Cartoon Saturday

Hang on to that seasonal mantra about peace on earth and good will toward men. You're going to need it.

In San Bernardino, California, a married couple apparently working on behalf of Daesh murdered 14 people and injured at least 17 others at a holiday party before being killed by police officers ... the usual crocodile tears and platitudes ensued before being cleaned, oiled, and stored so they can be hauled out for reuse at the next mass shooting, which should be along shortly; the Air Force has announced that it is running low on bombs to drop on Daesh, leading to a suggestion that it replace napalm with hot air, of which an endless supply can be provided by Donald Trump; a brewer in Austria has recalled more than a million bottles of beer which may be contaminated with broken glass; according to a CNN/ORC poll, Donald Trump has an enormous lead in the GOP presidential rodeo, commanding a staggering 36% of those who base their choices on visceral hate and fear; and at the same time, Jeb Bush's campaign appears to be all but dead, with a towering level of support estimated at 3% of Republican voters ... and falling.

With less than three weeks to go until Christmas, we could use a little holiday cheer. As my contribution, here's a collection of random cartoons from my collection. No theme today, just some good yucks ...

The modern way to get rescued in this scenario is to post an innocuous opinion on Facebook ... millions of people will turn out to troll you ...

The updated edition of the famous board game, "Life" ...

I had to think about this one for a minute, but then I loved it ...

Sadly, there's a lot of this going around ...

We're getting to this point ...

I always knew that this was what "grace period" actually meant ...

Generic news conference, 2015 ...

I can definitely see this one coming ...

Classic! ... this one's for you, Andrea ...

And finally, who needs an Apple Watch when you can go paleo? ...

That's it for this much-needed edition of Cartoon Saturday. It looks like it's going to be a sunny, but cold weekend here in NoVa, perfect for firing up the fireplace, putting on the Christmas tunes, and getting the tree set up while drinking a big mug of hot spiced cider. All those leaves in the yard will still be there tomorrow.

Before I go, a reminder that we have officially started the voting season for Ass Clown of the Year. You can check the voting rules in yesterday's post; for reference, here's a list of the awardees named so far this year, along with the award dates in case you want to review the qualifications of the field so far:

Senator Mitch McConnell (1/9), South Carolina State Representative Alan D. Clemmons (1/23), Kanye West (2/13), Bill O'Reilly (2/27), 47 GOP Senators (3/13), Ted Cruz and Ben Carson (joint award, 3/27), North Korean Textbook Writers (4/10), Dr Ben Carson (4/24), Texas State Representative Molly White (5/8), Alex Jones (5/22), the GOP Presidential Contenders (group award, 6/5), Jim Cooley (6/19), Donald Trump (7/3), Devon Staples (7/17), Christopher Reed (7/31), the "Oath Keepers" (8/14), Jeb Bush (8/28), Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee (joint award, 9/11), Martin Shkreli (9/25), the Home Depot Shoplifting Avenger (10/9), The House Select Committee on Benghazi (10/23), Donald Trump (11/6), Ohio Governor John Kasich (11/20), and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (group award, 12/4). We'll name one more Left Cheek Award on December 18th.

Remember, you don't have to vote for one of these ... you can cast your vote for any deserving candidate. Just remember that this is for the Big One - the Ass Clown of the Year - so make your choice wisely. Voting closes at 11:55 PM on December 31st, and on January 1st we'll announce who will take the crown from our 2014 winner, former Vice President Dick Cheney.

Vote early, vote often ... Chicago Rules apply!

Have a good day and a great weekend. More thoughts when we celebrate Poetry Sunday in this space tomorrow.

Bilbo