Ted Rall pulls no punches. He’s a patented political pugilist, landing haymaker after haymaker, week after week. Rall’s cartoons may not float like a butterfly, but they certainly sting like a bee. Here are some of our favorites from 2021.
The Impeachment Trial
Republican Profiles in Courage
Some GOP senators doodled this week while the Capitol “burned.”
Simply Unimpeachable
Mitch McConnell was “furious” over the mob assault on the Capitol but not furious enough to push fellow Republicans to convict Donald Trump of inciting the failed coup.
Climate Change
Going the Way of the Dodo
Nearly two dozen species have now joined 650 others in the US that are believed to be gone forever, as we increasingly lay waste to the natural world.
COVID-19 and Variants
“Another One Bites the Dust”*
At least five conservative, anti-vaccination radio hosts have died of COVID-19 since July. *The most recent was Bob Enyart, who in the ‘90s enjoyed reading aloud the names of those who died of AIDS while playing the Queen song “Another One Bites the Dust.”
DeSantis Digs Florida Into a Grave Situation
What will be the next death-defying political stunt for the governor of Florida?
Mask Wars: The Phantom Menace
Reading, writing, and ridiculousness. If making kids wear masks is child abuse, then what do you call putting them at risk of catching COVID-19?
Afghanistan
No Mission Accomplished
As America’s longest war comes to an abrupt and chaotic end, will the last man out turn off the empire?
Losing a War Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry
Warning: This cartoon contains explicit language for the explicitly ugly situation in Afghanistan.
Voting Rights
First Voter Suppression, Now Protester Suppression
It sounds hard to believe, but some Republican-controlled state legislatures are providing legal protection for motorists who run down protesters. Others are criminalizing protests following the death of George Floyd.
Voting Wrongs
During oral arguments this week, the Supreme Court — led by John Roberts — seemed prepared to further restrict voting rights, in line with efforts by Republican state lawmakers across the country.
Senate Republicans
Republican Deficit Disorder
Under Donald Trump, the national debt increased by nearly 40 percent — adding almost $8 trillion in four years. Now Mitch McConnell (R-KY) wants to leave Democrats holding the bag.
President Joe Biden
Not As We’ve Done
President Joe Biden engaged in just a bit of historical revisionism in remarks after his meeting in Geneva with Vladimir Putin.
The More Things Change, the More Things Stay the Same
It’s the same old, same old when it comes to immigration policy under Joe Biden, who’s cracking the whip using Trump-era rules he once decried.
