set back 2 years
Apr
11
2025
Alexandra Bowman's cartoon captures the stock market turmoil under Trump policies, showing caricatures of Trump, Elon Musk, and JD Vance gleefully riding a rocket down a crashing graph line marked with IRAs, stocks, 401ks, and pension funds. The NYSE sign declares 'You Must Be This Rich to Ride,' piled with money bags, satirizing how tariffs and Republican strategies favor the wealthy while everyday investments and retirement savings take a dive over an extremely short time period. The 'WHEEE!' shout adds dry humor to the volatile Wall Street scene, poking at MAGA's high-risk economic ride.
Apr
7
2025
Dick Wright's cartoon captures the irony of reciprocal tariffs with a massive foot marked 'excessive foreign tariffs' descending on a caricatured Trump, who grimaces while clutching a metallic object. The red label 'Reciprocal TARIFFS' floats nearby, emphasizing the backlash from unfair trade policies. Trade deficits loom large as the foot represents international retaliation, potentially sparking a stock market downturn. In a tariff driven economy, the image satirizes how such measures invite excessive foreign tariffs, risking recession. The composition underscores the self-defeating nature of aggressive trade stances, with Trump's strained expression highlighting the pressure on domestic markets. This piece fits into ongoing debates on global trade imbalances.
Nov
3
2024
The cartoon shows a group of figures styled as a bronze statue, mimicking the famous Iwo Jima war memorial in Washington DC, where Marines raised the American flag during World War Two. Here, poll workers struggle to plant the flagpole into a box labeled 'VOTE,' with the base inscribed 'POLL WORKER HEROES.' This satire ties into the 2024 presidential election, featuring tags like campaign 2024, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, voter fraud, and MAGA. It underscores the heroic efforts of election staff amid heated debates over fraud allegations, blending historical reverence with contemporary political tension in a straightforward, humorous visual commentary on democracy's frontline defenders.
Feb
13
2023
Rivers draws a colossal UFO dominating the sky above a cityscape, its underside detailed with mechanical textures and a central depression, while the top features antenna-laden structures. The caption "They want to know what happened to their weather balloons..." flips the script on recent events involving NORAD, weather balloons, spying, UFO, aliens, UAP, interception, shoot downs, USAF, national defense, and the Chinese spy balloon. Cartoonists love these timely absurdities, where real-world tensions over aerial intrusions get a humorous extraterrestrial twist. The image captures that dry irony, with the alien craft's imposing presence contrasting the mundane city below, poking fun at official explanations and public paranoia. It's a classic setup for editorial commentary on surveillance and overreactions.
Jun
5
2019
Christopher Weyant's 2019 cartoon shows Trump swinging a tariffs-labeled club at a Mexico-themed piñata, while a beaten Uncle Sam lies on the ground, hat fallen, speaking about Mexico's endurance. The image captures trade tensions with China and Canada in mind, using the big stick metaphor for beating that backfires on the American consumer. Debris scatters around the striped figure, emphasizing self-inflicted taxes through tariffs. The wall isn't visible, but the satire points to broader policy fallout.
Apr
29
2016
Dave Granlund's cartoon shows a row of gravestones in a green cemetery, each inscribed with familial terms like mom, mother, nana, mum, grandma, and ma, adorned with potted flowers in vibrant colors. A speech bubble floats above, saying 'ON OUR DAY WE STILL LOVE VISITS...' with pink hearts scattered around, under a tree branch. The image evokes remembrance on mothers day for those passed away, emphasizing visits to graves of died loved ones. Tags like mothers, day, gone, flowers, and missing underscore the theme of honoring the deceased. This straightforward drawing uses simple lines and colors to convey quiet emotion without overstatement, fitting for editorial pages around the holiday.
Aug
26
2015
Peter Broelman's 2015 cartoon depicts a chaotic roller coaster labeled global economy, where a large panda bear marked China is falling off the top, its angry expression highlighting the bear market plunge. Businessmen in suits, representing Wall Street and stock market players, are thrown about in panic, some clinging desperately while others tumble with hats flying. The scene satirizes the China bubble bursting and its ripple effects on the economy, turning financial volatility into a thrilling yet terrifying ride. Tags like China bubble, economy, Wall Street, bear market, stock market, and global economy underscore the interconnected fears of that era's market crash.
May
22
2013
Rick McKee's 2013 cartoon depicts an IRS office where a female agent presents an audit document to a seated male taxpayer. The taxpayer, grinning with a thumbs up, declares he has done nothing wrong and refuses more questions, noting it worked for the agent. This IRS audit cartoon highlights themes of accountability and hypocrisy in a political satire IRS agent context. The image uses dry humor to comment on the IRS scandal, with the taxpayer pleads fifth cartoon element turning the tables. Elements like the IRS sign and office setting reinforce the government agency accountability cartoon narrative, making it a sharp take on bureaucratic irony.
