When President Obama eulogized Senator Ted Kennedy yesterday, one of the few political moments was describing him as “a man whose name graces nearly 1,000 laws, and who penned more than 300 laws himself.”
It’s surprising how few cartoons memorializing the senator focused on the accomplishments of his 47-year record, opting instead for quotations or sketches of heaven. But RJ Matson’s stood out, not only for honoring some of the many ways Kennedy’s work has helped our lives, but also for the subtext, the inspired choice of invoking already-iconic artwork to make a separate, powerful statement.
This is a wonderful cartoon.
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Strangely, this seems less a cartoon that some of the so-called reporting focused on Kennedy in past days. There are so many good things about this tribute, not the least of which is the way it provides a reminder of his accomplishements and contributions. OSHA? Mental health parity? I never would have remembered those without the reminder.
Thanks for searching it out
shoreacres´s last blog ..Dancing Down Life’s Storms
Hi Shore – I never remember COBRA and Title IX. I wish I could recall where I saw a list of many of them — scroll, scroll, scroll, it was that long.
Most of the reporting I paid attention to is print, but props to MSNBC for remaining completely silent during the memorials, funeral etc. It was when they weren’t silent that they were just as annoying as CNN. Fox, of course, is a partisan joke and will always be relegated to the kids’ table unless or until it makes the necessary changes to be taken seriously by anyone other than wingnuts. I do know Fox would like to be taken seriously but it’s a tricky change to try to become a real news organization without losing the olds, the rabid right and the willfully ignorant and misinformed who make up their core audience. And I have no sympathy for them. Bed/ lie in it.
Living in St. Louis, I saw this in the POST-DISPATCH earlier in the week. I wasn’t aware just how many laws Kennedy’s hand touched.
If you substituted “Kennedy” for the word “liberal” in the large middle picture, don’t you think it would make a good postage stamp?
Kathy G´s last blog ..Walk This Way
I agree, Kathy, a perfect stamp! In fact this looks like a whole sheet of stamps to me. (Matson’s consistently terrific, don’t you think?)