Wonkette

Is the cartoon riot thing over yet? We don’t remember hearing about it this week at all. That’s always a good sign, right? Good work Hitch and Sully!

We do hope that episode ended, or fizzled out, or whatever. ‘Cause we don’t think people should be blowing up Danes, sure, but also because we want to go back to the world where no one gave a shit about cartoons. The world of, like two months ago. When editorial cartoonists, secure in their obscurity, could repeat the jokes they stole from 1950’s Herblock cartoons with crosshatching and textual labeling of strained metaphors straight outta vintage Thomas Nast.

We miss that innocent time. And so does our buddy the Comics Curmudgeon. CC’s been blogging about daily, non-political comics for a while now, so we asked him to take the impressive skills he’s developed as America’s Premier Comic Strip Mocker and train them on the political cartoonists of our nation’s newspapers. His analysis is after the jump.

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* House, by narrow 216 to 214 vote, approves steep cuts in entitlement programs; viewed as victory for Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). [WP, NYT, W$J, USAT]
* White House has scaled back their agenda; “Bush has come around to the notion that a presidency can handle only one truly big thing at a time, and for now that thing is Iraq.” [WP, LAT]
* Rep. Blunt expected to win race for House majority leader today. [LAT]
* Many House Republicans believe their leadership is going too far with proposed reforms for lobbying. [WP, NYT]
* Administration is rejecting Senate requests for legal opinions on NSA eavesdropping. [NYT]
* “Disorganization of Senate Democrats” created smooth path for Samuel Alito’s confirmation. [WP]
* U.S. Capitol Police chief apologizes for hassling Cindy Sheehan. [WP, NYT]
* Bush’s rhetorical push for energy independence is greeted with skepticism and “a lack of enthusiasm” on the Hill. [NYT, W$J]

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• Bush strikes a subdued tone in Oval Office address about Iraq: “This work has been especially difficult in Iraq — more difficult than we expected. Reconstruction efforts and the training of Iraqi security forces started more slowly than we hoped. We continue to see violence and suffering, caused by an enemy that is determined and brutal, unconstrained by conscience or the rules of war.” [WP, NYT, USAT]
• Bush was “uncharacteristically contrite”; speech “culminated a weekend in which his administration tried to retake lost ground” on Iraq and national security. [WP, NYT, NYT, USAT]
• Cheney makes surprise visit to Iraq; violence returns after election lull. Cheney: “Well, Iraq’s looking good. . . I think when we look back from 10 years hence, we’ll see that the year ‘05 was in fact a watershed year here in Iraq.” [WP, NYT, USAT]
• Republican leadership approves $41.6b in spending cuts and attempt to open ANWR for drilling. House approves; Senate to take up debates today. [WP, NYT, USAT, LAT]

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• Lawyers at the Justice Department warned that Rep. Tom Delay’s (R-Texas) redistricting plan was illegal under the Voting Rights Act but senior officials vetoed their findings. [WP]
• Senate Armed Services Committee seeks answers about Pentagon’s propaganda campaign in Iraqi media. Scott McClellan: “We’re very concerned about the reports. We have asked the Department of Defense for more information.” [NYT]
• Revelations about Samuel Alito’s views on abortion “are stiffening Democratic resistance and complicating the nomination for moderates in both parties.” Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.): “Certainly the chance of a filibuster is greater today than it was the day Alito was nominated.” [WP, NYT]
• Conversation in 2004 with Time’s Viveca Novak is said to have motivated Rove to change his testimony in the leak investigation. [NYT]
• Prosecutors are investigating whether Jack Abramoff “brokered lucrative jobs for Congressional aides at powerful lobbying firms in exchange for legislative favors.” [NYT]
• Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) breaks from most in her party with support of Rep. John Murtha’s (D-Pa.) plan for withdrawal. Strategist: “If Karl Rove was writing the timing of this, he wouldn’t have written it any differently, with the president of the United States expressing resolve and the Democratic leader offering surrender. For Republicans, this is manna from heaven.” [WP, WT]
• Bush marks World AIDS Day: “I believe America has a unique ability, and a special calling, to fight this disease.” Dean says the administration has “stood in the way of important global efforts to curb this disease.” [WP]

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