Political Framing

I found this political cartoon to be quite comical as well as representative of some of the thoughts and feelings of the American public. This specific use of image framing of the current political staff in power triggers a direct, immediate response from its viewers. This political cartoons artist's goal was to negatively portray the current administration by using an emotional frame, specifically fear. The artist dresses the three key political players in the decision making process for bills, laws, reforms, etc. in lab coats, gloves and even has Harry Reid holding a large needle. The artist does this because most human beings fear being hoovered by people holding large needles and lab coats, getting ready to operate on them. The meaning behind this cartoon is simple, do we the American public trust our government in power to "operate on our country?" The facial expressions and the order in which the characters are standing is also important. Pelosi and Obama are standing back while Reid takes front and center, needle in hand ready to operate. This may mean that he has more perceived power than Obama and Pelosi. Additionally, the facial expressions on all of the characters are that of confusion and uncertainty. These are facial expressions that a person would not want to see before being operated on, hence reinforcing the artist's frame of fear. Having a clueless political administration in charge of our country is quite scary. I believe that the artist did a fantastic job of picking a fairly general concern of the American public and using image framing to initiate a specific response.

-Maria Matlack