Hasta La Ideas

Editorial cartoons seem to get a lot of flak and occasionally for good reason. In an era of other poking-fun-at outlets like The Daily Show, the political cartoon, if not handled well, can seem like an antiquated relic (we know that’s redundant, but in this case it seemed like doubling up was an apt way to describe them). But this writer grew up reading and being enamored with Steve Benson in the Arizona Republic, so we hold those who do it exceptionally well in high-regard. So too does the United Nations who have just announced Robert Ariail as the winner of the Ranan Lurie United Nations Political Cartoon Award. Ariail was awarded the prize for a cartoon he created about gas prices for South Carolina’s The State (before he resigned from the paper after they cut his position to part-time). For the win, he’ll take home $10,000 and a plaque, “to be awarded in the presence of the Secretary General of the United Nations, The Honorable Ban Ki-moon.” We’re not entirely sure what that means, “in the presence of” (he’ll be off somewhere in a distant corner?), but congrats all around to Ariail.

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