Since Tom’s already highlighted the Pulitzer photography awards, here’s Dave Weigel at Slate on the award for political cartooning:
…[I]t’s notable that Politico‘s Pulitzer went not to any of its reporting (its scoop-a-minute debt limit coverage, for example), but to cartoonist Matt Wuerker. The cartoonist is the only outright liberal voice in a magazine all about ideology-free reportage on Washington/campaigns…
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… Wuerker cut his teeth at publications like The Nation and Z… poke around the vast Internet, and you can find lots of Wuerker art with a strong POV. It’s a delightful little irony that the publication so often derided by the left as “Drudgico” has won its first Pulitzer for cartoons that made the Left’s arguments.
I haven’t seen much of Wuerker’s work, and Politico‘s awards slideshow highlights arguments as sophisticated as a hammer and a drawing style just slightly more advanced than Ted Rall’s. Two swabbies labelled ‘John’ and ‘Mitch’ jeering “Here’s the plan. We let him go down… then we get to run the ship!” as Captain O, Nancy, and Harry frantically bail red ink from the sinking U.S.S. USA does not leave much room for interpretation, but there’s virtue in clarity, I guess.
Speaking of jabbering cartoons, Weigel also shares the latest from Louie Gohmert (R-Tea Party):
Eleven House conservatives, most of them freshmen, held a joint media meet-up this afternoon. No real agenda. The theme was “conversations with conservatives.” And the first question that tripped anybody up, from The Hill’s Russ Berman, was whether members were “excited” about incoming Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
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“Well, first, we’re excited about the opportunity to defeat Barack Obama, more than anything,” said Rep. Jim Jordan, the shirtsleeved chairman of the Republican Study Committee….
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Rep. Louie Gohmert, the aggressively quotable former judge from Texas, basically conceded the point. “If you’re not sure about whether to support Mitt Romney,” he joked, “whether you’re liberal, or whether you’re very conservative, you ought to be excited, because he’s been on your side at one time or another.”…
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Gohmert returned to clean up his splatter. “So I’m not completely misunderstood,” he said, “I’m not as excited as I am desperate.”
I’m sure Mark Halperin will tell us that this is excellent news for John McCain “Mitt” Romney…
Early Morning Open Thread: Equal Time for the Graphic GuysPost + Comments (27)