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
As always Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog is the only site on the web that criticizes both major parties equally. Thoughts are turning toward the 2020 Presidential race here in the U.S. At this point the Republican candidate will likely be President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, everybody but the corpse of Lyndon Johnson seems to be announcing their candidacy on the Democrat side of the aisle. 
Getting back to O’Rourke, here’s a quick non-partisan take on what he has going for him. 
WHY WAS MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY ESTABLISHED?
Anti-Trump loons have had a VERY bad last couple of days. The Fake News outlets of the Democrats ran with ANOTHER false story – this one about Trump supposedly ordering Cohen to lie ONLY TO HAVE ROBERT MUELLER HIMSELF PUBLICLY POINT OUT HOW WRONG IT WAS. 
ANTI-TRUMP LOONS ACCIDENTALLY PROVE DEMOCRAT COLLUSION WITH RUSSIA WHILE PURSUING TRUMP
Privileged white one percenter and Democrat career criminal Nancy Pelosi once again demonstrated her political party’s typical hypocrisy on the issue of illegal immigration and border enforcement. The link is below.
Loomer, a heroine to an entire generation of empowered young women, then read aloud from a list of the dead and raped victims of illegal immigrant violence until Nancy Pelosi sicced police on the crowd. 
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. 
RED CROSS COMPARES THE U.S. – MEXICO BORDER TO A WAR ZONE – Apparently the white collar criminals of the Washington D.C. Swamp are going to wait until Mexican Drug Cartel gunmen are trading shots inside the Alamo itself before they deign to acknowledge the druglord no-man’s land in the American Southwest. 
Nor do they care about all the additional crimes committed by repeat deportees who simply re-cross the border. Democrats consider all illegal immigrants to be voters for their political party, either with or without amnesty. AND the party’s big money donors want the flood of illegals to continue so that wages fall, padding their own financial bottom lines. 
DEMOCRAT JERRY BROWN, GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA LIKE HIS FATHER BEFORE HIM, PARDONED HUNDREDS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AS HE LEFT OFFICE. Brown did that so that the poor, delicate little darlings – who had committed multiple ADDITIONAL crimes – would not have to be turned over to the Immigration authorities. 
Last night privileged white Democrats Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi looked like they had been abducted to an undisclosed location and forced to recite propaganda by their captors. 
One network even brought in James Carville to offer some commentary. If you’re wondering, Carville has spent nearly two decades now just wandering from camera to camera spouting the same 1990s take on politics. I understand that for a fee Carville will even appear in your wedding video to provide perspective on how the nuptials might impact the Clintons. 
