2012-03-11
Explanation
This comic contrasts a "Normal Child" with a "Future Politician." In the first scenario, a mother tells her son Bobby that he can'''t have dessert until he finishes dinner. Bobby reluctantly says "Aww, Mom! Fine" and starts eating his dinner -- the cake is still intact, and a plate of vegetables sits beside it. This is how a normal child responds to household rules.
In the second scenario labeled "Future Politician," the mother discovers that Bobby has already eaten the dessert (the plate is empty with only crumbs remaining). When confronted, Bobby -- now drawn with a small goatee to suggest a smarmy political demeanor -- declares "The dessert was a terrorist." The joke is a satirical take on how politicians justify breaking rules or acting preemptively by invoking national security threats. Just as governments have used the label "terrorist" to justify extraordinary actions that circumvent normal rules, young Bobby uses the same logic to justify eating his cake before dinner.
The votey extends the political satire, with Bobby saying "We will return to traditional cake law once hostilities end" -- a parody of how emergency powers and suspensions of civil liberties are always framed as temporary measures that will be rolled back once the crisis is over, but rarely are.