http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/tom-toles-cartoons-for-december-2011/2011/11/30/gIQABTl0DO_gallery.html#photo=2
Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney were fairly close in the polls for the Republican candidate primaries but recently Gingrich has come down hard on an often ill-spoken Romney with numerous attacks on policy and past actions. For example, Romney was criticized for his close connections with big business and elite corporations. Rather than effectively counter Gingrich's accusations (while Gingrich himself is not Mr. Popularity), Romney stumbles and continues to fail to be a attractive candidate and lacks personality or cleverness.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
There's no place like home for the holidays...
Unless you can be in Ohio.
Nearly all of my favorite Christmas memories have been from the years we've spent with my dad's family in the Cleveland or Columbus suburbs. There's something enchanting about my grandma's house. I love homes that totally reflect the people who live there; my grandma's house is one of them. It's so warm and loving, and the fifteen minute buildup when everyone in the car recognizes we're almost there just adds to the excitement of the arrival. My grandma always makes homemade cookies, nutroll, and pierogies around the holidays. All of my little cousins and their parents come and we get to be truly carefree for the few glorious days. Everyone still believes in Santa Claus. Usually, if there's snow, we go sledding on a hill my dad used to go down when he was a kid.
If we're in Strongsville (where my grandma lives), we take a walk on Christmas Eve to a nearby neighborhood where a group of four or five houses adorns more Christmas lights than all of Herndon and Reston put together. Families from all around come with their cameras and walk the pathways lit with candy canes and toy trains. My family used to drive there instead of walk when I was little, and I still remember getting out of the car, about five years old, singing "Jingle Bells" with my grandma and forgetting all of the words. I'm so happy I get to be with them this year. I'm going to miss sitting at the kids' table.
Nearly all of my favorite Christmas memories have been from the years we've spent with my dad's family in the Cleveland or Columbus suburbs. There's something enchanting about my grandma's house. I love homes that totally reflect the people who live there; my grandma's house is one of them. It's so warm and loving, and the fifteen minute buildup when everyone in the car recognizes we're almost there just adds to the excitement of the arrival. My grandma always makes homemade cookies, nutroll, and pierogies around the holidays. All of my little cousins and their parents come and we get to be truly carefree for the few glorious days. Everyone still believes in Santa Claus. Usually, if there's snow, we go sledding on a hill my dad used to go down when he was a kid.
If we're in Strongsville (where my grandma lives), we take a walk on Christmas Eve to a nearby neighborhood where a group of four or five houses adorns more Christmas lights than all of Herndon and Reston put together. Families from all around come with their cameras and walk the pathways lit with candy canes and toy trains. My family used to drive there instead of walk when I was little, and I still remember getting out of the car, about five years old, singing "Jingle Bells" with my grandma and forgetting all of the words. I'm so happy I get to be with them this year. I'm going to miss sitting at the kids' table.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Obamarama
While Obama's ratings are not excellent right now and have not been for many months (even years), his chances for reelection are pretty decent, depending on one factor: how ridiculous his opponent is. The Republican candidate nominees have nearly all made complete fools of themselves in front of the public and are the butts of countless jokes and have been for a while now.
Although Obama is at 43% and many Democrats are dissatisfied (though the majority still approve of his job performance), I sense no danger that voters of his own party will vote against him, given the choices at hand. Neither Gingrich nor Romney is not ideal "president material," and although polls are close between Obama and Romeny and Obama and Perry, unless the Republican candidates can provide stronger platforms and earn the respect of the moderate voter, I think they stand little chance, even against an unpopular incumbent.
Political Cartoon #3
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/tom-toles-cartoons-for-december-2011/2011/11/30/gIQABTl0DO_gallery.html#photo=4
This Tom Toles cartoon is making a statement about the current state of the environment, which is disgusting and disappointing. The cartoon is focused on a drawing of the earth, which is covered in smog from super-sized smokestacks and is actually dripping or has chunks taken out of it, with a heading of "Why we haven't been contacted by intelligent life on other planets:" Fish skeletons and oil spills are also featured to accentuate the existing mess of the planet. Toles means to say that people have been extremely negligent in their dealings with the environment, and that it has entered such a state of disrepair that no one already here would want to be part of it, which is a sad idea, considering not long ago, nature had unsurmountable and untainted beauty.
This Tom Toles cartoon is making a statement about the current state of the environment, which is disgusting and disappointing. The cartoon is focused on a drawing of the earth, which is covered in smog from super-sized smokestacks and is actually dripping or has chunks taken out of it, with a heading of "Why we haven't been contacted by intelligent life on other planets:" Fish skeletons and oil spills are also featured to accentuate the existing mess of the planet. Toles means to say that people have been extremely negligent in their dealings with the environment, and that it has entered such a state of disrepair that no one already here would want to be part of it, which is a sad idea, considering not long ago, nature had unsurmountable and untainted beauty.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney to me is the most realistic and least insane of the group of people attempting to be the next Republican presidential candidate. He has been very successful as governor of Massachusetts and has actually lined up with Obama on several issues, which may attract moderates who are dissatisfied by Obama's approaches (and would not prefer to reelect him) but agree on a fair amount of his positions (for Obama tries to be rather moderate on many issues). Romney however is rather inconsistent and his religion may be a hindrance to him when ultra-conservatives vote and are not as accepting of Mormonism, which is sometimes regarded by the public as a rather odd religion (this not not what I personally believe, but not being Protestant is already a problem for many judged by conservatives). Romney will have to be stronger and more engaging in debates, as well as trim back his ideas for legislation to win the vote; his economic platform has 59 planks, for example.
Political Cartoon #2
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/tom-toles-cartoons-for-december-2011/2011/11/30/gIQABTl0DO_gallery.html#photo=2
Tom Toles drew this cartoon, which features two men, rather puzzled, looking at a maze on a wall that is entitled "D.C. Ethics Reform," suggesting that the moral center of D.C. is not just extremely hard to find, but perhaps inexistent. One man asks "where do you end up?" and the other, "where do you even start?" Toles implies that a person observing dealings in the nation's capital would have difficulties finding morals or perhaps justice or the essence of goodness. In this cartoon, he demonstrates how cynically he views politics and does so with caricature and some satire.
Tom Toles drew this cartoon, which features two men, rather puzzled, looking at a maze on a wall that is entitled "D.C. Ethics Reform," suggesting that the moral center of D.C. is not just extremely hard to find, but perhaps inexistent. One man asks "where do you end up?" and the other, "where do you even start?" Toles implies that a person observing dealings in the nation's capital would have difficulties finding morals or perhaps justice or the essence of goodness. In this cartoon, he demonstrates how cynically he views politics and does so with caricature and some satire.
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