Calvin and Hobbes, and Election 2016

Posted on 24 July 2016 by RobertLovesPi

The current American election cycle was predicted, with amazing accuracy, in the late 20th Century, by Bill Watterson, the creator of Calvin and Hobbes. Evidence will follow. We’ll start with ignorance and apathy, both of which are certainly involved in American elections.

Not wanting to vote and not being allowed to vote are, of course, two different things to Calvin.

While he’s being ignorant and apathetic, Calvin is, at least, honest. Honesty is something which we definitely need, and currently do not have, in American politics, from the left or the right.

If only this fictional duo qualified under the Constitution, we’d be facing this choice, which certainly seems better than the choice we actually have:

Watterson understood, well, the corrupting role of money in politics.

The big issue politicians do not talk about enough is the environment. Why do they not devote more energy to that? Money, of course. The love of money drives people to do harmful and irrational things, and this includes things with obviously-negative environmental impact.

He also created numerous cartoons about pollsters and lobbyists, taking them every bit as seriously as these people deserve to be taken.

America has a lot of single-issue voters. They are not safe from Watterson’s satire. This cartoon is as on-target today as it was when it first appeared.

For what purposes was Calvin willing to do research? Could his spray-painting ambitions include negative campaign ads?

I certainly think so.

The next cartoon applies equally well, in my opinion, to the words and actions of both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

If the next cartoon doesn’t remind you of the Trump-or-Clinton choice we face, and what an amazing waste of time and energy it is to have to make such an absurd “choice,” please read it again.

Finally, here’s Calvin’s invention of the perfect bipartisan slogan for this campaign season, and its nausea-inducing choice between bad (Clinton) and worse (Trump).

“So what?” Indeed.

[To obtain all these cartoons, and many more, I recommend purchasing this boxed set: the complete collection of Calvin and Hobbes.]

Hillary Clinton’s Other E-mail Problem

Posted on 22 July 2016 by RobertLovesPi

This has nothing to do with those other e-mails tied to Hillary Clinton — the ones which have recently been under official investigation, and in the news. It’s a completely different thing: e-mails sent out by her campaign for the White House, and unrelated to her time as Secretary of State.

Other e-mails, entirely too much like this, preceded the “I need you” e-mail I received yesterday. I’ve been making fun of them on Facebook for quite some time, but hadn’t brought them to my blog until now. I’m simply using cropped screenshots from my e-mail account for these pictures, and keeping the e-mail senders, subject lines, and dates together, for each e-mail. If anyone wishes to check the authenticity of these e-mails with the Clinton campaign, that’s fine with me. You’ll find that these e-mails are real (or they’ll lie to you; I can’t rule that out). If lies are told, I’ve got the evidence in my e-mail account, as do many others. This is not a complete set, either; it’s just the most recent of these, um, strange e-mails from her campaign minions.

I don’t know how I got on Hillary Clinton’s presidential-campaign e-mail list, but I am not complaining about it. If I wasn’t on her campaign’s list, after all, I wouldn’t know that all these e-mails are going out, with her name (and sometimes others, as seen above) as the sender, and such things as “re: last night” in the subject line. That would deprive me of this opportunity to use real campaign materials to ridicule a major-party presidential candidate, or, in other words, prevent this particular bit of fun. There were other such e-mails before June 29 — long before, actually — but this is all of this kind of thing I can stand to put on my blog.

To Hillary Clinton (the person, not her campaign staff): Really, H.C.? Do you not monitor your campaign flunkies at all? These e-mails could bring new meaning to the term “madame president,” and I really don’t think they will help you at the ballot box, either.

To Donald Trump, and his ilk: don’t think this means I support you. I don’t.

For whom will I cast my vote, some may wonder? Well, I have it narrowed down to two candidates, but neither of their names appear in this post. For more information regarding where my vote will go, simply click here.

America, Land of Bizarre Politics

Posted on 6 May 2016 by RobertLovesPi

How to become the first female president of the United States:

1. Beat an openly-declared socialist in the primary.

2. Beat Donald J. Trump, in a popularity contest, in November.

Am I missing anything?

~~~

[Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House]

Bashing Some Democrats, for a Change

Posted on 18 March 2016 by RobertLovesPi

Image from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey

I am sick of certain Bernie Sanders supporters who write about the “Hitlarites” who support Hillary Clinton.

I am also sick of the Hillary Clinton supporters who mock her opponent as “Barnie” Sanders, as in Barney the Clown, or perhaps Barney the purple dinosaur.

My guess is that both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, themselves, are embarrassed by these rude factions of their own supporters, and wish they would just shut up, and sit down.

They’re not helping anyone, except for Donald Trump.

On the 2016 American Presidential Election, and the Whole Sorry Lot Running

Posted on 10 March 2016 by RobertLovesPi

A self-righteous megalomaniac. Several far-right wingnuts, from a party rapidly making itself irrelevant by trying to live in the past. A big-government advocate with a past history of questionable ethical practices. And, to round out the lot, an actual socialist.

Sigh. I wish we could vote for “none of the above,” and just leave the White House empty for four years.

Next-best option, in my opinion: if we must have a Clinton, bring back Socks the Cat.

Socks_the_Cat_Explores