This
cartoon totally pissed me off. So, my letter to the editor (LTE) to the Columbus Dispatch...
Dear editors:
I have some suggestions for Michael Ramirez, the Los Angeles Times cartoonist who drew your Saturday editorial cartoon depicting a U.S. military vehicle labelled "Iraqi Democracy," passing a ticking roadside bomb labelled "Democrats, U.S. Politics."
First suggestion: Shouldn't "Iraqi Democracy" be, maybe, an IRAQI vehicle? And second...
...if Ramirez really believes in staying the course, maybe he should draw some cartoons on that subject, including:
- Ramirez himself signing up to fight in Iraq. Or, if Ramirez is yet another Republican chickenhawk; maybe a cartoon depicting a yellow elephant wetting itself. Caption: "Sign up, or shut up."
- Bush and Congress requesting international assistance in Iraq. Maybe show Bush talking to Bolton. Caption: "Before we abolish the U.N.--remember to ask them for help."
- Congress passing an energy bill that makes us less--not more--dependent on enemy oil. Maybe show a motorist at the gas pump handing money to Bin Laden. Caption: "Thomas Friedman--We're funding both sides in the war on terrorism."
- Congress raising taxes to pay for the war. Maybe show a newborn holding an IOU for $25,000 or whatever is now the per-capita load of Bush's record deficit. Caption: "Never before in history has a nation cut taxes in wartime," or simply "Birth Tax."
- Congress investigating the bottomless pit of war-profiteering corruption. Maybe show a field of pits. Caption: "$8.8 billion missing" or "Unbid Contracts" or "Halliburton Acres" or "Where is Bunny Greenhouse buried?"
- Bush and Congress fixing the mess they have made of the U.S. military. Maybe show Paris Hilton and other debutantes handing over their tax cuts to pay for National Guard and Reserve equipment, training, life insurance, medical coverage, housing, and V.A. benefits. Caption: "If they serve as active military, treat them as active military."
- Bush honoring our dead by lifting the ban on photographing returning coffins. Maybe show a plane load of flag draped coffins. Caption: "While you were watching the news on missing coeds..."
- Bush and Congress bringing back the draft, or else figuring out how to fight a "generational war" without it. Maybe show a single soldier. Caption: "An Army of one."
- Bush owning up to the mess he has made, admitting that if we stay we make things worse, and if we leave--ditto. Or failing that, maybe just show his picture, with his thumb up his nose. No caption needed.
Sincerely