The Art Of Politics: As The World Burns The Politics Keeps Going

Well, it’s been another month in the world of politics. Which means it’s time to prove, once more, that political cartoonists are the proof of the old saying that a picture paints a thousand words… this is The Art Of Politics.

The world’s on fire…

Europe, the USA, and all over the world we have reports of wildfires and extreme weather. Whilst July also saw the average global temperature hit 17.18C and experts expect that record to be broken again very soon.

It’s almost as though the climate change warnings should be taken seriously…

Nicola Jennings –

And Ben Jennings uses the opening of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer to make a point…

Ella Baron –

Mike Luckovich – 

And Ann Telnaes on America’s attitude to it all…

 

Matt Davies on the same –

And Matt Davies again on climate change deniers…

 

 

THE (SORRY) STATE OF NOT GREAT BRITAIN…

Ben Jennings sums up the state of the UK pretty perfectly… as the government flounders in so many different ways…

Morten Morland on a similar theme…

Chris Riddell –

 

75 years of the NHS…

Yep, the National Health Service is on its knees, the crowning achievement of Britain and it’s been, and continues to be, undermined and underfunded. Why, it’s almost as if all those in power want it to be privatised.

Ben Jennings – 

Steve Bell on Tony Blair telling us that there should be ‘an expanded role’ for private care…

Morten Morland –

& not unrelated… Strike, Strike, Strike!

Sarah Akinterinwa – on Rishi Sunak (the richest Prime Minister we’ve ever had) and striking doctors…

Morten Morland –

Peter Brookes –

Immigration and the race to the bottom

The UK’s continued vile response to migration, immigration, and asylum seekers continues.

There have been so many moments of sheer hatred and vile plans over the last few months, including the idea of floating prisons barges to house asylum seekers. But I think we reached a new low when the Immigration Minister, Robert Jenrick, ordered the removal of paintings of cartoon characters on the walls of an asylum centre in Kent because they were ‘too welcoming.’

I don’t care where you stand on immigration for this, but if you’re the sort of person who thinks that we should further traumatise children who’ve already gone through so much pain and misery, first in their own country and then during the trauma of travelling to a new country – then you’re simply a monster.

Henry Beaumont –

Ben Jennings –

Daniel Christie on Suella Braverman and the barges to hold asylum seekers.

And Steve Bell comparing the barges with the small boats – so many lives lost

Dave Brown on the excuses…

 

Media hypocrisy and the Murdoch sewer…

There was a kerfuffle this month over a BBC news reader paying a young man (17/18, we’re not quite sure, but of legal age whatever) for explicit pictures. The media machine kicked into overdrive, demanding his name, demanding the BBC do something about it. The Met Police investigated and found nothing illegal. But the newsreader’s wife was forced to issue a statement on his behalf anyway.

And most of the media slurry that came gushing down came from Murdoch papers and channels – because they’re always bastions of decency and responsibility. And don’t get me started on the many police investigations going on in Parliament at the moment where politicians are accused of many sexual offences, including rape.

Ben Jennings –

And Morten Morland on the way it overwhelmed other, way more serious stories and the spectacle of the BBC reporting on itself…

 

OVER IN THE GOOD OL’ USA

Gran’pa Joe comes to Britain…

He was here/there to talk climate change but it did rather inconveniently coincide with the announcement that the US was sending cluster bombs to Ukraine…

Steve Bell –

 

Election 2024 – 

Well, it’s a long way off for sure, but we’re deep in electioneering right now. On the one side, the most indicted ex-President of American history. On the other side, Gran’pa Joe, a man who sets pulses racing every time he walks – just in case he takes one fall too many and who the Republicans keep finding ways to weaken him with his son, Hunter.

Mike Luckovich sums that up nicely…

 

Trump, record-breaking ex-Pres

Well, the indictments keep on rolling in. And those court dates are getting nearer, with the latest news being that the orange one will be in court for the classified documents case from May 2024, deep into election time. This after Trump and his legal team attempted to postpone the trial until after the general election takes place in November 2024.

Bill Bramhall –

Mike Luckovich –

 

MAGA to the right of me, MAGA to the left… the rise of Kennedy

Well, we now don’t just have insanity on the MAGA right, as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has thrown his name into the ring for Democrat nomination. He’s a celebrated environmental lawyer who appears to have fallen down a rabbir hole of ant-Covid conspiracy theories. Right now, he sounds more like a MAGA Republican than a Democrat. But he’s getting some traction – all of which seems to prove that US voters are a strange, strange lot. Or perhaps they’re looking at doddering Gran’pa Joe and thinking maybe they want someone who they aren’t constantly worrying is going to fall over one time too many?

Anyway, Tim Campbell –

PX Molina – 

Kal – 

 

Meanwhile, the War on Woke stalls…

Of course we have the worry of DeSantis, Trump, et. al., riding roughshod over rights in their ridiculous war on woke – but it’s been rather bulldozed by a movie…

Nick Anderson –

Bill Bramhall –

Tim Campbell – 

Tom Stiglich – 

 

But elsewhere it’s getting stronger…

It’s not just MAGA Republicans that are espousing hardline policies. It’s scary how so many Americans seem to be all right with politicians spouting rhetoric and making policy that discriminates against LGBTQ+ and POC, takes away the rights of women, and generally turns America into a worse place, all with the support of a far right Supreme Court, who judged that it was fine for a web designer backed by a Christian group to reject making websites for same-sex couples as it would violate her first amendment rights. A terrible decision and one that sets back hard-won freedoms decades.

Here’s Mike Peters on Kevin McCarthy, Speaker of the House of Representatives and just some of the policies Republicans are following…

Ann Telnaes – 

Mike Davies – 

PX Molina – 

And Nick Anderson with similar ideas…

Matt Davies –

And Chris Britt on the big thing that the Republicans don’t want to talk about…

 

 

UKRAINE

Chris Britt on the USA sending cluster bombs to Ukraine.

Nicola Jennings on the concerns over Russia possibly planning attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Peter Schrank on NATO and Ukraine…

and Peter Brookes on the same…

and Kal…

 

Oh, and the child with too much money decided to mess with his toys again…

Ann Telnaes on the Twitter logo change. Someone pointed out that brands around the world would literally kill for having their product become a verb like tweet. So, what does Elon do? Yep, X it is.