Sunday morning toons: Making the necessary exceptions

If you chortled over the Oregon bakers who had to pay a six-figure damage settlement to the couple who wanted a cake for their same-sex wedding because they refused service (a violation of state and federal law) and then – this was the part that burned them – published the couple's name and address, and went on a regular media/social media tour that gave the couple the gift of unwanted notoriety, but you climbed on the bandwagon to out and shame the vanity-safari dentist who most recently killed a beloved lion in Zimbabwe, you very likely didn't make the cut today. (CSotD spelled out the argument in fine detail here, so I don't have to.) The dentist is a jerk, no question, and the lion should still be alive and doing liony things, but when the social media starts wilding, I get nervous, and so should you. It's not a good idea to rely on this defense.

If you're still humping the original, discredited, and twice-corrected NYTimes story about a supposed criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton regarding her use of email while Secretary of State (especially now that there's some evidence that the bogus story was fed to the Times by Republicans on the House Benghazi Committee) suggesting that, all these years later, the Times still maintains a different definition of "fit to print" when it's a Clinton – you didn't make the cut. Again.

And if you are still trying to get mileage out of the nothing-burger that is the edited Planned Parenthood "documentaries," now being bandied about as reason for congressional Republicans to shut down the federal government yet again (because it worked so well last time), you not only didn't make the cut (again), you probably weren't even allowed into the parking lot outside where the cut was happening.

The rest of the 2016 GOP presidential candidate pool has studied Trump Ascendant and seemed to have learned the lesson that the only way – and I'm not saying they're wrong, mind you – they only way they can guarantee they'll be on the debate stage with him this Thursday is to try and match him outrageous and offensive public statement for outrageous and offensive public statement. (Mike Huckabee, pick up the white courtesy phone. Mike Huckabee, the white courtesy phone please.)

Which reminds me, there was also something about a smashed cell phone. What was that all about? Heh.

Today's toons were selected by some as-yet undisclosed system 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: Jeff Stahler, Gary Varvel, Signe Wilkinson, Robert Ariail, Darrin Bell, Chip Bok, Steve Breen, Jeff Danziger, Tim Eagan, Clay Jones, Rebecca Hendin, and Matt Wuerker.

p3 Best of Show: Darrin Bell.

p3 Legion of Merit: Clay Bennett.

p3 Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium: Chris Britt.

p3 World Toon Review: Corax (Serbia) and Jalal Hajir (Morocco).

Ann Telnaes looks at what you may have to do to get on stage with the short-fingered vulgarian.

Mark Fiore sez: Perspective – use it or lose it.

Tom Tomorrow should be more grateful, apparently.

Keith Knight finds eight when there were once seven. (And we aren't talking about Santa's reindeer.)

Reuben Bolling has his Shirley Jackson moment. ("It isn't fair!" sobbed Penelope.) And I remind readers once again that Chagrin Falls is a real town in Ohio, and I had a friend in college who was from there.)

Red Meat's Ted Johnson may have some post-legalization issues concerning his stash.

The Comic Strip Curmudgeon presents Dagwood in a little something we like to call Groundhog Day Stew.

Comic Strip of the Day passes a milestone. So to speak.

Aw, now yuh went and hurt muh feelings! When Beaky the Buzzard went up against Bugs Bunny (in "Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid," directed by Bob Clampett in 1942), things didn't go so well for him. He has better luck eight years later – at least for a while – against Leo the Lion in "The Lion's Busy," directed in 1950 by Friz Freleng. He keeps his original musical theme, though: "Arkansas Traveler," but without the lyric he sang in his 1942 debut: "Ah'm gonna catch a bay-bee bumble bee – won't mah momma be so proud of me?") The whole lion thing appearing in this week's p3 toon review is, of course, a complete coincidence.

Value-Sized Oregon Toon Block:

Ex-Oregonian Jack Ohman offers a demonstration.

Very Possibly Ex-Oregonian Jen Sorensen raises an important question.

Matt Bors has one today you really need to stick to the last panel for.

Jesse Springer serves up fried salmon: It's what's for dinner in Oregon.

Test your toon captioning spellcraft 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.