Michael Ramirez Essay

Michael Ramirez’s cartoon illustrates how political issues take a back seat in the wake of natural disasters. The scene depicted shows two men up to there neck in water holding picket fence signs that are no longer fully visible due to the water. The men are standing on a street corner with one sign Houston Rd visible. The second street sign is being blocked by the first and underneath the two signs is a stop sign half covered in water. Clearly based on the water and the street sign Houston Rd its obvious that the setting is Houston. Specifically, in the aftermath of hurricane Harvey, which with over 50 inches of rain caused record floods in the city. Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas in late August and inflicted billions of dollars’ worth of damage. Being the wettest
In the hands of each man pictured is a sign, the first one with the words “DOWN WITH” visible. The second man’s sign reads “NO MORE”. In both signs only the top half is showing so the issues being protested are unknown. Connected to the first man on the right is a speech bubble with the question “WHAT WERE YOU PROTESTING?” in a rather comical font. The second man also has a speech bubble connected to him with the response “I DON’T REMEMBER…”. In the background, a partially submerged car is seen with a shattered window. Further showing the extensive damage done to the city of Houston. Each man pictured has only his head visible, they both have a cartoonish looking head with glasses and a large nose. While it seems unlikely one may forget an issue one felt passionately enough to protest at one point. The conversation between the two men demonstrates how protested issues are irrelevant when a disaster hits. These men may have very well been taking opposite stands on the issue they were protesting but are brought together during the disaster and the previous issue is