Political cartoons

Well, it’s taken me a couple weeks to digest the events of the party conventions, which is like a couple years in this tiresome 24-7 news cycle wherein we all become screeching little mini-commentators obsessing about political strategy instead of politics, and ask myself if I have anything to add to it. The answer is not really. Unlike the weird popular caricature of a Clinton supporter that prevailed for about three minutes, I’ve dealt with my disappointment and support Obama/Biden wholeheartedly. Unable at first to figure out who Palin was, then feeling sorry I ever asked three minutes later, I just find it sad that the GOP’s both 25 years late to the concept of putting a woman on the ticket and unable to pick anything but a total lightweight. Yes, she has that square-jawed-femme-top thing going on that I’m susceptible to, but being only slightly better pulled together than Dan Quayle isn’t enough (and his much-touted sex appeal, I definitely never understood).

Still, being old enough to remember how tough it was for Jesse Jackson, Pat Schroeder, Geraldine Ferraro and Elizabeth Dole, how marginalized all their candidacies were even so embarrassingly late into the 20th century, I feel weirdly happy to be alive at this moment. A black man and a white woman are now my party leaders, and the opposition is demanding their female VP choice be treated on the same terms as a man, more or less. Even ten years ago, I wouldn’t have expected things to come this far.

It does really make me miss political cartooning. That’s something I truly regret letting lie fallow for so long. I’ll hit that in another post. You know, six months from now or so.

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