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Political Cartoon Topic Analysis Part 1

Cartoonist: Matt Wuerker

Date Published: January 20 2016
Title: Michigan 2016

The event that inspired this cartoon is the Flint Michigan water crisis. The pipes in
flint michigan have not been repaired and as a result of that the water has high amounts

of lead in it, some water is even at the level that is considered toxic waste. Race is a key
element in this crisis because flint is a predominantly black area and the white
neighborhoods around flint arent experiencing the similar issue. Cartoonist Matt
Wuerker portrays the racist undertones of the water crisis by depicting segregated water
fountains, the white fountain has clean water, while the colored fountain has dirty brown
water. The fountains are a symbol for segregation that took place in the past when there
were actually white and colored fountains. The symbolism is intended to show that it is
2016 and there is a lack of progress in attaining equality. There is also irony because it
shows that in the past white people had a better life style and now in 2016 michigan is
still facing the same problem. The intended reaction to this cartoon is frustration,
Wuerker confronts the reader with the image showing that there has been no change from
the days of slavery, to present day in Michigan. Wuerkers point of view is that there is
still blatant racism and segregation today in Michigan and he wants the readers to
understand the irony and sadness of the situation

Cartoonist: Pat Bagley

Date Published: January 15 2016
Title: Trickle Down Religion
The Cartoon depicts Michigans Governor Rick Snyder baptising a boy who is
labeled as Flint Michigan in brown, toxic water with an elephant saying A-MEN
holding a bible with a money symbol on it. Bagley uses a lot of symbolism in this
cartoon, the small boy Snyder is baptising symbolizes flint michigan, his youth
symbolizes innocence which shows that Flint did nothing wrong to provoke this

poisoning. The elephant symbolizes the republican party. The fact that he is so large
shows that the republican party is wealthy and prosperous, the bible with the money
symbol is meant to show that the republican party worships money and wealth is their
main priority. Rick Snyder is dressed in all white to symbolize himself as a holy figure
and the child in the cartoon is being baptised in the name of deregulated trickle down
government (Bagley). The cartoon is ironic because typically a baptism is a joyful event
but in the baptism depicted in this cartoon is the opposite. Instead of being baptised in
clear water like he should be, the little boy is baptised in the toxic water that the residents
of flint michigan are subject to drink. The point of view of Bagley is clear, he believes
that Snyder and the Republican party are to blame for the poisoning of flint michigan.

Cartoonist: Rob Rogers

Date Published: January 20 2016
Title: Flint Water

The cartoon is a picture of an advertisement for Flint water. The advertisement is

ironic because it is advertising for something that nobody would want. The cartoon
describes flint water as ...the unique flavor of the flint river filtered through corroded
lead pipes! (Rogers). The intention of this cartoon is to create awareness for the crisis in

Flint Michigan. The cartoon also has a box that states that it is not in rich, white
neighborhood which shows that the toxic water is only limited to poor neighborhoods
where people of color live. There is also a box with warnings of hair loss, class action
lawsuits and other bad health problems related to the consumption of flint water. The
cartoon shows the negative effects of flint water while advertising the cause of the crisis.
The cartoonist Rogers believes that the crisis is due to the lack of leadership and racism,
on the advertisement he writes, Quench your thirst for failed leadership and austerity
mixed with racism! (Rogers). Rogers also portrays in the cartoon that the measures that
michigan took to save money may ultimately result in the deaths and sickness of many
people.

Cartoonist: Mike Thompson

Date Published: October 1 2015
Title: Gov. Snyder and the Flint water crisis
This cartoon is parody of the Dos Equis beer commercials with the Most
Interesting Man in the World. It depicts Governor Snyder as the Most Disinterested Man
in the World. The cartoon is about Governor Snyders reaction to the flint water crisis.

Cartoonist Mike Thompsons point of view is that Snyder only took responsibility for his
inaction when his denial didnt work. He is holding a bottle with a label that says flint
water with a skull, the skull symbolizes the toxic, dangerous water of flint. The bottom of
the cartoon says Stay thirsty, my friends which is ironic because that is typically the
slogan for Dos Equis beer but Thompson used it in the context of the flint water crisis.
The stay thirsty my friends slogan is significant because many of the residents in flint
dont have access to clean drinking water so the slogan can be taken quite literally in this
case.

Cartoonist: Pat Bagley

Date Published: January 28, 2016
Title: Harmful If Swallowed

This cartoon compares the negative effects of consuming Flint water to the
negative effects of consuming right wing media. The cartoonist Pat Bagley drew two
water bottles with disgusting looking brown water in it. He adds bugs and bacteria in the
right wing media bottle to show that as disgusting and harmful Flints water is the right

wing media is even worse. There is a warning in between the two bottles stating the
harmful effects of exposure such as lowered IQ and violence. At first glance it looks like
its just listing the impact of exposure to the toxic Flint water but with a closer look it is
clear that these are the impacts of the right wing media as well. After looking at many of
Pat Bagleys cartoons and including another one in this analysis it is clear that he has a
liberal bias. Not only does he show the devastating effects of the corroded pipes but he
manages to shed Republicans in a terrible light and often blames them for the entire
situation.

Cartoonist: Nick Anderson

Date Published: January 24, 2016
Title: Flint
This cartoon juxtaposes the fun of a water slide to the corroded pipelines in flint
that are poisoning children. Anderson uses the image of the skull in the water to
symbolize death. The small children and the water slide symbolize innocence to show
that the residents of flint were naive to their toxic water supply until all of the media
attention. There is a large man at the top of the water slide labeled state of Michigan is

throwing kids down the water slide. This shows that the Republicans who are always
preaching about family values are knowingly poisoning the kids of flint, this in a sense
means that the republicans in the state of michigan are playing a dangerous game with the
childrens lives. There is irony in this cartoon as well because the description for the
water slide is very positive with a smiley face but the actual situation is terrible. This
could also show that the government is deceiving the people of Flint Michigan.

Cartoonist: Steve Benson

Date Published: January 24, 2016
Title: Flint Michigan Water Dept.
This cartoon is similar to the first cartoon included in this analysis. The cartoon
shows a white man drinking water next to a young black girl. There are labels above each
person, above the white guy it says white only and unleaded, above the black girl it
says colored only and leaded. The labels show that the water the white people are
drinking is unleaded and clean while the water the black people drink is full of lead and is
unsafe. The white mans water fountain is significantly larger than the girls fountain
which shows that the water of the wealthy white people is valued more than the water of

black people. The colored and whites only signs symbolize segregation that is still
prevalent in Michigan. The cartoonist Steve Benson uses symbolism to show that racism
is causing devastating effects in michigan.

Cartoonist: Steve Sack

Date Published: January 22, 2016
Title: Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder

The cartoon depicts Governor Snyder in a boat rowing in dirty Flint water with a depth
gage showing the different stages of the water crisis. The first stage was nasty taste and
smell and it goes all the way up to Snyders political career and at that point is when
Snyder decides it is a crisis. The purpose of this cartoon was to confront Snyder about his
negligence towards the Flint water crisis. The boat signifies Snyder attempting to evade
his problems. The cartoon is ironic because compared to all the other terrible things
happening, the governor only considers it a crisis when his political career is on the line.
Sacks point of view is that Governor Snyder is responsible for poisoning the children
and residents of Flint.

Political Cartoon Topic Analysis Part 2

The cartoons I collected were all based on the topic of the Flint Michigan water
crisis. Though the crisis started in April 2014 there has been little done to fix the corroded
pipes or help the citizens who were affected by the contaminated water. I chose this topic
because it was angry and confusing to me how a state could knowingly poison its citizens
and not be punished.
The collection of these cartoons show that racism still exists and is dangerous.
Many of the cartoons I viewed and added to the collection compared the water crisis to
segregation that occurred years before. This is because Flint is a predominantly black
area and when the governor poisoned the residents many people viewed it as genocide.
The overall collection of this cartoon is one sided because it is difficult to find a cartoon
that supported the mass poisoning of innocent citizens. Although the cartoons were one
sided, I learned a lot about the causes of the crisis and how Governor Rick Snyder was
blamed for the crisis.
The cartoons did not change my opinion about the water crisis because before
doing this assignment I was pretty well informed about the issue and had formed my own
opinion which was that the negligence of the Michigan government was an act of racism
and genocide. I have new opinions about the flint crisis because before I looked at these
cartoons I didnt fully understand how cowardly and an ineffective leader Governor Rick
Snyder is. Personally I believe that he should go to jail.
The general messages of these cartoons was satirical because the cartoonist
juxtaposed the severity of the situation by making jokes about the lack of leadership and

the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. The cartoons made me frustrated because it
showed that racism is still a serious issue and that nobody is doing anything to solve
them. The collection showed the majority opinion because most people are disgusted that
a whole city has been poisoned. Another thing that annoyed me was that flint was put
under emergency management which basically suspended democracy, the decisions are
made by someone who Snyder elected. This angers me because Im sure that the citizens
of Flint wouldnt want someone who knowingly killed their children to hire someone to
make the decisions.

Though the topic was grim, I actually enjoyed this assignment because I got to
view entertaining cartoons about an issue that I am passionate about. I learned a lot from
these cartoons about the Flint water crisis, and although some of the cartoons made me
angry it was good because the purpose of political cartoons are to evoke thought and
emotion and these cartoonists did just that.