There were two* top stories this week:
1. In 2008, John McCain got the GOP presidential nomination not because he was the most popular, or had the right policies; he got it because he was the last man standing at the end of the primary season. In 2011, the uneasy alliance of the GOP establishment, the mainstream media, the GOP's Tea Party Base is gradually coming to an ugly conclusion: They've created a candidate selection system where that's a feature, not a bug. The person who takes the podium on Thursday night next September in Tampa Bay may very well be the one who simply happened to be ahead in the polls when the music stopped. They're burning through “next big thing” candidates at the rate of about one every three weeks. Good luck with that.
2. The mainstream corporate media has also begun to give more than merely dismissive coverage of #OccupyWallStreet (now starting its fourth week) and its siblings around the country (including Occupy Portland). The demonstrations themselves are important, arguably historic, but I think I'm more astonished that the corporate media is finding itself having not only to acknowledge their existence, but having to give them a measure of respect. That's gotta sting.
(*If you are an Apple product owner, there were three top stories this week.)
Today's selections were chosen, using a 99-cent iTunes app, from the week's political cartoon pages at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle:
p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Steve Breen, Rob Rogers, Signe Wilkinson, Chip Bok, Steve Sack, Tom Toles, Daryl Cagle, and Monte Wolverton.
p3 Best in Show: Mike Thompson.
p3 Certificate of Harmonic Toon Convergence: Nick Anderson, Jack Ohman, Mike Luckovich, and Joe Heller.
p3 Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium (tie): Pat Bagley and Mike Luckovich.
p3 World Toon Review: Ingrid Rice (Canada), Patrick Chappatte (Switzerland), Cam Cardow (Canada), and Michael Kountouris (Greece).
Sigh. Okay, fine. Here.
Ann Telnaes expresses her appreciation for the biggest non-story of the week -- and the genius who made it possible.
Mark Fiore reviews the Change that Obama has brought to America. It's pretty impressive -- could any other American leader have accomplished it?
Taiwan's Next Media Animation in one of their more wonderfully odd pieces, asks: Can Herman Cain deliver for the GOP? (Deliver. Pizza. Get it?).
Tom Tomorrow presents the GOP's newest -- or oldest? -- energy policy. (Hint: According to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: “There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.”)
The K Chronicles considers Stuff I Believe (Since Becoming a Parent).
Tom the Dancing Bug presents Rick Perry's Guide to Good Science. It's all so simple; but then, so is Governor Perry.
#OccupySpringfield! In a show of solidarity with the demonstrators at #OccupyWallStreet, Comic Riffs counts down the fifteen best “Simpsons” quotes about labor and greed. (Note: “The Simpsons” has been renewed for its 24th and 25th seasons on FOX, although it hadn't yet at the point that the 15-quotes piece was posted.)
Red Meat reveals the real reason people want to underfund scientific research in this country.
I couldn't decide which revelation of the horrors of the daily comics page by The Comic Curmudgeon to share with you, so I'm going to give you both S & M on the daily funnies and a character savagely killed for his drug crimes. (Plus, the secret origins of “Thirsty” Thurston.)
Portland homeboy Jack Ohman examines what's keeping the Wall Streeters occupied these days.
Unbe-wiev-able! “The Hare-Brained Hypnotist,” directed by Fritz Freleng, written by Michael Maltese, and voiced by Mel Blanc, was released on Halloween, 1942. (The cool scary opening theme music, by Carl Stalling, was used again in “Hair-Raising Hare” (1946), “The Super Snooper” (1952), “Hyde and Hare” (1955). The musical theme we hear when the bear and Elmer start flying is the piano-bench classic from 1855, “Listen to the Mockingbird.”)
(Note to Facebook friends: If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click View Original Post, below, to see the video.)
p3 Bonus Toon: Jesse Springer asks, who says guns and education don't mix?
News Item: A three-judge panel of the Oregon Court of Appeals said that an Oregon University System ban on guns exceeds its authority and is invalid.
Test your toon-captioning chops at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)
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