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>>> Coming up next on "Arizona
Horizon," cartoonist Steve
Benson and Brian Farrington
recap the year through their
provocative and occasionally
twisted cartoons.
That's next on "Arizona
Horizon."
>> "Arizona Horizon" is made
possible by contributions from
the friends of Eight, members of
your Arizona PBS station.
Thank you.
>> Good evening and welcome to
"Arizona Horizon."
I'm Ted Simons.
Once a year, we look back at the
year's big news events through
the eyes of two political
cartoonists who tend to see
things in a slightly skewed
manner.
Joining me tonight are Steve
Benson, of the Arizona Republic
and Brian Farrington, whose
cartoons can be seen in the east
valley tribune.
Good to see you both again here,
and we are back to share
cartoons.
I ask you this every year and I
will ask it again, was it a good
year for cartoonists?
>> It is always a good year.
It is always a good year when
you have like a rolling disaster
in terms of the national scene,
so yeah.
>> So yeah.
>> A good year for you?
>> Busy year.
Every year when we go back and
look at the cartoons, you forget
what happened, and that so much
happened, so, a busy year, like
Steve said, and a lot of big
issues, and so, a lot of topics
to cover.
>> Let's get to some of those
and we'll start with something
that's topical.
The cps case, the controversy,
goodness, gracious, and will it
ever end?
>> Talk about a rolling
disaster, and I mean, you have
got these 6,000 cases where, you
know, the caseworkers are
overloaded and, and Mr. Carter
doesn't know what the heck is
going on, and Jan Brewer is
saying we're going to find where
the bodies are buried, and I
don't know what, that was a
crazy line.
I mean, what's happened here?
And you have overworked agents,
and you have got under,
underperforming, you know,
supervisors, somebody's head is
going to roll.
>> This cartoon that you did,
did you get any feedback on this
considering the nature of the
cartoon?
>> Some positive feedback, also,
while I do the Jesus Christ
cartoons, and they say, Jesus
Christ, you can't run that, but
in this case, we were able to do
it, if Mr. Carter can't take
care of things, you know, they
will turn it over to a
professional.
>> Brian?
Cps?
>> I think Carter is going to go
the way, the way of the
dinosaur.
He's going to get cut for sure,
and you know, it's proving out
to be a disaster with the 6,000
cases getting, you know,
starched like they were and not
investigated.
It will be -- it's serious,
particularly when you deal with
children.
>> Right.
>> And you have got to take care
of it.
>> Right.
>> Bad Santa on the roof, and
bad Santas are cartoon fodder,
they are just -- they are there
for you.
>> Yes.
And in this case, bad Santa is
pouring the 6,000 files down the
chimney, and letting them burn
on Christmas Eve, providing a
little tinder for that.
And what a, what a, a
nightmarish, you know, holiday
for these kids.
>> Yeah.
>> And let's move on now, and we
had the Yarnell hill fire, the
Yarnell hill fire investigation,
and again, when you get the, to
the tragedies, you have got to
be a little careful, or do you?
>> Well, in this case, I think
that it's time to, you know, pay
tribute to, to this, this, to
these heroic guys, who were,
unfortunately, under-equiped and
didn't know where they were, and
now we have got these huge
lawsuits, the one that just came
down finally we got a decent
lawsuit, and it's going to
result in probably more
lawsuits, and just probably so,
it's outrageous.
>> This is a prime example of
how we handle this.
You get the initial tragedy, and
it's like an onion, you peel it
away and there is other issues,
and that's what happened with
the lawsuits, and you know, over
the compensation, and that's
going to be pretty big.
>> And smoky bear there.
>> Right.
>> And playing, you know, paying
a memorial to, to the fallen, it
was -- it's hard to fathom that,
that, 19 people and the way that
they die, probably will be a
more horrible way to die.
>> And Steve, you have got the
Federal aid, not coming to
Yarnell.
>> Yeah.
I mean, I think that this, this
-- I could see the legalistic
argument that, you know, you
have to raise -- you have to
meet a certain standard in terms
of what you are able to fund
yourself, and what you need help
from the Government on, but, I
think that compassion here, I
think if they had erred on the
side of helping us, in these
tight economic times, but, a
little spit on the ash mound,
you know.
>> And finally, we have the, the
Arizona division of forestry.
>> Right.
>> They were found, you know,
liable because, for hundreds of
thousands of dollars, and
finally someone is going to pay,
but the forestry division takes
care of its problem is to burn
their problem.
>> All right.
All right, and moving on, let's
talk about Obama care, a very
big topic, and Steve, again,
when you -- a baby in a crib
here with a snake.
>> Well, all I'm doing here is
I'm illustrating a metaphor,
that's commonly used by
politicians assaying, my
opponent is trying to kill the
baby in the crib.
So, I'm guilty now of, of
drawing what that guy is doing.
>> Doing bad impressions.
>> But the GOP wants to kill
this in the crib.
They wanted to strangle this
thing before it was a, you know,
a gleam in Obama's eye.
It's Ruthless.
>> And we have returned to bad
Santa.
>> And what better way to, to
wake up for Christmas than get
cancellation letters from the
insurance company, and this, and
the crash of the website, were,
will be the two, the two
things --
>> You are making it sound
like --
>> That Obama care will be
remembered for.
>> And they did not have their
insurance --
>> The insurance companies are
taking advantage of the law and,
and setting up the letters.
>> They are not covered.
>> They are claiming that they
can cancel it because they have
to follow the regulations and
what they have to be.
>> Again, with the website
crashing and this and -- there
really was a lot of call on both
sides to Pavilion it and try to
-- to postpone it and try to fix
it.
>> Timeout, they want to
postpone it so that they can
kill the baby in the crib,
strangle it.
>> Is that going to be the
recurring motif tonight?
>> But you have got the bandaid.
>> Right.
>> But, in this case, this was
an utter unmitigated disaster,
and they were trying to push
this thing politically to have
the, the October one, you know,
you know, roll out and, and it
hasn't been technologically
vetted, and so you have got all
these, these various
subcontractors, who don't know
what the other hand is doing,
and it was -- it was pushed too
fast, too far.
But I think they will work it
out.
I know that, that's your worst
nightmare, 30 million people
covered by insurance who can't
afford it.
>> And no, it was originally a
Republican idea, you need to
give them that.
>> It was the heritage
foundation.
>> And there is the laptop
crashing into the White House,
again, and, you know, a bit of
-- I thought a, of 9/11 when I
saw that, what's he thinking?
>> Yeah, and you know, it, it --
the website, and tech issues are
always a thing that, that, that,
that have bugs and, and a hard
workout, and they said again
this week they made some
changes.
>> And we should mention that
this is being taped for
broadcast throughout the next
couple of weeks, and thanks for
blowing that idea out of the
water.
[Laughter]
>>> Again, you have got
Democrats fleeing the President.
>> You had Obama meet with 15
Democrats saying help us out
here, and we have got to go back
to our constituents, well, they
are doing the rollout pretty
good, but yeah, this is a
liability, and there were
Democrats grumbling and saying,
you know, no, this is too
politically of a hot potato.
>> You know, Obama's poll
numbers reflect overwhelmingly
people are unhappy with a lot of
what he's doing, and there will
not be with Obama care, and one
of the reasons that, that his
poll numbers reflect that is,
and the website, indicates that,
that, that they should push it
back, that they should rework a
bit, you know.
>> And they can rework it, but
actually, as it gets up and
rolling, and it's humming along,
it takes one second for, for a,
you know, for a call to be
answered.
And as is more successfully
implemented, I know this is your
worst nightmare.
More people will be satisfied
with it.
Look, they had the same problem
with Romney care in
Massachusetts.
>> Real quickly, waste on your
cartoon.
Explain, please, because that's
a little subtle there now for
some of our --
>> Well, you know, that was --
Bain was Romney's company, and,
you know, and he's been one of
the loudest callers.
>> Right.
>> Didn't want that to slide by
there, without anyone seeing
that.
And we have the Governor here,
interesting --
>> He's a strong conservative
who says I am not going to take
Government handouts, and this is
bad for the economy, and Obama
is a socialist, but hey,
expanding Medicare for, for,
for, or Medicaid, she'll take
it.
I mean, so, you have got to hand
it to her, you know.
>> You have to, to give her some
props that she made the right
decision because, you know, it
was financially beneficial to
the State of Arizona, with a lot
of the fed money.
>> Janny who?
>> She's running for Governor.
>> Do you have the hots for the
Governor?
>> I love 70-year-old women.
>> You mentioned the poll
numbers here in a different
venue.
>> Well, the poll numbers.
He's down, what, he's down
where, where you are a hero,
your hero, bush was in the low
30s.
>> H.W. bush.
>> So most people now think that
-- the thing that is really a
challenge for Obama, most people
now think that he's deliberately
deceptive.
They don't trust him.
You know.
You can, you can keep your
insurance and find out a lot of
the people can't, so they don't
trust him any more.
>> Well, he went around
campaigning for, for, to, to
promote Obama care, and that was
one of the selling points, you
can keep your insurance, and
when they find out that you
can't or the insurance company
is sending out the letters, you
are right, it does speak to his,
to his trustworthiness, and I
think that's why his poll
numbers reflect that.
>> Happy father's day, and
explain.
>> Well, yeah, I think a lot of
people feel that, that, that,
you know, a lot of things Obama
has done haven't been good for
the overall country and, and,
you know, and so, I think that
again, going back to the poll
numbers --
>> Why do you have a, a black
man in a cartoon --
>> I knew you were going to say
that.
>> With a hangman's noose.
Haven't you learned any
sensitivity?
>> But it has nothing to do with
that -- thank you very much.
>> All right, let's move now on
-- well, you guys, you have got
the President with, with, at
least the foot working up on the
ankle, and maybe --
>> Look at that.
>> The racist Caricature.
>> Oh, please.
I have got his mouth open, but
yeah.
Well, Obama does -- I don't
exactly remember, to be honest
with you, what exactly he said
in this particular situation
that put his foot in his mouth,
but I'm sure that, you know,
he's --
>> It has to do with your old
age and inability to reflect.
>> It says something, though,
that he cannot remember if there
was so many things --
>> All I remember is I should
sign up for expanded Medicaid,
that's what I do.
But, yeah, there was something
going on and Obama reacted to
it, let's move on.
>> Ok.
>> Wow.
>> Are you sure it's not
Medicare you should be looking
into that?
If you can't beat them, join
them.
>> This is scary.
This is scary.
You have what, some 30, maybe 40
Republicans in the legislature
chambers across the nation that
have tried in some way, form, or
fashion to impede the, the
ultimate elemental power, that
the people have to control their
Government, and that is the
right to vote.
When the right to vote is, is,
is seriously undermined, you
have lost the country, and it
seems like the Republicans, the
name of, of, you know,
preventing fraud, which is,
which is a boogie man, they are
trying to restrict minorities,
older people, you know, the
young people from voting.
>> We don't have a cartoon from
you but would you like to
respond?
>> No, I don't, let's move on.
>> Ok.
>> You need to be on some kind
of medication, too.
>> We have a, a puzzle here, and
this runs in a string of
cartoons we're going to show
here.
With the Republican party,
eating its own tail here, there
is some really -- a civil war
going on, in many respects,
within the party.
>> there is, and the
demographics of the country are
changing, and the Tea Party,
which came in as this
boisterous, refreshing change,
they, they are not fitting in.
With, with the, the system of
government that's called
bipartisanship.
Bainer has hell breaking loose
with his, with his coalition
there and, and --
>> I think that, you know, like
I think that the Republican
party has to get that in line.
They have to get the extremists
and they have to get it in line.
Is the gridlock that's been,
it's been causing.
>> The Tea Party's attitude is
the best Government is no
Government.
We're the wrecking crew.
The more we can destroy and
disfunctionallize government the
better America will be, and
that's not what people want.
Eventually, politics is local.
And if you start impeding my
ability to get services from the
Government --
>> You have got Karl Rove and
Tea Partyers here saying it's
our party, whose party is it?
>> Well, Karl Rove has
demonstrated to the, to
satisfaction that the Tea Party
is actually the skunk, you know,
in the garden and, and so, yeah,
they are both fighting over the
party, but, it's interesting to
see, like you say, this, this
civil war going on.
>> And --
>> I think the Tea Party will
lose traction over time, I don't
think they are in it for the
long term.
>> Quickly now, we have -- the
Government shutdown, which by
all, has hurt Republicans more
than Democrats, and you have got
both the vehicles right there
in, on the highway.
>> And I think, you know, a lot
of what the shutdown had to do
was over Obama care, directly or
indirectly, and I think
strategically any time we have a
shutdown, we had this happen in
1995 with Newt Gingrich, when he
tried to do it, and it will hurt
the Republicans if they try to
do it instead of trying to
compromise.
>> And that's why we had a
miracle happen in the last
couple days where they came
together on a moderate budget
resolution, that will, actually,
stabilize the economy for a
couple of years.
>> Paul Ryan.
>> Paul Ryan, yeah.
>> He would not have been a good
Vice President but good at
crunching the numbers.
>> And Steve is going back to
the theme that the Republican
party is, in many respects,
hurting itself.
>> Yeah.
It is bent on self destruction
and doesn't need a battleship.
Just give them an open seed.
>> And look at the Republican
party of, of goldwater days, he
looked like a conservative and
today goldwater wouldn't be
allowed in the Republican party.
>> Reagan or goldwater.
>> Good or bad evolution?
>> I think it has been a bad
evolution because they cannot
get anything done.
>> And there were a lot of
conversations now, how about the
Dixie crash, the Democrats, of
the bygone generations have
become Republicans, and you
touched on this with the guys
and the stars and bars in his
living room.
>> This was drawn in the context
of Obama, supposedly being a
Marxist wimpo that he is, taking
it to, to the terrorists over
there and, and bombing and, and
droning and all of that kind of
thing.
And why would a guy that was
born in Kenya, why would a guy
born in Kenya bomb his own
country.
[Laughter]
>> That's what I'm saying.
>> You almost had a New England
tinge to it.
Where are you from, anyway?
Where was that character from, I
should ask?
>> I'm a texan that likes --
what --
>> Let's talk about guns now,
guns, as with last year, guns, a
very big issue.
Steve, the mandatory gun
buyback.
>> It is so insane.
You are not allowing police
agencies to buy back guns and
destroy them, and you have to
put them back on the market.
And, and complicating this is,
is thanks to the nra, there is
no product liability threat that
they are hanging over gun
manufacturers, so, they are
going to be recycled back, what,
in the name of the second
amendment?
I mean, this is just insane.
Absolutely insane.
>> Brian Farrington.
>> Brian?
>> Guns have been a major story
this year.
And on the anniversary of Sandy
Hook, the guy that, that, that
perpetrated that, I mean, they
come out with a report that this
that he was heavily into the
violent video games, and I think
that, you know, that's one of
the things that, that has to be
looked at.
>> And in Japan, and I have
lived there, and they are very
heavy into the violent video
games, and they kill eight
people a year --
>> They, they attack, attacked
pearl harbor.
>> Yeah.
>> Living in the past, like most
conservatives.
>> Ok, wow.
Where did that come from? Wow.
Ok.
Let's get back there, to another
gun issue here.
And talk to me about this one.
This -- did they get much of a
response?
I could see where you could get
a response.
>> You want to get responses on
this and, and the response, that
came from the nra, was so, so
disappointing.
They were silent for a week
after Sandy Hook, and everyone,
you know, was anticipating they
come out with something
meaningful, and what does, what
does lame la Pierre propose?
More guns, we need to put a foot
locker behind every teacher's
desk and we are going to arm
ourselves, and that's all we
need, to arm --
>> Clearly, the nra needs a new
public relations department
because they don't know how to
respond to these things, back
when, when charlton heston was
the President of the nra.
He would go to these rallies,
and it seems like it's the wrong
message to send, and a lot of
gun owners think it's crazy.
>> I met charlton Heston, and I
invited him to speak at a
cartoon convention, and --
>> And he said get your damn,
dirty hands off me, radio it?
>> And he says, gun
recommendation is coming.
That's what he told me over
dinner.
>> Really?
>> Yeah.
>> Ok.
>> So --
>> And quickly, before we get
up --
>> The conspiracy, charlton
Heston was in on it.
>> Did I lose control of this?
>> Briefly.
Governor Brewer, a shot at
Governor Brewer.
>> There is not a gun that she
doesn't like.
After Gabrielle Giffords was
shot as a legislator, you know,
the votes, the state, to the
gun, and we have our own
official gun now, whatever it
is.
And what, a .45 or something.
But, yeah, she's just -- she's
just -- she's doing what her,
her puppet masters tell her to
do.
>> Oh, right.
Before we leave guns, that one,
I mean, do you use children's
bodies in a cartoon?
How far do you go on something
like this?
>> When children are killed,
yeah, I think that we should use
it.
This cartoon was drawn a year
ago.
And they say you cannot run it
because you have done too many,
and I say, I will wait for a
year and I will hold you to
this.
So, I showed him the half drawn
cartoon, that's week, and he
goes, do we really have to?
And I said, you promised.
You promised.
And I think that it's powerful.
Because it shows in human terms,
the cause of this unregulated
militia that we have out there.
>> Speaking of, of rights, and
regulations and, and so forth,
and nsa spying, it's interesting
how that kind of comes and goes
in terms of people's attention
and curiosity and then goes away
and then we find out that there
is surveillance, and then you
draw a cartoon.
>> Well, you know, the nsa
collects, get this, a billion, a
billion, as in, as in boy and,
and a billion data points a day,
a day.
Ok.
And, and, and it's a, a
fundamental violation of the
fourth amendment.
If you are going to start --
they are arguing, it's one thing
to barge into your computer or
your house, but it's also
unconstitutional, just to
collect my stuff, you can't just
start collecting reply stuff
even if you are not going to
process it.
>> To speak to that, I mean, you
need a warrant.
>> Especially in America when we
are obsessed with tweeting, all
this information, it's
worthless, and they are getting
all this information, and you
know, how can they possibly go
through it --
>> I would be obsessed.
>> What are they going to do
with it, you know?
>> All right.
>> That's a tweet, a twit.
>> Yeah.
>> All right, let's get to some,
some general topics here, and
the Jodi Arias trial --
>> Who?
Who?
[Laughter]
>> I want to say this is the
first time on "Arizona Horizon"
that we have used the word,
jodi, and then followed by
arias.
>> I am proud to be responsible
for that.
It was one of those big trials
that happened to be here in
Phoenix.
>> That your wife commentated
on.
>> Yes, she's a commentator for
CNN, hi, honey, but she, meaning
Jodi Arias, captivated a certain
demographic of housewives, who
eat bon-bons and watch that
every day.
>> Who was captivated by that?
>> Nancie grace, did you see her
fat het on TV every -- her fat
head on TV every night?
>> Oh!
>> It had all the makings of a
lifetime -- it was a lifetime
movie and got great ratings.
But, you know, it's one more
notch to becoming a major
metropolitan place where we have
this stuff happening.
Great parks, great ***
trials.
>> At least we're not Florida,
and in Florida we had the
Trayvon Martin case, and this
got big attention for quite a
while.
>> It did, and I do believe that
Mr. Zimmerman came to, to the
gun fight in a bad mood.
We find out now he's a perpetual
domestic abuser, he had a fight
with his wife that night, and
his pension is to go for the
gun.
And I --
>> You converted me but I have
to say in hindsight, I have
changed my attitude about it.
I think this guy is an unstable
guy.
We have seen reports, he likes
to wield the gun.
So, you know.
>> And I think that, that, I
think that Trayvon Martin was
racially profiled from the
get-go.
There is all kinds of stories
like he was rattling doorknobs
and had a hoodie and peeking in
windows, this is all, all coming
the dark underbelly of don't
trust African-Americans.
>> You have stand your ground,
though.
>> Well, I think that there is a
lot of people that feel that,
that this is a law that, that,
that is necessary, that, that
there is a lot of innocent
people out there, that fall
under that, and I think that
initially, people thought that
George Zimmerman fell under
that, and now in hindsight of
his actions they may not feel
that way.
>> Ok.
>> The stand your ground law,
there is only one person to
testify and, and in defense of
standing their ground, and
that's the person that killed
the other person.
And what's happened is homicides
and, and, and self-defense
events have, have, have, have
mushroomed in Florida since
this.
>> The Boston marathon bombing,
difficult to do?
>> It was the first of the first
blush, so to speak, and I did
this cartoon the day, and, and
some people were disturbed by it
because they wanted a tribute
right away, but I wanted to deal
with the shock.
You know, the travesty, the gut
wrenching pain that they were
feeling, so I had these, the
grim reaper breaking the tape.
>> I think that we have time for
one more, and that will be of
Joe Arpaio, and of course, he's
in the news every year, as he
was this year.
>> Yeah, well, of course.
>> The gift that keeps on
giving.
>> Right.
But, the judge for, you know,
for illegal use of, of his men
and, and women, deputies, to
racially profile.
They follow you around, and
commit --
>> How long can this go on?
He's been in, what, 20 years
now?
The sheriff?
It's amazing that he still gets,
gets elected.
I don't know.
>> Before we go, and I have
asked you a couple times what
response did you get, were you
worried.
Does the response -- are you
trying to convince people, are
you trying to motivate people,
provoke people?
What are you trying to do?
>> Well, I think initially, you
are, basically, you react as
anybody with an opinion about
anything, and that you sort of
-- you react by, by expressing
that opinion in a visual way and
metaphors, but, as we work into
it, you know, we try to be
creative, and there are times
when, you know, we try to push,
you know, is and exaggerate like
silly putty, we are not literal
journalists, we don't have the
who, why, what, and where, and
we can take advantage of that.
>> Right.
>> We push-buttons along the
way.
>> What I like to do is I like
to grab --
>> Draw on your underwear.
>> Thank you very much.
>> You have got 15 seconds.
>> I like to grab people's
attention.
I like to hit them in the gut,
and knock the winds out of their
sails, and then go wow!
And once I have got their
attention, I want them to think,
it's not that I'm trying to
convert them or convince them.
I want a reaction, and that's
what we get with the cartoons.
>> And we're going to get a
reaction from this show.
We always do.
It's good to have you both here.
>> Thank you.
>> I wish that I could say the
same.
[Laughter]
>> That is it for now.
I'm Ted Simons, and thank you
very much for joining us.
You have a great evening.
>> "Arizona Horizon" is made
possible by contributions from
the friends of Eight, members of
your Arizona PBS station.
Thank you.
>> Support for eight comes from
viewers like you.
And from --
>> A new leaf.
Helping families, changing
lives.
Now, accepting Arizona tax
credit donations to benefit the
working poor.
Served by critical needs
shelters and community programs.
Information at turnanewleaf.org.
>> Later on 8, H.D.
>> The world renowned Mormon
tabernacle choir celebrates the
holiday season, with a special
concert featuring
internationally renowned
broadcaster Tom Brokaw.
Tonight at eight on 8, H.D.
>> Coming up on 8, H.D.
An eight life.
An eight world.
>> 8, H.D., an eight life.
An eight world.
This is Arizona PBS.
Supported by viewers like you.
Thank you.
>> A parent is a child's first
teacher.
That's why eight is providing a
series of free workshops to
parents and caregivers of
preschool aged children who live
in Yuma county.
Learn how to expand your child's
reading and language skills
through fun activities featuring
their favorite PBS characters.
You will also get interactive
tools that you can use every day
at home to unlock the power of
literacy in your little one's
life.
Register for this six-week
series at
ArizonaPBS.org/workshop.
They begin soon so sign up
today.
>> Coming soon to 8, H.D.
>> The midwife returns to PBS.
>> Not just a myth.
>> TV Guide says it is one of
the top ten shows of the year.
>> How perfectly marvelous.
>> As touching funny.
>> It's one of the TV's
treasures.
>> Take that as a compliment.
>> We are a 1959 now, so,
beginning of the swinging
1960s.
Chummy, my character, has a
baby.
A healthy baby boy.
So, I'm calling her the yummy,
chummy mummy, obviously.
>> I have never told anyone who,
who I slightly based it on.
What do you think?
That there is a somebody who is,
who is my age, in the U.K., but,
it feels of a different era, and
she broke up her sentences, and
nerve, and I thought I have got
to go for that, and it's a very
upper class thing to do.
You can practically not get your
sentences out.
[Laughter]
>> You are so ashamed.
In the world.
So, it's sort of a British --
>> I think it's a strange time
for chummy to be in a new
season, trying to manage her,
her colleagues, and her friends
were really busy, and she
suddenly just, just -- it is a,
it is dynamic for her because it
was her passion and life and
vacation, so, there is a bit of
change for her, and you will be
witnessing.
We'll see what happens.
>> Support for eight comes from
viewers like you.
And from --
>> Ironwood cancer and research
centers.
Providing treatment options
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