2010-08-08
Explanation
In this comic, the President of the United States announces on television that "Mister Barky," the cutest puppy ever, is going to a terrifying movie-style jail to await trial for a crime he didn't commit, with bail set at 100 trillion dollars. The next newspaper headline reads "Wealthiest People on Earth Band Together to Save Doggie," followed by "U.S. National Debt Paid in Full." When someone asks why they don't just cut the budget a little, the president responds, "I wanted a realistic solution."
The comic satirizes several things at once: the public's disproportionate emotional response to cute animals versus serious policy issues, the immense wealth of the ultra-rich that could theoretically solve national problems, and the political impossibility of straightforward budget reform. The joke is that manipulating billionaires' emotions with an adorable puppy is presented as more "realistic" than the mundane policy solution of cutting spending -- a darkly funny commentary on how emotion-driven our collective decision-making really is.