Login with Patreon
WHAT YOU'LL GET:
  • 20 YEAR ARCHIVE!
  • Themed collections!
  • PATRON Chat room!
  • ALL BLOG ENTRIES!
Login with Patreon
SEE MORE
DARRIN BELL
PROJECTS
HERE

Image Over Substance

Perusing the conservative blogosphere this morning, this caught my eye. To an extent, all candidates are chosen based on their image. It’s why Barack Obama or Rudy Giuliani may someday be President, and Dennis Kucinich never will. What I found interesting is that these people at one of the leading Conservative blogs apparently see nothing wrong with that, and are in fact downright giddy about it:
In a sense, then, [Fred] Thompson looks like the perfect blend of the Allen/Frist/Romney/Gingrich and McCain/Giuliani “factions.” He seems to combine the conservatism of the former cluster with at least some of the popularity and stature of the latter pairing. This is not to suggest that Thompson is a national hero like McCain and Giuliani. But in addition to a long and distinguished record of public service, he has the good fortune to play a distinguished public servant on television. Millions of Americans see Thompson exercise sound judgment every week as the district attorney on “Law and Order.” I’m reliably informed that the show’s creator, Dick Wolf, developed the persona of this fictional D.A. specifically for Thompson, and that the actor/politician protects his image by pushing back when he thinks his lines don’t portray him in the proper light. But the point isn’t whether we’re seeing the real Fred Thompson on the show; the point is that, if Thompson runs, millions of America will see the character when they see the candidate, and to that extent will like what they see. 

Desperate to Vote

At our precinct, voting was standing-room only. Or, more accurately, sitting-room only. Turnout was so much higher than expected that people were sitting on chairs (as I did) and on the floor to vote, because there weren’t enough booths. People sure were desperate to vote yesterday:
READING, Pa. – Anna Urban has been voting since Franklin D. Roosevelt was president and wasn’t about to miss an election. When the 95-year-old Reading resident didn’t have a ride to the polls Tuesday, she didn’t hesitate. She dialed 911.Dispatchers forwarded the call to the Berks County Election Services office, where it was considered a compliment.”To call 911 and ask for help to vote really says a lot,” said Deborah M. Olivieri, election services director. “It meant a lot to everyone in this office; it made us feel what we do is worthwhile.”County Commissioner Judith L. Schwank immediately picked up Urban, and Urban walked to the voting booth at Millmont Elementary School on her arm.”All my life I voted,” said Urban, a Democrat, who cast her first ballot in the 1930s. “You need to vote to be a good citizen.”-Philadelphia Inquirer

Fox News finally notices the Diebold voting machine scandal

Now that the Democratic Party seems poised to retake the House, Fox News gets concerned about the voting machines. Where were they in 2002 and 2004, when the polls were nearly dead-even and every single Diebold “error” miraculously ended up favoring the Republican Party?

…and, a 10 minute video summarizing the Princeton study (which is one of many studies & tests showing how our votes are being stolen):

Reader mailbag – “But Lieberman IS ‘moderate!’ the Media says so!”

This is representative of the feedback to today’s cartoon about Joe Lieberman and the mainstream media:
By candor do you mean your opinion?—no humor? Most people do not want a time table to pull out of Iraq.The people who are against privitization of SS don’t have an alternative solution.Most people don’t want to raise taxes to supprt universal health care.I’m sure the people you surround yourself with don’t think Lieberman is a moderate,but most Americans do,based on facts,not the”mass media”.–Is your comic ever humorous?–it so one sided.-Steve N.
…And my response…
1. As recently as last month, 57 percent of Americans supported a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.-source2. The people who are against privatization of Social Security DO have an alternative solution: it’s called Social Security. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. A plurality of the country believed in 2005 that the system wasn’t broken, and modest changes to the system, along the lines of the changes made in the ’80s, would keep it solvent for generations.-source3. Most people do want universal health care, even if it meant raising taxes.-sourceIn short, you’re wrong on every count — which leads me to believe that your assessment of the humor in Candorville is probably equally faulty. Thanks for taking the time to write!

Join the community

Join the community to converse with other Candorville, Rudy Park, THE TALK, and Darrin Bell Political Cartoons readers in a positive environment, to get access to thousands of archived editorial cartoons and comic strips, and to read behind-the-scenes reports and mini essays on important and not-so-important topics.