The Riff: Cartoonists Need Post-Palin Rehab

To the nation's topical cartoonists, this was the most soothing of balms. Whenever the all-too-painful symptoms of elusive news-cycles, too-complex issues or plain ol' gag-writers' block flared up, this was the cure-all -- a one-stop fix for all that ails the deadline artist.

This, of course, was the daily presence of walkin'-and-talkin' live action figure Sarah Palin. To grateful cartoonists on both sides of the aisle, she might as well have been a prescription drug: Palinex. Take daily with a grain of salt; read prepackaged narrative before satirizing.

Now, though, with the Alaska governor having finished her recent gantlet of Stoke-Hope-for-2012 interviews, it is time, my fellow artists, to wean ourselves of Palinex.

Now, Comic Riffs can empathize. The hardest step in the road to recovery, as we know, is admitting it. So to the cartoonists out there still clinging to the hem of Sarah's $150,000
garments, you must face facts: Those Neiman-Marcus duds and doodads have been
donated. The clock long ago struck midnight, and the satirist's dream candidate has
departed, leaving behind only a glass Ugg snowboot.

Sarah, we hardly knew ye. But with Thanksgiving upon us, the clinging cartoonists know they must go cold turkey. Flush away the Palinex; it's time to focus on new, full-strength Obamax.

At least, that is, until 2012.