Friday, November 07, 2008

President Obama cartoons

I just love these. A collection of 26 30 newspaper cartoons marking the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. Click on any cartoon to see a large version:

A caption reading 'Most powerful person in the free world...' points towards a man who is smiling and waving, and wearing a 'Voter' sticker.

President Obama cartoon: Obama stands with his arms folder, grinning from ear to ear. The caption above him reads 'Yes we did'.

President Obama cartoon: A view across America. In the sky, next to a ticked box, the caption reads 'That he be judged not by the color of his skin but by the content of his character'.

President Obama cartoon: Obama stands within the gates looking towards the White House, bag over his shoulder sporting the Obama 'O'. The caption in the sky written in old-fashioned script reads 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.' At the bottom of the page is written the words 'Ratified November 4, 2008'.

President Obama cartoon: A bottle of Old Mac liquor lies empty on the sidewalk as a drunken elephant stumbles away down the street, bouncing off a lamppost as he goes.

President Obama cartoon: The Lincoln Memorial statue gives two thumbs up to the tiny figure of Barack Obama standing in front of it.

President Obama cartoon: The bruised, battered and bandaged eagle in the centre of the Presidential Seal asks: 'Can you swear him in today?'

President Obama cartoon: Head and shoulders sketches of the first 43 US Presidents - white men all - contrasting with the smiling brown face of the 44th. The caption reads 'November 4, 2008'.

President Obama cartoon: A view of the front gates at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue - with the two zeros having been replaced with the circular Obama logo.

Smiling faces fill the page, with people of every age and colour represented. The caption reads 'Yes, we did'.

As Obama is sworn in, hand on the Bible, a small and grumpy-looking McCain asks 'Hey! Would it be too much to ask you to wait for the results?'

President Obama cartoon: Obama and Uncle Sam do a fist-bump.

The statue of Lincoln, eyes closed, head down in relief, arms raised in fists above his head, says 'Yesssssss...'. A guide explains to a group of tourists 'He's been like that ever since Election Day 2008'.

The statue of Abraham Lincoln looks right at you, giving you the 'thumbs-up' signal.

The giant figure of Martin Luther King, Jr, holding a copy of his 'I have a dream' speech, reaches out his hand to help Barack Obama up onto a plinth labelled 'History'.

Barack Obama, dressed as a knight in armour resting his helmet on his knee, sits on top of a dead dinosaur with John McCain's face, a sword sticking out of its neck with blood pooling onto the ground below.

A noughts and crosses game featuring the faces of Obama and McCain. Each has three squares covered. A very angry-looking McCain has his squares randomly positioned around the board, whereas Obama's are in a neat diagonal, with a blue line drawn through them to signify that the game has been won.

The mother of a mixed-race family says 'I really feel a part of Obama's election...'. To their right is a profile drawing of Obama created out of hundreds of people all standing together. They are saying 'Me too', 'Amen', 'Yep', 'Ditto', 'Exactamente', 'Si', 'Agreed', 'Totally'. The mixed-race family is also drawn as part of the Obama mosaic.

Obama walks past a statue of Martin Luther King, Jr, who is positioned atop a plinth that reads 'I have a dream'. As Obama walks by, King reaches out a hand to high-five him.

Obama stands in the open right hand of the giant Lincoln statue, his hands on his hips, facing Lincoln. Lincoln smiles back at him with a peaceful, satisfied expression on his face.

A smiling portrait of Obama, with the Stars and Stripes as a backdrop. The caption reads 'I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. Martin Luther King, Jr.'

The statue of Abraham Lincoln sits with its left thumb raised in a 'thumbs-up' signal. A grinning Barack Obama stands in front of Lincoln, waving at the viewer.

A joyful Obama and Lady Liberty dance up a zig-zag set of fire-escape stairs.

A widely grinning Obama is depicted as George Washington, first President of the United States.

Obama waves to a black family hiding amongst the trees as he walks across the lawn to the White House. Signposts point backwards towards 'Jim Crow', 'Segregation', and 'Slavery'. The caption reads 'The final destination on the Freedom Road...'

Beneath the caption ' Day One', Obama sits at his desk in the Oval Office, repairing a ripped-up copy of the Constitution.

UPDATE 20/11/08:

I added a few more...

Obama stands on top of a pile of beaten-up elephants and says '...not bad for a skinny guy...'

Barack Obama stands between the much larger figures of Martin Luther King, Jr and Abraham Lincoln, each of whom is looking proudly down at him and resting a hand protectively on Obama's shoulder.

Obama does the fist bump (known on Faux News as the 'terrorist fist jab') with the smiling statue of Abraham Lincoln.

A hole cut out of the black background takes on the shape of America. Through it shines the red, white and blue of the Obama logo. The caption below reads 'Yes we did'.

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11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't think Lincoln would be sitting there with a thumbs up! I think he is rolling in his grave. He is thinking "What did I do??"
I am all for a black presdent, just not THIS half black president!

Dianne Barbee said...

WebWeaver,

Awesome! I sent your link to several friends, including one of my high school piano students.

Caro

Ashes said...

Great collection of cartoons, right on!

webweaver said...

Carolina Clay and Ashes - I'm so glad you like the cartoons - thanks for taking the time to comment as well :)

webweaver said...

Anonymous - why do you think Abraham Lincoln would be rolling in his grave?

He was absolutely opposed to the expansion of slavery, and promoted legislation which resulted in the abolition of slavery (the Second Confiscation Act, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment).

In the 1850s he focused on the Declaration of Independence (with its emphasis on freedom and equality for all) rather than the Constitution (which at the time tolerated slavery) and re-emphasised this in the Gettysburg address when he said that the American nation was "conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

Given these beliefs, do you not think that Lincoln would look forward to the day when an African American would have the same opportunity to stand for the highest position in the land as his or her white counterparts?

I believe Lincoln would be enormously gratified that the American people are now at a point where they can not only accept the possibility that a black man could stand for President, but that they are also willing to vote him into office in a historic landslide.

Lincoln may have been a Republican, but that doesn't mean that he would be unable or unwilling to celebrate the election of America's first black President, even though Obama is a Democrat.

In addition, I think that today's Republican party has moved so far to the right that Lincoln would have had difficulty in recognising it as "his" party.

Remember that Lincoln introduced the first income taxes, opened up large swathes of government-held land in the American west which settlers could buy very cheaply (Goodness me! That smacks of Socialism, surely! /snark), and provided government grants for agricultural universities in every state.

He believed that the Declaration of Independence opposed territorial expansion (unlike George W Bush), and in claiming that all men were created free he argued that this freedom required economic advancement, expanded education, territory to grow, and the ability of the nation to absorb the growing immigrant population. Not all of these platforms would be found in today's Republican party, by any means.

Personally, I think Lincoln will be doing a little jig of joy in heaven right about now.

Also I'm not sure I understand your comment about Obama being "half black" as opposed to "black" - and why this is of any significance - could you enlighten us?

Anonymous said...

I loved the 8th one.

Anonymous said...

Great 'toons, with the last really the most important.

The ones rollin' in their graves are the true conservatives - the party of William F. - the Republicans of today ain't it.

This wasn't a victory over John McCain - didn't need to be, he's a good man. It's victory over W and Cheney and Rove. There's another great ed cartoon out there that shows Obama with shovel, following the GOP elephant. No truer lines have been drawn.

Anonymous said...

i think that obama is wrong. he wants to kill kids!! Is america blind?? I am ashamed. Our founding fathers came over to gt away from wrong stuff and America (the "free" country) is RUINING it!!!! Obama wants to pursicute Christians (fy, ME) and kill kids by abortion. The bible says to be fruitful and multiply. not to murder. and killing babies (even before they are born)IS murder. why cant america stand for what is right? i dont have a problem with black people but why HIM?????? Why is every one fawnign over a jerk?? It is not right!

Anonymous said...

obama is not full black. and Lincoln was a man of god. not a athiest like the jerk who is going into office. yeah you can call me ignorant but at least I know the truth. some people are just to blind to realize what GOD wants.

webweaver said...

@Anonymous:

Wow.

Oooookkay...

Um - you do realise Obama's a Christan, don't you? Does the name Reverend Wright ring a bell at all?

As for the rest of your rant - not even worth responding to. Thanks for playing, though! :)

webweaver said...

@Anonymous#2 - are you the same Anonymous who commented at the start of this thread?

What is this obsession with whether Obama is black or half-black? Is it a not-so-subtle racist comment (I'm assuming that to a racist, a person of mixed race is even worse than someone who is 100% black). Whatever, it's bullshit.

Ditto with the "Atheist" comment - he's a Christian, you idiot! Reverend Wright... remember?

And finally - what does God want? I thought your God was all about freedom of choice? I thought that was the point?

And in terms of the Constitution - the First Amendment specifically states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;" which to me means that America has no official God, and nor did it wish to - however much the Fundies would like that to be different.

Never mind.

Perhaps you should give Obama a chance - he might surprise you.