Look. I am a passionate defender of the First Amendment and I think that one of the things that makes America so strong is our ability to endure criticism of our most treasured institutions and members of society. We don't have riots over cartoons that offend a religious sect. We allow our comedians to parody our highest elected officials.
So no, I'm not going to get my knickers in a twist because I see a cartoon that offends me. In most cases, I can laugh off and ignore almost anything because art is symbolic and we only imbue symbols with as much power as we are willing to grant them. I'm sure most of you agree.
So, follow me over the fold and see if my paper's Sunday op-ed cartoon is beyond what you can tolerate...
This is what greeted me over my omelet and toast:
(Image trimmed for fair use. Full cartoon shown here.) Now, this cartoonist (and I use the word rather loosely) utterly despises Democrats, and many of his cartoons feature dire warnings of horrible things Pelosi and Reid will do. Bush is always an amiable, happy-go-lucky guy, and black people are always gun-toting thugs. This is his schtick.
But now, at this dire time of crisis in our country, Ed Gamble elects to use the power of his art to take a swing at our President-Elect and play off stereotypes and bigoted fears. Because that's the only explanation for this I can find.
Obama is very good at basketball. He also enjoys reading books, working out every morning, and he likes comic books and shrimp linguini. No, this cartoon was meant to poison minds and harden hearts, to lash readers into a fury that the incoming president is not really a person who deserves this office at all.
This is class warfare, racial antipathy, fear mongering of the worst sort - and all done with a cute little wink and a nod, as all the worst racist garbage is. If you visit the link above for the cartoon, you'll notice over to the side is a "caption contest." This is something Ed likes to do. He runs a cartoon with blank speech bubbles and the winning entry is published later.
This one has Bush and Obama sitting in the Oval Office for their first meeting. The challenge was to write something for Obama and something for the dog. The winning entry:
"Cheer Up! You could have been talking to Hillary."
Now, take a look at some of the runners up, posted below:
"Obama: Monica and women like her will hold a position of missionary in my administration. " - Dixie Joe.
"Obama: My children are too good for public school, besides they are entitled, unlike the ghetto rats. " - Dixie Joe.
"All those uneducated ghetto people thought I would bring change and hope. Unemployment is up, the market is down and the some old liberals will run government. Now that's change without hope! " - Dixie Joe.
"Phlager, Wright, and Ayers are my mentors and friends. I am a Muslim and I hate whitey! " - Dixie Joe.
"Another 441 points, This negro will bankrupt us! Don't censor me! " - Dixie Joe.
"Obama: That "ACORN" thing was blown way out of proportion. Barney: Yeah, they only registered me 5 times." - LL.
"Hey George? The girls have decided on a dog for the White House, what exactly is a snoop dog?" - heavy hippie.
"Barney: You can take the boy out of the ghetto, but you can't take the ghetto out of the boy. He looks like the Negros we have in TX. " - Dixie Joe.
"Dog: "Arrogant little creep wonder what thoses ears taste like." Obama, "I'm so great! I insult the voters and those ignorant Acorn Voters voted for me anyway...blah, blah, blah!!!"" - Pro Life 4 EVER.
"It all started in Bill Ayers' living room. Is this a great country or what?" - Trebor Nilknarf.
"George, is that limosine really bullit proof? Barney says-he better not stand in sun-roof" - ragin.
"Think of it as just another black family moving into government housing!!!!!" - Spanky.
"Hows the fried chicken and collard greens in this joint?" - James Earl Ray.
See how the readers get whipped into a frenzy of hate and loathing? Utterly disgusting and the paper encourages it.
I've just sent mail to the Times-Union requesting that Gamble's relationship with the paper be re-evaluated. If you care to join me, contact information follows. As always, be polite and professional.
Executive Editor: Rich Ray
rich.ray@jacksonville.com
Editorial Cartoonist: Ed Gamble
ed.gamble@jacksonville.com
Editorial Page Editor: Mike Clark
mike.clark@jacksonville.com