CSotD: State of Disunion
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Scott Stantis continues his dark night of the soul with today's Prickly City, which lays out our State of Disunion, and Carmen's comment at the end is less a punchline than a summation.
Yes, it's come to this.
Were you waiting for Fort Sumter? Pfft — That's such a 19th Century way to kick off a Civil War!
No, it's happening in the way that 21st Century civil wars happen. The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast and there are several editorial cartoonists on both sides of the battle lines whose work makes me wonder if they even read the news or simply draw pictures to reflect their loyalties, declared or covert?
Robert Ariail depicts the response to Comey's testimony, and he's depressingly correct: Those who deny, deny it all. Those who insist the conspiracy is real, act as if Comey's half-day of testimony had been definitive.
Plenty of cartoonists are joining in this bipartisan delusion: The conservatives declare that, because Comey didn't show up with 8.5" x11" color photos of Trump shooting someone on Fifth Avenue while sitting in Vladimir Putin's lap, his testimony was utterly worthless, while liberals act as if the jury can start deliberating now because there's nothing else needed.
I suppose it's understandable for people whose understanding of process is based on episodes of "Law and Order" and "CSI," in which all the evidence leaps to hand and witnesses provide everything needed to wrap up a case in 47 minutes.
But one piece of a jigsaw puzzle does not provide the whole picture and, if you don't find enough pieces, you may never get the whole picture. That doesn't mean there was no picture and it doesn't mean that the pieces you found were not originally partnered with others that you did not.
Senators know this, and Congressional Representatives know this and anyone commenting on the news in a competent and honest fashion should know this.
Especially in these fraught times, when so many people do not know how it all works, and so many people in positions of influence seem determined to keep it that way.
And if you think that's simply a sort of Darwinian matter of silly people signing up for worthless on-line colleges or trading away their structured settlements for a handful of non-magic beans, think again.
Nick Anderson comments on a situation that sent me off to Google News and Oh My God This Isn't Funny.
The basic story is that some rightwing loonies posed as leftwing loonies in order to gin up some other rightwing loonies with a rumor that the statue of Sam Houston might be removed because he owned slaves.
And the second group of rightwing loonies, being loonies, fell for it and showed up to protest a protest that wasn't happening.
Hahahahaha.
Oh, and they showed up with their guns. Still laughing?
So it was just a big joke, or, perhaps, it was a harbinger of things to come.
If you can stir up armed loonies over something that isn't happening, imagine how you can stir them up over something real?
And this isn't 1861 and they aren't going to all put on gray and butternut uniforms and gather in groups so you can see them coming, nor are they all from one part of the country, like back when they murdered Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner and James Chaney and Viola Liuzzo.
We have met them, and they are us and don't blame this all on one side.
It doesn't have to be this way, but there are plenty of people who want it to be this way.
Several months ago, someone on social media suggested that people simply wear a safety pin, a quiet message that said, "I stand against hate and bigotry."
But the Social Justice Warriors quickly rose up and declared that safety pins were just a racist way to make white people feel good, and the movement faded away.
Which is, indeed, why we can't have nice things.
I mean, the last thing you'd want is to quietly come together, or risk doing so, right?
No worries. This is like Mississippi in the early 60s, only not so geographically limited.
Go ahead. Print this out and stick it on your car.
Let me know how long it is before you find you've got a broken taillight, or worse.
And the point is not that all Trump supporters are armed and psychotic. Many are very nice people and the vast majority are perfectly sane.
Still, there are imbalanced people who don't need a lot of encouragement to act out their violent delusions, and the closer everyone pushes towards the edges, the more likely it is that somebody will fall off.
Again.
Even in high places where people wear ties and shiny shoes, the battle to divide and conquer continues. And those who tell us we needn't fear being monitored if we have nothing to hide are having a little trouble applying that principle to themselves.
You'd think, if the truth were on their side, they'd be rushing to get it out there on the table.
However, Robert Mueller, who was praised by conservatives just a few months ago, is now under fire as Trump allies seek reasons why he should be terminated, which I think began with his murder of Vince Foster and his role in faking the so-called Sandy Hook shootings, as well as his development of a special jet fuel that won't damage girders.
It will end with whoever gets the most votes in Congress, and maybe I'm wrong about all of this. I sure would like that.
But I think Tom Tomorrow has pretty well nailed even the best possible scenario, now that we've divided up into our teams.
It was easier when it all seemed contained and distant …
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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