The Art Of Politics: August In Political Cartooning
by Richard Bruton
Here we go again, another busy month of political stuff happening and none better than some of the world’s finest political cartoonists to show us all about it… it’s The Art Of Politics…
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USA – VERY MUCH ONE THING ON EVERYONE’S MINDS…
Well, there really wasn’t anything else that the majority of the US cartoonists were concentrating on – the election, the election, and the election. And in that, we had Trump being Trump, fighting a fight that can now seemingly be described as strange (he absolutely hates being called weird) old man rants and rages at younger opponent.
After the Republican National Convention, it was the Democrats turn, with Kamala Harris officially nominated and seemingly energising the party and her supporters for the fight to come. Trump seems very much on the back foot now, flailing about and looking old and strange. But the election won’t be won until its won in November and it’s always going to be way too close to call.
Nicola Jennings on Trump’s meltdown over Harris…
Morten Morland on Harris’s coronation at the DNC…
And Morten Morland again…
Dave Brown (after Hopper’s Nighthawks of course)
And David Rowe again…
And again for David Rowe…
Martin Rowson on the race for the White House…
Morten Morland on Trump not exactly liking being described as weird by the Democrats…
And Ella Baron on the same…
Ben Jennings on Trump questioning Harris’s racial identity…
Morten Morland on the ridiculous interview between second-rate Bruce Wayne and Trump…
And of course there were the usual concerns over size… crowd size… Adam Zyglis…
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THE ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETARY INCIDENT…
And then right at the end of the month, we had the Arlington National Cemetary incident. Arlington is the US’s largest cemetery, a huge military cemetery, and there are very strict federal laws and Pentagon policies about behaviour there. For example, there’s a strict rule on no political activity involving filming or photographs. So, when Trump turns up to Section 60, the area where the most recent US military dead are buried, for a wreath-laying ceremony honouring 13 servicemembers killed during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, there should have been no problems. Except this is Trump, so of course there were videos were taken by Trump’s campaign and used in advertisements.
There’s been a lot of mudslinging from the Trump side after claims that an Arlington employee who was attempting to adhere to the rules was ‘abruptly pushed aside’. Reuters reported this being said by Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung: ‘The fact is that a private photographer was permitted on the premises and for whatever reason an unnamed individual, clearly suffering from a mental health episode, decided to physically block members of President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony.’ Very classy indeed, but what would you expect?
Meanwhile, the Army, not known for making comment on this sort of thing at all, issued this statement… ‘An ANC (Arlington National Cemetery) employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside. This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked.
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THE VIEW FROM GREAT BRITAIN
RIGHT-WING RIOTING…
Well, the start of the month in Britain began with riots, as far-right hate groups and politicians stoked the tensions following the terrible deaths of three children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party in Southport. Disinformation quickly spread and, within days, it seemed the country was burning, asylum seekers in emergency accommodation were besieged, and rioters and looters were on the streets – although the thugs seemed far more interested in looting Greggs and phone stores than making any point about the tragic deaths.
For those people claiming asylum here and those immigrants doing so much for the country (try having an NHS without immigrant nurses for example), it was truly terrifying. And for anyone thinking Britain doesn’t have a serious problem with right-wing agitators, it was a wake-up call to always be wary, always be vigilant, and never let the fascists and nazis and xenophobic morons take hold.
Ben Jennings on the right-wing press’s mock outrage at a situation they helped cause…
Chris Riddell on Nigel Farage’s dog-whistle politics…
Likewise from Ella Baron…
And Dave Brown…
Rebecca Hendin on the right-wing media leaders…
Ben Jennings on the horrors that the most vulnerable had to face…
Ella Baron – on the majority of British people coming out against the far-right thugs, the fascists, the Nazis, the morons who invaded the streets earlier in the months…
And another great one from Ella Baron, leading into the next topic nicely…
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THE ELON PROBLEM…
Elon, it seems, has been on his platform far too long and just believes any old shite that someone puts up on it. This month in particular it was him spouting some old bollocks about the UK being in civil war. Okay, the sight of rioting on the streets is never a good look, but wanna-be Tony Stark without the personality and invention really shouldn’t start believing all he reads on Twitter…
Ben Jennings on pint-sized Tony Stark without the invention sharing all the false conspiracy theories…
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PUTTING BRITAIN BACK TOGETHER? GOOD LUCK WITH THAT…
Ella Baron on the troubles faced by new Prime Minister Keir Starmer in bringing Britain together in the wake of the riots…
And of course, the fallout from the riots isn’t all that the government has to deal with though, as Martin Rowson points out…
Rebecca Hendin on Starmer’s speech talking of Britain being in ‘not just an economic black hole, but a societal one.’
Stephen Lillie on the shock move to scrap winter fuel payments for all but the poorest of pensioners by Chancellor Rachel Reeves…
And Stephen Lillie again, this time on the crisis in the prisons, where overcrowding means some lower courts have been told to delay jailing criminals…
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WORLD CONFLICTS
The wars in Ukraine and Gaza continue, yet as we all know, familiarity and longevity breeds a lack of coverage in all things, even political cartooning, meaning there really isn’t all that much coverage in the US and UK…
Ella Baron on Benjamin Netanyahu and the ceasefire talks…
Martin Rowson on Ukraine’s push into Kursk…
Ben Jennings on the same…
