The United States Government is frequently criticized due to its lack of action regarding pressing issues. This frequently leads to the creation of political cartoons that aim to assert this criticism. However, this general attitude towards our government may be slightly misguided. The government’s lack of response to issues is affected by the public in general. As Mackenzie King said, “Government, in the last analysis, is organized opinion. Where there is little or no public opinion, there is likely to be bad government.” This idea regarding the public can be seen when looking at “Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder” and “Climate Hoax”. “Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder” is a political cartoon by Steve Sack from The Minneapolis Star Tribune regarding the
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“Climate Hoax” was created by Pat Bagley from the Salt Lake Tribune in attempt to criticize the general attitude in regards to the crisis of global warming. Unlike, the first image, no one event sparked the illustrator’s criticism, rather the public as a whole did. As seen in these two cartoons, in addition to the public inadequately legitimizing issues, policymakers often wait to take action until the public takes action. However, the public frequently fails to do so due to their blatant disregard for some issues. So, in order for the Flint water crisis and global warming to be addressed properly, the public has to actively speak up for the lack of attention these issue are getting. However, the public in general is getting in its own way of speaking up and addressing pressing issues due to the fact that we don’t recognize issues that aren’t directly affecting us in the moment. This is due to the fact that the public is afraid of legitimizing issues because of the terrifying significance they …show more content…
The placement of the words carries the most importance with this object. From bottom to top the spectrum goes “Nasty taste & smell”, “Health warnings”, “Lead poisoned kids”, “Media attention”, and “My political career”. The first thing at the bottom of the spectrum is slightly more understandable because on the greater scale of things, a bad smell and taste is the worst thing in the world. However, the next two things on the spectrum are serious matters. Yet, “health warnings” and “lead poisoned kids” come before “media attention” and “my political career”. Sack is clearly making a statement that he thinks that politicians but their own career and media perception over the well being and safety of the public. This is also a way for the illustration to show how in his opinion, the Governor only responded to the situation once he was in harm’s way not once the children or health warnings were a concern. Additionally, the artists deliberately placed the measurement so that the only thing sticking out was “my political career”. This shows how the Governor was only really concerned with the crisis once his political career was at stake because he looked bad in the situation. This is further illustrated by the text bubbled above the Governor’s head. It says “NOW it’s a crisis” when looking at the part of the spectrum that is sticking out of the
“Climate Hoax” was created by Pat Bagley from the Salt Lake Tribune in attempt to criticize the general attitude in regards to the crisis of global warming. Unlike, the first image, no one event sparked the illustrator’s criticism, rather the public as a whole did. As seen in these two cartoons, in addition to the public inadequately legitimizing issues, policymakers often wait to take action until the public takes action. However, the public frequently fails to do so due to their blatant disregard for some issues. So, in order for the Flint water crisis and global warming to be addressed properly, the public has to actively speak up for the lack of attention these issue are getting. However, the public in general is getting in its own way of speaking up and addressing pressing issues due to the fact that we don’t recognize issues that aren’t directly affecting us in the moment. This is due to the fact that the public is afraid of legitimizing issues because of the terrifying significance they …show more content…
The placement of the words carries the most importance with this object. From bottom to top the spectrum goes “Nasty taste & smell”, “Health warnings”, “Lead poisoned kids”, “Media attention”, and “My political career”. The first thing at the bottom of the spectrum is slightly more understandable because on the greater scale of things, a bad smell and taste is the worst thing in the world. However, the next two things on the spectrum are serious matters. Yet, “health warnings” and “lead poisoned kids” come before “media attention” and “my political career”. Sack is clearly making a statement that he thinks that politicians but their own career and media perception over the well being and safety of the public. This is also a way for the illustration to show how in his opinion, the Governor only responded to the situation once he was in harm’s way not once the children or health warnings were a concern. Additionally, the artists deliberately placed the measurement so that the only thing sticking out was “my political career”. This shows how the Governor was only really concerned with the crisis once his political career was at stake because he looked bad in the situation. This is further illustrated by the text bubbled above the Governor’s head. It says “NOW it’s a crisis” when looking at the part of the spectrum that is sticking out of the