And Now ... Politics!

[Revolutionary]

Well i'm with homeless frank on this one.

 

[B Goy]

You forgot blind Thatcher-hate based on nothing.

You mean aside from that part where she destroyed an entire industry, leaving crippled and dying towns strewn across the north?

You mean when Harold Wilson closed down more mines (~36,000 per year between 1964-1970) then Thatcher ever did (12,500 per year), or when she aided in the re-starting of the car industry by sending the Nissan plant to the North East instead of an area where she could have sent it to an area where she could have increased Tory support. Under Wilson, coal output went from 200 million tonnes to 140 million tonnes while under Thatcher it went from 105 million tonnes to 85 million tonnes.

I'm not going to say that Thatcher was perfect. I'm trying to say that many people hate Thatcher because not only did she do her reforms, against all opposition, but she won and her lack of charisma and "like it or lump it" attitude meant people were turned away. Not only that, but the left never got their scalp, instead of losing an election badly due to poll tax and other things, she just got overthrown in an internal affair due to Europe. This caused dislike to turn into hatred in some quarters and causes ludicrous hyperbole to emerge such as "Thatcha stole mah milk so I'll dance on 'er grave" (not that I'm accusing you of such things) from some who were only children or not even born during the 80s. To those who go "MILK-SNATCHER" I direct you to Patrick Walker. who began the process and Shirley Williams, who completed it, for that.

The hate mostly comes from a source of comfort, what's honestly better to hear, "Sorry but years of stagnating industry and overly arrogant, ideological trade union leaders have meant that the economy is in the crapper and the necessary solution involves you guys failing, sorry but thems the brakes" or "FATCHA RUINED EVERYTHING! The 70s were awesome and everyone was happy until she came in, hate her and forget about that depressing crap"? It does happen on the other end of the spectrum. Thatcher was far more pro-Europe then the Telegraph likes to think and she u-turned and negotiated a lot more then people think but the Thatcher-hate outweighes the Thatcher-love sometimes.

 

[octafish]

Just a point of interest. A metricfuckton, or more properly a fucktonne, is heavier than the imperial fuckton by over 200 fuckpounds.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I don't really get it.

Then again, that kinda sums up my whole understanding of American politics.

If it makes you feel any better, it also sums up about 80% of all Americans' understanding of American politics as well.

 

[Aesir23]

And what about Canadians? How would you make the joke relate to us better?

Replace the Republican with a robot overlord and the democrat with a former (as in deceased) cancer patient?

I miss Jack Layton. We don't really have any prominent political figures who can at least appear to not be totally evil with him gone.

I wouldn't be surprised if Harper did turn out to be a robot. How else do you explain why his hair never moves?

Also, I have to say that I miss Jack Layton as well. He was a good guy.

 

[vxicepickxv]

I really hate election years. I have to watch BBC and Aljazeera for any non-election news about the United States. I wish I was kidding.

And what about Canadians? How would you make the joke relate to us better?

I wouldn't. I just point you to Loading Ready Run(the Monday sketch comedy and Wednesday "news" guys, and tell you to look on their site about voting and stuff. Given the fact that well over 95% of the US is winner take all, then it's not possible to compare(and pretty terrible for us actually).

Of course, there's so much we'd need to do to hep reform the US system that sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't be easier to just start over again, using better government models.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

Not American, but I don't get the "civil disobedience" part. Don't liberals support that?

 

[-|-]

You forgot blind Thatcher-hate based on nothing.

You mean aside from that part where she destroyed an entire industry, leaving crippled and dying towns strewn across the north?

So what if they lost their jobs and livelihoods and where they live was turned into a pit of unemployed despair. That's no reason to take it out on the person that caused it. Still, haters gonna hate I suppose. Bloody northern haters, giving thatcher a bad name.

 

[nexus]

Oh look, partisan politics! How exciting.

Nothing says "critical thinker" more than a "he said, she said" outlook on politics.

I don't really get it.

Then again, that kinda sums up my whole understanding of American politics.

If it makes you feel any better, it also sums up about 80% of all Americans' understanding of American politics as well.

Summary of American politics this election year:

Democrat: "He said this!"

Republican: "He said that!"

Onlooker: "Um, guys, what about the war... and stuff.. ?"

Republican/Democrat: "War, what war? Didn't you hear what he just said?"

 

[Therumancer]

Not American, but I don't get the "civil disobedience" part. Don't liberals support that?

Not really, one of the big criticisms of Liberals is that they tend to be socialist facists even if they are in denial about it. The basic attitude being "free speech means the right to freely speak what we agree with". Basically it's okay to say rally for a minority cause or whatever, but god forbid you do it about something they disagree with then it falls under one of their labels like "hate speech" or something similar which they argue shouldn't be protected. The left wing has taken great strides to try and prevent opposition from using the same basic tactics and techniques it did during it's major rise decades ago.

You might not agree with it, but that's doubtlessly why it's mentioned here (and it recurs in political commentary). The left wing ironically having become one of the biggest threats to free speech and expression in an absolute sense. One big issue that this gets tied to (with admittedly mixed accuracy) is the limits on freedom of speech in school. A lot of the anti-violence, anti-national, stuff in school comes from the left wing, needless to say it isn't the right wing which is generally pro-gun that continues to cause the freak outs about kids so much as having a picture of a gun... or at a recent low, an attempt to force a deaf child to change his name because the sign language symbol for his name looked too much like a gun. Not to mention other issues like people being suspended or expelled for wearing or displaying the American flag during Mexican holidays (Cinco Del Mayo).

I'm not going to get into a political flamewar here, and maybe our resident team of cartoonits will say they meant something else, but this is usually where comments like this come from.

I've posted stuff about the flag before, but for those who might have missed the issue about the deaf kid:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/school-asks-deaf-preschooler-change-sign-language-name-191629255.html


So yeah, I think the anti-gun nuts who are contributing so heavily to post-columbine school policy have been going even further over the deep end, with this one hitting a new low. The reason why this comes down to requiring special deaf-advocacy (as opposed to common sense and general opposition... which would have stopped it before this point) is simply because it's becoming harder and harder to oppose crap like this in a civil sense. Your reaction in say rallying against a church or whatever, is going to be totally differant from doing it against say the anti-gun / anti-violence lobbies today.

I could say more, but this isn't really the right time.

 

[carpathic]

Man, that reporter in the comic was well endowed...quite a large set of headlights. I guess I am trying to say, she had large breasts.

Indeed.

That is about the elvel I am at right now.

 

[TWEWER]

I'm American and pay attention to politics and this comic still doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

Not American, but I don't get the "civil disobedience" part. Don't liberals support that?

Not really, one of the big criticisms of Liberals is that they tend to be socialist facists even if they are in denial about it. The basic attitude being "free speech means the right to freely speak what we agree with". Basically it's okay to say rally for a minority cause or whatever, but god forbid you do it about something they disagree with then it falls under one of their labels like "hate speech" or something similar which they argue shouldn't be protected. The left wing has taken great strides to try and prevent opposition from using the same basic tactics and techniques it did during it's major rise decades ago.

You might not agree with it, but that's doubtlessly why it's mentioned here (and it recurs in political commentary). The left wing ironically having become one of the biggest threats to free speech and expression in an absolute sense. One big issue that this gets tied to (with admittedly mixed accuracy) is the limits on freedom of speech in school. A lot of the anti-violence, anti-national, stuff in school comes from the left wing, needless to say it isn't the right wing which is generally pro-gun that continues to cause the freak outs about kids so much as having a picture of a gun... or at a recent low, an attempt to force a deaf child to change his name because the sign language symbol for his name looked too much like a gun. Not to mention other issues like people being suspended or expelled for wearing or displaying the American flag during Mexican holidays (Cinco Del Mayo).

I'm not going to get into a political flamewar here, and maybe our resident team of cartoonits will say they meant something else, but this is usually where comments like this come from.

I've posted stuff about the flag before, but for those who might have missed the issue about the deaf kid:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/school-asks-deaf-preschooler-change-sign-language-name-191629255.html


So yeah, I think the anti-gun nuts who are contributing so heavily to post-columbine school policy have been going even further over the deep end, with this one hitting a new low. The reason why this comes down to requiring special deaf-advocacy (as opposed to common sense and general opposition... which would have stopped it before this point) is simply because it's becoming harder and harder to oppose crap like this in a civil sense. Your reaction in say rallying against a church or whatever, is going to be totally differant from doing it against say the anti-gun / anti-violence lobbies today.

I could say more, but this isn't really the right time.

Yeah, that's not really what is generally meant by civil disobedience. I think the term is used wrongly here, though really, you could use it for anything you wanted depending on your political disposition. I could not attend school if I thought it was unjust for me to do so, and when the government tried to make me I could label them 'against civil disobedience'.

If what you're saying is true, it would have been better to just have 'and free speech' in the speech bubble.

 

[Quazimofo]

Also, awesome comic, as a Canadian, American politics are like newspaper funnies, they're way more interesting and hilarious than anything else in the papers.

As an American, I can say the same damn thing. lol

ditto. its absolutely hilarious the things that these people say. i almost dont believe if some of these people actually believe what they say, or are just fucking with people.

 

[Basement Cat]

I don't really get it.

Then again, that kinda sums up my whole understanding of American politics.

If it makes you feel any better, it also sums up about 80% of all Americans' understanding of American politics as well.

Not American, but I don't get the "civil disobedience" part. Don't liberals support that?

First of all both the Democrat and the Republican are using the wrong name. They're picking up a headline story and applying their party's line for sound bites, ignoring the contents of the actual story and what's actually going on in general.

"Randy's tragic demise could have been avoided if the GOP hadn't voted against last year's bill that would have outlawed death-"

The GOP publicly declared upon Obama's becoming elected that they would never compromise with him and have routinely obstructed votes and done their level best to block every bill the Democrats put forward that doesn't absolutely demand bipartisian support. Part of the problem with the American economy's difficulties stem from Republicans being obliged to heel to their party's stance on this, resulting in many potential improvements being blocked to prevent the Democrats and Obama from getting good press, which is why the GOP obsessively focuses on 'moral' issues for distraction.

"And civil disobedience."

The Democrats, in pushing towards a "fair and just and equal Politically Correct nation" are primarily responsible for pushing laws restricting everything from gun ownership to objecting to religious hospital's rights to not provide birth control in the employee benefits even when providing birth control violates fundamental religious dogma. Over time this has resulted in some extreme guidelines which lead to ridiculous zero tolerance standards such as the 3 year old deaf kid being asked by his preschool to change his name because his sign language name looks like he's imitating a gun.

I THINK this refers to the Democrats objecting to the GOP's refusing to support a bill that would make sense to anyone except that the GOP refused because of an addition to the bill that represented another limitation to civil liberties added on by the extreme left Democrats.



"The liberals never cared about Mandy. This is all part of their eternal welfare agenda."

The Tea Party and other extreme right Republicans are convinced that Democrats are socialists at heart and that anything they do is a part of their socialist agenda. Sane Republicans--yes, there are plenty, they just don't have mouths the size of Texas that never shut up--are obligated to remain in public support of their Party so you rarely hear centrist common sense from them these days.

"Not only is the pursuit of immortality socialist, it's fundamentally un-American."

As I said--the socialist bit.

Also the Republican Party's traditional hold on "National Security and Military Power" as one of their party's central pillars has resulted in the Republicans getting into the habit of defining what was "American" and what wasn't far more often than the Democrats do.

"Thanks, man." "It's cool."

Under current American law, thanks to a Supreme Court ruling in 2010, there is no limit whatsoever to how much money corporations and individuals can pour into supporting a candidate's election so long as it isn't given to the candidate's team directly, but to Political Action Committees. This has resulted in the creation of Super PAC's which, between the Democrats and the Republicans, is what is responsible for this year's presidential election running up a projected 2.5 billion dollar final bill.

Because the Republicans are big on favoring the rich and deregulation of corporations they naturally are getting a LOT of backing from mega-millionaires and billionaires and big name companies. As such the GOP is surpassing the Democrats in fundraising--and likely remembering where their bread and butter comes from.

Hence Death's gratitude.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

"And civil disobedience."

The Democrats, in pushing towards a "fair and just and equal Politically Correct nation" are primarily responsible for pushing laws restricting everything from gun ownership to objecting to religious hospital's rights to not provide birth control in the employee benefits even when providing birth control violates fundamental religious dogma. Over time this has resulted in some extreme guidelines which lead to ridiculous zero tolerance standards such as the 3 year old deaf kid being asked by his preschool to change his name because his sign language name looks like he's imitating a gun.

I THINK this refers to the Democrats objecting to the GOP's refusing to support a bill that would make sense to anyone except that the GOP refused because of an addition to the bill that represented another limitation to civil liberties added on by the extreme left Democrats.

I could understand if the speech bubble referred to civil 'liberties'. But it doesn't, it refers to civil disobedience - why? I don't see what the kid with the sign language name has to do with anything. Do you know what civil disobedience is? I don't think the cartoonists do.

 

[B Goy]

le snip

thatcherism is not something anyone should play devils advocate for least of all towards people who where actually there Mr 17 year old who's suddenly a political expert on everything.

the vast majority of the wounds that are still hurting do so for a reason.
hell, even her own party avoid direct political association with her actions.

there isn't a tory alive who would tell an open mic they were "thatcher 2.0"

so for all the information you can gather from external sources and all the excuses you can make on her behalf and all the supposedly informed political comment you can pass maybe you should pause and ask yourself just why that is.

There is a difference between saying you are Thatcher 2.0 and being it. New Labour was essentially maintaining the Thatcher reforms and even committed to keeping Tory spending budgets until 2001 which implies that they believed that it was a pretty good thing. Ed Miliband also supported the Thatcher reforms in a speech he made while leader, the reforms even created GDP growth that continued until the Great Recession.

Considering the economic stance of many in the Conservatives, they pretty much are declaring that they are Thatcherites, even Mandelson said it back in the New Labour years and people didn't hear much objections in mainstream Labour. I'm not saying that everyone should love her, she made mistakes. Yes she went overboard in fighting the miners and did damage to the coal mining communities but she did try to help them with the Nissan plant in Sunderland and was Scargill going to be lovey-dovey and accept any deal that involved closing any pits? The Poll Tax was monumentally stupid so I won't argue on that. I could mention other myths about Thatcherism such as "Privatise everything" when she opposed privatising British Rail, British Coal and saw the NHS as a "third rail" and was trusted more then Labour with it by David Owen but that may take a bit. I would like to ask how old you were during Thatcherism and why you don't wish to combat these statements I'm making instead of just dismissing them based on age.

 

[Rangerboy87]

"Critical Miss: Equal Opportunity Insulters. Insulting all viewers since 2010. Must not be taken with Seriousness as serious side-effects may result including whining, soap-boxing, name-calling, fear-mongering, and erectile disfunction."