Cartoon Saturday

It's been another week of top-quality ass-clownery ...

Ultraconservative Republicans, led by hot air magnate Senator Ted Cruz, continued to block efforts to end the government shutdown and discounted the potential disaster of a default on on the national economy if the debt ceiling is not raised; a ship crowded with people attempting to flee Africa for Europe capsized off the Italian island of Lampedusa, killing 31 would-be refugees; the FBI in New York has arrested two rabbis and charged them with kidnapping for arranging assaults of Orthodox Jewish husbands to persuade them to grant divorces to their wives; the Vatican has recalled thousands of commemorative medals celebrating the papacy of Pope Francis after discovering that the name of Jesus had been misspelled; and a huge early-winter blizzard in South Dakota has brought the state to a standstill ... without the help of the GOP.

Given the way the news has been going lately, I'm considering doubling the number of cartoons posted each Cartoon Saturday. I'm sure you could use them. But so we don't rush into things, how about 11 cartoons this week instead of the usual ten, eh?

Our selection of theme cartoons this week features takeoffs on letters, numbers, and symbols.

When letters go bad ...

Hmmm ... something here just doesn't add up ...

Sometimes, you've just got to do things your own way ...

Dating by the numbers ...

When emoticons marry ...

And from the intersection of awful puns and simple cartoons ...

Number 2 seems like a real tool ...

The promises 21^st century children make ...

Congress plans ahead ...

This is the sort of discussion I usually have with our financial advisor ...

And finally, just to add to the horror and paranoia surrounding the advent of Obamacare, proof that its perceived evils extend beyond the grave ...

And there you have it for this week's Cartoon Saturday ... something for you to enjoy while you contemplate the looming disaster of the tanking of the economy brought to you by political ineptitude and shameless blackmail. Enjoy.

I will probably not post tomorrow, as Agnes and I are taking Bernadette and Richard to Colonial Williamsburg for the weekend. Naturally, it's pouring rain, so I'm not sure how this will work out ... but the tickets and hotel reservation are non-refundable, so we'll grit out teeth, don raincoats, and try to balance the holding of umbrellas and cameras. We'll see how it works out.

Have a good day. More thoughts when we get back.

Bilbo