Pat Oliphant by Pat Oliphant
- September 21, 2009
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About Pat Oliphant
Called "the most influential cartoonist now working" by The New York Times, Pat Oliphant occupies a unique position among today’s editorial cartoonists: Widely considered the dean of the profession, he is one of its sharpest, most daring practitioners.
© 2009 Universal Press Syndicate - All Rights Reserved.
Comments (29) Jump to Comments Form
oldlegodad
said,
2 months ago
…being the stupid peanut (farmer) that he is (was)
pilotx said, 2 months ago
Should have had Beck standing next to him with a torch.
believecommonsense
said,
2 months ago
I get and like the toon and I always appreciate Olliphant’s work, but I don’t quite get what Punk is saying: “Tell the Messiah not to play with matches.”
Is Obama the messiah? Is Carter the Messiah? I think Obama knows Carter’s remarks were counterproductive, but Carter has teed off other sitting presidents too.
Anybody?
ray32648 said, 2 months ago
Pat thinks Carter may have an exaggerated view of himself (which he doesn’t) and prefers the ex-Pres crawl into the PC box with everyone else.
cartwrights
said,
2 months ago
I agree with Ray. Carter may not have been the greatest president ever, but he was far from the worst, and he certainly is not stupid. And being a southerner, he certainly knows the tradition of racism.
iamthemodextremist said, 2 months ago
I don’t think Obama can accuse anyone of racism, especially against himself. I think he knows that if he does it’s going to be the proverbial blood in the water for Beck, Hannity, and Limbaugh. Are they the trinity of the right wing now? And Obama will always have to downplay it whenever someone else makes a comment about racism against him. I long expected this from the first black president. He would have to act above the issue, it’s the best thing he can do.
ReasonsVentriloquist said, 2 months ago
So much better to whistle in the dark than to strike a match.
So much better to curse the darkness than to cast a light upon it.
Pat, we disagree on this one. Carter knew what he was doing when he did it and what he did was the right thing to do.
Why should the rest of us pretend not to know what is a (not THE, but A) motivating factor in this obscene treatment of a US President by his own people?
Would it have been incendiary in the ’60s to say “A reason so many of these protestors are out there is that they don’t want to go to war themselves!”? Of course not.
Is it incendiary to say that the Palestinians are getting a raw deal from the Israelis (I forget, was it you that did that cartoon with the headless Jew marching the Palestinian woman to the edge of the cliff?) Yes, but it needs to be said so that the cold light of day can shine on it. (YUP! Here it is it’s a shortcut to the BING search click the top link http://tinyurl.com/l4h8nm
, Good job on it BTW.)
Carter didn’t say it is “THE” reason, only “A” reason. That truth is self evident!
The sad thing is that someone needs to have actually said it.
The sad thing is that the Obama administration doesn’t have an answer.
pilotx said, 2 months ago
Good post RV.
striper77 said, 2 months ago
At what age do men sell their soul and man hood to the democrat party?
Jase99 said, 2 months ago
I don’t know. At what age do they sell it to the Republican Party?
cartwrights
said,
2 months ago
BTW, there is no “democrat party.” It’s the Democratic Party.
churchillwasright said, 2 months ago
REASONEDVENTRILOQUIST: If you’re going to make such a big deal about Carter’s quote that you use it twice, at least be accurate about it.
The exact quote was “I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man”.
Not “The” or “A”, but “Overwhelming”.
(Actually, that’s alot closer to “the” than “A”.
ReasonsVentriloquist said, 2 months ago
Well Churchill, I was making allowances for the fact that there are a lot of people who opposed Obama without the “intensely demonstrated animosity.”
The logic trap that people on both sides of issues fall into most often (as far as I can see) is the “Not ‘A’” trap.
The idiom goes “If ‘A’ = ‘B’ and “B’=’C’ then ‘A’=’C’”
People often try to pervert the idiom’s contrapositive. (If ‘A’ is not equal to ‘B’ and ‘B’=’C’ then ‘A’ is not equal to ‘C’)
“If ‘A’ does not =’B’ and if ‘Not B’ =’C’ then ‘A’=’C’ Therefore ‘A’=’Not B’”
In some cases this is true, If ‘Day’ is not equal to ‘Night’ and ‘Not Night’ is equal to ‘C’ then ‘Day’ =’C’.
But that only works when we are talking about absolute opposites and not when there are more then two variables. for example. ‘Day” is not equal to ‘Evening’ and ‘Not Evening’ is equal to ‘C’ then ‘Day’ is not equal to ‘C’ because ‘C’ includes ‘Night’ and ‘Dawn’ along with ‘Day.’
Bok’s cartoon http://www.gocomics.com/chipbok/2009/09/17/ engages in this sort of dislogic. So does your post. Even if it is an “overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity” that doesn’t make it “The.” No matter how hard you try to put those words in his mouth.
Corosive Frog said, 2 months ago
Carter in the toon seems more unlucky than stupid to me.
As for his remarks, they seem to be a classic case of foot in mouth. It happens.
However, there is still some racism in the US. Most black guys portrayed in the media and fiction are either stereotypes or criminals.
But things are getting better.
Tigger
said,
2 months ago
Explains his Shotgun Mouth
oldlegodad
said,
2 months ago
“”I was black before the election.” CBS Monday Whatshis face show.
churchillwasright said, 2 months ago
^ It’s a shame, in this day and age, that Obama is now in a position where he has to “walk back” a strategy that his own party contrived.
bikemaster said, 2 months ago
Jimah has a long history of anti-semitism and is not what he seems to be. The reasonable, thoughtful citizens of this nation who disagree with President Obama’s radical political agenda (I’m one of them), do so because we believe his approach has been tried before, it has never produced an increase in liberty, productivity, moral or financial strength, and we see no rational reason to keep trying utopian theories which have been mostly proven wrong. Carter is one who still believes in those theories. He’s an ugly disgrace who throws out the “racisim” charge in a lame attempt to blunt our legitimate opposition. And please, President Obama is NOT our first “black” President. Let’s quit calling him “black”. He is obviously of mixed-race, but I, for one, do not care what his racial background is. I DO care what his political ideas are. And they are WRONG!
ReasonsVentriloquist said, 2 months ago
Yeah? So?
Big deal, he wasn’t talking about YOU then. It doesn’t negate the truth of his observation.
I don’t know for sure that you’ve noticed this but the world is not you.
bikemaster said, 2 months ago
Huh? “the world is not you?” What is that supposed to mean? And why would you, or anyone, defend that embittered old man who has never gotten over being rejected after one term? His so-called “observation” is NOT truth, it is his twisted mis-statement of the situation. What is your problem Reasons-guy?
ReasonsVentriloquist said, 2 months ago
What is my problem?
Believe me there isn’t enough room here for me to answer that!
What difference does it make if Carter is “that embittered old man who has never gotten over being rejected after one term?” to the truth of what he said? Answer; “nothing”!
That’s why ad hominem responces are so routinely dismissed out of hand.
Can you be intellectually honest and say that there aren’t people who are vociferous protestors of all things Obama who ARE motivated by racial prejudice? None?
If you do then you’re completely wrong and there’s no common ground to discuss this.
As to what “the world is not you” refers to your actions wherein you assert that Carter is wrong because what he said does not apply to you. You are not the sum total of the world, regardless of what your ego tells you.
It’s really not that complicated.
bikemaster said, 2 months ago
Reasons, of course there are racists in our nation, but Carter implied that the ENTIRE protest is based on racism. That’s B.S. I don’t know where you get all this “ego” stuff. Lighten up!
ReasonsVentriloquist said, 2 months ago
No, bikemaster, he absolutely did NOT say that.
Those are the words that you and the right wing blechosphere are demanding that he put in his mouth.
So what’s BS now?
Since you can’t seem to understand that Carter could have been talking about a group that doesn’t include you, I have to admit that I’m wrong about your ego.
I guess it’s my ego speaking when I assume that all others are like me, that they listen to their inner sense of immortality. I am humbled by the relearning of the fact that some people are more affected by pundit worship than self.
BTW, I’m not really wrong, all people (if not all living creatures) are governed by the primary rule “Survival.” But it seems that humans can subdue that urge and campaign against their own survival. We call this syndrome “Stupidity.”
bikemaster said, about 1 month ago
Wow, Reasonsfella, so…..just how long have you been listening to your “inner sense of immortality”? It must be awful for you to see that everyone else is stupid & you are supremely brilliant. We all wish you well & pray that the treatments work. Oh….and I hope this doesn’t come as too much of a shock, but….you are NOT immortal!
ReasonsVentriloquist said, about 1 month ago
No kidding!
Could you be much denser bikemaster?
Every sentient person has an inner voice, can I assume that you know that?
Every sentient person’s voice is driven by the desire to survive (with the exception of those who are suicidal, but those persons are actually expecting the suicide to simply silence the voice[s] and take away the pain, even they have the expectation that will “be” better for the experience.)
All sentient people have a part of them that believes that they are the center of the universe. Most people are able to overcome this delusion, but the delusion is there still.
You displayed (what I interpreted to be) the strength of your delusion when you said that Jimmy Carter was wrong because what he said didn’t apply to you. I have since determined that your problem is stupidity, not egoism.
But just because you aren’t smart enough to understand how human beings work doesn’t mean they don’t work that way.
Oh, and “pray” to what exactly? Do you believe in God? Then you must have a belief in immortality. Gee, bikemaster it must be so much easier to be like you, that way you don’t have to even understand the meaning of what you, yourself, are saying.
bikemaster said, about 1 month ago
UNREASONABLEVENT……I have been patient with you, my son, but now that the seething anger which lingers under your thin-skin has boiled out in a tirade of insults and egotistical put-downs, it is time for me to reveal who I am. I AM YOUR SUPREME LEADER, AND YOU HAVE BLASPHEMED ME, YOU FOOL! You may now choose which path to follow. Let us hope it is the path of repentence. Listen to those voices in your head, they will tell you what to do (no doubt)
ReasonsVentriloquist said, about 1 month ago
bikemaster
I never said “voices” in my head.
But then again, you’re a guy who can’t help but hear only the words you put in other’s mouths.
One day, when you’re old enough to pee in a straight line and the sum total of your accomplishments is greater than having gratuated from a tricycle to a bike; when you stop being a mouth breather, you’ll understand.
Or just stay stump stupid, who cares?
bikemaster said, about 1 month ago
Hey “voices”, it is tempting to get sucked into your nasty little world where YOU are the almighty, supreme intelligence, and point out what a total jerk you appear to be, but then, I’d be stooping to the lowest level occupied by egomaniacal twits such as yourself, so, I won’t go there. Go kick your dog or beat your wife, but leave me alone. Got it?
HARVIN GWIN said, about 1 month ago
Courageous President Carter speaks truth to all who will hear.”Boobus Americanus” is deaf and blind and lives in a personal hell of mediocrity,failure,cowardice and self-loathing.