Doonesbury: Editorial Cartoonists Have Been Erased

April 4, 2022

The hardreading staff was cruising the Boston Sunday Globe comics yesterday when we stumbled upon this Doonesbury joint.

Here at the Global Worldwide Headquarters, we’ve long sung the praises of Boston’s editorial cartoonists. Representative sample from the good old days.

Boston Editorial Cartoonists Enter WeinerWorld

Boston is blessed not only with two daily newspapers, but with two very talented editorial cartoonists: Dan Wasserman at the Boston Globe, and Jerry Holbert at the Boston Herald.

(You can count on two hands the number of daily newspapers nationally that employ editorial cartoonists. And yes, technically Wasserman may be a syndicated cartoonist rather than a Globe staffer, but his drawings still have a Globe identity.)

In Thursday’s editions, the two coincidentally visited Six Flags Over Anthony Weiner.

Holbert:

Wasserman:

Smart, as usual.

Wasserman and Holbert are, sadly, long gone from the local dailies. So are most staff editorial cartoonists nationwide, as Politico’s Jack Shafer noted several years ago.

Essays marking the decline of editorial cartooning have been perennial since 1954, when the Saturday Review’s Henry Ladd Smith declared the form trite and exhausted. But we are now really entering the end times of the editorial cartoon. At the beginning of the last century, about 2,000 editorial cartoonists worked for American newspapers. By 1957 the number of full-time newspaper cartoonists had fallen to 275. As recently as 2007, they numbered 84, but the decline has continued to the point that the number of salaried cartoonists has reached about 30.

It’s likely even fewer now.

(To be fair graf goes here)

To be fair, the Globe op-ed page does feature the estimable Christopher Weyant once a week.

And the Herald often features the work of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Steve Kelley.

But, sorry Mike Doonesbury. Nobody’s gonna pick up the slack.

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Boston Dailies: Today’s Globe Palin by Comparison

January 21, 2016

Excellent compare ‘n’ contrast material in today’s Boston papers. Let’s start with the jokes, shall we?

Boston Herald’s Jerry Holbert:

 

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Boston Globe’s Dan Wasserman:

 

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That pretty well sums up the one-and-a-half sides of Sarah Palin, wouldn’t you say?

Then there’s Patriots Darius Fleming’s dramatic, window-shattering rescue of a woman trapped in a car after a three-vehicle crash on Route 1 in Walpole last week. Story in the Herald:

Hero Pat scolds trolls

Cops, witnesses confirm rescue 

The New England Patriots player who police said did the right thing by rescuing a woman trapped in a car took to Twitter late yesterday to condemn all the haters who doubted his good deed.

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The Globe had quite a different story.

Fleming hailed as hero

Patriot LB aided woman in crash

FOXBOROUGH — Heroes don’t always wear capes — sometimes they wear football uniforms.

Patriots backup linebacker Darius Fleming played in Saturday’s playoff victory over the Chiefs with 22 stitches in his right calf, two days after cutting his leg after he kicked out the window of a car to assist a woman who had just gotten into a three-car accident on Route 1, near Gillette Stadium.

“Obviously he had no regards for himself. Just wanted to get the girl out,” said eyewitness Stephanie Kube. “Came in, saved the day and left. A true hero.”

 

Not a word about the trolls.

Nor did the lately local broadsheet have a word about racial tensions at Boston Latin School, which was Page One in the Herald.

 

MA_BH

 

The story:

Black students raise race issues

Group calls out Boston Latin officials

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Black students at Boston Latin, the nation’s oldest, most prestigious public school, set off a social media firestorm this week, accusing the elite exam school of ignoring the casual use of racial slurs and offensive online taunts.

In a YouTube video posted Monday, two students representing a group called Black Leaders Advocating for Change and Knowledge said the school has turned a deaf ear to their concerns about classmates’ racial slights.

“We are here to make our voices heard, to show BLS administration and everyone that we refuse to be silenced and we’re not afraid to speak up,” the students say in the video. “We’re here to use this campaign to unite our community, to unite the community of black alumni and the students of color at BLS and schools like it.”

 

Examples from the tweetly local tabloid:

 

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We’ll see if there’s Change and Knowledge on Morrissey Boulevard anytime soon.

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Two-Cartoonist Town (Aaron Hernandez Edition)

April 17, 2015

From our Late to the Guilty Party desk

The hardreading staff is always pleased when the editorial cartoonists at the Boston dailies attack the same subject, and the verdict in the Aaron Hernandez trial is no exception.

Yesterday’s Boston Herald featured Jerry Holbert’s take.

 

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And yesterday’s Boston Globe featured Dan Wasserman’s take.

 

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Take that, yeah?

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Boston Dailies Are a Hung Jury on Tsarnaev Fate

April 9, 2015

As we await the start of the sentencing phase of the Boston Marathon Bomber trial, the local dailies are – not surprisingly – seeing justice in very different outcomes for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

The Boston Herald goes for the trifecta in today’s edition: editorial, op-ed column, editorial cartoon – all reaching the same conclusion.

From the Herald editorial (under the headline No mercy for Tsarnaev):

Thirty counts. Thirty guilty verdicts. But that is only the beginning. The toughest part is yet to come — the issue of life or death for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. May this jury show him as little mercy as he showed the victims whose lives he so callously took.

 

From the op-ed piece by Rachelle Cohen:

In a strange way the death penalty seems too good, too easy for Tsarnaev who also wrote that he envied his brother Tamerlan’s martyrdom. Death won’t dissipate the anger that lingers. It won’t bring back those taken from us. And it will surely take years to actually be carried out — such is the American way of justice. But it is the only just end for this unrepentant terrorist.

 

Jerry Holbert’s editorial cartoon:

 

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Crosstown, the Boston Globe does the Herald one better: editorial, two op-ed pieces, editorial cartoon – all pleading the opposite case.

From the Globe editorial (under the headline Now, a harder task for jury: Spare Tsarnaev death penalty):

As the trial now moves into its sentencing phase — the jury must unanimously vote to execute Tsarnaev, or else he will receive a life sentence — the defense team may also raise legal mitigating factors. Tsarnaev was 19 at the time of the bombing; he was apparently a heavy drug user; he had no prior criminal record. By themselves, none of these would seem like a particularly good reason to spare him, but taken as a whole, and alongside evidence of his brother’s dominant role, they should plant seeds of doubt.

In sorting through such life-and-death considerations, jurors face an unenviable task — and mixed precedent. The Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh, was put to death. The Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, wasn’t. Tsarnaev obviously should spend the rest of his life in prison. His defense has already made a good case that he does not meet the exceptionally high standards for a federal execution.

 

From Nancy Gertner’s op-ed: “The choices for the government should not be a death finding in a civilian court, or a death finding in a military tribunal, lethal injection or a firing squad. Countless others accused of heinous crimes have pled guilty to a life without parole. There was another way. There still is.”

From Harvey Silverglate’s op-ed:

The feds overstepped in asserting their superior claim to jurisdiction in this case in anticipation of this very moment, and Massachusetts citizens should pay close attention as prosecutors make their case for execution. When our state outlawed the death penalty in 1984, did we really intend for that prohibition to be conditional? Tsarnaev’s crimes indeed are particularly heinous, but we cannot let emotions cloud judgment. Regardless of the jury’s sentencing decision, this trial has starkly illustrated a decline in Massachusetts’ state sovereignty in deciding — literally — life-or-death matters.

 

Dan Wasserman’s editorial cartoon:

 

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It doesn’t get much more opposite than that.

UPDATE: The redoubtable Dan Kennedy ventured farther afield in the local dailies, pointing out the following at Media Nation:

Metro columnists Kevin Cullen and Yvonne Abraham weigh in [against the death penalty] . . .  (Columnist Jeff Jacoby has previously written in favor of death for Tsarnaev.)

Over at the Boston Herald, the message is mixed. In favor of the death penalty [is] columnist Adriana Cohen . . . Columnist Joe Fitzgerald is against capital punishment for Tsarnaev. Former mayor Ray Flynn offers a maybe, writing that he’s against the death penalty but would respect the wishes of the victims’ families.

 

Sorted.

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Herald Won’t Bushwhack Jeb Over Spanish Lie

April 7, 2015

See what the hardreading staff just did there? We wrote a Boston Herald headline about the Boston Herald.

You splendid readers are no doubt aware of the current rumpus about Jeb “There’s No I in Hispanic” Bush’s identifying himself as “Hispanic” in his 2009 voter registration. That’s normally mother’s milk for the frothy local tabloid, but not in this case. Instead, Jaclyn Cashman defends the next in line of succession at the House of Bush – and takes a whack at Elizabeth Warren in the process.

Unlike Liz Warren, Jeb Bush rises 
above minority misstep

Jeb Bush

The 2016 presidential race could come down to the fake American Indian versus the fake Hispanic.

Jeb Bush reportedly identified himself as Hispanic on a 2009 voter-registration form, and yesterday it sparked a social media firestorm. Bush’s camp sought to downplay the kerfuffle yesterday, releasing a statement saying: “It’s unclear where the paperwork error was made. The governor’s family certainly got a good laugh out of it.”

Bush’s son, Jeb Bush Jr., who is half Mexican, poked fun at his dad on Twitter by using the hashtag #HonoraryLatino. The former Florida governor responded to the tweet, “My mistake! Don’t think I’ve fooled anyone! RT @JebBushJr LOL — come on dad, think you checked the wrong box #HonoraryLatino.”

 

Self-effacement! Cross-generational humor! Excellent!

Not like those prune faces at the Grey Lady: “The New York Times, which broke the story, isn’t taking this gaffe lightly. ‘Confusion over heritage,’ the paper declared, ‘is no laughing matter during a campaign season.’”

Yeah yeah – whatever.

Crosstown at the Boston Globe, Dan Wasserman draws a different line.

 

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Your punchline goes here.

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Boston 2024 Is Now Officially Circling the Drain

April 4, 2015

From our Late to the Going-Away Party desk

Good Friday turned out to be Bad Friday for Store 2024.

As in, all news was bad news for the local machers mucking up the bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Start with yesterday’s Boston Globe (which has generally taken pity on the totally inept Boston 2024niks), where two – count ’em, two – columnists wrote MISTIA (More in Sorrow Than in Anger) pieces about the botched bid.

First, Shirley Leung on the Business front page:

Olympics bid needs a world-class PR save

In all the hand-wringing over the mess that is Boston’s Olympics bid, Doug Rubin has managed to escape scrutiny.

Until now.unnamed(42)

Boston 2024 is awash in problems — and none bigger is the group’s ability to get its message across that the Games can make Boston a better version of itself. The Olympics are supposed to be a feel-good event, but not here. Instead, the Games are toxic, as if organizers are proposing to build a nuclear waste dump on the Greenway.

There’s plenty of blame to go around, from Boston 2024 chairman John Fish to our naysaying selves. But Rubin and his firm Northwind Strategies are most responsible for making sure the public understands why hosting the Summer Games could be good for Boston.

 

Which the public assuredly does not.

Next, Scot Lehigh on the Globe’s op-ed page:

Taxpayer risk is Boston 2024’s highest hurdle

WHEN IT comes to hosting the Olympics here in 2024, I’m a skeptic. But now that everyone agrees that voters will get to decide the fate of the Olympics bid, I’m a skeptic in a wait-and-see mode.

The threshold question that Boston 2024 faces is crystal clear. Well before the public vote, the group will need to present a convincing plan showing how Boston (or Greater Boston) can host the 2024 Summer Games without putting taxpayers at risk.

So far, what we have are professions of good intentions. “Tax dollars will not be used to build venues or pay for the operation of the Games,” Boston 2024’s new briefing book asserts.

The reality, however, is that at some point, Boston will have to guarantee that the various Olympic venues will be ready. And that means the city could have to step to the plate if plans go seriously awry. Given the deep opposition to using public dollars for the Games, it’s difficult to see how Mayor Marty Walsh could put Boston in that position without an air-tight assurance that taxpayers won’t be left holding the bag.

 

Ah, yes, Marty Walsh.

Crosstown at the Marty Walsh Gazette (a.k.a. the Boston Herald), the marty local tabloid – which had been a sort of house organ for City Hall until being thrown under the buss on Thursday – was silent yesterday on all matters Olympic.

Which brings us to Friday’s New York Times drive-by hooting.

U.S.O.C. Misjudged Appetite for a Hot Potato

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After completing its long, complicated and anything but transparent process of choosing a city as its candidate to host the 2024 Summer Games, the United States Olympic Committee has found itself in an awkward position.

Boston, the city the committee chose to represent the United States, does not appear to want to host the Games at all.

Too expensive, some Bostonians say — the money used to host the Games should be dedicated to improving schools and social programs. Too many people, others say — Boston has terrible traffic, so why invite thousands more to further clog the streets?

Too unnecessary, say those personally hurt by the notion that the Olympics could improve Boston’s image worldwide: Why does Boston need the Olympics to validate it as a world-class city when Bostonians are perfectly happy with Boston as it is?

 

Except they’re not. Never really have been.

But Bostonians are even less happy with the Olympics. Then again, that’s just one of many problems with the town’s bid. And so, according to the Times, the endgame is near, in the form of the 2016 statewide referendum Boston 2024 has promised.

If recent history is any guide, that public vote will deal the fatal blow to Boston’s chances. Voters in Munich; St. Moritz/Davos, Switzerland; and Krakow, Poland, all batted away their bids for the 2022 Winter Games. Vienna retreated from its 2028 Summer Games bid after a vote, too.

 

Everyone under the sun has denied this week’s Wall Street Journal report that “the U.S. Olympic Committee may drop Boston’s bid to host the 2024 Summer Games if local support doesn’t improve soon.”

But now comes today’s Boston Herald, which has apparently found a new go-to guy. “Boston 2024 should ‘clean house’ and install a ‘better team’ that can keep a shorter leash on Chairman John Fish and prevent more embarrassing gaffes — like questioning the patriotism of Olympic critics, U.S. Rep. Stephen F. Lynch told the Herald yesterday.”

Oh, right – we had forgotten that one: Bostonians are unpatriotic if they don’t support this game of five-ring monte.

Please, someone, put these people out of our misery.

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Boston Herald Hill-ucinating About Clinton Again

March 12, 2015

A severe case of Clinton Derangement Syndrome has flared up once again at the frothing local tabloid. This latest pooh-pooh platter features a refried interview, a retread ranter, a syndicated drone, and a quick-draw artist. Nice bridge group, eh?

Start with the refried interview:

 

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Yes, that’s the same Andrew Card the Herald announced it’s partnering up with for New Hampshire 2016 presidential coverage. Cozy, yeah?

Moving on, the Herald pulls former contributor Michael Graham out of mothballs to add his two cents.

This is why Hillary gives me a headache

I’ve made a lot of money off the Clintons. My first week as a radio talk host was the same week the world learned the name Monica Lewinsky. All I had to do was say “Bill Clinton” into the mic and my phone linesHillary Rodham Clinton exploded. My career was launched.

At the end of his presidency, I published a book titled, “Clinton and Me: How Eight Years of a Pants-Free President Changed My Nation, My Family And My Life.” It sold a lot of copies.

So I’m not a Clinton hater per se. But I do know what “is” means. I know how sex works. And I know how to send an email. And these facts make it very difficult to believe anything coming out of the Clintons’ mouths.

 

And etc.

Next up: Jonah Goldberg, a man who sets the bar for syndication limbo-low.

Email flap pushes Clinton off pedestal

In the wake of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s fairly disastrous press conference at the United Nations on Tuesday, Screen Shot 2015-03-12 at 1.36.07 PMthere’s only one conclusion shared by all parties: This was not how it was supposed to go.

This was supposed to be the month Clinton led with her chief selling point: her gender. She had put together a whole “I Am Woman, Hear Me Bore” speaking tour in which women’s issues — particularly the women’s issues that poll well among women who care a lot about women’s issues — would be the main subject.

The Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation unveiled a big foofaraw over Hillary’s “No Ceilings” campaign. What a wonderfully convenient theme for Mrs. Clinton’s massive and mysterious foundation, given that smashing the “highest glass ceiling” — i.e., the presidency — is the central rationale of her planned presidential bid.

 

And etc. etc.

To top it all off, a Jerry Holbert cartoon:

 

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From our Great Editorial Cartoon Artists Think Alike desk

Here’s what Dan Wasserman has in today’s Boston Globe:

 

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Okay – we’re done with this Hillter Skillter stuff.

For now.

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Boston Editorial Cartoonists Fire Bibi Guns

March 4, 2015

As the hardreading staff has often noted, it’s good to live in a Two-Cartoonist Town and etc.

Today’s editions of the local dailies are no exception, providing these nifty bookends.

From the Boston Globe’s Dan Wasserman:

 

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From the Boston Herald’s Jerry Holbert:

 

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Different world views is exactly right.

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Snow Difference in Hub Cartoonists’ Pats Congrats

February 4, 2015

From our late to the Super Bowl Party desk

As the hardreading staff . . . Two-Cartoonist Town . . . and etc., it’s always interesting when the Wasserman/Holbert-Industrious Complex addresses the same topic on the same day.

Exhibit Umpteen was Tuesday’s post-Pats Super Ball.

Boston Globe’s Dan Wasserman:

 

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Boston Herald’s Jerry Holbert:

Screen Shot 2015-02-04 at 1.01.04 AM

 

Let the Duck Boat Rumpus begin!

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Dailies Double: Boston Papers Hit the Mittfecta

January 14, 2015

Today’s local dailies feature very special Op-Ed ValPaks – columnist + editorial cartoonist – focused on the Last Temptation of Mitt.

Start with the Boston Globe’s Scot Lehigh, who provides this summary of Mitt Romney’s Sisyphean presidential history:

Romney has run twice now, and has twice failed to demonstrate convincing campaign competence or a genuine ability to connect. And though an occasional gaffe is inevitable in a long campaign, Romney spent an astonishing amount of time munching on his own shoe leather. Further, even in the GOP’s strange 2012 callithumpian parade of candidates, he had trouble closing the deal . . .

Even by political standards, Mitt’s malleability has left him looking opportunistic and inauthentic. And for good reason: He is.

 

Ouch.

Lehigh’s conclusion: “For Romney, this looks less like the road to redemption than the path to palookaville.”

Double ouch.

The Globe’s Dan Wasserman is slightly more graphic.

 

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Coincidentally, the Boston Herald’s Jerry Holbert also goes the superhero route.

 

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Uh-huh. On the facing page, though, syndicated columnist Jonah Goldberg isn’t so sure.

You know how superhero flicks often have an extra scene after the credits to hint at what the sequel will be like? Well, this would be the perfect end to the movie “Romney 2012.”

The problem is that “Romney for president” is now an art house film thinking it’s a blockbuster franchise and that there’s a huge market for another sequel. There’s not.

 

So third time’s not the charm? Goldberg’s conclusion: “[T]he idea that a one-term Massachusetts governor, who hired Jonathan Gruber to help design his health-care plan, is just what the Republicans need to run against Hillary Clinton is odd, particularly when the GOP has a much more talented, and fresher, field than it did in 2012.”

In other words, don’t bet the Mittfecta.

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