With the Democrats in the House voting in favor of letting illegal immigrants vote but failing to contain Ilhan Omar’s hatemongering it was quite a week for the privileged white one-percenter Nancy Pelosi.
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Tag Archives: political cartoons
POLITICAL CARTOON ROUNDUP: MARCH 9th
Filed under humor, LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
POLITICAL CARTOONS: FEBRUARY 9th
A roundup of some recent political cartoons. Maybe Jussie Smollett should have been added to this first one:
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, opinion
PUCK: BOSS PLATT, FATHER KNICKERBOCKER AND EUGEN SANDOW
Balladeer’s Blog takes another look at a political cartoon from Puck magazine (1871-1918), the famous humor magazine. For more Puck click HERE
This time around it’s the cover illustration from June 9th, 1897. The cartoon depicts a furious Father Knickerbocker breaking chains labeled “Raines Law” and “Hayseed Legislation” while the caption reads “Let Boss Platt beware: Father Knickerbocker is in training for this Sandow Act.”
Father Knickerbocker, then as now, was the symbol of New York. The figure was based on Washington Irving’s Diedrich Knickerbocker, the pseudonym under which he wrote his History of New York in 1809. That history was told from the alleged perspective of the old-line Dutch families who had settled New York before it was taken by the British.
There had actually been a Knickerbocker family in New York since the 1600s and the name appealed to Irving as being quintessentially Dutch-American.
Boss Platt was Thomas C Platt, successor to the corrupt Roscoe Conkling as the head of New York’s Republican Party Machine. (Tammany Hall, synonymous with political corruption, was still the name used for the state’s Democrat Party Machine)
Joseph Keppler at Puck magazine disdained Platt and the New York machine as much as he disdained Tammany Hall. The Raines Law chain being broken by Father Knickerbocker symbolized the Blue Law banning the sale of alcohol in New York on Sundays. Keppler held Boss Platt responsible for Raines Law and other parochial legislation known as Hayseed Legislation, the other chain being broken by Father Knickerbocker. Continue reading
Filed under Puck Magazine
POLITICAL CARTOONS: JANUARY 19th
Here are some recent examples. The first one ridicules accused rapist and accused suborner of perjury Robert Mueller.
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES
PUCK: ROBBER BARONS THEN AND SILICON VALLEY ROBBER BARONS NOW
Puck magazine (1871-1918), the well-known political humor magazine, was at its height under original founder and creative director cartoonist Joseph Keppler. Here is a February 23rd, 1881 Keppler political cartoon depicting Jay Gould, the telegraph monopolist, and Cornelius Vanderbilt the railroad baron.
The point of the cartoon is the way those two Robber Barons – allied with like-minded newspaper tycoons – abused their wealth and political influence to bind the United States (represented here by Uncle Sam) to their will.
Joseph Keppler was outraged at the power so unethically wielded by such figures to cloak themselves in righteous, philanthropic public images while in reality they – in Keppler’s words – clutched “the United States and all its institutions by the throat.”
This is similar to the way the Silicon Valley and Social Media Robber Barons of today cloak themselves in “socially conscious” public images while in reality clutching the United States and all its institutions by the throat.
The Robber Barons criticized by Puck magazine exerted their ugly influence on behalf of right-wing politicians. The Robber Barons of the 21st Century tend to exert their ugly influence on behalf of left-wing politicians. The end results are equally totalitarian. Continue reading
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion, Puck Magazine
PUCK MAGAZINE: THE POLITICAL JANUS
January is an appropriate month for this latest post about Puck magazine (1871-1918). Here at Balladeer’s Blog I’ve long made clear my fascination with that political humor magazine. Puck political cartoons – especially from the covers – are still much sought-after and I own a few myself.
The magazine was a German language publication targeted at new arrivals from Europe and the cartoons stood out early on. There is no language barrier to satirical political cartoons, so even Americans who spoke no German could follow the editorial drift of those humorous illustrations. In 1877 Puck began publishing both English AND German language editions.
Here’s a cartoon from its pro-Theodore Roosevelt heyday depicting the wildly different opinions of the bombastic, “rock the boat of political corruption” Teddy Roosevelt. President Trump is a lot like T.R. and his cousin F.D.R. – hated by corrupt career politicians but loved by the working class and the poor.
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion, Puck Magazine
POLITICAL CARTOONS: A FRESH SAMPLING
Here are some recent political cartoons, starting off with one about Obama’s delusional claim that his administration was scandal-free. Uh. Yeah.
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
