Q Toon: Where in the World

I introduced Max and Leo as a way of commenting on the deep political divide between the Trump cultists and the rest of us: an odd couple in a relationship who stay together in spite of their profound disagreements.

Had Republicans lost the 2024 election, Max and Leo would still be bickering over fiscal policy or, I dunno, white males being shut out of Kamala Harris's cabinet. But instead, we have been forced to endure the Criminal Trump Regime. It hasn't even been 100 days yet, and there are black vans of Trump's Gestapo disappearing civilians on suspicion of having unauthorized tattoos and opinions.

I figured I could comment on that by having Leo mistakenly caught up in an anti-immigrant sweep. Eventually, I'd have the courts step in, or someone in charge would realize ICE's mistake, and Leo and Max would be reunited, once I had figured out how to make a point with it.

Yet now it turns out that the Criminal Trump Regime doesn't care what the courts rule, or who gets swept up because of whatever mistake made by his minions. They've discovered a fellow tyrant down in El Salvador who's got a tropical gulag where they can ship their victims en masse, where nobody is afforded due process whatsoever. Instead, they are stripped naked, shaved, and put on display crammed together like sardines for Kristi Noem's Zoom background.

One of the real people trapped in this dystopian nightmare from hell is a man named Kilmar Albrego García. He had come here years ago from El Salvador to flee from the MS-13 gang there; a judge here had ruled that if the U.S. government wanted to deport him, it was forbidden to send him to El Salvador. 

ICE knew this, and decided it didn't care about the rule of law. Up and down the chain of command, they decided to just follow orders. The Department of Homeland Security acknowledges that García was the victim of an "administrative error." The Supreme Court has told the Criminal Trump Regime to "facilitate" García's return.

The Criminal Trump Regime's response is to pretend that it can't do a damn thing to rectify its administrative error. They invited El Salvador's self-described "coolest dictator" Nayib Bukele to the White House to claim that he's helpless to bring an innocent man home to his wife and children. After all, if he freed one innocent man, he'd have to free every innocent man, wouldn't he?

LGBTQ+ media have taken interest in Andry Hernandez Romero, a Salvadoran hairdresser and make-up stylist seeking asylum in the U.S. because he is gay and was facing persecution in Venezuela who was deported to the Salvadoran Sağmalcılar. Chicago media have been reporting on the case of Yeison Rodrigo Jaimes-Rincon, whose partner only found out he had been kidnapped to CECOT when she saw him behind bars there on television. 

And there are dozens, if not hundreds of others in their predicament whom you have never heard of.

There is a reason why we all know the tragic story of Anne Frank; only if you pass through a Holocaust museum will you learn of any other individuals among the six million others slaughtered by the Nazis' extermination machine. Nor was Alexei Navalny alone. 

There are photographs of a fraction of the victims of the Khmer Rouge at the Tuol Sleng genocide museum in Phnom Penh, yet they all remain anonymous to most of us. Ditto the victims of Stalin's purges, the Rwandan massacres, the deliberate slaughter of Palestinians...

It can be easy to resign oneself to the idea that it's too hard to care about what happens to uncounted foreigners. 

Until it happens to somebody you know.

In that disgusting Oval Office performance by Trump and Bukele, the tyrant occupying our White House promised that it certainly will. Trump wants to abduct enough U.S. citizens off to El Salvador that Bukele will need to build "about five more" CECOTs to hold them all.

Oh, sure: our Felon-in-chief said that he only wants to suspend the Constitution when it comes to the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights of worst of the worst.

You'll just have to overlook the occasional administrative error.

Portrait vs. Landscape

Seems that there is one more Saturday in September than I thought there was, so here's one more September to Remember post.

in Gaze Magazine, Minneapolis, MN, Oct. 15, 1993

Very few of my cartoons here are like this one in portrait orientation, but that is how the layout editors of Gaze Magazine wanted them. My cartoons shared a page with three other panel cartoons, all drawn to approximately the same dimensions.

I drew pretty much the same cartoon for the UWM Post — the  Post version drawn second, but published first. In accordance with the Post editorial page's layout, I drew the second version in landscape orientation. (Post editors in 1989 had asked me to draw my cartoons in portrait orientation for the three summer issues, but we reverted to landscape that fall.)

in UWM Post, Milwaukee, Wis., Sept. 20, 1993

Which version do you think is more effective?

100 years ago, nearly all newspaper editorial cartoons appeared in portrait orientation. In some cases, the cartoon was nearly square (Daniel Fitzpatrick, for example), but portrait orientation dominated the medium for the first half of the 20th Century.

There were notable exceptions: Luther Bradley and his successor at the Chicago Daily News, Ted Brown, drew their cartoons in landscape orientation.

"It Was Important, Too" by Ted Brown in Chicago Daily News, Sept., 1923

"The Royal Feast of Belshazzar Blaine" by Walt McDougall and Valerian Gribayedoff stretched across the front page of Joseph Pulitzer's New York World is another remarkable exception, as are the weekly cartoons Winsor McCay would produce to run atop William Randolph Hearst's syndicated Sunday sermons.

"The Royal Feast of Belshazzar Blaine" by Walt McDougall & Valerian Gribayedoff in New York World,  Oct. 31, 1884

"For Good Reasons They Fear Him" by Winsor McCay for International Feature Service, Sept. 30, 1923

John "Ding" Darling's cartoons for the Des Moines Register and New York Tribune hewed to the portrait standard...

"Strange How Different She Looks" by J.N. "Ding" Darling in Des Moines Register, Sept. 25, 1923

...but he oriented his cartoons for Colliers Weekly landscapewise.

"Ellis Island Hotel" by J.N. "Ding" Darling in Colliers Weekly, Oct. 6, 1923

When weekly magazines were the primary outlet for editorial cartoonists, the likes of Nast, Keppler, and Dalrymple would have a cartoon in portrait orientation on the front page and an epic two-page landscape cartoon as the centerfold. With a whole week to work on each cartoon, why not?

"In the Democratic Bowling-Alley" by Victor Gillam in Judge, Sept. 30, 1893

Daily newspapers began to employ editorial cartoonists late in the 19th Century, fitting the cartoon in among multiple columns — breaking up the page rather than headlining it. Whether it was the shorter deadlines, the less sophisticated printing process, or just artistic preference, landscape orientation would remain relatively rare until the 1960's and '70's, with the rise of Gene Basset, Pat Oliphant, Jeff MacNelly, Don Wright, Mike Peters, (oh, I could go on and on), and those of us inspired by them.

As conglomerate newspaper management these days fails to see profit in printing editorial cartoons, the medium may have to return to portrait mode to accommodate editorial cartooning's future — the thing you are probably holding in your hand as you read this.

✍

Oh, by the way, since I asked: even though I still favor landscape mode for my own cartoons (and it's what my remaining editors expect of me), personally, I think the portrait oriented version of my Cuban MiG cartoon  is the more visually satisfying.

Wilson on the Brink

Soundingback Saturday starts things off this week with a British view of the American president 100 years ago:

"The Intrusive 'Leadsman'" by Edward T. Reed in Sunday Evening Telegraph, London, February, 1917

A frequent feature of E.T. Reed's cartoons is his spelling out of how other people's accents diverge from the King's English. Woodrow Wilson, as I'm sure you know, hailed from Vajinnia, Joejah, South Kehlahna and Noo Joysey; if you're planning a career as a Woodrow Wilson Impersonator, you might want to do some further research before taking Reed's word for how the president sounded. I've tried to make the dialogue large enough to read on line, but in case I've failed, here it is:

President Woodrow Wilson: "Reck'n it looks mighty like as if we're gett'n' vu-rry near harbor. Guess I'll start heaving the lead a bit, anyways."
Lloyd George: "My good man, it's not the slightest use your messing about with that lead! WE know the port WE'RE making for perfectly well, and shan't need YOUR assistance."

For those of you who aren't old-timey sailors, a leadsman uses a block of lead attached to a rope to determine the depth of water, called "sounding."

If it's rather curious that Prime Minister Lloyd George still feels that he shan't need Wilson's assistance, he'll welcome it quite soon enough. The point that Reed is trying to make is that Lloyd George is committed to total victory over Germany, while Wilson would be happy with achieving a more modest truce.

In fact, thanks to the German resumption of "unrestricted submarine warfare" at sea, the Wilson administration was moving closer and closer to joining the Allies. Keeping to a nautical theme, Philly cartoonist Bill Sykes aims his criticism at the U.S. Congress, where there was still reluctance to commit to the war in Europe.

"Goner Let the Water Out, By Heck!" by Wm. Sykes in Philadelphia Evening Ledger, February 26, 1917

The label on the lightning bolt is "U-boat crisis"; on the ship is "Nationalism"; and on the auger is "Petty Partisanship."

On March 1, the Wilson administration revealed to the American public the Zimmerman telegram, in which the German Foreign Secretary urged Mexico to declare war on the U.S., if the U.S. abandoned neutrality in the European war. In return for keeping the U.S. preoccupied in its own hemisphere, Germany promised to support returning Texas, Arizona and New Mexico to Mexico.

The trademark in this cartoon is a bit difficult to read; it says "War Plot / Made in Germany."

"Do You See That Trademark?" by Wm. F. Hanny in St. Joseph (Mo.) News Dispatch, March 2, 1917

The Mexican government of President Venustiano Carranza decided that its army was no match for the Americans. Besides, The U.S. had just given up the hunt for Pancho Villa and had withdrawn its troops from Mexico in January.  Furthermore, even if everything were to go as Herr Zimmerman promised, the Mexican government was having enough problems governing Mexicans without adding a large population of well-armed Norteamericanos to the country.

"Long Distance—Europe on the Wire" by Edward S. "Ted" Brown in Chicago Daily News, February/March, 1917

War wasn't Wilson's only problem; that pesky labor-management dispute at the railroads was still unsettled. With the Adamson Act pending before the Supreme Court, leaders of the four major railroad unions decided that this was their last chance to strike for the eight-hour day before U.S. entry into the war would compel them to stay at work.

"An Annoying Interruption" by Ted Brown in Chicago Daily News, March 15, 1917

(The creator of the previous two cartoons, Ted Brown, filled the editorial cartooning seat left vacant at the Chicago Daily News by the death of Luther Bradley at the beginning of 1917.)

From the other side, here's a German view of the American president, from the cover of the Berlin satirical magazine Lustige Blätter:

"Doppelzüngig" by Carl O. Petersen for Lustige Blätter, Berlin, February 26, 1917

The full title translates "Double-tongued: the Snake from the White House." One fork of the tongue reads "I want peace!" while the other reads "I break relations with Germany!"

So anyway, that's where we stood as Woodrow Wilson settled in for the Inauguration of his second term on March 5, 1917 (the traditional date of March 4 falling on a Sunday that year).

"Beginning His Second Volume" by Wm. F. Hanny in St. Joseph News Dispatch, March 5, 1917 

¿Hispanics Para Trump?

I am not going to second guess the genetic origin of these two delegates to last week's Republican convention, or of any of the others waving "Hispanics para Trump" signs. For all I know, their parents were bankers from Havana until 1959, or lost their government jobs upon the death of Generalissimo Francisco Franco.

And, as someone with only a rudimentary grasp of Spanish, I have difficulty myself knowing when to use "para" and when to use "por," so I'm only taking someone else's word that "para" is the wrong preposition.

(A tweet cited on HuffPo states that "Hispanics con Trump" would be more correct — although I'd suggest that "Trump cons Hispanics" would be better still.)

I'm reminded of a campaign at my alma mater in which a foreign exchange student ran for student government president. The slogan on his campaign literature may have sounded good in the original Ghanaian, but "A vote for [the candidate] is a vote for [his running mate] and a vote for you all" just sounded silly in English.

Returning to the present day, I do know that "Hispanics" is an English word, not a Spanish one.

It took me three seconds on Google Translate to get "los hispanos."

R.C. Bowman on W.J. Bryan

Welcome to Stretchback Saturday, and another installment of the cartoons of Roland C. Bowman for the Minneapolis Tribune in 1900. As always, the cartoons are embiggenable when enclicked.

Since we're gearing up for 2016 these days, here's a look back at the 1900 presidential campaign of William Jennings Bryan. Bryan, then 40 years old, won the Populist presidential nomination unanimously; and after the early withdrawal of Admiral George Dewey from the race, Bryan faced no real opposition for the Democratic nomination, either.

Chairman Jones: "This nigh horse isn't fast enough to trot in this team. Guess I'll have to trade him."

In my first batch of Bowman cartoons on this blog, I had included two cartoons featuring former Duluth, Minnesota Congressman Charles Towne from Bowman's "Meanderings of Willie and Little Steve" series. (To recap: Towne was elected to Congress as a Republican in 1894, lost reelection as an Independent in 1896 and 1898, and was appointed Senator as a Democrat for eight weeks in 1900-01; then he moved to New York and served one term in Congress as a Democrat.)

In the cartoon above Towne is the "nigh horse" about to be traded away by national Democratic Chairman James Jones. Towne was the Populist Party's overwhelming choice for its Vice Presidential nomination in 1900, but when the Democrats nominated former Vice President Adlai Stevenson instead, Towne declined the Populist nomination.

Poor, poor donkey

Bryan's advocacy of Free Silver was the overarching theme in his 1896 campaign; but by 1900, the discovery of gold in the Yukon and South Africa had completely changed the economic equation. "16 to 1" refers to the exchange rate of silver to gold proposed by the Free Silver advocates, opposed by Republicans and "Gold Democrats" such as former President Grover Cleveland.

The Democrats' 1900 convention in Kansas City reiterated much of the platform adopted at its 1896 convention in Chicago when it had first nominated Bryan for the presidency. The earlier convention had been the site of Bryan's famous "Cross of Gold" speech.

Stefan Lorant posits that Bryan knew all along that his 1900 campaign was doomed to fail; but his enthusiastic campaigning never wavered as personally toured the country, delivering stirring and passionate speeches to enthusiastic crowds from the back of trains. This was in stark contrast to traditional presidential campaigns, and especially to incumbent President William McKinley, who stayed at home and let others campaign for him.

While Bryan was undoubtedly the more dynamic figure, McKinley benefited greatly from the robust national recovery during his first term from the Panic of 1893, as well as from the U.S. victory over Spain in the "splendid little war" of 1898.

The Ghost: "Tell me, William, what Demo-Pop was it who helped ratify me."

Bryan: "Why! O goodness!! The--the--tut-tut ba-ba-ba--it--was--me."

The Ghost: "Then you are SOME to blame, aren't you?"

Bryan: "Ya-ya-ya ye-ye-YES."

The Treaty of Paris which ended the Spanish-American War turned Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines over to the United States. Bryan and the Democrats opposed the creation of an American Empire, and Senate ratification of the treaty in 1899 was in doubt. Republicans appeared to be a vote short when, in the last minutes before the final vote, Bryan persuaded a group of Democrats to vote for ratification -- allegedly so that he would have fodder for his anti-imperialist campaign the next year.

There are plenty more Bryan cartoons in this book -- check back here again soon for the rest of the campaign.

R.C. Bowman Cartoons from 1900: The Philippines

Here's Part VI of a series, resurrecting cartoons from The Minneapolis Tribune Cartoon Book for 1901: Being a Collection of Over One Hundred Cartoons by R.C. Bowman.

Interrupting the Class

The United States took over the Philippines from Spain as a result of the Spanish-American War of 1898; a year later, Filipinos began fighting for independence. The fighting continued until President Aguinaldo surrendered in 1902. R.C. Bowman drew a connection here between the Philippine Revolution and the Boxer Rebellion in China.

The Filipino: "That's worse than a government without the consent of the governed."

The above cartoon references the post-Reconstruction moves to forcibly disenfranchise Black citizens; the issue in 1900 particularly concerned North Carolina. Newt Gingrich's talking points memo instructing all Republicans to use "Democrat" even as an adjective wouldn't come out until 90+ years later, so R.C. Bowman refers to the state Democratic Party with the label "North Carolina Democracy."

Keeping it alive

This is the one cartoon of Philippine President Emilio Aguinaldo in this book (although it bears no resemblance whatsoever to the few photos I've seen of him). The rebellion's feet are soaking in the sentiment, common in the U.S. Democratic Party, that the U.S. had no business being an imperial power. It was less a peacenik stand than one favoring a limited federal government, and a disinclination to accept non-whites (non-Protestants as well) in any way that might make them citizens of the United States. The Tea Party would have felt right at home in the Democratic Party in those days.

The Philippines: "What yer got?"
Cuba: "Pie."
Philippines: "Where'd yer get it?"
Cuba "Mah Uncle Sam gin it to me; en maybe ef you was halfway decent, he' git you some."

Yes, there's a racist condescension in this cartoon, but what else would you expect?