Jobs and Gas

In this cartoon we see a woman, aged 40 to mid 50's, peeking her head out of her car window and complaining about not having a job to drive to. The woman is speaking to what appears to be her slave, or “bond servant” as he would prefer to be labeled. The bond servant appears to be pumping gas into the woman's car. However, if you look closely, you can see that the gas is not being deposited directly into the gas tank, but is pouring out from the pump and onto the concrete below. Not only does this waste a precious resource, but it also presents a safety hazard, one which is obviously intentional as is indicated by the man's raised eyebrow and darting eyes. It appears that this woman is using this man, her bond servant, as a lookout while she prepares to put the gas station up in flames. The fact that the underside of the woman's nose is singed indicates that she is a frequent smoker, and it is likely that she is lighting a cigarette in the car, as her arms are concealed. Her plan is to throw the cigarette into the trail of highly-flammable gasoline left by the bond servant, and drive away as certain death awaits any customers or employees of the gas station.
Something that the cartoonist included to further hint at the fact that this woman is in fact a criminal mastermind is the blank license plate on her vehicle. In order to prevent any chance of capture, the car has been fitted with a license plate displaying no numbers or letters, thus rendering it impossible for anyone to report her to the police considering there would be nothing to report. Other than this modern day Bonnie and bond servant Clyde, there are quite a few other details of the comic worth mentioning.
On the side of the gas pump that is being used by Clyde, the words "Diesel & Gas" are displayed, above these words is an arrow pointing to the heavens. This is referring to Sarah Palin's statements on October, saying "God has so richly blessed this land, not just with the oil and the gas, but with wind and the hydro, the geothermal and the biomass, we'll tap into those." Despite Palin mentioning tapping into “the hydro”, this quote also states that god has blessed America with “the oil” and “the gas”. The cartoonist is demonstrating republican and evangelical Christian methods on solving the oil crisis, which is to assume that if we needed more oil, than god would make it appear in our gas tanks, and drilling offshore. Considering that this is a course of action supported by the far right side of the political spectrum, it is obvious as to why the author placed this on the far right side of the cartoon.
On the other side of the cartoon we can see a sign showing the words "Gas On Sale," on this sign however three letters are obscured by the car windshield making them a slightly lighter color than the rest of the sign, these three letters are A, L, and E, spelling the word ale. This represents the far left side of the political spectrum considering that it is undeniably a reference to ethanol. In ethanol, the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages is used to create fuel as an alternative to gasoline. Ethanol has received much support from democrats, and its production has been greatly increased due to this fact.
The number 87 on the side of the gas pump holds much significance as well. This is in my opinion a very self-explanatory reference; however I will go into detail to make sure that there is no misinterpretation. The 87 is a reference to an event that occurred on September 17, 1987, on this day in history, the televangelist Pat Robertson announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination. Pat Robertson soon found out that people don't want a radical evangelical Christian as their president, but instead prefer a left-handed Episcopalian who would frequently comment on his hate of broccoli… George H.W. Bush. Pat Robertson was put into this cartoon by the author because he is the founder of the American Center for Law & Justice. This is an organization which protects America from threats that are “Hostile to American Values.” Considering that the cartoonist included a connection between the “Gas and Diesel” and “ale” signs, it is only logical that he would include a counterpart to the number 87, which leads me into my next point, the “Gas on Sale” sign.
The “Gas On Sale” sign has interesting, but easy to miss, significance in this cartoon. What the average viewer doesn’t realize is that the words "Gas On Sale" can easily be rearranged to form the phrase "Salsa Gone." Salsa is a type of hot sauce typical of Mexican Cuisine and is usually made with cooked tomatoes, chili peppers, onion, garlic, and cilantro, a pungent green herb. In this case however, the use of the word salsa is not in fact a reference to the delicious sauce served in packets at Taco Bell, but a reference to the illegal immigrant problem facing America, considering that 56% of illegal immigrants come from Mexico. This relates directly to the statement made by the woman in the cartoon, who says "If only we had jobs." This poor woman has had her job replaced by the cheap labor of an illegal immigrant, and now intends to get revenge by destroying this gas station. The cartoonist is making a commentary on the problems caused by illegal immigration, and presenting us with a mantra to use at our future illegal immigration rallies, the triumphant cry of "Salsa gone!"

Despite the cartoonist both disapproving of illegal immigration, and supporting crime as a means of fighting it, he seems to be a very evenhanded man. This cartoon educates the reader on both liberal and conservative viewpoints, as well as providing an in depth history lesson on Bonnie and Clyde. As the bond servant known only as Clyde enters the driver's seat of the unlicensed vehicle of justice, I can only assume that one thought crosses his mind, “That old whore will finally get what’s coming to her when she puts her lips up to that anthrax cigarette. Viva la Revolución.”