04/07/11 from cagle.com

In this cartoon, I see a speech bubble from an Iraqi-an that states that the U.S. did attacked themselves. On the wall, there are plans for attacks on the US and there is a T.V. that is broadcasting an image on the White House with "government shutdown" labeled on it. There is also a bomb laying on the floor. The cartoonist is saying that the government shutdown is exactly what terrorists want and that we should not do this to ourselves. This cartoon relates directly with the issue of the US government shutdown, which I first learned about in class. There is use of irony and satire as terrorist may find this government shutdown unexpected.

04/09/11 from cagle.com

I can see in this cartoon a speech bubble that states, "I'm not sure more zeros will help...". I see a car labeled "border security" and the "border", which is composed of a long number. There are ladders, planks, a lot of footsteps, and a person was has ran across this "border". The message of the cartoonist is that Obama is wasting federal funding of border patrol as it does not help that much. This cartoon relates to the issue of illegal immigration to the US. This issue has been mentioned in class by the lawyers as well as the regular class. The use of irony and satire shows that the federal funding is a waste of money.

 04/12/11 from cagle.com

In this cartoon I can see several protest signs that are against red light cameras. There is a speech bubble that raises awareness of all the places that surveillance cameras are used. These people are protesting near a red light camera. The cartoonist is stating that cameras infringes on people's privacy. This cartoon does not relate much to a current event as it is basically protesting the use of surveillance cameras, which have been around for quite some time now. I was absolutely entertained by the sign, "Big brother is watching!", which is a reference to 1984 by George Orwell. We have talked about the issue of privacy in class, which was that the right of privacy is only suggested in the Constitution but not directly stated. This, as well as the content of the speech bubble, uses irony and satire which makes the cartoon more interesting.

04/12/11 from cagle.com

This political cartoon contains a speech bubble of what I believe to be the man's wife asking if he was sure where that sushi cam from. In this picture, I see a man who has grabbed a piece of sushi at the dinner table with a woman. The cartoonist's message is simply a warning that cautions people about eating foods that are imported from Japan because they may contain radiation. This cartoon relates to the event of Japan's earthquakes that caused some of its nuclear plants to blow up. We had touched on the topic of radiation from Japan in class. There is not much significant use of irony or satire as it just raises awareness of the danger of Japan's foods.

03/24/11 from cagle.com

This cartoon does not have a caption or title. However, it is obvious that the person in the cartoon is Obama with three mosquitoes named Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya. I believe the cartoonist is saying that it is best for Obama to refrain from involving himself with yet another country. The three mosquitoes are feeding on Obama which means that Obama has a lot on his plate already before involving Libya. This cartoon relates directly to the event in Libya, a topic discussed in class. There is not any apparent use of satire or irony, it is simply stating that Obama is weighing himself down with all these issues.

Cam

03/17/11 from cagle.com

This cartoon contains a speech bubble that says, "As you can see, nuclear power is completely safe..." This use of sarcasm makes fun of how people may have thought that nuclear power is safe. It appears that "nuclear power" is in the form of a monster that has overpowered the restraint that the people put around him. The cartoon is saying that nuclear power is just plainly unsafe. This could be seen as a bit of an environmentalist view. This cartoon relates to the current event in Japan with the earthquake as there is a risk that nuclear explosions may be triggered. This cartoon's uses satire to ridicule any perception that nuclear power is safe.

03/03/11 from cagle.com

     The title of this cartoon is "Steel-Barrel Dictator." Since the oil spill is in the shape of the U.S., the cartoonist is saying that the U.S. is the country that relies the most on oil. The steel barrel has the word "oil" on it and is the source for the oil that is spread across the sand. The cartoonist is saying that the U.S. is the country that has the biggest oil dependency. The cartoonist may also be saying that the U.S. contributes to the problem even further with the oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico. This cartoon may be in reference to either the growing problem of oil dependency or the oil spill or even both. We have not really touched on this topic in the classroom but it was addressed by Obama in his State of the Union address. This cartoonist does not seem to have any use of satire or irony because it is basically blaming the U.S. for its huge consumption of oil.