Last Weak  |  Index  |  Next Weak

Weak IX

26 February 2023

No. 3,368 (cartoon)

Do you hate me or just not care about me?

I try to find a balance.

Racist jokes aren’t funny.

27 February 2023

Another Unfortunate Cartoon Footnote

This is bad, this is real bad.

Exactly three months ago (that’s 27 November 2022 so you don’t have to do the math), I explained that the cartoon from the previous day was a reference to the cartoonist Charles Schulz. And now I’m doing it again with yesterday’s comic strip reference to Scott Adams.

I lifted—er, appropriated—the first two panels of dialogue in the strip I published yesterday directly from Adams’ 28 October 2022 Dilbert cartoon. And that brings us to the final black square, which needs some ’splainin’, alas.

Adams made himself a pariah in what passes for the civilized world a few days ago when he said, “... the best advice I would give to White people is to get the hell away from Black people ...” Jaw-droppingly stupid and vile; what a maroon! No one accused him of being a racist; he proudly proclaimed that he was one. As a result, his syndicated cartoon was dropped from virtually every newspaper in which it has appeared for decades. In the popular parlance du jour, Scott Adams has been canceled.

His generally apolitical cartoons are usually funny; that’s why I had the Dilbert strip I referenced in my “to plagiarize” folder. So now I find myself in the uncomfortable situation of enjoying the work of a despicable bigot. (I was about to write “stupid bigot” when I realized that “rational racist” is an oxymoron.) Is my cartoon from yesterday not funny because I stole the content from some who revealed himself to be a contemptible white supremacist?

The answer—if there is one—is the joke in my cartoon. Now that it’s been vivisected over several paragraphs, it’s now certainly not funny (if it ever was).

I’m probably oversimplifying this into an either/or proposition, but unless some Western version of the Taliban—or maybe even Taliban Classic—provides a list of morally impeccable artists, musicians, and writers whose work I can explore, I’m going to continue to enjoy good work without running a background check on the person who created it to find out whether or not s/he’s peccable.

28 February 2023

The British Seedy Corporation

Walter asked me if I wanted to hear a heartwarming story about the origins of the word “broadcasting.” That was a rhetorical question; he started to tell me about his grandmother before I could think of a polite way to say “no.”

He told me that when he was a little boy he was helping in the family garden when his grandmother explained that some seeds should be planted in rows, but others should be widely scattered, or “broadcast.”

Yawn.

My heart remained at thirty-seven degrees, but at least I now know how the British Seedy Corporation got its name.

1 March 2023

Discussing Colin’s Book

Colleen asked me what I thought of Colin’s new book. I didn’t want to admit I’d only read the dust jacket, so I had to fake it. I knew she wasn’t interested in my opinion, so I told her Colin is obviously quite intelligent since I agreed with what he wrote.

Sure enough, she didn’t give me a followup question. As I figured, the original query was just a pretext for her to launch into a long and tedious book review. I didn’t hear a word she said; I was too busy contemplating what I’d have for lunch.

One of the reasons Colleen and I remain such good friends is that we can enjoy each other’s company without the distraction of listening to the inane things we say to each other.

2 March 2023

Creative Nonviolence and Beyond

I was cycling through Berkeley, California this afternoon when I spotted a few people holding a huge banner, “Creative Nonviolence Not War.” Creative nonviolence certainly has its place, just ask Ghandi or King. Nah, just kidding; there were both assassinated, a traditional expression of uncreative violence.

Call me a cynic (and you’d be right), but I doubt putting daisies in the barrels of the massive Russian T-14 Armata tanks advancing on Kyiv would have had any positive impact, whereas FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missiles did change the minds of some of the invaders, if only because it blew their brains beyond smithereens.

3 March 2023

Something About Museums

Jerry told me he took his daughter Megan to an opening at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum today. (It’s funny (or not), but during all the years I’ve spent in New Mexico I’ve never been inside the Santa Fe museum.)

He reported it was a lousy reception: no grub and no booze. I asked him what the joint was like, and he reported, “There’s a lot of stuff by Georgia O’Keeffe there.”

There’s something about museums, and it’s not something that’s of much personal interest.

4 March 2023

Big Fat Nothingburger

I was going to write about something quite interesting today, but I’ll be danged if I can remember what it was. My brain is giving me the silent treatment, so I’m left chewing on a big fat nothingburger.

Don’t get me wrong; I ain’t complainin’. It’s actually kinda satisfying if you wash it down with a couple flagons of icy tequila.

Coming next weak: more of the same.

Last Weak  |  Index  |  Next Weak
©2023 David Glenn Rinehart