With his singular style, Tom Toles tackles the complex issues of the day. This Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist skillfully targets political, economic and social concerns — in particular complicated environmental issues — with a clear-eyed precision that hits the mark every time.
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Comments (65) (Please sign in to comment)
dtroutma
said, 2 months ago
The whole drink thing WAS idiotic. It was almost as idiotic as the NRA position on defending unlimited firearms posession.
Radish
said, 2 months ago
We can’t fix any of the major issues but we got that drink cup question taken care of right away.
ConserveGov said, 2 months ago
Now that Nancy Pelosi and BHO have begun subsidizing Americans healthcare, the large drink flap is just the tip of the iceberg. Here come your “rules” kids!
Doughfoot said, 2 months ago
Troglodyte: “If you are dumb enough to overeat, or consume too much sugar, or smoke, or drink too much, or or engage in risky behavior, or too ignorant to know the risks, then you deserve what you get. Why should your country or your fellow citizens worry about you or try to help you?
If you are dumb enough or ignorant enough to buy poisonous foods or dangerous products, why should the rest of us care?
If you are dumb enough to travel to dangerous countries or go into dangerous neighborhoods, why should we try to warm you, or come to you aid if you get into trouble?
If you are dumb enough not to properly fortify your house and arm yourself for your own protection, or prevent a fire from breaking out in your house, what is that to anyone else?
If you are dumb enough not to read the fine print, or believe anything that you read or hear, or to fall for a scam or a con game, well that’s just too bad, boo hoo!
The rest of us owe you nothing. You’re on your own.
You want to be safe, and life a long and healthy life? Then get some ground, grow all your own food, don’t let anyone else come near, stay armed at all times, and never come out of your cave if you can avoid it. As long as you stay in your own cave, never leaving it unless heavily armed, and never trust anyone, you can do whatever you want! That’s freedom!”
Modern Man: “We are all parts of an interdependent system. Real freedom can only exist in a well-governed polity, where risks are minimized by wise policies that forbid some things, limit other things, and discourage still other things. Where neither the will of the community nor the rights of the individual are unlimited or absolute, but exist in tension with each other, and a concerted effort is made to prevent both the oppression of the individual with unnecessary burdens and the thwarting of the community’s effort to better its condition by laws, etc.”
Troglodyte: “Huh? More pin-headed double-talk. [Several expletives deleted here.] Freedom is doing whatever the hell I want to do, and to hell with everybody else.”
Doughfoot said, 2 months ago
“Nine men in ten are suicides.” — Benjamin Franklin.
saywhatwhat said, 2 months ago
@
You don’t seem to understand or appreciate the potential of democracy in an educated society. This was the same failing that led Karl Marx into his extreme view of the world. You (unless you’re one of the very rich) are just as wrong as he was. Marx can be excused for his mistake since he was writing in the middle of the 19th Century when voting was still limited (mostly) to white rich men.
saywhatwhat said, 2 months ago
@saywhatwhat
That’s not to say I think it was a good idea to tell people how big their cups are allowed to be… that’s not going to help anyway.
edinbaltimore said, 2 months ago
At least there is one judge out there that said this was bad law, but only because it was not a law that was evenly applied. That said, where do you find “tyranny” in doughfoot’s post?
sjc14850 said, 2 months ago
@
Gotta hand it to you… you named yourself well.
Rockngolfer said, 2 months ago
Remember that Bloomberg is NOT a Democrat.
You may continue your rants.
Ms. Ima said, 2 months ago
NO soda for you!
TheTrustedMechanic said, 2 months ago
@Doughfoot
VERY well put, thank you. Not only did you distill the essence of the point and aptly identify the conflict within the current political environment you did it in a very entertaining way. Thank you.
mikefive said, 2 months ago
@Rockngolfer
“Remember that Bloomberg is NOT a Democrat. You may continue your rants”
♦
Well….not this year, but maybe next year. Then a Republican or Independent the year after that, then….
tdestry said, 2 months ago
“Big Sugar” should be replaced with “Big Corn”. It’s not like there’s any real sugar in soft drinks anymore.
Kirk Sinclair said, 2 months ago
@Orthodox Catholic
It’s about cost. If people’s bad behavior cost me nothing, I’d be fine with it. But it doesn’t. I end up paying for their obesity, diabetes, etc with raised premiums, etc.
.
This is one of the reasons ObamaCare was passed – to get people to obtain preventative care – when problems are small and cheap, instead of using the emergency room, when problems have become big and expensive.
.
Troglodytes don’t understand that individuals and individual freedoms don’t exist in a vacuum.
There is always a tension between the rights of the individual and the survival/benefits to the groups the individual is a part of.
.
All of us give up certain freedoms, for example when we drive on the highway, because it makes the travel experience safer for all, and we in fact pay people (the police) to enforce our behavior. The right wing obsession with individual freedom above all else is the way adolescents think. It’s one-sided and disastrous.