America’s Biggest Problem
September 28th, 2026 Barry Posted in Media criticism, R. E. Ryan collaborations | No Comments »
Another collaboration with gorgeous visuals from R.E. Ryan.
TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON
This cartoon has four panels. The same bespectacled, bearded man appears in all four.
PANEL 1
The man walks past several masked ICE agents. Two agents are dragging an older man toward the open back of an SUV. Nearby, a distressed woman stands with a small child who is crying. An ICE agent is pointing a gun at the child.
MAN (thought): Hmmm.
PANEL 2
Outside the Supreme Court, several Supreme Court justices in black robes are drinking and celebrating around a bonfire in which the Voting Rights Act is burning. The man walks past in the background, watching them.
MAN (thought): Hmm.
PANEL 3
At a bus stop, a woman is reading a newspaper. The man stands beside her, leaning slightly to read the front page. The newspaper’s main headline says: ANOTHER COMPLETELY UNAUTHORIZED UNNECESSARY WAR
MAN (thought): Mm-hmm.
PANEL 4
We see an open laptop. On its screen, the man is appearing on a TV interview show, grinning as he holds up a copy of his book, Polarization: Both Sides Did It!
MAN: America’s biggest problem is… POLARIZATION!
CHICKEN FAT WATCH
In panel 2, the burning Voting Rights Act is depicted as the “I’m Just a Bill” character from Schoolhouse Rock!
In panel 3, the newspaper is called The Daily Gab. Under the enormous war headline is a much smaller headline: “Study: No one reads smaller headlines or studies.” A sub-headline says “‘My life is pointless,’ says sub-headline writer.”
On the wall in panel 3, graffiti includes tags from all eight captains from Star Trek shows (Pike, Kirk, Janeway, Burnham, Freeman, Picard, Sisko, and Archer) plus Taggart from Galaxy Quest. Other graffiti includes “Skitter Lives!” with a spider; a huge “BG,” for “background”; and “Never obey! I order U not to obey!” It only occurs to me now, writing this transcript, that I should have made it “not 2 obey.” Oh well.
In panel 4, behind the laptop, a large orange cat is sleeping. Curled up asleep on the cat’s tail is a tiny mouse wearing a sleeping cap.
