fear – mackaycartoons

Friday December 1, 2017

November 30, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday December 1, 2017

Trump’s behavior raises questions of competency

Donald Trump potentially has millions of lives in his hands as the threat of a devastating war with North Korea swiftly escalates.

January 20, 2017

Yet the President of the United States is raising new questions about his temperament, his judgment and his understanding of the resonance of his global voice and the gravity of his role with a wild sequence of insults, inflammatory tweets and bizarre comments.

On Wednesday Trump caused outrage and sparked fears of violent reprisals against Americans and US interests overseas by retweeting graphic anti-Muslim videos by an extreme far right British hate group. Earlier this week he used a racial slur in front of Native American war heroes. He’s attacked global press freedom, after cozying up to autocrats on his recent Asia tour.

August 18 2017

And now there are reports that the President has revived conspiracy theories about former President Barack Obama’s birthplace and is suggesting an “Access Hollywood” video on which he was heard boasting sexually assaulting women, and for which he apologized last year, had been doctored.

In normal times, it would be a concern that the President is conducting himself in a manner so at odds with the decorum and propriety associated for over two centuries with the office he holds.

September 20, 2017

But the sudden escalation of the North Korean crisis, following the Stalinist state’s launch of its most potent ever missile on Tuesday, takes the world across a dangerous threshold.

If diplomacy is unable to defuse the North Korea crisis, or slow its march to the moment when Kim Jong Un can credibly claim to be able to target all of the United States with a nuclear payload, Trump will face one of the most intricate dilemmas of any modern President. Will he live with the threat posed by a mercurial, wildly unpredictable adversary? Or, will he launch what could turn out to be a hugely bloody and destructive war to remove Kim’s nuclear threat?

November 3, 2017

There will be a premium on Trump’s judgment, his capacity to absorb the most serious detail and to make choices that could put many, many lives at risk, and draw the United States into escalating situations in Northeast Asia. Trump would be required to switch from the swaggering, untethered political persona he has been reluctant to drop as President into the role of sober statesman, unifying the nation and US allies — a switch he has rarely achieved so far in his 10 months in power.

On Wednesday, in St. Charles, Missouri, Trump stuck to his preferred name calling, again blasting Kim as “Little Rocket Man” and branding him a “sick puppy” after his White House earlier promised severe new sanctions against Pyongyang. But he didn’t elaborate on his vows to “handle” the situation. (Continued: CNN)

SaveSave

Thursday October 6, 2016

October 6, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday October 6, 2016

‘Monsters in clown costumes’: Mystery surrounds terrifying trend

It’s a phenomenon that’s sweeping across North America, from Georgia to Glace Bay, N.S. Mysterious, occasionally armed individuals dressed as terrifying clowns, who are frequently spotted wandering the streets at night, standing in bizarre locations, or menacing members of the public. There have been no reported injuries stemming from the behaviour, but several incidents have led police to get involved.

There have been numerous reports of “creepy clowns” in the U.S. over the last month, and even a few in Canada. In Nova Scotia, for instance, a woman in her car turned down a side street to avoid one clown, only to be surrounded by five more who stood and simply stared at her. On Tuesday, a photo of a clown standing beside a Halifax high school was posted to Instagram. The account’s biography reads, “We stalking you so keep your eyes open. We ain’t killing we just creeping.”

In some cases, police have been called to investigate. Two teenagers are facing charges in connection with allegedly uploading threatening Facebook posts about clowns at schools in Colchester County, a community north of Halifax. A 17-year-old boy from Stewiacke, N.S. and a 16-year-old girl from Shubenacadie, N.S. are facing mischief charges. In a statement released Tuesday, Truro Police said “there is nothing to indicate that these posts were going to be acted upon.” Police have not described details of the posts.

In yet another incident in the Maritime province this week, a 24-year-old man was arrested in Clarks Harbor, N.S. on Tuesday after witnesses told police he was walking down the street dressed in a clown mask and t-shirt and allegedly grabbed at the clothing of a young boy. The suspect, who police have not identified, faces charges of breach of undertaking.

And back in mid-August, Gatineau police let two teens off without charges after they were arrested for donning clown costumes and frightening small children.

In the U.S., clowns have been spotted in the woods of South Carolina and North Carolina, near schools in Ohio, Georgia and Long Island, N.Y., and standing outside an apartment complex in Kentucky. The Kentucky case led to the arrest of a 20-year-old, who appears in his arrest photos wearing a clown costume, sans mask. (Source: CTV News)

Saturday September 19, 2015

September 18, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday September 19, 2015

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May dominates debate on Twitter

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May was not in attendance at the Globe and Mail’s leader debate in Calgary on Thursday, but on Twitter she may have come out on top.

May used Twitter to answer the same questions faced by NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and Conservative Leader Stephen Harper at the Globe and Mails leader debate.

The social media company filmed May’s responses, retorts and fact-checks in a Victoria church and posted them to Twitter.

In total, May’s video posts received 14,000 retweets and favourites, and she gained 3,900 new followers.

May’s account also received the most mentions on Twitter at the beginning of the debate, topping Trudeau by more than 2,000.

In an appearance on CTV’s Power Play earlier on Thursday, May criticized the diversity of the debate.

“(I am) participating at some distance, but perhaps we can make our way into the old boys club yet,” May said in an appearance on CTV’s Power Play earlier on Thursday.

She continued to mock the makeup of event on Twitter.

In an appearance on CTV’s Power Play earlier on Thursday, May criticized the diversity of the debate.

“(I am) participating at some distance, but perhaps we can make our way into the old boys club yet,” May said in an appearance on CTV’s Power Play earlier on Thursday.

She continued to mock the makeup of event on Twitter.

Before the debate, May didn’t shy away from taking jabs at the Globe and Mail event, which she called a “bogus, corporate, private debate.”

Despite May’s exclusion, Sean Humphrey, the Globe and Mail’s vice-president of marketing, has defended the debate’s format.

May has also been left off the podium at the Munk Debates on foreign policy in Toronto and a French-language debate on TVA.

The Green Party Leader criticized Harper and Mulcair for their plans to skip the traditional televised leader’s debate, which is scheduled for Oct. 7. (Source: CTV News)

SATIRE FACT CHECK

By Bruce MacKinnon

By Terry Mosher

Same take by two of Canada’s great editorial cartoonists. Excluding political leaders based on their gender fits well with the stuffy old image of “Canada’s National Newspaper” from a bygone era. Was former NDP leader Audrey McLaughlin excluded in debates in the 1980s, or Alexa McDonough in the 90’s, or Kim Campbell, or more recently Pauline Marois, Kathleen Wynne, or Rachel Notley, just to name a few? No. With respects to my cartoonist colleagues, playing the gender card in this case is a bit disingenuous – Women have been leading political parties throughout Canada for the last 40 years. It’s not about Ms. May’s gender that excluded her from the debate, it’s her fringe party’s low ranking in the polls. It’s also why for every 500 or so main three party cartoons we satirists serve up only a few that actually include the Green Party. When a veteran politician of nearly 10 years finds defence in editorial cartoons then maybe, just maybe, the gig for that politician is up.

Thursday March 5, 2015

March 4, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday March 5, 2015

New law will ensure some criminals stay in jail for life, Stephen Harper says

The federal government will introduce new legislation to ensure that a life sentence means exactly that — a sentence for life without parole — Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Wednesday.

Peter Mackay Gallery

The new bill will apply to those convicted of first-degree murder involving the killing of police officers or correctional officers; terrorism; kidnapping or sexual assault and crimes “of a particularly brutal nature.”

It would also apply to those who commit high treason.

“Next week, our government will introduce legislation to ensure that for the most heinous offenders and the most horrific crimes a life sentence in Canada will henceforth mean exactly that — a sentence for life,” Harper announced in front of a crowd that included families of murder victims.

Currently, those who are convicted of first-degree murder face an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

Harper said that in order to address constitutional concerns, under the new law, some killers serving life without parole will be permitted to petition the minister for public safety for release after serving no less than 35 years. (Source: Toronto Star)

Friday October 10, 2014

October 9, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday October 10, 2014

Has Ottawa been too slow to take on radicalized Canadians?

Canada is sending fighter jets to take part in air strikes against Islamic State fighters abroad. That we know.

But closer to home, the Conservative government isn’t saying much about its promised comprehensive plan to deal with jihadist recruits who are either planning to go to, or are returning from, overseas conflicts.

Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney appeared before a Commons committee on Wednesday, flanked by the heads of the RCMP and CSIS, to discuss the government’s efforts to combat homegrown extremism.

What he had to say amounted to a recap of criminal legislation the government has already passed, measures aimed at punishing rather than preventing, the radicalization of Canadians.

It’s one thing for Liberal leader Justin Trudeau to ramble on about the “root causes” of terrorism, as he did with the CBC’s Peter Mansbridge after the Boston Marathon bombing, but no Conservative wants to be heard saying the same.

Instead, Blaney ran through a set of now well-worn numbers.

Ye olde scary costumes gag from 2001

Among them, Canadian authorities are aware of at least 130 Canadians suspected of taking part in terrorism-related activities in places such as Syria, Iraq and Somalia. About 80 have returned to Canada.

“I can confirm for Canadians that, as we speak, the RCMP is investigating these individuals and will seek to put them behind bars where they belong,” Blaney solemnly informed the public safety committee.

But who these individuals are — what they have done, how they became radicalized — on those matters, Blaney offered little.

Instead, he repeated the pledge made last week by Prime Minister Stephen Harper that additional measures are coming soon.

“Preventing violent extremism is an essential element of our response, and that is why some of the important work is being done in this regard as we speak.” (Source: CBC News)