Sunday morning toons: A week for the record books

Donald Trump has accomplished two things I wouldn't have thought could be done: He's made John McCain a sympathetic character, and he's handed what remains of the GOP establishment, and rest of the GOP 2016 presidential pack, an issue on which they can finally attack him ethically and with gusto, without worrying that it will boomerang on them. Achieving the impossible. It's what he does.

And I'm old enough to remember when arming Iran, even if – especially if! – you had to violate federal law and the explicit will of Congress to do it, was the thing that sent a tingle down conservatives' legs. How did they make it here in less than 30 years?

And meanwhile, the rest of America is watching with bated breath for the moment when the armed crazies in Texas start shooting each other, in defense against the secret Obama takeover under the guise of Jade Helm 15.

Oh yeah – and if you believed, or pretended to believe, that phony and discredited anti-Planned Parenthood video that made the rounds this week, you had to get your links somewhere else today.

And finally, the sooner the travesty that is Harper Lee's "prequel" to To Kill A Mockingbird and the ghouls who cashed in on it by outlasting Lee's loyal sister and bamboozling the addled Lee herself, despite her constantly-expressed wishes that it never see the light of published day, all drop off the face of the earth, the better. So no links there, either, even if you agree with me.

Today's toons were selected by no obvious criterion except the above, from the week's offerings at McClatchy DC, Cartoon Movement, Go Comics, Politico's Cartoon Gallery, Daryl Cagle's Political Cartoons, About.com, and other fine sources of toony goodness.

p3 Picks of the week: Mike Luckovich, Jeff Danziger, Matt Davies, Jim Morin, Ted Rall, Rob Rogers, Signe Wilkinson, Lalo Alcaraz, Clay Bennett, Stuart Carlson, Pat Bagley, Matt Wuerker, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Best of Show (tie): Steve Kelley (more for the wonderful image than the opinion) and Jeff Danziger (more for the opinion than the image).

p3 Legion of Merit: Chan Lowe.

p3 "Once For Yourself And Once For Your Dreams" Award: Rebecca Hendon.

p3 Certificate of Harmonic Toon Convergence: Nick Anderson and Pat Bagley.

Ann Telnaes observes the lock-step formation between dishonest anti-abortion provocateurs and congressional Republicans. It's disgusting, but it will keep on keeping on. As always, here is the p3 recommendation for such people.

Mark Fiore lets you help the TSA keep us safe. Can you match their record?

Tom Tomorrow puts Sparky through much the same dream that Jon Stewart didn't wake up from. We sympathize.

Keith Knight undertakes a thought experiment.

Until I saw this Reuben Bolling cartoon, I never considered how much Donald Trump looks like Angela Lansbury. (Also, RB and John Deering came this close to getting a p3 Certificate of Harmonic Toon Convergence!)

Red Meat's Bug-eyed Earl discovers that there are worse things than shooting your eye out.

The Comic Strip Curmudgeon examines what happens when power relations in a society without organized political structures shift: fratricidal violence.

Comic Strip of the Day reminded me of a taken-for-granted experience from my childhood days on a farm in Indiana. Nowadays I'm grateful just to see Mars or Casseopeia.

Assumption, Reality, Character, Desire, Discipline, Human Behavior, and Logic: Tony Zhou and Every Frame a Painting produced this nice tribute to the art of Chuck Jones, of the p3 pantheon of gods. Props for recognizing the connection of Jones's success to the stories by Michael Maltese and Tedd Pierce.

The Big, And Getting Bigger Since We Welcomed Back The Departed, Oregon Toon Block:

Come for Ex-Oregonian Jack Ohman's thoughts on Californians' all-too-typical response to the drought, stay for the Tom Selleck joke.

Very Possibly Ex-Oregonian Jen Sorensen shares a few of the under-hyped moments you missed at SDCC.

Matt Bors reports on that awkward silence.

Test your toon captioning kung fu at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.) And you can browse The New Yorker's cartoon gallery here.

The p3 Sunday Comics Read-Along: Pearls Before Swine, Doonesbury, Rhymes with Orange, Zits, Adam @ Home, Mutts, Over the Hedge, Get Fuzzy, Prince Valiant, Blondie, Bizarro, Mother Goose & Grimm, Rose is Rose, Luann, Hagar the Horrible, Pickles, Rubes, Grand Avenue, Freshly Squeezed, The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee, and Jumble.