Each week our editorial team reviews political cartoons to present you our view of the best for that week. We seldom comment beyond what our stock description. But two related observations cause us to step outside that box this week.

First is the general observation that when the political scene seems especially fraught with danger — generally triggered by pomposity, hypocrisy, stupidity, or some combination thereof — the nation's cartoonists find an extra supply of adrenalin. In those weeks, like this week, this column expands.

Our second reflection begins with a confession that we are bothered that a year after his decisive loss at the polls, the former president still commands so much attention. Ideally, we'd like to to see the nation forget about his one disastrous term, repair the damage, and move on. That's kind of what Chris Quinn, editorial director of cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer, is arguing for this week. But the terrible reality is that would be dangerous, because, as the first selection below depicts, the former guy has captured the GOP and made it his own. That's why Senator Ted Cruz of Texas went on the Tucker Carlson show this week and debased himself for all the world to see: he wants to appease his cult leaders and hope that might position him for a chance to be president himself one day. Or failing that, at least keep the job he's got now.

The truth is we ignore Donald Trump, trumpism, and its grip on a large section of the electorate at our peril. Our collective failure in letting Trump get anywhere near the levers of power in this country will haunt us for decades. It gave the color of law and a license to express some of the basest impulses that have always been part of our national heritage: racism, xenophobia, intolerance, extreme paternalism, propensity for violence.

Though we might laugh in the moment at the hypocrisy and lies of some of our elected leaders, we must never forget that none of our liberties are guaranteed without eternal vigilance. Trump's party has introduced hundreds of laws in the last year alone to restrict voting rights. It is busy gerrymandering districts, rigging election protection systems, and replacing election officials with integrity with those who will be vested in assuring a specific outcome. 

It Can't Happen Here was a fictional account written in 1935 by American novelist Sinclair Lewis that describes the rise of a US dictator similar to how Adolf Hitler gained power. The truth is, fiction can become reality. As Edmund Burke is reported to have said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” 

Perhaps it is wise for us to see the January 6 insurrection not as a failed effort to overthrow the government and steal an election, but as a dry run, an experiment. Because if we look around, we see adjustments being made in several states which, had they been in place a year ago, could easily have yielded a different result.

Political cartoonists are not so much trying to make us laugh as they are trying to make us think.

This discussion was in all likelihood unnecessary because Real Deal readers are among the world's most astute. So even as you are reading and appreciating these cartoons, you are also organizing like hell, and educating your neighbors about the real threats we face as a nation from the homegrown terrorists who were hibernating in our midst until they heard the wolf cries of a man who aspires to be president for life.

That said, pardon the interruption.

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Each week our team reviews the week's political cartoons to bring you our selection of the best. The Political Cartoons of the Week represent our choice of the best political cartoon[s] we've seen during the previous seven days.

Political cartoons have a long and venerable history in American journalism and politics. We tend to favor those that produce a visceral reaction, an almost instant recognition that the cartoonist got to the essence of a topic via sharp imagery, a few choice words [often dripping in irony], or sometimes a harmonious blend of the two.

And of course, we're suckers for clever plays on words. 

Here are our top picks from the past week:

Have a great week! 

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