Thanks to Tribune Companies, editorial cartooning positions are being eliminated. The LA Times, Baltimore Sun, and Chicago Tribune are some of the bigger names dropping a staff cartoonist and picking up syndicated cartoons.

Well, apparently the cartoonists are not lying down. This link will take you to the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists homepage, specifically to the Black Monday site. There are 102 cartoons here taking on the cheapness of our corporate media culture. It is a great cross section of editorial cartoonists, with a wide range of styles and conepts.

Editorial cartoons in America have been around since the Revolution. We have all see the Join Or Die cartoon Ben Franklin penned for the French-Indian War (reused for the Revolution). They had a particular impact on the fortunes of Boss Tweed. It was the cartoons of Thomas Nash, not the thousands of words written by journalists, which raised public outrage at Tweed. He is famous for saying "I don't care a straw for your newspaper articles, my constituents don't know how to read, but they can't help seeing them damned pictures."

We all love to see what Tom Tomorrow, Ted Rall, Jen Sorensen, and this guy here have to draw every week. Most of these people helped to prop up independent newspapers we all enjoy. And, how many people actually skip the comics page in the newspaper?

While this is a way under the radar with the War On Christmas, it is still signifcant. So, if you have a minute or two, at least go and look at the cartoons.