Wednesday, December 31, 2014

2014 - Hope n' Change Looks Back

As 2014 draws to a close, it is only natural for Hope n' Change to reflect on the events of the year gone by in hopes of coming to a better understanding of our tics, twitches, and crying jags.

After even a cursory review (and trust us, we're cursing), it becomes clear that in 2014 Barack Hussein Obama distinguished himself as a truly historic "war president," marking significant victories in the War on Health, the War on Wealth, the War on Whites, the War on Borders, the War on Cops, the War on Israel, the War on Energy, the War on Fiscal Responsibility, the War on Veterans, the War on Racial Harmony, the War on Citizenship, the War on the Unborn and, of course, the War on the War on Terror.

There were some actual military wars, too, but the president wasn't particularly interested in them as they were unlikely to help him raise campaign funds, get votes, or improve his golf game.

And so Hope n' Change presents the following samples of cartoons from the past 52 weeks. If these don't put you in the mood to chug a bottle of champagne on New Year's Eve, then nothing will.

January

Barry kicks the year off by declaring that all he really needs to run the country is his super-duper magic Executive Pen. Little did we know that he actually meant it.

Thanks to the president's bold military decision to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, Fallujah was among the first of many bloody dominoes to fall in the Middle East. It fails to generate as much news - or political outrage - as a traffic jam in New Jersey.

February

Mr. Obama celebrates Black History Month by officially becoming the biggest liar in Black History.

March

As a gesture of good will and "spreading the wealth" to communist dictatorships, the United States spends approximately three jillion dollars on sending Michelle Obama and her daughters to China to get a better understanding of life in 5-star hotels.

The drumbeat starts revving up to bring illegal aliens "out of the shadows" and into the sunlight where they can do a better job of mowing the lawns of wealthy Democrats.

April

Following the nightmarishly bungled roll-out of the multi-billion dollar "Healthcare.gov" website, Kathleen Sibelius receives presidential accolades, a taxpayer-funded pension, and a healthcare plan which, unlike everyone else's new plan, actually involves doctors.

Having successfully ignored "Fast and Furious," Benghazi, the IRS election scandal, Black Panther voter intimidation, and the prosecution of  federal immigration laws, the never-industrious Eric Holder decides to kick off the administration's "War on Cops" with a $5 million fishing expedition.

May

Proving himself fully capable of stepping into the pantsuit of his predecessor, Secretary of State John Kerry makes the bold claim that sex slavery is even worse than Obamacare. No one believes him.

A wide-ranging scandal involving the execrable medical care at VA hospitals comes as a complete surprise to Barry because it hadn't been mentioned on ESPN.  The president declares himself to be "angry" about the situation, then does nothing about it until...
 
June

Proving that he does care about veterans, the president releases five veteran Taliban terrorists from Gitmo in exchange for suspected Army deserter Bowe Bergdahl.  Bergdahl is given a hero's welcome by Mr. Obama, after which all records relating to his possible deserter status are locked away.

Keeping the illegal alien bandwagon rolling, Obama declares that America has no future if it's relying on kids who are too stupid to break the law.

The situation in Iraq continues to worsen. Obama resents getting any blame, claiming that his military decisions were based on "bad intelligence." The same media which crucified Bush for using the same phrase suddenly declares Obama to be an innocent victim.
 
We learn that Obama had good reason to say there wasn't a "smidgen" of evidence of IRS corruption because, as part of routine office procedure, all of the IRS's hard drives, laptops, mainframes, and backup devices have been put into woodchippers.




Hillary Clinton attempts to jumpstart her 2016 presidential campaign by identifying with the little people and claiming that she and Bill were "dead broke" when they left the White House. The claim is so ridiculous, even Monica Lewinsky can't swallow it.

July

Much to the consternation, or possibly constipation, of Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court decides that Obamacare doesn't quite trump Freedom of Religion, and Hobby Lobby doesn't have to pay to terminate the lives of the unborn.


Tens of thousands of children illegally enter the United States - apparently with the active assistance of the Obama administration - and are redistributed to secret locations around the country at huge taxpayer expense. The children who, after all, are our nation's future do not come empty-handed - bringing with them a wide variety of interesting third world diseases.


August

As things go from bad to worse in the Middle East, Barack Obama decides to send just a few troops back into action in hopes of recapturing some strategically vital popularity poll points.

Major General Harold Greene becomes the highest ranking soldier killed in Afghanistan, and the president shows himself to be also highly rank when he decides to go golfing instead of attending the funeral. He does, however, comfort Greene's family by pointing out in a brief cellphone call, "it could be worse, Harold could have ended up in a VA hospital."


Following the 100% justified shooting of not-so-gentle giant Michael Brown in Ferguson, Eric Holder decides that Officer Darren Wilson is almost certainly one of those racist cops he's been spending so much money looking for, and that "America is a nation of cowards unless we can have a race war."

September


ISIS, annoyed that Barack Obama has completely ignored them for two years as they laid waste to the Middle East, starts beheading people on YouTube in hopes that Susan Rice will see it. Joe "I think I forgot my meds again" Biden declares we'll follow ISIS to the gates of Hell, while Barry "I'm the only man in the world who calls them ISIL" Soetoro hopes merely to make them a small ongoing annoyance like jock itch. Neither of these things happen.


The Secret Service is enveloped in scandal when it's revealed that they're not actually doing a very good job of protecting the president.  Fortunately, their morale gets a significant boost when people start slapping them on the backs and buying them drinks.


Still diligently working at ginning up a race war, Barack Obama goes to the United Nations and declares that no matter what brutal human rights violations are taking place elsewhere, they can't be as bad as what the police are doing to black Americans.

October

Although it's getting late in the year, there is finally good news in October.  Bill and Hillary Clinton become grandparents when their daughter Chelsea, in a show of support with Hobby Lobby, brings a child to full term. This is not, however, the good news we were referring to. The good news is that Halloween is coming. We like Halloween.
 
Shortly after the president assures the nation that Ebola will never enter our country, Ebola enters our country and Joe Biden starts campaigning to bring it "out of the shadows" and maybe give it a free college loan.

As the days tick down to the mid-term elections, it becomes increasingly clear that Democrats would rather be seen with a projectile-vomiting Ebola patient than with their unpopular president. In a genuinely brilliant act of revenge, Obama announces that no matter where an election takes place, or who the candidate is, it's actually a referendum on his policies.
 
November

Following a landslide GOP victory in the mid-term elections, Obama decides that it wasn't a referendum on his policies after all, and that everyone who didn't vote would have voted for him if they could have, thereby giving him a mandate to kiss his sanity goodbye.


Following months of provocation from every race hustler in the United States, riots erupt when a grand jury declares that Officer Darren Wilson did nothing wrong in the self-defense shooting of Michael Brown. Barack Obama, ignoring the grand jury findings, says it is necessary for black people to demonstrate and make things "uncomfortable."

December

The president gives amnesty to five million illegal aliens and snidely implies that everyone else is here illegally too.  Clearly, we should celebrate the fact that we're a nation of outlaws - held in check only by those damned racist police officers.

The "hands up, don't shoot" gesture becomes a popular way for liberals of every race, creed, and color to say "cops are evil and something needs to be done about them."

Something is done about cops when two are (in the president's words) "made uncomfortable" by being assassinated in cold blood by a whackjob who was inflamed by anti-cop rhetoric.

Suddenly, all of the liberal race hustlers declare that they have no idea where the killer got his ideas from, looking around and shrugging as if the teacher in "A Christmas Story" had just asked them if they knew where Flick was after recess.

And that's more or less where 2014 comes to an end: our foreign affairs are in disarray, our borders have essentially collapsed, race relations are as low as they've been in a half-century, there is the looming threat of outright war between the federal government and America's police departments, and Barack Obama has decided to spend his last two years in office as an out-of-control king. And that's only counting the stories we wedged in here - there were plenty more, but the warning light on our blood pressure cuff was blinking red.

Still, 2015 is a new year and we're expecting great things. Well, not great things, but we expect Harry Reid to be absolutely miserable - and that's something.











19 comments:

Geoff King said...

Future historians may very well mark 2014 as the year that the United States of America ceased to exist. The criminal and unconstitutional precedents set this year by congress and the president will likely be irreversible. Any new senator or representative will be indoctrinated or blackmailed into complying with the system and any new president will not give up any of the dictatorial powers established by Øcommie.
At least we have Hope n Change to help ease our pain and intelligently air our greivances. Thank you Stilton for making our great loss a bit more bearable with your rapier wit and hilarious but poignant cartoons.
Here's hoping that we all survive 2015.

Judi King said...

2014 was the worst year I can remember in my lifetime ( and that's a lot of years ). Here's hoping 2015 is better but with 2 more years of the dic I don't have too much hope. I wish all of you a happy, safe, and prosperous New Year.
PS: Stilton, I loved your word "halfrican" as well as the rest of your great descriptive adjectives.

Monty Montour said...

Stilton, thank you for brilliantly making me laugh out loud at the completely un-funny situation we find our country in. I look forward to your commentary and graphics and am never disappointed.
All the best to you and your family in the New Year!

American Cowboy said...

"Keeping the illegal alien bandwagon rolling, Obama declares that America has no future if it's relying on kids who are too stupid to break the law."

I can understand why he would think this. After all he was elected president.

And to all my fellow HnC'ers
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

CenTexTim said...

Oh c'mon, folks. Let's save the pessimism for better times... :-)

Here's wishing everyone a New Year filled with New Hope, New Change, New Beginnings, and the same old Hope 'n Change!

Anonymous said...

This montage goes well with Neil Sedaka's "Calendar Girl"

Bruce Bleu said...

Stilton,
GEEEEENyus post! I'm looking forward to seeing it on all the networks who, being journalists, are concerned that the TRUTH be published! (yeah, RIGHT) I'm going to "cut-&-paste" this and send it to my fiends [sic]. It should be a calendar for 2014!
Thanks for all the work you do for liberty. Please keep it up so I can maintain the grip I have on sanity.

DougM said...

You're the best three-panelist in the business.
Thanks for reminding us that we can endure the constant gnashing of teeth with humor.
(Oh, yeah, we're still irate; but there's less damage done to one's tooth enamel when one is also grinning.)
All the best in the new year!

Shelly said...

Happy New Year, Stilton. Let's hope the Congress grows even a tiny little backbone in 2015 and holds Obama accountable for a change. I'm not holding my breath but it would be a nice surprise.

Cookie said...

Thanks for the great reminder of this "interesting" year. If I didn't love your cartoons so much, I'd actually wish that there was no fodder in the coming year worthy of your time. Alas, I don't think it will happen. But may we all do our best to make our own changes in the coming year that will enrich and enhance the lives of our own families and those around us. May God bless the USA to withstand the continuing storms of this presidency. Best wishes to you all!

John the Econ said...

Compared to the usual "year in review" retrospectives you see this time of year, this one certainly stands out.

Here's one I might add: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton Extend Run as Most Admired

On what planet this took place, I cannot say. But if it was this one, I want to get off.

BTW: I'm now getting spammed daily by HealthCare.gov.

PRY said...

Stilt, I gotta say, you are one of the best! What a collection of first-class creativity, man!
Thanks for all you do...I know you get as much or more out of your efforts as we do who log on regularly, so kudos, brother, keep up the good work, and keep the faith...I think we're in for another banner year one way or the other!

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@Readers- First and foremost, HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone! We've shared a lot over the past 52 weeks (and longer). And as much as it sucks to be stuck in a foxhole with bullets flying overhead, it's at least a pretty good place to make friendships. I wish all of you the very best for 2015!

@Geoff King- I fear 2014 will be seen as a pivotal year by future historians, and not in a good way.

@Judi King- As much as it may seem like heresy for me to say it, there's more to life than politics - and I think for the next couple of years, we all need to focus on that.

By the way, "halfrican" isn't my word; can't remember where I saw it but I couldn't resist using it.

@Monty Montour- Thank you!

@American Cowboy- I think Barry believes that obeying the law is a sucker's game.

@CenTexTim- Despite my apparent cynicism, I actually do have hope for 2015. Granted, it's a vague and hazy hope, but I'll take what I can get.

@Anonymous- I sometimes wish I could add music to the offerings here.

@Bruce Bleu- Glad you enjoyed the look back. I'm frankly hoping that a number of people might share the link to today's post as an introduction to Hope n' Change for their friends and/or enemies.

@DougM- Thanks for the very kind words! There aren't many people using the three-panel form for political humor these days, so my competition isn't stiff - but I do make an effort.

@Shelly- I would dearly LOVE to be able to start commenting on some actual conservative victories in this space, rather than just chronicling the nation's decline. Maybe 2015 will be the year!

@Cookie- I'd like nothing better than to have no annoying political content to use as raw material here (though it doesn't seem like I'm going to be starving for material any time soon). There are plenty of other funny things I'd rather be writing about.

@John the Econ- Thank you, sir. And seriously, WTF is going on that Barry and Hillary are "most admired" for anything?!

Regarding Healthcare.gov, that's not spam - that's personalized attention. You should feel flattered! Or, at the very least, stalked.

@PRY- Thanks. I had to leave a LOT on the cutting room floor, of course. So I'll remind folks that every freaking cartoon and commentary I've ever done can be accessed through the archives in the left hand column of the site. Also, you can use the little seach box over there to enter keywords and topics to trace stories over the months and years.

John the Econ said...

And I neglected to say, "Happy New Year" and thank you @Stilton, for toiling on our and America's behalf.

As for admiring Barry & Hillary: Well, if for anything, I have to admire Barry for being able to live a .001%-er lifestyle on my dime while berating everyone else who even considers trying. And for Hillary, I have to admire her cajones for simultaneously pleading poverty while being able to collect $300,000 speaking fees financed via student loans for prattling on for 45 minutes or so.

If I could pull that off, I'd be an arrogant SOB too.

REM1875 said...

Best wishes to all.

Chuck Baker said...

Happy New Year to all! We live in Hope (n' Change).

Popular Front said...

First off, a very cheerful Australian New Year's greeting to all H&C folks.
That picture of HRC really does seem like she's pinching off a big one into her Rompers doesn't it? She's not ageing well IMHO. What makes me LOL is the thought that the Democreeps feel they have a decent shot at the title for 2016 with her, failing to grasp the reality of Obamayomama totally screwing their chances with his blazing incompetence and that of his cronies and hangers-on.

Terry Schuck said...

Glad you didn't do his entire term up to this point. Excellent stuff.

Don Surber said...

Oh that was just great. Made my day