he’s underage. And attempting to break the law twice, well, that’s just youthful exuberance.

Republicans are all about election integrity. It must be nice to not care about hypocrisy or inconsistency. Maybe that’s what Republicans mean when they say they are defending freedom — it’s the freedom to have no principles.

Second, the economy: The Dow is over 36,000, unemployment has dropped from 6.3% in Jan. to 4.8% today. Over 5.6 million jobs have been added, that’s more jobs added under Biden in 9 months than in the 16 years of the last three GOP administrations combined. We’ve managed to give 220 million shots of Covid vaccine in 10 months. But only 30% of Americans think the US is on the right track. Democrats have a huge messaging problem. On to cartoons.

NOW they don’t see a problem:

Will Dems get the message?

The message didn’t work for those nice Aryan people:

Kids ask questions. Answers are simple:

The GOP hits keep coming…

2006: Gay people will force you to gay marry
2010: Muslims will make you conform to Sharia law
2016: Bad brown people are coming in caravans to kill you
2020: Socialism is coming. It will give everyone healthcare, not just the elderly
2021: Teachers will teach white kids to hate themselves if they learn about Emmitt Till

Biden deals with two climate crises:

Republican wet dream:

Sunday Cartoon Blogging – October 24, 2021

Last Friday, Wrongo and Ms. Right got their Covid booster shots. It’s a sample of one, but at our local drugstore here in a very conservative part of Connecticut, there was a line to get shots. Some were there for their first vaccinations, but most were waiting for a booster. There’s never a line around here for anything, except when the lobster food truck rolls into town.

But sadly, this isn’t the story for the rest of the country, particularly for cops and heath care workers. Some are saying that the vaccine mandates do little. But health workers who don’t really believe in science are leaving the job. And cops who don’t really care about public safety are leaving policing. Sounds like mandates are working just fine. On to cartoons.

Mandates are nothing new:

Most Republicans want boosters:

Texas got two new districts. Then the GOP redrew urban districts so that incumbent minority congresspeople are now running against each other:

One of our two political parties thinks that elections shouldn’t be the basis for choosing our representatives. That means democracy doesn’t matter to them anymore. They say it’s because there’s too much voter fraud, and no one can trust the result of any election now, anywhere.

So, the Dems think the next step is to change the Senate rules, modifying the filibuster. That would pave the way to pass the Protect the Vote Act. But there’s real danger that when the Republicans inevitably regain the majority, they will change that law to whatever the next Trump-like Republican leader wants voting rights to be. Could it be that Republicans are blocking the bill, not just to deny voting rights to minorities, but to lure the Democrats into changing the filibuster?

The economic ship sails on, and 40 years later, there’s zero thought to changing the message:

Biden compromises on the social spending bill. Still, it’s not certain to pass:

If only there was a solution to our supply chain problems:

Sunday Cartoon Blogging – October 17, 2021

What Wrongo saw on a short hike on Friday in Provincetown, MA:

Clapp’s Pond, Provincetown, MA – October 2021 iPhone photo by Wrongo

It’s surprising how much fresh water there is on Cape Cod. After all, it’s a thin sandy peninsula surrounded by salt water. It probably was a key factor for the indigenous people who made the Cape home for centuries before the invasion by Europeans. They could find oysters, fish and small game, and there was always plenty of water available.

That also was important to the Pilgrims when they sailed into Cape Cod Bay in 1620 after many months at sea. In Truro, they found fresh water at what we now call Pilgrim Spring. They found a cache of maize at Corn Hill and a place to camp onshore at Pond Village, now an area with $1+ million homes. After a tussle with the Pamet Indians, they hoisted anchor and sailed across the bay to what we now call Plymouth.

About two-thirds of Truro was added to the National Seashore in 1960, so a small portion of what the Pamets experienced and what the Pilgrims saw remains for us to see on our yearly visits.

On to cartoons. Covid is still a thing, and now there’s a fall variant:

The gift-buying season comes earlier and earlier:

The supply chain may impact Christmas:

Steve Bannon blew off the Congressional Committee. Now comes criminal contempt:

If Bezos’s next flight is one way, can he send these guys?

Sunday Cartoon Blogging – October 10, 2021

The work of the House Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attempted coup is starting to get interesting. By midnight on Thursday, four of Trump’s allies were required to turn over documents to the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. The four are former chief of staff Mark Meadows, social media manager Dan Scavino, adviser Steve Bannon, and former Defense Department official Kash Patel.

Whether they comply fully is questionable since they’re claiming executive privilege by the Former Guy. From Josh Marshall:

“We appear to be moving toward a critical moment for rule of law in the US, where it will finally be vindicated or a mockery. Unsurprisingly, former President Trump instructed his aides to defy the Jan 6th committee’s subpoenas.”

Former Presidents have no executive privilege. Executive privilege belongs to the office of the presidency, not to individuals. Since Biden is the president, it’s up to him to make the legal argument for Trump, but unsurprisingly, he isn’t making it: NBC News reported that White House Counsel Dana Remus has sent a letter to the National Archives saying: (brackets by Wrongo)

“President Biden has determined that an assertion of executive privilege [for Trump] is not in the best interests of the United States, and therefore is not justified as to any of the documents.”

So, it’s game on. But trying to investigate a former president puts the Congress in a sticky spot, because the Constitution provides a remedy for a lawless President: Impeachment and removal from office.

Congress tried that twice and failed both times.

Preventing Trump from hindering a lawful investigation requires the concerted action of three government entities. First, Congress must compel the witnesses to appear and provide documents. If they fail to do that, Congress must use fines and eventually, imprisonment to get what they need. The DOJ must avoid bending over backward to provide presidential privilege to a former president. It must also use its enforcement capacity to assist Congress with recalcitrant witnesses. Finally, the federal judiciary can’t enable the former president’s law-breaking when the eventual lawsuits happen, despite its Republican leanings.

Marshall concludes: (emphasis and brackets by Wrongo)

“The decision on whether to charge a former President with a crime is a weighty one. The decision to conduct a proper investigation of one is not. There are no excuses this time. Trump is just another lawbreaker and [the] target of an investigation. Vindicate the law.”

On to cartoons. Pence has short-term memory issues:

Mitch may, or may not, be willing to blow everything up:

Appeals Court judge allowed Texas to temporarily resume banning most abortions:

Zuckerberg’s fellow travelers look legit:

America’s school boards are under attack by supposedly smart parents:

California oil spill reminds us of a story we’ll never see:

Sunday Cartoon Blogging – September 26, 2021

Unexpectedly, Wrongo found the time to post a few cartoons. Yesterday, we saw the musical “Six” on Broadway, along with a very enthusiastic packed house. The audience had to show proof of vaccination, and wear masks for the performance.

The story is about the six wives of England’s King Henry VIII, if they had turned into pop stars, and were speaking today about their lives with fat Henry.

We saw it two years ago in London, arranged by Connecticut’s invaluable Goodspeed Musicals. It has made a fine relocation to New York. We thought the cast’s singing was better here, as was the all-woman backing band. The message, of a transition from female victimhood to female empowerment was very well received by the audience, which included many teen and pre-teen girls.

It appeared that most theater district restaurants were doing acceptable business, although some that we had frequented in the past had permanently closed. The parking lot we always use had fewer than half the cars we would normally see. This is probably explained by the fact that many of Broadway’s shows won’t reopen for a few more weeks. On to cartoons.

The Arizona recount didn’t go well for the GOP. And never call it an “audit”:

Republicans think blowing up America’s credit rating is hilarious:

This is who McConnell and GOP are. They’ve become terrorists, trying to kill us by blowing things up.

It’s the Republican playbook: Block everything no matter the consequences and then blame someone else:

Biden’s tough trick:

Biden said he knew how to forge consensus. We’ll soon see:

Border Patrol in Texas has additional duty:

Sunday Cartoon Blogging – September 19, 2021

Ruy Teixeira had thoughts on the California recall election: (brackets by Wrongo)

“In the recall election exit poll, the “yes” vote against Newsom [yes meant replace him] was 40% among Hispanics. That far outdistances the [Hispanic] vote for Trump in 2020…(just 23% in the exit poll; 29% in the AP/NORC Votecast survey)….Biden’s approval rating seems to be lagging nationwide among Hispanics. In the most recent Quinnipiac survey, Biden has only 38% percent approval vs. 47% disapproval among these voters.”

Yes, there was room for some optimism in the CA results: Running against Trump (or Trump clones) still looks like a winner. But Biden needs to do better with Hispanics, and he needs America to beat Covid. All of this says the Democrats have work to do before the 2022 mid-terms. On to cartoons.

Newsom won:

Are Republicans willing to die to beat Biden?

Are the Republicans willing to die to beat Biden?

Wrongo extends a greeting to General Milley: Welcome to Antifa. We’re glad to have you:

Abused Gymnasts stick it to the FBI who failed bigly:

Amy Coney Barrett says there aren’t any partisan hacks on the Supreme Court. She said that “judicial philosophies are not the same as political parties.” Her philosophy is “originalist,” which is interpreting the law after consultation with James Madison’s ghost:

Sunday Cartoon Blogging – September 12, 2021

When Wrongo was a kid living in CT, he got a 3-speed English bike, a Humber. One day while riding on the road in front of our house, a truck forced me onto the road’s sandy shoulder. The sand immediately grabbed the bike’s front wheel, stopping it dead in its tracks. Wrongo went headfirst over the handlebars and got up with a displaced fracture of his left wrist.

While Wrongo saw the accident coming, he couldn’t do anything to avoid the sand.

On the 20^th anniversary of 9/11, is America being pushed onto the sandy shoulder of our road? We can still avoid a crash, but we’re facing quite a few threats that might push us off the road and into the gutter:

Losing our social cohesion
Continuing income inequality
Continuing racism
Increasing threats to the right to vote

Twenty years on, America is more at war with itself than with foreign terrorists. Our society and our democracy are threatened from within in a way that Osama bin Laden could never have managed.

Think about the Delta variant. One Party thinks that people should be free to acquire and transmit to others a deadly and extremely communicable virus. They also think it’s morally wrong for the government to engage in even the mildest coercion to push people to get vaccinated, because that coercion interferes with an individual’s liberty.

They think personal liberty is the highest social value in all circumstances except abortion. On to cartoons.

Our continuing learning disability:

9/11 aftermath:

Texas has only one star in its flag. That’s also its Yelp review:

New rodeo event in Texas:

America’s right wing is constantly sore about everything:

Sunday Cartoon Blogging – August 29, 2021

We start the week by noting that Harvard has picked a new chief chaplain. He’s Greg Epstein, an atheist. The NYT quotes Mr. Epstein:

“There is a rising group of people who no longer identify with any religious tradition but still experience a real need for conversation and support around what it means to be a good human and live an ethical life,”

Epstein was raised in a Jewish household and has been Harvard’s humanist chaplain since 2005, teaching students about the movement that centers people’s relationships with one another instead of with a God.

This month, when religious fundamentalism has taken over the government of Afghanistan, it’s nice to see that a secular humanist has a role in steering discussions about faith. Religion may serve to bring some people together, but it divides many more. The lessons about doing good and being a good person are too often pushed aside in the service of doctrine.

Any step in the direction of people taking personal responsibility for their humanity is welcome. For many, religion doesn’t assist with that. On to cartoons.

Politicians should compare the meaningful deaths of thirteen US servicemen this week with the meaningless deaths of 600,000 Americans for no good reason at all: