Cartoon: Painting oneself into a corner

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Jeff Parker - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

The cartoonist, Jeff Parker, in this picture is criticizing the Republican opposition to President Obama’s nomination to the US Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor. Many on the left and in the media are asserting that any opposition on the part of the Republican Party will hurt them with Hispanic-American voters in future elections.

Mr. Parker drew a visual statement of the common idiomatic expression to paint oneself into a corner. What does this mean? According to Answers.com:

Get oneself into a difficulty from which one can't extricate oneself. For example, “By volunteering to do more work in the office and then taking a freelance job, George has painted himself into a corner.” This idiom uses the graphic image of painting all of the floor except for the corner one stands in, so that one cannot leave without stepping on wet paint.

Wikitionary defines to paint oneself into a corner as:

(idiomatic) To create a predicament or problem for oneself; to do something that leaves one with no good alternatives or solutions.

Other Terms:

1. GOP – The other common name for the Republican Party is the GOP or Grand Old Party. In  the picture, the party is represented by an elephant, the traditional mascot of the Republican Party. The Democratic Party’s mascot is the donkey.

2. Drat! – This simple non-vulgar slang interjection is used to express annoyance.