Blog 5

http://images.salon.com/comics/tomo/2005/08/22/tomo/story.jpg
I decided to write my 5th blog on this political cartoon I found through searching on Google. The cartoon is concerned with the war in Iraq, a very controversial subject. It is addressed to Americans and basically is making fun of Americans who support the war in Iraq by portraying them as being oblivious and unaware of what is really going on in Iraq. The meaning of this cartoon would definitely change if the audience did. If the Iraqi people saw this cartoon, or any American cartoon commenting on the war, I’m not sure they would find it very funny considering they are in the true midst of the conflict. I think it would be very interesting to learn more about how Iraqis react to American cartoons of this nature. The argument being directed towards Americans is that the war in Iraq is not something to take lightly and the author argues this by sarcastically having his characters optimistically support the war. The author uses a few common fallacies of argument to do this. He appeals to widespread belief when the male character talks about his “numerous ribbon magnets” on his car, which show his support for the war in Iraq. We are all familiar with these yellow ribbon magnets that support our troops, because they are a common trend in American society. The author also uses the Ad Hominem fallacy when the male character insults Cindy Sheehan and calls her “such a traitorous America-hating @#&$%*”. Here the author is attacking Cindy Sheehan (a anti-war activist who lost her son during the Iraq war), instead of attacking her anti-war beliefs. Another tactic I found the author use was when he had the characters use the term “transport tubes” instead of “body bag”. “Transport tube” is much more delicate of a term to describe a body bag because it doesn’t even give the idea that it is used for a human body. The author’s use of language and abuse of the fallacies of argument make this comic strip humorous.