Centrists and Civility

Cartoon by Barry

If you enjoy these cartoons, please help me make more by supporting my Patreon. A $1 pledge really helps.

Transcript of cartoon

This cartoon has three panels, plus a small additional “kicker” panel underneath the bottom of the cartoon.

PANEL 1
This panel shows three well-coiffed white people – they could be politicians, or pundits on TV – on the right side of the panel, facing towards the left side of the panel. They look angry and are speaking with hostile expressions. There is a large caption superimposed over the image.
CAPTION: RIGHT
WHITE GUY: Cattle don’t get to keep their kids. Why should immigrants?
WHITE GAL: Teh law should protect elections from Black vot- I mean, from illegal voters!
OTHER WHITE GUY: George Soros paid scientists to make up global warming!

PANEL 2
This panel shows two lefties, dressed like college students or protesters, on the left side of the panel, facing towards the right side of the panel. They look angry and are speaking with hostile expressions. The woman’s race and ethnicity is ambiguous, the man is Black. There is a large caption superimposed over the image.
CAPTION: LEFT
WOMAN: $#%*! those people!
MAN: They’re terrible hateful bigots!

PANEL 3
This panel shows a white man and probably white woman, both facing towards the left with scornful expressions. The man is making a “stop that, get away” hand gesture towards the left; the woman has her arms on her hips. There is a large caption superimposed over the image.
CAPTION: CENTRISTS
MAN: Tsk! Why must the left be so uncivil?
WOMAN: Do they want Trump re-elected?

SMALL KICKER PANEL BELOW THE BOTTOM OF THE STRIP
This panel shows the leftists glaring at the centrists, while the centrists smile back.
CENTRIST WOMAN: We’re only saying, both sides are equally bad!

Posted in Media criticism |

Checking The News

Cartoon by Barry

If you enjoy these cartoons, please help me make more by supporting my Patreon. A $1 pledge really matters!

TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON

This cartoon has four panels.

PANEL 1

A woman with glasses and dark, shortish hair, sits at a desk, an open laptop on the desk in front of her. She’s turned her head away from the laptop, and is responding to an off-panel voice.

OFF-PANEL VOICE: What’s going on in the world?
WOMAN: I’ll check the news.

PANEL 2

The woman checks her laptop.

PANEL 3

An enormous, violent blast of bright force shoots out of her laptop screen, pushing her so hard her hair streams out behind her.

PANEL 4

The woman again turns back to speak to the off-panel voice, but her head is now just a skull, still smoking from the blast.

OFF-PANEL VOICE: Anything going on?
WOMAN: The usual.

Posted in Barry's favorites, Media criticism |

I Have Been Silenced!

Cartoon by Barry

If you like these cartoons, you can help me make more by supporting my Patreon! I’m trying to build a living on $1 pledges from a lot of readers, and it’s slowly working.

Transcript

This cartoon has four panels, plus a small “kicker” panel beneath the bottom of the cartoon.

PANEL 1
An older man wearing glasses, sitting behind a desk, is talking to an intense man with a large black beard and wearing a suit jacket but no tie. We’ll call him “Blackbeard.”
GLASSES: We’re dropping your column. Many readers think you’re just too extreme.
BLACKBEARD: I have been silenced!

PANEL 2
Blackbeard is standing on stage behind a lectern, holding a hand high in the air as he declames. There’s a huge audience listening to him.
BLACKBEARD: I have been silenced!

PANEL 3
A newspaper lies on a table, near a coffee mug and a spoon. The newspaper is The Washington Post. A front page story shows a photo of Blackbeard talking, and a headline that says “I Have Been Silenced!”

PANEL 4
We are looking at a flatscreen TV. The TV shows Blackbeard appearing on Fox News. Blackbeard is yelling. An off-camera interviewer speaks.
INTERVIEWER: …here with his new book, “I have been silenced.”
BLACKBEARD: I have been silenced!

KICKER PANEL BELOW BOTTOM OF STRIP
Barry the cartoonist is talking to Blackbeard.
BARRY: It seems–
BLACKBEARD: STOP SILENCING ME!

Posted in Barry's favorites, Media criticism |

Civility Zombies

Cartoon by Barry

If you can spare it, please help me keep making these cartoons! A $1 pledge really matters.

Gretchen Koch and I were chatting on Twitter, about if I should do a cartoon about the “civility” issue. Gretchen said “I think it’s worth it, because as you said, it’s perennial. The civility zombie, that is.” This comic strip immediately popped into my mind, and fortunately for me, Gretchen said she didn’t mind if I used the idea. Thanks, Gretchen!

Also, thanks to Mandolin for suggesting the kicker panel!

Drawing cute cartoon zombies is, as it turns out, a great deal of fun.

TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON

This is a four-panel cartoon.

PANEL 1

Two women, one with a ponytail, one with glasses, are in a house, near an open window. The woman with glasses looks angry and is holding a cell phone; the woman with the ponytail is reacting with panic.

GLASSES: Have you read the news? $@@! the GOP!
PONYTAIL: Shh! Don’t say that!
DISTANT VOICE FROM OUTSIDE WINDOW: Civility.
(Note: Here and throughout the cartoon, the word “civility” is lettered in fonts designed to look like dripping blood.)

PANEL 2

Zombies appear in the window, looking like they might crawl into the house. They have rotting green flesh and each of them is raising a forefinger and waggling it.

GLASSES: What’s happening?
PONYTAIL: It’s the civility zombies! They come whenever someone on the left is impolite! RUN!
ZOMBIES: Civility! Civility…

PANEL 3

Glasses and Ponytail flee up a hillside, pursued by zombies. A zombie in the foreground look sstraight at the viewer.

GLASSES: Can we shoot them?
PONYTAIL: That’s rude, which only makes them stronger! Plus, we’re liberals! We don’t have guns!
ZOMBIES: Civility! Civility! Civility!

PANEL 4

Glasses and Ponytail have come to a stop, surrounded by zombies. Glasses looks frightened; Ponytail looks irritated.

ZOMBIES: Civility! Civility!
GLASSES: So this is it? We’re going to die?
PONYTAIL: No, they’re completely toothless. But so annoying!

SMALL KICKER PANEL BELOW BOTTOM OF STRIP

A man in a “MAGA” hat is grinning and talking at a zombie. The zombie has his back to the MAGA hat wearer, and makes a dismissive gesture with his hand.

MAGA: Libtards! Cucks! Snowflakes!
ZOMBIE (in blood-dripping lettering): Meh.

Posted in Barry's favorites, Media criticism |

Liberal Pundit Speaks Out Against Identity Politics

Cartoon by Barry

If you enjoy these cartoons, and can spare it, please support them on Patreon.

A $1 pledge really matters!

TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON

PANEL 1

A white man sits behind the desk of a spacious office. He has a laptop open in front of him and books on either side of him; behind him are windows facing some trees, and some flowers in a vase. He’s wearing glasses and a button up shirt without a tie.
MAN: I have a message for all the identity politics liberals!
As long as idenitty politics exist, Democrats can’t win elections. And if we cna’t win elections, then we can’t make the changes you want.

PANEL 2

A closer shot of the man, as he drinks from his cofee cup.
MAN: Take Black Lives Matter. That alienates working class whites. So just be quiet about it.
Just like trans activists, and feminists, and student protestors… you people are why Trump is president!

PANEL 3

The man raises one finger as he pontificates.
MAN: The only way to get elected is to say nothing that could alienate white Trump voters.
Trump voters will flock to Democrats if liberals just quit mentioning Blacks or gays or trans or women or any other identity politics CRAP!

PANEL 4

The man leans back in his desk chair, one foot on the other knee, his hands behind his head, smiling.
MAN: But don’t worry! Once the Democrats are elected, we’ll be in power, and then… you people should continue shutting up.
Because we’ve got to get re-elected, right?

KICKER PANEL

A tiny panel below the bottom of the strip shows the man smiling, one hand placed on his chest in a “I’m good at this but also modest” sort of gesture.
MAN: I’m just saying we have to look at things objectively! And white men like me are ACES at objhectivity!

Posted in Elections, Media criticism |

The Puerto Rico Loop

Cartoon by Barry

If you enjoy these comics, please support them on Patreon. A $1 pledge means a lot.

Transcript of cartoon.

The main body of this cartoon shows three groupings of figures. Large arrows point counterclockwise from each group to the next group.

At the top of the loop, a balding man in an expensive suit speaks directly to the readers, while shrugging.
SUIT DUDE: We can’t put tax dollars into helping Puerto Rico if the voters don’t care about it.

A big arrow leads from the man in the suit, to a television set, showing two news anchors, a man and a woman. They are both shrugging and looking into the camera. The anchorwoman speaks.

ANCHORWOMAN: If the government does nothing about Puerto Rico, there’s nothing for us to report.

A large arrow leads from the television set to a man and a woman standing on a hillside. The man is wearing a plaid shirt and scratching his head in bewilderment; the woman, wearing a hoodie and a skirt with a dotted pattern, looks directly at the reader and speaks while shrugging.

WOMAN: If it’s constantly on the news, we forget it exists.

A large arrow leads from the two people, back up to the politician in a suit.

At the very bottom of the cartoon, a small “kicker” panel shows a fat man with a beard and glasses speaking directly to the readers.
BARRY: There’s no way to break out of this cycle! …Unless the victims are white.

Posted in Media criticism, Racism & Racists |

What’s The Difference?

Cartoon by Barry

Transcript of cartoon:

A woman with glasses and a slightly frightened, anxious expression is in the foreground, speaking directly to the reader.

Behind her, on the left, are three angry student protestors, yelling stuff we don’t hear. A caption identifies them as “college students.”

Also behind her, on the right, are three wealthy-looking white men in suits – one of them is President Trump – who also look angry and are yelling things we don’t hear. A caption identifies them as “governors, senators, president.”

WOMAN: Both sides have scary radicals! So what’s the difference?

This cartoon on Patreon.

Posted in Media criticism, Social Justice |

Oh Those Intolerant Liberals!

Cartoon by Barry

Transcript:

Panel 1 shows two “black bloc” protesters, with black hoodies and faces masked, standing with broken glass around them. One is holding a brick, and both are waving a fist in the air.

CAPTION: Berkeley: Masked far-left protesters set fires and break windows.
BB1: Oooh, look at us. We’re such hardcore rebels!
BB2: In your FACE, people who do tedious activism work that actually matters!

Panel 2
An angry man holding a smoking handgun yells at someone on the ground in front of him.
CAPTION: Seattle: A fan of a right-wing speaker shoots a left-wing protester.
ANGRY MAN: Stop trying to silence me!

Panel 3
A cheerful man in a suit and tie looks directly a the viewer, hand out in a “explaining things” gesture.
CAPTION: Michigan: A Republican party official suggests that student protesters should be shot.
MAN: Kent State is a model we should all aspire to!

Panel 4
A young white man, face distorted by hate, is standing with his back to us, holding a gun, and glaring back at us over his shoulder.
CAPTION: Quebec: A white supremacist, anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-feminist, Trump supporter murders six people in a Mosque.
MAN: Being privileged in every way imaginable has made me so ANGRY!

Panel 5
Three well-dressed people wear expressions of panic as they yell in unison.
CAPTION: And the pundits spoke.
PUNDITS: Why are liberals so intolerant?

Posted in Media criticism |

TV News Can Always See The Bright Side

Cartoon by Barry

This comic strip was a component of a larger page of cartoons originally done for Dollars & Sense Magazine. You can view the whole thing here.

Posted in Economic cartoons, Media criticism |

Is it a recession yet?

Cartoon by Barry

This comic strip was a component of a larger page of cartoons originally done for Dollars & Sense Magazine. You can view the whole thing here.

Posted in Economic cartoons, Media criticism |

Recession Funnies!

Cartoon by Barry

“Recession Funnies” was a 2/3 page group of cartoons done for Dollars & Sense Magazine. It’s too large to fit in this space, but you can view the whole thing here.

Posted in Economic cartoons, Media criticism, Racism & Racists |

Reality Television

Cartoon by Barry

Posted in Media criticism, Sexism & Misogyny |

It’s a Tidy System

Cartoon by Barry

Posted in Barry's favorites, Elections, Health care, Media criticism |

Objectivity Funnies

Cartoon by Barry

Posted in Barry's favorites, Media criticism |

Protecting Democracy in Venezuela

Cartoon by Barry

Posted in Imperialism & War, Media criticism |

Diary of a T.V. Network Executive

Cartoon by Barry

Posted in Media criticism |

The Wonders Of An Independent Press

Cartoon by Barry

Posted in Media criticism |

Disney, Mickey Mouse and Copyright: How Do You Spell Contempt?

Cartoon by Barry

Panel five was so much fun to draw.

Posted in Barry's favorites, Media criticism |

If Leftists Dominate TV, Why Can’t I Find Any?

Cartoon by Barry

Posted in Media criticism |

If The Media Reported Local Stories Like They Report War Stories

Cartoon by Barry

Posted in Imperialism & War, Media criticism |