Reflecting Reflected Reflections

So those editorial cartoons that have been appearing in the Onion for the past year or so have had me a little befuddled. The artist, "Kelly," portrays the suburban right wing mentality to the point of self-parody and occasionally complete insanity.

So, what gives? It's The Onion, so they're there in there to be funny, of course. But, did they pick this nut up from some wire service and run his crazy pieces to be ironically amusing (and intentionally irritate their mostly left-leaning readership)? Or is the whole thing just brilliantly made up? I mean the panels simply nail the grandstanding, paranoia, and inanity--not to mention the technique--of these syndicated political cartoon types. You know, the current-event whoring, the recurring conventions (Lady Liberty shedding a tear... again), and even a mini-'toon of the artist giving you a straight-up version of the strip in case you missed the meaning in the drawing.

I finally got curious enough to investigate and it turns out I'm not the only one who was thrown for a loop.

An LA Times article does a good job of illuminating things--complete with plenty of linked examples.

And for good measure, my recent favorite.. it's just so completely insane: