Government Shutdown

Early to mid October the government was in shutdown, and this created a deep impact on political cartoons. Both during and after the shutdown, cartoons have been popping up and either pushing blame or making fun of the situation. 

www.cagle.com

During the shut down the government closed all federally run programs, even if it cost little money to keep the programs running. Here is an image that shows the national parks being closed. The brown baggies are covering the faces of the presidents on the mountain. This shows that the images themselves aren't imporant. Although the faces on this monument are common knowledge, it seems as though covering their faces has a deeper meaning behind it. Not only does this government shutdown affect the people, it affects the government itself and those in the past who have run it. Government shutdown has happened before, and it seems as though this image could also state that the presidents of the past are hiding their faces because they are ashamed of what is happening. They are ashamed that the government cannot be run today, and that it did shut down. This imagery here can also be seen by the blank faces drawn on the bags, and the fact that the faces also look very fake and cartoony. However this imagery could also simply be because it happened in October and it was approaching Halloween, and could be making light of the situation. 

www.cagle.com

The second image here relates to the cause of the government shutdown: Obamacare. Which isn't entirely the reason it was shut down, however it is a cause for the Republican party. This cartoon seems to relate to how I feel about Obamacare, but more importantly pokes fun at our political figures. The image seems to reflect the historical triptych, which is three paneled imagery. The three different boxes reflect a different color, which seemingly does not reflect anything significant. If the yellow in this image was a reddish color it might reflect it more. However the purpose of this image is not to reflect on America, and it's not to forcefully bring attention, since it uses light colors. However the fact that his shirt does reflect red can bring the colors into it a little bit, however the yellow throws that off. The typed words in the image are bold, and are obviously the main meaning coming from this image. Simply put, if the people in power can't run the government, how can the people expect them to run a health care system. This image is directly related to Obamacare and the artist seems to be against it. This doesn't seem to be completely favoring either political party, since a lot of the blame of the shutdown was on the Republican party and that's addressed too. The simplicity of the image reflects the shutdown and the cause, showing that there is no trust within the government. 

www.cagle.com 

The third image was created once the government was reopened. This basically pokes fun at the government in general, and that it never functions. The car is falling off the cliff with an American flag, with an Obama bumper sticker on the front. The driver is hard for me to depict, however it seems to not matter because it generally could represent any individual within the government. The image shows that the government is continually falling off a cliff, and the shutdown did nothing to fix it. The message is strong, and shown very obviously here. The car here could either just represent the Obama administration in general, or just the government as a whole since Obama is currently the president, and represented by the bumper sticker on the car. The cliff could seemingly also represent the fiscal cliff, representing the increase in taxes and budget cuts in 2013 and the debt that Obama has created for the country. This image was created once the government was up again, and I think it's pretty funny because it basically says that the government doesn't do anything. This isn't true, however sometimes it might feel like it. 

www.cagle.com

This image was also created when the government was reopened and it's a very general image. It's message is portrayed through the writing on the sign, which is a sign commonly found on the front door of shops when they are opened. The word "open" is bold and in your face, white against red, making it known that the government was indeed open. However there is the general disclaimer at the bottom, which is very popular in our society, stating that this is only the case until there is another issue. The government is going to have plenty of issues throughout the next many years, and the fact that there is that general disclaimer is humorous. This image is satirical and most definitely represents the state of the government today. The government only works in harmony, and not with political disfunction, and that seems to be the message that this image is portraying. The American flag portrayed in the back simply represents America and also can play into representing the government.
The government shutdown has been a blessing, in a way, to political cartoon artists. As seen here there are many approaches to relaying the message, and the visual impact of these images is made known through it.