Mitch Berg is a fairly prominent Republican blogger here in Minnesota — he’s generally thought of as a more or less mainstream Limbaugh-style, pro-Tea Party Republican, which tells you right there that he’s a few meters shy of sane.
He’s also rude. That in itself is not a mark against him, obviously; I’m rude myself. But there are some limits, you know. Berg has endorsed a guy named TJ Swift, who goes by the pseudonym Swiftee, and is one of the earliest denizens of the Pharyngula dungeon. Berg doesn’t just endorse the guy, he gives him high praise:
TJSwift remains the single finest editorial cartoonist in the Twin Cities blogosphere.
@mitchpberg
Like I say, I have a reputation for sharp invective; but I don’t think I can match Swift’s peerless artistic talents and cogent pithiness. If you’d like to see what is regarded as the high water mark of the Minnesota GOP’s wit, talent, and insight…all you have to do is look at the latest work of the single finest Republican editorial cartoonist in Minneapolis/St Paul.
Perhaps we’ll someday see his work in the Minneapolis Star Tribune…or dare I suggest it, the New Yorker or New York Times.
Let’s just please not see any Minnesota Republicans anywhere near an elected office.
Eh, still not as offensive as Michael Ramirez, Mike Lester, or either of the McCoy brothers.
Not exactly Hogarth, is he?
What’s this guy got against Kyle?? He’s a great guy!
He’s funnier than Michele Bachman.
What is this? I don’t even
“What’s wrong with a nice cephalopod?”
This is the question for the ages. I suspect we will never have an answer.
calamari
What a brilliant cartoonist. He’s a perfect match for the rest of the Republican clown patrol.
Well, I guess it’s settled then: In order for me to launch a successful career as a cartoonist, I just need to move to the Twin Cities, because there is virtually no competition there. All I need to do is learn how to MS paint a dog turd, photoshop a random person’s head onto it, and ramble on about politics like if Glenn Beck had a lobotomy, and I would have the area’s finest right-wing political cartoons. Though, in fairness, right-wing media is only slightly above that level of quality anywhere else I’ve been, so…
I actually laughed at the “What about a nice cephalopod?”
think he actually portrayed you in a… not too bad way.
I mean, why would anybody own and snuggle with a dog, when indeed, they could have a nice cephalopod?
What the chose to do with Gleason is just… fucking stupid.
Wow, that’s some pretty pathetic artwork, even for a Republican.
That miserable piece of crap is what he calls art ?
Wait… that crap sullies the good name of crap.
Dudes, really. if you want to do political cartoons, you don’t have to be The New Yorker, or Washington Post, but could you at least actually do art, with original content ? I’ve seen junk put together by 5 year olds which looked better.
I was “drawing” better then this in the 4th grade.
I’m pretty sure I had a better sense of humor too.
If he wants to ridicule or make fun of people that’s fine. Everything is fair game in my opinion but could he at least try to be a little clever about it?
Another thing is that his work is inconsistent. I kind of doubt those figures were all drawn by the same person. Could we have a cut and paste plagerist on our hands?
Exactly.
When I saw that cartoon, my first thought was : this was made by an adult ?
And this is considered witty ?
Holy crap. They really are scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Seriously, those two bagged-headed ladies were drawn by different people. The styles and the use of line as significantly different. something’s wrong here. the hands, the shading, everything’s different
He drew a bag over someone elses drawing. The yellow lady is not his. Lazy theiving douche.
He can’t even spell “cephlapod” (sic)!
Why do they have bags over their heads?!
Maybe this is a meta-cartoon? Like, he is deliberately drawing it as badly as the ehvil atheisty people think a typical Republican might draw…? Naah! I am giving him too much credit.
But at least he did not add an antisemite-style Jewish nose on P Z. Progress!
Who’ s the second-finest?
@jennydraper #19, I’m guessing, but I think it goes something like this:
It’s a meme in Wingnuttia that liberal women are hideous beasts and conservative women are far better looking.
It’s a meme in Misogynia that ugly women need to wear bags over their heads so as not to cause great offense to the sensitive eyes of the patriarchy.
It would probably work better if PZ’s wife wasn’t smokin’ hawt, but Reality is obvious not a place this particular cartoonist has ever been.
“When I saw that cartoon, my first thought was : this was made by an adult ?”
Well, obviously it wasn’t. It was drawn by a right winger.
Er…isn’t actually ‘drawing’ something the first prerequisite for its being a ‘cartoon’?
Sheesh, he’s not even a good collagist.
Two words to describe that awful work: Comic Sans
I’m a graphic designer. No respected designer would EVER use Comic Sans for a cartoon, never mind the bad taste and lack of aesthetics created with MS Paint. Really? Paint?
Rubbish