CSotD: Tales of Neglect and Indifference
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I often start the day with something silly, but I'll reverse that to feature this Cartoon Movement piece by Agim Sulaj, an Albanian cartoonist currently living just across the street in Remini, Italy.
"Perhaps if we listened to our children more, this world would be a better place," he comments, and the fact that he doesn't tie it into any particular event makes me like it that much more.
A small child clings to the jacket of a slumping, disinterested adult, hopelessly knocking for an answer that will not come.
I like it even more because it's not about Manchester and it's not about refugees and it's not about hunger or Medicaid or anything specific.
And I hate it even more because I'm less dismayed over villains who blow children up or let them drown at sea or refuse them refuge from warfare than I am over people who, even in the most comfortable of situations, fail to listen to them and fail to make them a priority.
How can you say you love those distant babies when you ignore your own?
It's as mundane as seeing a baby cry in the store and hoping this was a rare accident, that the parent somehow could not avoid scheduling a shopping trip opposite nap time.
But if that were the case, the baby would not be lying in the cart, screaming in a plastic baby holder. It would be on its parent's shoulder, being comforted.
Nobody is demanding that you save all of the world's children, just that you take care of your own. For god's sake, just pick up your child and hold it.
Is that so hard?
There are those who get it, and those who don't, and thank god the world is changing, though never fast enough.
This Lithuanian basketball coach gets it. (If the subtitles don't come up, click the CC button)
And so does Agim Sulaj.
Now onto some things that don't matter nearly so much.
Juxtaposition of the timeless
(Drew Sheneman, today)
(Herblock, 1964)
One difference between this pair, I suppose, is that Herblock was, through deliberate sarcasm, pointing out the rotten foundation under Candidate Goldwater's implication that the poor were to blame for their situation, while Sheneman is talking about an actual budget proposal from the duly elected leader of our nation.
I mean, Goldwater did lose, after all, whether it was for this or because the American people preferred a president who promised not to send American boys to fight in an Asian war.
More to the point at the moment is that Herblock had to invent the cruelty inherent in the oblivious attitude towards the less fortunate, at a time when, as Molly Worthen notes in this Atlantic article, young Donald Trump was sitting in the pews listening to Norman Vincent Peale preach the gospel of prosperity, which contends that, in stark contradiction to every word that Jesus Christ ever uttered, God rewards righteousness with wealth.
Which is why people who claim to be Christian can embrace a politician who stands for nothing in the New Testament.
Or at least nothing beyond Herod's prescription for a peaceful, crime-free nation. (JC being saved by the fact that Egypt didn't have restrictive laws to keep out refugees.)
The other difference is that there was a time when decent folks didn't say such hateful things aloud.
Decent folks still don't say such hateful things aloud, but they're increasingly outnumbered by those who do.
The latest victory for those who don't get it is a budget proposal that works harder to strip assistance from those without jobs, which is a popular hobbyhorse among the haters but, as another Atlantic piece notes, has dubious underpinnings.
Perhaps if they mandated a higher minimum wage, so that the available jobs were sustainable, plus universal health care, their Darwinian theory would work.
Also, it would be nice if owners continued to pay high taxes on profits as an inducement to reduce those profits by investing in their workers in true trickle-down fashion.
Amid all this open cruelty, I'm reminded of why democracy works better in small communities.
I was covering Town Meeting in Phillips, Maine (pop. 1,028), one year when a warrant item came up on the budget for $250 as a donation to a homeless shelter in Portland.
Portland being about two hours distant, someone rose to ask why on earth it was proposed to make a donation to a shelter there, and got a supportive murmur from the crowd.
The town manager, however, explained that it was a request for partial re-imbursement because a local resident had taken advantage of the facility and, while he didn't name anyone, he didn't have to. A second murmur went through the crowd.
People knew who he meant and they understood how it happened and the item passed without dissent.
That's how the world should work, but we're not that small anymore, and, besides, it's easier to close your heart if you close your eyes and ears as well.
And Jesus is going to make you rich, because that's how righteousness is rewarded: Prayer and lottery tickets.
For thus was it written in the Book of Pearl.
And then there's this guy
I promised to reverse the normal flow of silly-to-serious today and I can't do much sillier than Sheriff David Clarke, as drawn by Matt Bors in his full clown regalia, having invented a uniform for himself that includes, well … bling.
As Snopes points out, it's not stolen valor because none of those trinkets are military medals. And, contrary to that mean old Matt Bors' suggestion, Clarke doesn't claim they are.
Apparently, he simply doesn't understand how uniforms work, kind of the way he doesn't understand how quotation marks work.
In any case, he's good enough, he's smart enough and, doggone it, Donald Trump reportedly likes him enough to offer him the top job at Homeland Security.
I feel more secure already, don't you?
Maybe he'll also get to redesign the flag.
Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.
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