Cartoon of the Week #4: How democrats view republicans.

The above post by Bill Day contains a big, fat, ugly hick with a T-Shirt that says Bigotry and a small American flag. The man talks about beating African Americans before and now have a much larger base of people to beat such as occupiers and Muslims. This combined with his bigotry displayed by his T-Shirt shows just how racist the man is. Next, Bill Day has the man talk about joining in on many different Republican debates and groups as though he is their hero. By doing so Bill Day implies that republicans romanticize discrimination and unequal opportunity and turn racist, bigoted red necks into heroes. Finally by attaching the nation’s symbol, the American Flag, as well as the all American phrase, "God bless America land of opportunity," Bill satirizes Republicans. The man, representing Bill Day's view of republicans, not only is racist; he also celebrates the racism practiced by Republicans by using the phrase "Land of opportunity" which is clearly the opposite of his vision of America. The Artist uses overshadowing to make the man look more rustic and hard to look at discouraging people from associating with him. Next he uses the over exaggerated smile to display just how overjoyed the man is that he is viewed as a hero for being a racist. Thus, the cartoon is merely Bill Day expressing his disdain of the republicans in America.

Favorite Holliday Memory

I think it is a fair statement to say that the holidays are some of the most memorable times of years. We remember the joy we have of waking up with butterflies in our stomachs as children and creeping downstairs-- trying hard not to wake up the parents. But, upon seeing a tree flooded with brightly packaged gifts, are overflowed with such joy as to forget our former consideration and rush upstairs to tell mom and dad that Santa had come. I remember the sounds of winter-time classics, the smells and warmth shed by the kitchen which was being operated by my mother-- as hard at work as she'd be on any other day. Every room is brightly lit and filled with such happiness that the house feels at least a million times warmer than it had been the day before. Almost too hot... almost. Yet, when I come to think about it, I have almost no specific memories of Christmas or the holidays.

Christmas is warm on the inside with the cool and crisp outer shell of the winter breeze. Everyone emphasizes both giving and receiving gratefully. Yet I suppose that Christmas is so good that every Christmas has melded together in my memory. When I think of Christmas I am flooded with so many images of past Christmas’s that I can't differentiate between any of them. That is, except for one Christmas.

Most of the Christmas is just as any other one. I wake up and a clear note resounds in my head as I realize the importance of the day. I waste no time pondering whether to or not to stay in bed as I normally do and begin the slow and deliberate descent down the steps. I reach the bottom floor and-- upon seeing a tree flooded with brightly packaged gifts, am overflowed with such joy as to forget my former consideration and rush upstairs to tell mom and dad that Santa had come-- time flashes by two hours and I can smell the breakfast cooking and feel the steadily growing flame of Christmas all throughout the house. My mom and dad finally give the word. We're off to the races to look inside our stockings and soon afterwards begin opening our presents. I use "the best gifts ever" for several hours before guests arrive at our house. After eating from a table containing enough food to last a few weeks the guests leave. But this is all just as it would be any other Christmas...

The truly remarkable and special moment came after the guests left. Most Christmases we'd go about our own business after the guests left. However, this time we all sat together in the living room. Rather than playing with the "best gift ever," which I'd surely forget about or lose with a month, my family and I sat down by the father and watched various Christmas specials that normally were reserved for the days after Christmas-- and by that I mean me and my brother would watch them. My parents decided they didn't have to continue to work all night long as usual this Christmas and we all sat by a fire and watched Charlie Brown learn the meaning of Christmas. When Charlie Brown was learning about Christmas, I learned what Christmas is for me: Being with and cherishing the "best gift ever," my family.

Happy Holidays everybody.

Comic Strip of the Week: Santa's late Mail

The above cartoon by Rick McKee is obviously meant solely to show disapproval towards the postal service's cuts. As a personal note anybody that actually knows anything about the postal service knows that these cuts are long overdue. If they didn't make them then pretty soon the corporation would collapse and probably send the United States into a Depression or a deeper Recession.
The major objects include Santa, the U.S. Postal Service Mail man and his bag of letters. By using the Mailman to express his regret at the tardiness of the mail's arrival way after Santa needed the letters (in fact when Santa is delivering toys) the cartoonist shows us that the postal service is just a big disappointment that revealed itself as such a disappointment right in time for Christmas. This begs us to wonder what Santa put in his sack, a bunch of random toys?
Additionally the elf in the lower right is blushing to show his embarrassment at the Post's tardiness.
The Cartoonist obviously doesn't agree with the majority of Americans who say that they don't mind a single extra day late (not the month or so late as depicted in the cartoon. Thus, he used hyperbole to express his discontent.

OBama's Reelection bid

http://www.gallup.com/poll/151007/Obama-Approval-Remains-Thanksgiving-Week.aspx
Obama's Job Approval rating seems to have steadied at 43%. According to Gallup polls he will probably remain at this percentage in upcoming weeks. He is receiving little approval from the independents that he relied upon heavily last presidential election. Before analyzing Obama's upcoming reelection bid it is important to first analyze what was good about his previous election.
One of the major victories in that race for Obama was winning the electorate in Virginia, a state that has been a battleground recently but more often than not leans Republican.
Now, taking this knowledge alongside his low approval rating and lack of support from his independent supports from last term we can begin to predict the outcome of this election. Because republican's now have control in the Senate and the executive of Virginia, Obama's chances there seem to be next to none. Additionally, without this key state and his independent vote the election will come more so down to whether or not the republican candidate is disliked more by the independents than Obama is. Both Gingrich and Romney could potentially become good presidential candidates. However, Gingrich does have issues in his past that would provide a taint to him as a candidate. If he becomes the nominee he may be disliked more by independents than Obama. After the Iowa caucus Gingrich will probably gain the momentum to seal the nomination allowing Obama to have a chance with the independents. However, he will still have to find those independents in a new major electorate state because of Virginia's new republican tendency.

Political Cartoon of the Week #2.

This week's political cartoon of the week is by Michael Ramirez. The cartoon contains a picture of a representative of American Airlines declaring that they were broke and then another picture of the American Government calling him an amateur. The artist made both of them look ridiculous but especially made the American Government look so with his elongated ears and pretentious look. By doing so the cartoonist further satirizes the government by implying that American Airlines is an amateur at being broke when compared to the American Government's skill with it. The cartoon can be seen, thereby, as dealing with not just AA's bankruptcy, but also America's Debt. The Cartoonist makes the American Government actually seem as though it tries to gather debt and go broke: obviously mad with the American Financial Situation and the government's inability to come up with a resolution.

Mitt Romney: A Safe Pick

Mitt Romney has steadily held either 1st or second most votes in the polls thus far and hasn't even spent a cent of his own money yet. He hasn't made many decisions that have been risky or that even stood out among republican candidates. He has a hefty pocketbook that has remained untouched and has the businessman background to hopefully aid him in bolstering the economy. Some of the few potential downsides to Romney include his Mormon faith, which held him back the last time he ran for nomination, and supporting a health care system similar to Obama's (however he has begun to lean more and more right as the nomination comes closer and closer.) At the same time, his wealth in addition to the fact the he does have some sympathy towards liberal ideologies could allow him to gain some more support from the independents. He seems to also be the only candidate that really hasn't been involved in various affairs/ scandals. Overall he doesn't really have a lot of standout features and more of just a safe pick.