This editorial cartoon,
drawn by David Horsey of the Tribune Content Agency, is a comment on Obama’s
recently announced executive action on immigration. The new law itself, which
will keep nearly 5 million undocumented residents from being deported, seems to
have been entirely pushed aside in the eyes of the media in favor of a focus on
the circumstances of its announcement. Since the midterm elections have granted
the Republican Party a majority in Congress, the executive and legislative
branches’—and the Democratic and Republican Party’s—inability to compromise
with one another is becoming more and more painfully obvious, especially in
light of the President’s most recent announcement.
David Horsey’s cartoon represents this situation by first
setting itself in the Roman Empire, a land with a political institution similar
to our own. There was a Senate, and an Emperor, who was something of a
President. This comparison between the two positions points towards the
empirical nature of Obama’s recent executive action, especially amidst the
pleas from the Senate that Caesar simply work with them. However, the cartoon
also points out the main flaw with this argument that both branches simply put
aside their differences and work together by having the Senators (clad in red
to represent Republicans) hold knives behind their backs. The comment here is
that, while it would be preferable for both sides to work together, they
cannot, for both are ultimately looking after their own interests, and are
therefore uninterested in compromise or agreement.
The Roman Empire itself eventually fell because it spread
itself to thin, and soon fell prey to outside forces such as the barbarians.
Perhaps the setting of the cartoon is more than just an allegory for our
government today. Horsey could be trying to convey the idea that, if both sides
to do not settle their differences, we as a country could fall prey to outside
forces.
