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Rating: 
Summary: Editorial cartoonists celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall
Review: I really like editorial cartoons, whether they are current ones on the editorial pages of a newspaper or old ones in history books. But for the most part we are talking about satirical barbs at the high and mighty. Still, there are times when editorial cartoonists get to actually celebrate something and the breath-taking collapse of the Berlin Wall and of communist governments in Eastern Europe provided that creative opportunity: e.g., the cover shot by Clyde Wells of the "Augusta Chronicle" showing two figures armed with the hammer and sickle of the Soviet Union to tear down the Berlin Wall. Add to this the demands for basic freedoms in both China and the Soviet Union and 1989 became on of the most memorable non-election years of modern times. "Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year: 1990 Edition" has the work of 163 different cartoonists from the United States and Canada. In addition to the quickening disintegration of the Soviet bloc, there was the first year in office for the "kindler and gentler" Bush Administration, the showdown was Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega, and Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini putting author Salman Rushdie under a sentence of death for his book "The Satanic Verses." For scandals there was the Savings & Loan in Congress, the trial of Oliver North in the Iran-Contra scandal, the rejection of the nomination of former Texas Senator John Tower for secretary and defense, and the conviction of Leona Helmsley on tax evasion. Mother Nature added Hurricane Hugo qne an earthquake in the San Francisco Bay area during the World Series, while humans added insult to injury with the "Exxon Valdez" oil spill. There is a section we would find quite timely today dealing with Pete Rose being banned by baseball for betting on sports. Some things remain constant: there are always editorial cartoons about the economy and problems in the Middle East. It is amazing to me how vividly these editorial cartoons bring back these various issues. Give me a choice between an editorial cartoon and a photograph to preserve a moment in history, and I will usually take the latter.
Rating:
Summary: Editorial cartoonists celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall
Review: I really like editorial cartoons, whether they are current ones on the editorial pages of a newspaper or old ones in history books. But for the most part we are talking about satirical barbs at the high and mighty. Still, there are times when editorial cartoonists get to actually celebrate something and the breath-taking collapse of the Berlin Wall and of communist governments in Eastern Europe provided that creative opportunity: e.g., the cover shot by Clyde Wells of the "Augusta Chronicle" showing two figures armed with the hammer and sickle of the Soviet Union to tear down the Berlin Wall. Add to this the demands for basic freedoms in both China and the Soviet Union and 1989 became on of the most memorable non-election years of modern times. "Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year: 1990 Edition" has the work of 163 different cartoonists from the United States and Canada. In addition to the quickening disintegration of the Soviet bloc, there was the first year in office for the "kindler and gentler" Bush Administration, the showdown was Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega, and Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini putting author Salman Rushdie under a sentence of death for his book "The Satanic Verses." For scandals there was the Savings & Loan in Congress, the trial of Oliver North in the Iran-Contra scandal, the rejection of the nomination of former Texas Senator John Tower for secretary and defense, and the conviction of Leona Helmsley on tax evasion. Mother Nature added Hurricane Hugo qne an earthquake in the San Francisco Bay area during the World Series, while humans added insult to injury with the "Exxon Valdez" oil spill. There is a section we would find quite timely today dealing with Pete Rose being banned by baseball for betting on sports. Some things remain constant: there are always editorial cartoons about the economy and problems in the Middle East. It is amazing to me how vividly these editorial cartoons bring back these various issues. Give me a choice between an editorial cartoon and a photograph to preserve a moment in history, and I will usually take the latter.
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