Keep Government Out of the Economy!
February 7th, 2025 Barry Posted in Conservatives, Economic cartoons, Right-wingers | No Comments »
TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON
This cartoon has four panels, each showing a different person listening to a pundit on Fox News.
PANEL 1
We are looking at a closeup of someone’s hand holding a smartphone. On the screen, we can see PUNDITHEAD, a white man in a suit, talking to the camera.
PUNDITHEAD: The most important thing to understand about government and the economy is, government should stay out of the economy! Government should also ban fake meat and subsidize farms, but that’s it!
PANEL 2
A red-haired woman is sitting at a table eating with a tablet on the table in front of her. Pundithead is on the screen.
PUNDITHEAD: Except for laws making it harder for workers to unionize. Those are cool.
PANEL 3
A man jogs through a park while wearing headphones. Pundithead’s voice comes from the headphones.
PUNDITHEAD: And subsidize pharma, too. And ethanol. And Elon. And, uh… what was I saying?
PANEL 4
A woman sits in a coffee shop, a laptop open in front of her. She’s laughing. Pundithead’s voice comes from the laptop.
PUNDITHEAD: Oh, right. Government should never, ever interfere with the economy!
CHICKEN FAT WATCH
“Chicken fat” is obsolete cartoonists’ terminology for unimportant details the cartoonist puts in for the fun of it.
PANEL 1 – The Fox News channel logo says “Pox News cough.” The chyron at the bottom of the screen says “Nobody but you has ever read this text. You’re the only one who really appreciates this cartoon.”
In the background is Linus from “Peanuts,” leaning on the iconic brick wall.
PANEL 2 – the Fox News channel logo now says “Cow Moos channel.” The chyron says “Study confirms: Cyanide deadly poison. 46 graduate students perish proving the very obvious.”
A book lying on the table is entitled “101 background gags” by “J. R. R. Toke.” The publisher’s symbol on the book cover spine is Charlie Brown’s head surrounded by laurels.
Her coffee mug says “T.M.” in big letters. In tiny letters next to that “TM,” is another “TM” in small letters. In an even tinier font next to the second “TM” is the little copyright symbol.
The food on her plate, a sort of lumpy mass (I was thinking of it as mashed potatoes) has two wide eyes and a mouth, and looks distressed.
A big dog has laid its head on the table and is looking pleadingly at the woman. A cat is lying on top of the dog’s head, also looking pleadingly at the woman. A bird sits atop the cat’s head.
The woman’s shirt has a pattern with lots of little “Lucy” (from “Peanuts”) heads.
PANEL 3 – The jogger’s shirt has a picture of a skull wearing a white founding father wig, with the caption “George Washington. Rested & Ready.”
An evil bunny, wearing an eyepatch and smoking a cigarette, is in the foreground.
PANEL 4 – A sign taped to the wall says “$500 charge if you read this sign. Cash only.”
It’s hard to make out, but the little branding symbol on the back of the laptop is an image of the evil bunny from panel 3.
On the woman’s cell phone screen is a stickfigure smiling and giving us the finger.
The tattoos on her left arm are a coffee mug with “I am 89% coffee” written on it; a happy worm in a fedora crawling out of an apple; and “My other arm is a Mercedes.” The tattoo on her right arm is a Mercedes symbol.
