What Could Possibly Go Wrong with This Plan?? Marlette Manipulation 33

 

Andy Marlette's cartoon in this morning's PNJ attempts to draw parallels between Republican leadership in Florida and locally with the acceptance of anarchy and lawlessness in Blue cities like Seattle and Portland.  To do this, he pictures the Pensacola I-110 under the bridge homeless encampment and tent city.  Of course, his equivocation on this misses the mark like most of his cartoons do consistently.  Cities like Seattle that allowed entire chunks of downtown areas to be occupied by lawless criminals had nothing at all to do with homeless individuals desperately clinging to existence in Pensacola Florida.  Out west, it was all about ideology and certain quasi-political groups like Antifa flexing their muscle, showing what they could and would do in cities run by like-minded politicians in places like Portland and Seattle.

The homeless encampment in Pensacola under the I-110 bridge, by contrast, is not a political statement being orchestrated by partisan activists---and that's the huge difference between what is happening here and what happens in Seattle and Portland.

Insidiously--Andy conflates the two issues even as he knows they are different.

The issue under the bridge in Pensacola is about folks who are truly down on their luck and are homeless and desperate.  Sure--there is dysfunctional behavior and some criminal activity taking place in the encampment.  Yes, much of it has not been discussed publicly for political expediency as the city desperately tries to make the problem disappear by dispersing it out to the county---which is a disastrous plan nobody supports and for which nobody has even bothered to properly plan for.

But the Seattle "CHAZ" debacle is nothing like what's happening in Pensacola, and Andy knows it.

Nope-- this issue is about the city attempting to move a stubborn eyesore problem out of their viewshed.  And meanwhile--noone has reached out to the county to obtain permits or permission.  The city hasn't attempted to explain this plan to county residents in Bellview who ABSOLUTELY do not want this homeless camp in their neighborhood.

They are just planning on doing it--which I will not support and which I will actively oppose.

So the picture, above, is much more apropos than what Andy presented.  He's making a political attack out of the desperation of the homeless whereas my rendition, above, is a humorous jab at the folks who are naive and believe they can just move this camp next to an existing neighborhood and such a move will not have devastating consequences on the area surrounding such an encampment.

Remember--they are not telling the truth about the dysfunctional activities going on right now around the current site under the I-110.  They don't want you to know about the problems assiciated with this tent city.  This way, they can pat you on the head, tell you everything is alright, and mollify you into accepting this campsite in your neighborhood.  See the way this works?

Unfortunately I see right through them and their plan.  Others do, too.

Andy Got Catfished! Marlette Manipulation 22.0

In an unusual twist  and a departure from reality and what typically occurs in real life-- Andy Marlette appears to willingly allow himself to be "Catfished"...luckily the rest of us are not quite as gullible......

Cartoonist Andy Marlette just loves to let me rent space in his head.  It is so funny.  Between his never ending barrage of attacks on Christianity, our President, the First Lady, our Congressman, our State Representatives, Well-established and well-respected local employers, and others that are conservative-he still manages to do cartoon after cartoon about me...One after another.  I'm almost like a "regular" in his rotation, LOL.

Apparently--he also likes to be "Catfished", as evidenced by today's cartoon of me that he did and which I have improved above.

You see, Andy's compromised, conscripted.

He takes money from people and does their ideological  bidding.  He intimates in his cartoon of me today that I do likewise.

Of course, this simply is not true.  I have never taken anything of value, not one thin dime, from International Paper.  Nothing, nada.  What I have done is meet with the experts at FDEP who dispute Andy's propaganda about IP.  Then I met with IP executives and toured their facilities and saw the wetlands firsthand. I requested a tour to learn about what was going on (Something, ironically, that neither the PNJ nor Andy Marlette has requested from IP).  I am paying for independent analysis of water samples from the bay in an attempt to validate the findings.  I look into things and I do research, I do NOT let folks just get over on me--because I am an independent free thinker.....

Sadly, the same thing cannot be said of Andy Marlette.  He takes money from his Patron du jour-whomever that happens to be at any given time--- and allows himself to be used like the tool that he is.  Sound's kinda like the world's second oldest profession.   And Andy really likes it!

Yes--he has already been catfished by whomever his "Patron" Du Jour is today--and maybe he doesn't even realize it?

Yes, yes, anyone who he is told to keep the gloves on with----or who pays him--- and Andy subserviently, obsequiously, and like a good boy does just that.  No cartoons. No dumb articles.  He is very, very obedient.

Everyone else is a target though--particularly if Andy's Patron says so and doesn't like the target.

But here is something for Andy's microscopically small brain to ponder:   What if Andy's Patron du jour is/was the real bad guy, or at a minimum an opportunist and a user--or a fake or a phony?  What

Marlette Manipulation 9.0: Dandy the Creeper Clown

PNJ cartoonist Andy Marlette is at it again, making cartoons that are really not funny and difficult to really understand.  I was featured in two cartoons this week thus far, including this one...  So, as I have done for almost a decade, I'm manipulating one he did about me earlier this week, to actually make a cartoon that is funny!  :)

Andy is talented, but many of us--lots of us--feel he is overly abusive of conservative politicians, whereas others get a pass or get light-hearted, schtickish good natured cartoons.

The President is frequently targeted, body shamed about weight and his hands.  The First Lady is a frequent target to....as is Christianity and lots of other subjects that offend lots of people.  I don't really get offended, I just look for ways to make them better  :)

So this is all in good fun, right?  This is satire and humor, right?  So the public figure cartoonist can make fun of me, a public figure, then so far as I'm concerned turnabout is fair play.

A couple of years back Andy Marlette's representative Jeremy Knipper called me and said, "Yeah, Jeff, we're going to need you to take

Marlette Manipulation 8.0: Dandy's Dumpster Fire

Marlette Manipulation 8.0:  "Dandy's Dumpster Fire"

As I have done for nearly 10 years, on and off, I have once again found an instance where one of PNJ cartoonist Andy Marlette's cartoons completely misses the mark--so here it comes--Marlette Manipulation 8.0.

I think the one above that I have manipulated is a funny way to fix the one he published in the Friday edition.  He takes a shot at me, I will take one back at him.  After all, this all just humor, parody, and satire, right? It is all in good fun, right?!?  He wants to insinuate stuff about me, so I will take a shot back at him too-- because--- who knows if he actually subscribes to "Bear" and "American Grizzly" Magazines, anyway? I think he might like that sort of wildlife--or maybe he only buys it to read the articles  😉....so....I'll just make a cartoon out of my suspicion like he does about me  😃

He sure dishes out a lot of vicious insults in his very vitriolic, acerbic cartoons, though.  Wow.  particularly toward our President and First Lady.  (Funny how the previous President and First Lady, Barack and Michelle Obama, never really got the same level of hatred and disrespect in the Marlette cartoons about them and their leadership, neither do Pelosi, the Clintons, or Joe Biden....Interesting)

A couple of years back Jeremy Knipper, representing Andy Marlette, called me and said, "Yeah, Jeff, we're going to need you to take

The Seafarer Files Part II: Marlette Manipulation 5.0

This cartoon has been manipulated to reflect the reality of the situation with respect to attempts to block Escambia Beach Access #4.  The people want it opened, though, and it will be opened.  That is what is going to happen.... 

Today's cartoon in the PNJ by Andy Marlette provides me another opportunity to make a funny cartoon even funnier, and more relevant at the same time.  I've manipulated a lot of his cartoons over the years.  Today's offering shows a cat representing commissioner Doug Underhill swinging an axe at a mouse, represented by me.  The mouse, sporting a chainsaw, is simultaneously attempting to slash the cat.  In the background sits an idled beach mouse just watching the action.

This is a direct play on the marginal characters from the Simpson's series, Itchy and Scratchy.  from wikipedia:

"The Itchy & Scratchy Show is a show within a show that appears occasionally in episodes of The Simpsons. They appear in the form of 12-60 second cartoons that are filled with gratuitous violence, usually initiated by Itchy the mouse against Scratchy the cat; Itchy is almost always the victor.^[5] Itchy & Scratchy airs as a segment on The Krusty the ClownShow, and also aired on its brief replacements, Mr Burn's Cavalcade of Whimsy and Gabbo.^[6]"


But "Itchy and Scratchy" is nothing more than a violent, updated play on the old Tom and Jerry Cartoon series from the 1940's and 1950's.  Interestingly, as I remember the old cartoons, none of Tom's (the cat in Tom and Jerry) sadistic plots against Jerry (the mouse in the cartoon) ever succeed.  As I remember it, the Tom was just a goofy, angry, vindictive bully, always trying to hatch a new way to try and injure Jerry.  The Wikipedia write-up describing Tom is funny:

"The plots of each short usually center on Tom's numerous attempts to capture Jerry and the mayhem and destruction that follows. Tom rarely succeeds in catching Jerry, mainly because of Jerry's cleverness, cunning abilities, and luck..The cartoons are known for some of the most violent cartoon gags ever devised in theatrical animation such as Tom using everything from axes, hammers, firearms, firecrackers, explosives, traps and poison to kill Jerry. On the other hand, Jerry's methods of retaliation are far more violent due to their frequent success, including slicing Tom in half, decapitating him, shutting his head or fingers in a window or a door, stuffing Tom's tail in a waffle iron or a mangle, kicking him into a refrigerator, getting him electrocuted, pounding him with a mace, club or mallet, letting a tree or electric pole drive him into the ground, sticking matches into his feet and lighting them, tying him to a firework and setting it off, and so on.^[2] Because of this, Tom and Jerry has often been criticized as excessively violent..Tom is no match for Jerry's wits. Jerry also possesses surprising strength for his size, approximately the equivalent of Tom's, lifting items such as anvils with relative ease and withstanding considerable impacts. Although cats typically chase mice to eat them, it is quite rare for Tom to actually try to eat Jerry. Most of his attempts are just to torment or humiliate Jerry, sometimes in revenge, and sometimes to obtain a reward from a human for catching Jerry. By the final "fade-out" of each cartoon, Jerry usually emerges triumphant, while Tom is shown as the loser."


  Marlette's cartoon play of art imitating life on Itchy and Scratchy, imitating Tom and Jerry, is below.

Although it is funny--like many of Marlette's cartoons it simply misses the mark or could be funnier and even better.  The one I manipulated above at the top of this piece hits the mark.

The beach is currently off limits to visitors with signs mounted and a locked gate.  A paper trail is now established showing this has been an ongoing effort, to  actively try to prevent public access at this site by attempting to sell this site away along with the public's right to access it.  This fact was uncovered via a public records release of emails and contracts from 2017 illustrating this--- despite protestations and denials of this from  2018.  And this video denial from from 2018

The key to the entire issue is simple and is not funny..we, you and I the taxpayer, own this 300' of Gulf-Front Beach property since we bought it in 2013.  It was purchased in part for public beach access.

But this beach was never opened and there are some special interests that DO NOT WANT it to be opened to you and I the taxpayers who bought it.

Meanwhile----- the people do want it opened, the BCC has voted to make this accessible to the public, the staff is bringing plans for us to consider, and at the end of the day--just as I said at the end of the last meeting--we will #OpenOurBeach.

No, it's not some "Tom and Jerry" histrionics:  No, it is not "politics".  It's just ridiculous reindeer games and delay tactics that sadly resulted in a comfortable status quo for nearby condo owners that allowed them to use our beach while the rest of us were/are locked out.

That is ending, because what really matters is that we do what we voted to do, it's about doing what we said we would do with this property.   And we are going to do this.

Watch and see. 

The Problem With Fake News......

Fake News is destroying the old-guard, fourth estate Journalism Establishment in America including once-respected local news outlets--what a tragedy for a formerly lofty, esteemed, and respected profession....

Everybody hates fake news, and fake news is all around us.

This is why many Americans have tuned out (to a large degree, even if they occasionally watch for entertainment) of watching most big news outlets.

There is bias.

There is selective reporting (or non-reporting depending upon where the outlet "is" on certain social issues, etc.)

Then there is reporting that is sloppy, and most of the time the journalistic integrity necessary to correct bad reporting is absent.  Very few will step up and correct an error.  Why should they, right?  nobody holds them accountable.

Often times, these outlets will double-down on ridiculous stories.  Look at the crazy ridiculous obvious bias in the reporting about President Trump and Russian collusion.  It is a feeding frenzy and established media outlets continue to report on a "push to impeach" for infractions the President allegedly committed that occurred decades ago, before he was president, for which the Constitution does not allow impeachment.  They salivate over collusion, even though there has been not 1 shred of evidence presented that points to collusion between Russia and President Trump.

It is in large part because the media, by and large, hates this President.  They wanted the other candidate.

Locally, we have our own issues.  First, we have a couple of news monopolies.  For the most part the vast majority of Pensacola gets the local written news from the PNJ and the TV news from WEAR.

I have had a good rapport with WEAR--never have had an issue with them or their reporting.

PNJ cycles through reporters on a very frequent basis, and for the most part--I have enjoyed a good rapport with most of these reporters for the 12 years I have been in public office locally.

Now, I have had my ups and downs with the PNJ and some of their former staff.  I'm still here, and the ones that attacked are mostly all gone  now(all but the most talented guy, the cartoonist, and one of the west-side feature writers who I have never met....).  I have worked over the last 5 years or so to really develop a good working relationship with the PNJ.  When they call, I pick up.  I give quotes.  I offer story ideas. I submit editorials.   I am amiable.

But last month, they made an error in the way they portrayed an event.  I don't know why, but they characterized a news conference at a local business as a "campaign event" when it was not a campaign event.  This was sloppy and inaccurate.  There were 50 dignitaries, elected officials, workers, members of the media, and local elected officials at this outstanding event.

As chairman of the board I was invited and asked to speak, which I did.

This was not presented to me as a campaign event, and if it had been, I would not have attended because I serve on the canvassing board and this would not be allowed. I have remained neutral in this campaign despite what some have proclaimed.  I have not actively supported any candidate.

But that's all a moot point because this was not a campaign event.  Not everyone that posed for a group picture supports one of the local candidates for office that was among the attendees.  The Mayor was there in the photo-was he a part of the "campaign event?"  How about dignitaries from Gulf Power and Florida West--are they suddenly in the tank for one candidate because they came to this event like I did and posed for photos?  Of course not.

To draw that conclusion and then publish it--that is disappointing.

If a writer reports the sky is green and falling trees make no sound--does his written account a fact make?  Of course not.

But there are ramifications beyond sloppy journalism.

Now, a couple of citizens have read that sloppy piece of writing and one has filed a specious complaint--they are pointing to this article as "proof" that Jeff Bergosh attended a campaign event.

 This has necessitated that an alternate person sit on the canvassing board  --because I won't return to that post until this bogus complaint is resolved.

Even though I know I have complied with every facet of the law surrounding my participation on the canvassing board, I will not jeopardize the transparency and the perceived integrity of the election by participating until this unfounded complaint is run to ground as I believe it will be in short order.

No harm to me, but other people are now being inconvenienced because a bad story was not corrected.  A popular morning radio host that I spoke with also stated he did not think this event was a campaign event, he said that characterization was puzzling to him...

But now come the cartoons, all apparently because I had the audacious temerity to simply request that that inaccurate portrayal be corrected.

It's okay though, the cartoons don't bother me.  I'll manipulate them to actually make them even better and funnier!

Too bad a funny cartoon can't fix bad journalism....