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[This cartoon by my friend, RR reader, political cartoonist RL ‘Bob’ Crabb appeared in the 5feb11 Union op-ed pages. You might note that we don’t see eye-to-eye on everything. Oh well.]
No matter the decades of leftwing legislative control that has brought California to its knees; it seems that as long as there remains a Republican in Sacrmaento, it is all their fault.
I think Bob should have had the taxpayer running a gauntlet of democrat pickpockets to represent California more accurately. The R’s have controlled the Assembly one year (1995) in the last fifty and none in the Senate. Bob needs to do his homework better. But theater needs no accuracy I suppose.
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Just what is inaccurate about my cartoon? Guv Jerry wants to extend taxes. Repubs in the legislature have vowed to block him from getting it on the ballot. You guys are reading too much into this.
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Maybe sometime I should show you the big pile of cartoons I’ve done over the last ten years depicting two donkeys (representing Senate and Assembly) in a rowboat without oars (representing the ship of state) trying to figure out what to do next. The most recent was a month or so ago, with Jerry and the donkeys scrambling to come up with ideas on how to keep the ship from sinking. (Selling naming rights for state parks, green jobs, stealing each others wallets, etc.)
The elephant in the boat offering to give them enough rope to hang themselves.
I just calls ’em like I sees ’em. It’s not a pretty picture, to be sure. Even if the donks get it on the ballot, there’s a good chance they’ll get shot down and go back to square one.
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No Bob, you can’t come here and say. “golly, I have a pile of pics on dems too” because I haven’t paid attention I guess so that is news to me. You use cartoons to push a point of view and I have no problem with that because that is what we all do too. What is interesting to me is two things, 1. You don not attack the left on their blogs, 2. you bend the facts or recollections to fit you pics. The voters just gave the State a majority vote to pass the budget in November. The D’s have held the majority, almost a super majority (because of gerrymandering) almost our entire lives so from my perspective my recommendation is much more truthful. Oh, I also forgot, on the lib blogs you attack us personally and by name, we don’t do that to you.
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You are such a sensitive boy, Todd. I can’t help it if you don’t believe that I take the other side to task. You are so stuck on being 1000% conservative that you can’t even accept the fact that I probably agree with you half the time. It’s a good example of why your party has such a hard time winning elections in California.
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“Your party” says it all. If you recognize so clearly the fecklessness of the Dems, why would you be one?
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Bob, your cartoon communicates a concerned governor with a plan to move California out of its economic crisis by increasing yet again taxes on its citizens. And this salutary approach is in the process of being mugged by some obvious thugs and low-lifes who seem to understand nothing, and have in mind only doing harm to the state and its governor. These thugs and low-lifes are obvious members of only one political party, the Republicans.
And the historical truth is that it has been the political philosophy and public policies of the Democrats who have been in charge of California’s fortunes for the last decades overseeing its downfall through excess regulation, over taxation, and public service union pay-offs that have brought the state into its current condition of fiscal ruin. Add to this the fact that the same governor in his previous tenure was the one who enabled California to go down its crippling road to its current control by government employee unions. And now the first thing the governor wants to do is to convince us that THIS TIME raising taxes some more will somehow get us back on even keel. Moonbeam was an idiot the first time around, and now he’s doubling down.
Your cartoon captures none of this, so I thought I would take exception to it. Admittedly it’s tough attempting to be a middle of the road political commentator when no one agrees where lies the middle.
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And here I thought I was portraying the resolute opposition, preparing to take on a Democratic Governor (as they did a past one) in a battle of wills. If the images aren’t handsome or noble looking, well they ARE politicians.
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Hard to argue with your last point Bob.
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Bob, you think you know me and conservatives by our political writings when you don’t know us at all. You claim to be in the middle but it is telling you failed to disagree with my assertion you only attack conservatives personally and by name. What I find fascinating about supposed middle of the road types is they tend to have a larger view of themselves manifested in a feeling of superiority because they aren’t like those people. Those people who have decided it is OK to hold beliefs and not be wishy washy like most MOTR are. You have no idea about any personal positions or giving or humanitarian endeavors by conservatives because they don’t wear them on their sleeves like democrats do. So because we don’t toot our own horns, you folks assume we are what you think we are. So, it really doesn’t bother me that you do, because in the end, we all pick sides.
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You don’t know me either, Bubba. Conservatives have been very helpful to me in my lifetime, and I am thankful for it. I was approached by a good number of folks at the school Friday night who told me how much they enjoyed my scribbles. They just aren’t as fiercely partisan as you are. As for calling you by name in other blogs, I suppose you saw the post where I did a hypothetical race between you and Ben Emery. I had you winning hands down, because of Ben’s call for a 75% tax rate for millionaires. Is that an insult?
There are issues that I agree with conservatives wholeheartedly, and some that I can’t abide. Same goes for the Democrats. More often then not, I vote for a third party candidate. That, and my cartoons, are the only way I have to protest the two-party monopoly.
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I think it’s funny.
To assume democrats will vote to “Extend a tax increase” can only come from the progressive believe they can scare the crap out of the electorate. This tax “Extension” is no more than Moonbeam digging an exit tunnel from the pit his party dug.
But, I’m sure his “PLAN” will work…this time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIlzYD4tk78
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Bob, Bubba? Jeese, I never married my cousin. Funny isn’t it, I get many people coming up to me at public functions slapping me on the back thanking me as well. The difference between us appears to be I involve myself with candidates and the party that can win and do something to change things. You don’t.
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Au contraire, Todd. I go with ideas rather than candidates or parties. I point out what are, in my opinion, flaws in the two party system that have kept this nation in perpetual gridlock for too long. This isn’t something I just came up with, it’s been my solid position for almost twenty years, starting with my vote for Ross Perot.
And as for not rubbing the control freaks on the left the wrong way, I suggest you re-read my ode to the lumberjack statue, or plunk down the money for my book and look at my cartoons on the Nevada City Planning Commission, among others.
The way this is going is one of the reasons I don’t debate you on this stuff anymore, Todd. There’s no winning for either of us and little point in continuing the discussion.
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Yep
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BTW, I have nothing personal against Bob, he has his opinions and I have mine. Looks like we are both unmovable.
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Glad to see we can agree on something, Todd.
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George I was reading the leftwing blog and it appears they are so afraid of you, Russ me and Barry that they made a pact to not come over. They are afraid they will turn to salt. What a bunch of chickens. Frisch is trying to spin the numbers and he is brown nosing Pelline. You just can’t make this stuff up. Of course we all know they come and read ours, even though it gives them the heebie-jeebies. LOL.
BTW, Bob, how do I get your book?
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Todd wrote:
“BTW, I have nothing personal against Bob, he has his opinions and I have mine. Looks like we are both unmovable.”
And then he wrote:
“BTW, Bob, how do I get your book?”
There’s hope for Todd yet!
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Bob, you did make Brown appear almost Messianic with the light from above while the Republican mob was just out for blood. Even if your image had been fair, turnabout can be fair play; it was a Dem mob that killed Arnold’s flagship initiatives a few short years ago that helped the mess get even worse.
California is not in dire straits because of low tax rates, but because spending outpaced revenues. We won’t have a solution until the legislature drastically rolls back their spending habits, or the state goes into receivership, whichever comes first. I’d bet on bankruptcy.
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It never ceases to amaze me how my cartoons are interpreted. Sometimes I’ll do one that I think will generate controversy, and nobody says a word, then I’ll do one like this week’s that I think is rather benign and look what happens. Ah well, I’m a big boy and can take the heat.
And Greg, I absolutely agree that the mess in Sacramento belongs to the donkey party. Like I said before, I’ve done a pile of cartoons on that theme over the years.(The last one ran on 12/11/10.) Originally, I had hoped to do a chapter in the book dedicated to California politics, but I only had so many pages to work with.
The book can be purchased at the front desk at The Union.
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Thanks, I’ll get one.
Bob, We conservatives have been the butt of jokes and blamed for everything from corns to nuclear war threats all my life. We are simply able now to respond to that stuff so we do. I am glad you can take the heat for this comment thread. We took it for 60 years.
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Bob, I venture that all of us would look forward to a new tome from you on California politics. I would even predict that, properly promoted, it would have a national readership because of the widespread notoriety of California’s decline.
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One of my favorite characters Bob has used in the past was Nun of the Above. Perhaps the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence could once again inspire the mighty pen.
Checking, Sister Boom Boom (aka Nun of the Above) retired from the Sisters in ’86, converted to Islam in 2001 and is apparently working as an astrologer in ‘Frisco.
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In keeping with my stand on parties, Nun of the Above was my candidate for Governor during the recall election of 2003. It was an ongoing series for much of the campaign, and I almost put up the money to get my name on the ballot (as a stand-in for Nunny) with the other 300+ would-be Guvs. At the time I was caring for my ailing father, so I didn’t have the time to run for office. Nunny is in suspended animation in an undisclosed storage facility. Maybe she’ll come out of the mothballs for 2012.
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My only thought was – did really have that many republicans get elected?
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