[Newsbot]

Filibuster Cartoons
Title: Just passin' through... (click to view)
Date: July 1, 2010
Canada's Head of State is in Canada this week. She's said many nice things about Canada and is going to visit several major Canadian cities. The fact that this is considered one of the major news events of the year tells you everything you need to know about the absurdity of Canada's monarchical system.

[Teikiatsu]

I could only hope Obama would make himself scarce for 5 years. That'd be change I could believe in.

[KyleEverett]

I see it as no more absurd then other countries with a purely ceremonial president.

[DrHobo]

KyleEverett wrote:

I see it as no more absurd then other countries with a purely ceremonial president.

So...still absurd then?

I consider any official that has no real power to do anything, but is just there to look good as pretty absurd. Everyone standing around and cheering for someone who doesn't really have any say in how things are run strikes me as very Monty Python-ish. When you think about it, its a situation that is very easy to parody. Thats probably why JJ uses the topic so much.

[JJ]

What I was trying to get across is that it's quite a joke when your head of state has to VISIT the country she is head of, and uses strangely detached, distant language to describe the place and people. "This country has been interesting to observe," etc.

[Scape]

Wow, that wasn't dripping with cynicism or anything. Ever thought the throngs of crowds are genuinely excited to see the Queen herself? I'm sure when King Charles comes along there will still be crowds but by no means the magnitude as there is for the Queen. She has devoted her life to one of service unlike the vast majority of her predecessors. The war years did a great deal to shape her view on the world and she hasn't looked back or ignored the people who stood by her in her nations period of greatest need.

[JJ]

The Queen is one of the biggest celebrities in the world, no doubt. She draws enormous crowds in every country she visits. My argument is that it in no way logically follows that she should be be constitutional head of every branch of our government.

[Brenda]

Scape wrote:

Wow, that wasn't dripping with cynicism or anything. Ever thought the throngs of crowds are genuinely excited to see the Queen herself? I'm sure when King Charles comes along there will still be crowds but by no means the magnitude as there is for the Queen. She has devoted her life to one of service unlike the vast majority of her predecessors. The war years did a great deal to shape her view on the world and she hasn't looked back or ignored the people who stood by her in her nations period of greatest need.

I do not think it's about the person "Queen Elizabeth II", but more about the institution.

[CKASlacker]

Brenda wrote:

I do not think it's about the person "Queen Elizabeth II", but more about the institution.

Well it kinda has to be that way, hasn't it? The majority of the "royals" as people aren't very interesting or noteworthy on their own merit.

There are exceptions, of course. The late Queen Mum's steadfastness during the blitz in WWII ("The children won't leave without me, and I won't leave without the King. And the King won't leave London") when encouraged to leave the city. That sort of courage can (and did) rally a nation when things looked pretty bleak. She also liked her pint of bitter and G&T's, God bless her.

There are others too -- Princess Di and her charity work, and even the current crop (Chuck and his sons). But even there I have to ask how noteworthy those contributions are: if I (or any of us) had vast amounts of wealth and time (what with not having to hold down a job), shouldn't we be expected at some level to give back?

[Psudo]

Scape wrote:

Ever thought the throngs of crowds are genuinely excited to see the Queen herself?

I'd be genuinely excited to see the Queen, too, even though she's politically nothing to the USA except the Monarch of a strong ally (England).

[commanderkai]

Great cartoon as always, and I enjoyed the message too.

[Murray_Smith]

CKASlacker wrote:

if I (or any of us) had vast amounts of wealth and time (what with not having to hold down a job), shouldn't we be expected at some level to give back?

People who have vast amounts of wealth and time don't always act selfishly, but ultimately, they do what they want with their wealth and time, regardless.

[Calbeck]

Psudo wrote:

Scape wrote:

Ever thought the throngs of crowds are genuinely excited to see the Queen herself?

I'd be genuinely excited to see the Queen, too, even though she's politically nothing to the USA except the Monarch of a strong ally (England).

Ditto.

[DrCaleb]

Calbeck wrote:

Psudo wrote:

Scape wrote:

Ever thought the throngs of crowds are genuinely excited to see the Queen herself?

I'd be genuinely excited to see the Queen, too, even though she's politically nothing to the USA except the Monarch of a strong ally (England).

Ditto.

So, Canada is not a strong ally of the USA?

[Murray_Smith]

DrCaleb wrote:

So, Canada is not a strong ally of the USA?

Not with that attitude.