Lee Judge cartoon for May 17, 2012

Lee Judge's cartoons

Check out our collection of sharp political and cultural jabs by Kansas City Star cartoonist Lee Judge. Also, his cartoon archives:

June-December 2011

January-June 2011

June-December 2010

MORE NEWS

• Yael T. Abouhalkah | When thugs declare open season on human beings

  May 16, 3:36 PM
  

  I am Harry Stone. You are Harry Stone. Except for one major difference. You and I are alive today.Harry Stone is dead. The 60-year-old Raytown resident was jogging early Sunday morning when he was shot and killed near 67th Street and Blue Ridge Boulevard in Raytown.

• Yael T. Abouhalkah | Mayor James kills $500 million bond election this year

  May 16, 11:58 AM
  

  In a positive move, Mayor Sly James is telling City Council members and others this morning that he won’t move ahead with a $500 million bond election this August.

• As I See It | The courage to become an artist

  May 15, 6:30 PM
  

  “We live in a society that places a lot of importance on college majors like science and business,” writes Nan McCarthy, whose son soon will graduate from the the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. “Not that we shouldn’t place a high value on these areas of study … but the emphasis on math and science comes at a cost.”

• The Star’s editorial | KC voters deserve clear choices on key tax plans

  May 15, 6:08 PM
  

  It’s too early to determine whether the tax plans being debated this week by the Kansas City Council will deserve voter approval later this year — even conceding the fact that the city must invest much more money in rebuilding its crumbling infrastructure. Elected officials still must present clear, positive cases for what they want to do with the public funds.

• Yael T. Abouhalkah | UMKC chancellor lashes out after NCAA investigation

  May 15, 4:15 PM
  

  Leo Morton, chancellor of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, didn’t mince words Tuesday in attacking a former instructor for making public charges that the university had improperly changed the grade of a student-athlete.

• Barbara Shelly | Four legacies of Missouri House Speaker Steve Tilley

  May 15, 4:15 PM
  

  Steve Tilley won’t go into the books as one of the great speakers of the Missouri House. After two years in that post, he’ll be remembered for: 1) Getting Rush Limbaugh added to the Hall of Famous Missourians

• Mary Sanchez | A big step in the struggle for equal marriage rights

  May 15, 12:16 AM
  

  Barack Obama has finally come out. He has revealed what his critics and his supporters alike have long suspected: that he’s no longer a closeted supporter of same-sex marriage. It’s fitting that he has taken this step, as the first biracial U.S. president. No doubt, it resonates with his personal history.

• The Star’s editorial | Name change for UMKC could be a game change

  May 15, 5:37 PM
  

  As names go, the University of Missouri-Kansas City doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. It’s clunky, and the “Kansas City” part comes across as an afterthought. The University of Kansas City, on the other hand, has a nice, clean ring. It conveys a sense of place. And a sense of responsibility.

• Yael T. Abouhalkah | James' huge tax and bond plan keeps evolving

  May 15, 11:03 AM
  

  The huge tax and bond plan unveiled last week by Mayor Sly James continues to evolve this week. The work being done behind the scenes by James, City Council members, the city staff and a few others is aimed at keeping the sales tax and property tax increases on the ...

• The Star’s editorial | Boilermakers should cut leaders’ expenses during tough times

  May 14, 6:49 PM

  Millions of union members throughout America are fighting hard to keep their jobs during these tough economic times.

• Yael T. Abouhalkah | Speaker Tilley embarrasses Rush Limbaugh

  May 14, 4:19 PM
  

  It's tough to defend Missouri House Speaker Steve Tilley's embarrassing treatment of radio host Rush Limbaugh today at the state Capitol. Tilley refused to let the general public see Limbaugh be into the Hall of Famous Missourians. That was a slap in the face to Limbaugh.

• Yael T. Abouhalkah | Mayor James' tax/bond plan in big trouble

  May 14, 11:28 AM
  

  The tax and bond plan proposed last week by Mayor Sly James is in big trouble if it stays in the original form it was introduced.

• Lewis W. Diuguid | Feisty city neighborhood holds its own in core

  May 13, 5:45 PM
  

  The plan by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the United Way of Greater Kansas City for the new Urban Neighborhood Initiative won’t have to start from scratch. There are a lot of good developments and people in the urban core. It just needs more people and resources to make it grow.

• The Star’s editorial | Expand work visas for top foreign talent

  May 13, 5:34 PM
  

  Immigration will someday fade as a hot-button dispute. For the present, however, it’s still a touchy topic for any politician — which is why Sens. Jerry Moran and Mark Warner deserve credit for drafting a bill to ease the bottleneck. What’s a mystery is why more of their colleagues aren’t willing to sign onto a bill that will bring more technical and entrepreneurial talent to our country.

• Public Editor | Charge to vote in online contest was an error

  May 13, 5:44 PM
  

  Newspaper companies aren’t as direct as they should be about one fundamental: They are private businesses. But there’s also a built-in tension between the news and commerce sides of the business, and I’m appreciative when readers point out instances where they think one side oversteps its bounds.

• E. Thomas McClanahan | The ‘Life of Julia,’ or life without aspiration

  May 12, 6:04 PM
  

  The Obama campaign’s “Life of Julia” website reveals much about its originators and the man on whose behalf it was created. Here we see the sterile vision of a certain kind of hard-left liberal, who apparently views the American citizen as a submissive, isolated entity.

• The Star’s editorial | Don’t settle for mediocrity on Watkins Drive

  May 12, 5:32 PM
  

  The high level of maintenance required to keep Bruce R. Watkins Drive looking sharp should not be allowed to slip in these tough economic times. The Kansas City area already has plenty of mediocre-looking roadways.

• Midwest Voices | Tell a success story to your child

  May 12, 5:45 PM
  

  When I was teaching sociology courses in the 1990s, there were a few Jewish boys who were the top students in my class. Still, they wanted to be better than the best.

• The Star’s editorial | Missouri nuttiness leaks into Kansas

  May 11, 7:33 PM

  The Kansas Legislature has only two tasks it absolutely has to get done — pass a budget and a redistricting map. Neither was finished by the time the regular session ended Friday, so lawmakers will drag themselves back to Topeka on Monday for overtime.