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AUGUST 31, 2004

STEVE GREENBERG ON OUR PROFESSION

Steve Greenberg of the Ventura Star wrote this excellent article about our ailing professions as we received word that another cartoonist job has been lost. Dennis Draughon has left his spot at the Scranton Times.

Snapshot of a threatened art
by Steve Greenberg (E-mail Steve)

Corrupt politician William "Boss" Tweed of 19th Century New York's Tammany Hall, brought down by the skewering pen of Thomas Nast, bitterly called the drawings "them damn pictures."

Political cartoons - technically, editorial cartoons - have been a staple of American newspapers for generations. Benjamin Franklin's part-cartoon, part-rallying poster of a snake comprised of many segments representing states and captioned "Join or Die" is one of the most familiar cartoons ever.

But editorial cartooning has hit hard times in recent years. Despite the fact that nearly every newspaper in America runs them daily - and even cartoonistless USA Today and the New York Times run weekly roundups - practitioners of the craft feel as if they're an endangered species.

Decades ago, most sizeable papers had someone on staff as their editorial cartoonist. Certain "stars" such as Herblock of The Washington Post were distributed nationally, but for the most part cartoonists were there to comment on local and state issues in addition to national topics. They helped define the look, feel and editorial stances of their newspapers.

Nowadays, a lack of competing dailies, an interest in saving money and a preference for avoiding controversy at some newspapers have made it harder than ever for political cartoonists to get published. College cartoonists are warned by veteran ones that "there are no jobs out there," and often opt to post cartoons for free online while considering new career courses.

As cartoonists retire or leave, some papers have refused to refill the positions in order to save money. The Chicago Tribune, once employing three editorial cartoonists, hasn't had a staff cartoonist since Pulitzer Prize-winner Jeff MacNelly died in 2000. The San Jose Mercury News dropped its last cartoonist in 2001 and has made no effort to replace him.

The cartoonists that do find work are often multi-taskers. At the Ventura County Star, for example, my editorial cartoons appear twice per week while I am primarily employed as a graphic artist. Former Star staffer John Sherffius left a similar situation to become a full-time editorial cartoonist in St. Louis (The Star still runs his work), and when that job ended months ago in an editorial dispute, that paper became another without a staff cartoonist, though it's officially seeking a replacement.

Syndication of material to other newspapers for a weekly fee has made it possible for papers to buy Pulitzer-winners for as little as $15 per week, saving the cost of a staff cartoonist's'salary. True, they only get national topics this way, but many papers are happy to forgo local commentary in order to reap the savings. Some cartoonists pessimistically see a future in which only a couple dozen "stars" are syndicated to all the other papers, and the only local cartoons are drawn on the side by people holding down other jobs.

Syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker recently wrote that newspapers today are boring, and singled out the declining ranks of editorial cartoonists as a prime example of how papers have lost their edge: "Heaven forbid we should allow anything as controversial and evocative as a political cartoon. People might get excited, start talking, laugh out loud, and tell their friends."
If the cartooning picture is bleak, it's not without promise. A new book, "Attack of the Political Cartoonists," is a snapshot of today's field. It shows the work and profiles of 150 cartoonists, including a variety of voices not seen in the usual syndication roundups.

The last such book, "Today's Cartoon," was complied was 1962. In that collection, the artists were all male, white, and generally drawing in a similar style of ink and grease-crayon, replete with figures of Uncle Sam, eagles and Russian bears. By contrast, "Attack" shows a wide diversity of styles produced by cartoonists of both genders and various ethnicities.

Lalo Alcarez of L.A. speaks from a Hispanic's perspective, and Dani Aguila from a Filipino's. There are a dozen female cartoonists, including two Pulitzer-winners, Ann telnaes and Signe Wilkinson, and Cindy Procious, married to fellow cartoonist Clay Bennett. There are a couple of black cartoonists and a couple of gays, as well as Turkish, Greek, Israeli, British and French-Canadian cartoonists. Some of the artists are internationally syndicated, while some are only seen online, unable to secure a print forum.

Newspaper editors know that editorial cartoons can liven up pages, and stir up readers. The fear of the latter has left some editors willing to run only bland gags, with similar gags increasingly running in more papers until a Montecito paper looks like a Montgomery one.

It would be a loss to journalism if a feature popular with readers and unique to newspapers - there are no TV editorial cartoons - withers away. Who else will make local politicians scream about "them damn pictures?"

AUGUST 30, 2004

We get lots of submissions from our readers and I rarely post any of it, but I enjoyed this one, from cartoonist, Mike Arnold, who also draws for Cracked Magazine. Mike missed his deadline with this one, so it won't appear in Cracked, only here. Visit Mike. E-mail Mike.

Here's Miller Brewing's top eight: Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton, Alice Cooper, Willie Nelson, Blondie, Joe Walsh, Def Leppard, and Bon Jovi. No I am not blowing bubbles out my ass; check it out here or here (requires registration).

Miller Brewing has teamed up with Rolling Stone magazine for a promotion commemorating 50 years of rock 'n' roll (with the questionable date of birth being the day a 19-year-old Elvis Presley first walking into Sun Studios). Miller is producing eight cans with a past cover of Rolling Stone on each, commemorating high water marks ("as well as diversity" sez a Miller spokesman with a straight face) (okay I don't know if he could keep a straight face) of rock 'n' roll.

Now this is admittedly not the most pressing issue facing our global community as we plummet screaming into the abyss. But some issues just smack you upside the head and shout "HOW COULD ANYONE BE SO STOOOPID?!" and an editorial cartoonist just can't help himself, even if it IS a small news story.

So a storm of protest has greeted the selections, and not just from fans who can't believe Bananarama didn't make the list. Critics have been howling, "where are the black folks?"

Elvis Presley, of course. For sure. Eric Clapton, why not. But where's Jimi Hendrix, For The Love Of God And All Things Holy? Didn't Chuck Berry have a thing or two to do with rock 'n' roll's inception? Wouldn't Little Richard have been Elvis if he had chosen a more popular flesh tone? Didn't the Immortal Muddy Waters CREATE ROCK 'N' ROLL by bringing Delta blues north, plugging them in in Chicago, and literally electrifying the music?

A pop culture prof quoted in the news articles sums it up best when he says eight commemorative rock 'n' roll cans without any black people is "like doing a set of cans of six great Impressionist painters and not including any French people." Or doing a set of three cans celebrating primary colors and not including red, yellow or blue. Or doing a single can commemorating deranged one-eared Impressionist painters and not including Van Gogh. You get the idea.

Okay, so there's no African-Americans on their list. Let's just assume for the sake of argument that the PR folks at Miller are complete racist sons-of-bun-heads. That would be bad enough. But they're complete racist sons-of-bun-head MORONS with no knowledge of rock history and BAD TASTE IN MUSIC. I'll bet if the freakin' KLAN came up with eight cans even they wouldn't include Def Freakin' Leppard. Okay, I don't know what the Klan listens to, I'm just assuming NOBODY listens to Def Freakin' Leppard. If you were dead set on only including white folks, might you consider The Beatles? Bob Dylan? Buddy Holly? Led Zeppelin? (Zeppelin would've been perfect for their list, since they ripped off Willie Dixon & other blues artists without giving credit or monetary reinbursement.) (Okay, to their credit, they gave monetary reinbursement, after being sued.)

Willie Nelson? Last I checked, wasn't he, um, COUNTRY? Funny how the branches of pop that are associated with whites are represented (country, bad 80's hair metal, shock rock, and CRAP), while those blacks invented (soul, R&B, Motown, funk, gospel, reggae, rap) are not. (To Miller's credit, blues is represented, by Eric Clapton, who remains white.) (And to Clapton's credit, he remains generous in giving credit where credit is due.)

Bon Jovi, while a horrible choice for a top eight list, at least is an appropriate choice for a Miller list. Bon Jovi is the Miller Lite of rock ­ no unique flavor, no discriminating taste, no complex character, just watered-down swill that panders to the lowest common denominator through a relentless barage of focus-group-tested media. At first you hate it, but if you have enough of it you briefly think you like it, until ultimately it makes you vomit.

What Miller SHOULD'VE done (this is why Miller should hire me as their PR director) (but I'd never accept because I have too much respect for beer as high art) is come up with FIFTY cans. Then a lot of artists would be represented, a lot would still be left out ­ which would lead to folks searching for their favorite, and create long pointless debates about who should've been included & who was the greatest bass player of a west-coast power trio ever. These are fun debates, as opposed to debating why the minority that invented the art form is still ripped off and excluded. AND it would produce more sales ­ more collectors would need to buy more beer, more drinkers would search for "their" artist, more artists would produce more debate, more debate would produce more sales.

We could've had debates like this:

"Where's Van Morrison? Is Van on the list? Man, I gotta drink another case to find Van."

"Van Morrison? Yeah, if you want to commemorate fat people in porkpie hats who mumble and moan convincingly enough for white R&B."

"ARE YOU INSANE? Van should be included if all he ever gave the world was 'Moondance'! 'Mumble and moan'?! Name five singers better than him. Just five. In all of recorded history. Ray Charles ­ there, I gave you a head start. Ray Charles, and Bobby Blue Bland. You've got three left."

"Bobby Blue Bland, my blue bloody ass. Robert Plant, Roger Daltry, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, Elvis, Bono, Sinatra,..."

"Sinatra?! Yeah, he invented rock, didn't he?!"

"He invented rock attitude!"

"Oh, now we're inducting people for their 'rock attitude'. Okay 'Dr. Christgau,' where's Johnny Rotten, Keith Richards, Patti Smith..."

Etc. ad nauseum.

Instead of conversations like this:

"Def Freakin' Leppard. Jesus Freakin' Christ."

"Joe Walsh?!!"

Kirk Anderson

Here at the blog, the sad issue of 'who wins the Pulitzer and why' has returned. It is not an unimportant issue to those of us who watch the monkey on our back grow larger every year. Clearly, winning the 'Prize' can change a career and a life. Every year we put together our best work and send it off, praying that all the hard work will pay off and recognition will grace our life. For everyone except the winner, disappointment and depression set in until we finally get over it and hope for next year.

What is important is that we not succumb to bitterness or jealousy in the process. All too often, imagined reasons and blame cloud the good judgment we should be using. Let's face it, someone put together an entry that grabbed the imagination of the judges, stood above all the others, and made someone very happy. We all dream of it ourselves...what would it be like? What would I say? Who would I thank? Now my editor will appreciate me! We dream of it our entire professional career, knowing from the beginning that it may never happen. We hope that what happened to Haynie will never happen to us. We believe that all our sweat, love, and courage will be evident to the judges and they will see it and bestow it upon only one of us...ME! So, when it doesn't happen, there must be some reason. The guy was a 'liberal' or the guy was a 'conservative' or they had to give it to a woman or 'he's a threefer...Hispanic, Japanese AND conservative'! The sexism and racism that we abhor surfaces full blown.

I 've got 6 and 7 year old boys who love bicycle racing. BMX is a sport where athletes speed race in their age and proficiency over hills and turns for about 1500 feet. It's hard and exhausting but the reward of winning is worth it for them. As they get better, I hear complaints from other parents...he's too aggressive...he cheats...you make them train! As if I could make them do any of this! Jealousy and anger explodes against little boys and girls who beat their children. Rather than compete, excuses, false reasons and imagined advantages take over. But in the end, the best kid gets the trophy.

We entered this profession because we love to draw and hope to end the injustices that we see all around us. We are blessed to be employed doing what we love so much. We have no control over contests. If we win prizes for doing it, great! But if we don't, we need to show some class and congratulate those that do. Then go for it again next year. It's time to end all the jealousy, complaining and excuses. The magic may be yours next year. Good luck.

Bill Day, Memphis Commercial-Appeal

Most of our readers found our site through their Social Studies classes in school. Every day I hear from teachers and scholars who are using editorial cartoons to motivate students to learn about history and current events. Today I thought I would highlight four excellent efforts.

PBS and the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer has a nice site with an extensive lesson plan for "Analyzing Election Cartoons." The site was put together by Greg Timmons, the executive director of the Constitution Project in Oregon. The lesson plans include PDF files to print out as handouts on the history of political cartoons, comparisons of historical and modern cartoons and cartoons about the presidential campaign. One interesting handout compares a written editorial with one of my own cartoons on the same topic.

Apple, AT&T, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and the International Society for Technology in Education sponsor an online library of "exhibits" created by National Board Certified teachers. Mary Liz Towne, a motivated and talented middle school teacher in Wisconsin has created an "exhibit" which is part of the online library, about using Political Cartoons in the Classroom. Visit Mary's excellent site here. Mary's site also includes PDF file handouts, one of which is based on our own Scavenger Hunt (which we haven't updated for a while, so Mary's is better than ours). Mary directs students to our site and writes,

"This lesson could not have been successful without the Internet. Using Internet resources, students were able to access thousands of political cartoons created by internationally recognized professional cartoonists. The Internet allowed students to explore over a hundred topics and thousands of cartoons from around the world."

Another great resource is "Cartoons for the Classroom" which is a joint venture of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) and the Newspapers in Education program at the Detroit News. Every two weeks, Felix Grabowski at the Detroit News, creates a new PDF file handout for teachers with sample cartoons, student worksheets, and lesson plans that provide for a discussion of current events. An archive of past lesson plans is available to download at the site, along with the newest lesson, which features cartoons by our own Angel Boligan, of El Universal in Mexico City and Mike Keefe, of the Denver Post.

The Teachers Guide on our site is a collaboration with Classbrain.com. Each week, Sarah Lane and Cynthia Kirkby select five cartoons and ask a series of questions about the topic of each cartoon. The cartoons are selected to represent a broad spectrum of current events and issues. Sarah and Cynthia often give background information about the issues and events in the news that the cartoons address. Links are provided to related sites where students can find more information about these topics. The Classbrain lessons are designed to be starting points for discussions and studies about news topics of the day, rather than analyzing the structure and metaphors the cartoonist chooses to use in his cartoon. Click on "Teachers Guide" in our navigation column to visit the Classbrian daily lesson plans.

To the staff

Since the merger of the Sentinel and The Journal we have had two cartoonists on the Journal Sentinel editorial board. We> 've been blessed that both do very good work. However, considering the increasing demands on our design staff, we have to realign our resources to better serve our readers. It is time for us to have one cartoonist. We may be the last major paper with two cartoonists.

Based on seniority, Stuart Carlson will remain as staff political cartoonist. Gary Markstein, who has done excellent work for us since joining The Journal in 1992, will move to the features design staff where he will illustrate and design for Crossroads, Cue and other features sections. He begins training for his new duties this week. We> '> re certain Gary will bring the same professionalism, care and superb artistry to his new endeavor.

Gary has accumulated numerous awards in his career, including a first place in the Fischetti Editorial Cartoon Competition in 1997, a second place in the 1996 National Headliner Award and a third in the National Press Foundation Berryman Awards that same year. This is just part of the reason why this has not been an easy decision. Stuart and Gary are both fine cartoonists, but to make the best use of our resources, it is only prudent that we go to one cartoonist.

--Marty

I'll still be doing sports cartoons for the paper and continue drawing editorial cartoons for Copley News Service. By the way, any speculation about this having to do with any disciplinary action is ridiculous. Having 2 cartoonists is obviously a luxury at a newspaper and the Journal Sentinel kept 2 for almost 10 years.

-Gary Markstein

They say that if you draw a cartoon that one other cartoonist drew, you are a plagiarist; if you draw a cartoon that three other cartoonists drew, you are a hack; and if you draw a cartoon that a dozen other cartoonists drew, you are following a tradition.

Today I followed a tradition by drawing a cartoon with Muqtada al-Sadr doing the Hokey Pokey. Most American cartoonists are male, baby boomers who share a common cultural heritage that tends to make us come up with common metaphors in our cartoons. Fans of our site see how often this happens as we point out frequent "Yahtzees." The Hokey Pokey is an interesting reference that has been recurring over and over throughout the reign of the baby-boomer cartoonists, referring to politicians who flip flop on their positions.

An interesting dispute about Hokey Pokey cartoons erupted in 1999 over a Yahtzee of cartoons depicting Saddam Hussein doing the Hokey Pokey. It would seem that the very idea that cartoonists in different places might happen to draw the Hokey Pokey at the same time was too incredible to believe for some editors who don't follow cartoons closely ­and for some cartoonists. An unfair and ugly storm swirled among the cartoonists and resulted in a number of newspapers articles bashing cartoonist Gary Markstein who drew one of the Saddam Hokey Pokey Yahtzee cartoons. Some cartoonists have been speculating that this well publicized controversy may have contributed to Markstein recently losing his position as a daily editorial cartoonist for the Milwaukee Sentinel. If this is true, it is truly unfair, as readers of our site would know. At the time, Markstein's editors disciplined him by having him draw local cartoons only, for a period of time.

An article about the controversy in the American Journalism Review quotes Markstein and two other cartoonists saying that they avoid issues of plagiarism by making a point of never looking at their colleagues work. It would seem to me that cartoonists should be keenly aware of the work of their colleagues in order to avoid groupthink and banality --competition drives us all to do better work.

And an awareness of our colleagues' work allows us to choose to be banal at times when it amuses us ­as with the Hokey Pokey.

I'd like to encourage all of the editorial cartoonists to enter a new contest. The Population Media Center is an impressive, non-profit organization that works to curb overpopulation and the spread of disease in third world countries. They have started a new editorial cartoon contest for two reasons, to draw attention to important issues that are often overlooked in the daily grind of stories about terrorism, Iraq, sports, celebrities and local crime ­and to encourage cartoonists to draw about larger global issues that are not sexy enough to make it to the daily headlines. This new award will be among the most prestigious in our profession. I am hopeful that the Population Media Center (PMC) will get lots of entries.

PMC will give away $10,000 in prizes to those cartoonists who can best portray the relationship between human population growth and issues affecting the quality of life. These issues can include environmental degradation, poverty, biodiversity, urban migration, food and water supply, energy, maternal and child health, status of women, and national conflicts. The grand prize winner will also receive an all-expense paid trip to New York City to attend the awards event!

Population Media Center wants to honor those cartoonists who, through their work, have helped develop greater public awareness of the importance of the relationship between population growth and the quality of life.

Publish and enter your best cartoon - it just might be a $7,000 winner!

Eligibility Requirements
--Entries must have been published in a reputable publication in the United States by September 10, 2004.
--Entries are RETROACTIVE.
--Entries published after January 1, 2000 are eligible.*
--Applicants must be U.S. residents.
--Entries must be received by Friday, September 10, 2004.

Send to:
Cartoon Contest
Population Media Center, Inc.http://www.populationmedia.org/
P.O. Box 547
Shelburne, VT 05482-0547 - USA

Late entries will not be accepted. PMC is not responsible for entries lost in the mail.

Limit entry to 12 cartoons. Please mount cartoon(s) securely in a folder or binder. Please, no entries larger than 11" x 14".

A copy of the official entry form must accompany each item. Photocopied entry forms are acceptable.

One clean photocopy of each cartoon is required, along with a tearsheet of each cartoon as it appeared in the publication.

Internet entries must include one hardcopy of the cartoon and a copy of the web layout as it appears on the Internet. This should include the name of the website, the publication date, your name and the cartoon. The URL address should be available for judges viewing at the time of award selection (September - October 2004).

Entries will not be returned.

Download the entry form as a PDF file.
Download the entry form as a Microsoft Word document.

Questions regarding eligibility should be directed to cartooncontest AT populationmedia.org.
(The "@" sign has been removed from the e-mail address to reduce the amount of spam mail received. Thank you).

Awards
Grand-prize: $7,000
Second Place: $2,000
Third Place: $1,000

Winners will be selected and notified at least two weeks prior to awards event, held in New York City in October 2004. Winners must be present at awards ceremony to accept awards. Winning entries will be on display at the awards event in New York City.

TWO MORE CARTOONISTS JOBS LOST

Our profession continues to shrink. Today I heard the news that Gary Markstein, of the Milwaukee Sentinel, just lost his job as editorial cartoonist for the newspaper. Gary is a long time contributor to our site. His cartoons are nationally syndicated by Copley News Service. The Sentinel had two cartoonists; the other cartoonist, Stuart Carlson, doesn't appear on our site. Carlson will continue on as the paper's only cartoonist. Click here to see our archive of Gary Markstein's excellent work.

There was a time when two cartoonist newspapers were common; now they are almost extinct.

Don Addis, the cartoonist for the St. Petersburg Times, announced his retirement, leaving an empty drawing table at yet another paper. Addis is best known for his comic panel, Bent Offerings.

GEORGE BREISACHER

Cartoonist George Breisacher died of a sudden heart attack. Although he wasn't an editorial cartoonist, George was known to many of the cartoonists who frequent our site because he was active in the National Cartoonists Society. George was the long time editor of the NCS newsletter, the Cartoon!st. George worked in the graphics department of the Charlotte Observer for many years and freelanced as a cartoon illustrator. He also worked on a variety of comic strip projects, including a stint drawing King Features' Mutt and Jeff. George was president of the NCS in 1998 and 1999, the year before my own term as president. George was a good guy and he will be missed.

'Forever Dada' began when Louis and I observed that Flash animation was being used to re-invent the editorial cartoon on the Internet. We decided this was something we could do, wanted to do, and needed to do.

We knew each other from our days working at the San Francisco Bay Guardian, nearly thirty years ago; we are both artists with grounding in the olde world of Print media. I had been involved with digital graphics for some time and had recently worked with Louis in constructing his portfolio website at www.louisdunn.com. So we took on this opportunity for exploring the new world of Web Media. Old dogs learning new tricks...

We both felt we could contribute something of value. For one thing, Louis' drawing style is definitely a cut above the typical Flash toon (which I feel generally looks like a crude attempt at aping Looney Tunes). Plus, I was excited about producing a series of minute movies bringing Louis' political takes to life.

And of course, we also felt a dire need to speak up. As we all know, since 9/11, under the thumb of the Bush administration, the United States has taken a frightening direction. We were antsy to do something to help reverse this trend. We weren't sure if we could raise a voice that would be heard, but we both felt it was better to try than to sit by, be silent, and do nothing.

Forever Dada, has always been a shoestring effort - little money spent and even less received. Just the same, every week for over a year, we put a new episode on line. Since we both work, this schedule left us with little free time. Most episodes were animated over the weekend, many requiring me to work deep into the wee hours of Monday morning, readying Monday's episode. Eventually, the wear and tear began to accumulate, and when we took a short break in May we realized just how wearing it had become. Thus the decision to re-think the weekly schedule.

But just between you and me (and everyone on the Internet...) I don't expect 'Dada' to vanish. We'll have much to say as we get closer to the November presidential election. So we've discussed making the series 'fortnightly' (every two weeks,) or maybe monthly.

I can only hope that our efforts have contributed, even if in a small way, to changing this country's direction and, hopefully, to the removal of the George Bush administration from a position it does not deserve and did not earn.

From: Doug Maassen
Subject: Terrible Cartoon

I read your stuff and disagree with the majority but you bring up some good points occasionally. Your latest cartoon oversteps.

It would not be such a disgusting cartoon if you took the time to point out that Osama commands terrorists who are trying to kill us. President Bush commands fellow Americans who are trying to protect us from being attacked by fanatics in airplanes.

I can't believe you gave Osama the same credibility as the US President.

Doug.

i think the cartoon is hilarious!

thank you.
Trust and know...
Phil J. Carillo

Hey, Daryl.

You missed one. 'Neither was elected.' :)

El-Man,
NZ.

To those of you that are opining about Mr. Cagle's cartoon comparing
GWB/OBL: Get over yourselves! It's a cartoon for crying out loud. Ever
hear of the 1st Amendment? If it ever gets to the point in this country
that we cant make fun of politicians, we are all in deep doo doo.

DB Berona
Bakersfield, CA
Proud member of what the "Bushies" call the ignorant masses.

Concerning the cartoon,

You forgot to mention:

Both think they are right.

Both never did any of their own dirty work.

Both could be accused of not really practicing their 'religon'.
(But both think they are anyway.)

Both rely on gross nationalism and religious fervor to arouse fear and
submission.

Both prefer (or at least would like) to have a dictator government. (One has
mentioned that it would be easier)

Both (I'm sure) take frequent vacations.

That's it.
Keep up the irrevent skewering!

A. Hernandez
Mesquite, Tx

THANK YOU!!!!!

I've been saying all along that they're BOTH religious extremists!
Heck, either one could be the poster boy for the importance of the
separation of church and state.

Mark Cook
Harrisburg, PA

I, for one, found the cartoon to be amusing (I suspect I am in the minority). Better watch what I say (or type, as the case may be), next thing you know, we'll all be picked up for Un-American Sentiments and held at the leisure of the government.

J. Weidner
Irvine, CA

Mr Cagle,

I was deeply offended by your latest cartoon comparing
George W Bush and Osama Bin Laden. How could you
possibly make such a comparaison ? I demand that you
take the cartoon off from your website and make a
formal apology! I mean, that cartoon is so offending
to Mr Bin Laden! How could you possibly know that he
doesn't read newspapers ?

Just kidding, nice job, Daryl ;)

From: Marion Larkin [mailto:darkthorne@msn.com]
Sent: Sunday, August 01, 2004 4:54 PM
To: cari@cagle.com
Subject: bush vs. osama!

hey, this is an unfair comparison.
I am quite sure that bush reads the newspaper...
M. Larkin
Vancouver, WA

From: Dennis and Kathy Crews
Subject: YOU MUST BE VERY PROUD

Mr. Cagle,
You must be extremely proud of yourself. How clever you are to compare President Bush to Osama bin Laden. As you wrap yourself in the freedoms your constitution brings you, think about the peope that are out there at this very moment dying so you can sit in your comfortable home and critize this great nation and its government.
Your cartoon is so well thought out and so profound that it has changed my mind about who I am voting for in the upcoming election. I now think it would be best for our nation to ensure we get the approval of the French before we act in the best interests of our national security. I now think that we should seek to try bin Laden in U.S. courts when captured. That way he can get off on a technicality and make a mockery of the U.S.
Thank you for being a true American. I only wish you could have been alive during WWII. Then you could have produced a cartoon comparing Churchill or FDR to Hitler. I am sure millions across the world would be better off today if you had only been able to bring your insight to us back then.
Best of luck in convincing the ignorant masses that your point of view is correct. Meanwhile the rest of us will base our decisions on things that escape you, reason and fact.

Proud U.S. Citizen

---

AUGUST 2, 2004

ANOTHER E-MAIL GUSHER

I suspected that the cartoon below would generate some e-mail response --and it has been interesting. Here are four from my overstuffed mailbag (under the cartoon). You can e-mail us here with more pithy comments. Name 'n town, name 'n town, name 'n town if you wish to opine.

.

From: Joe Walker
Sent: Sunday, August 01, 2004 2:29 PM
Subject: osama cartoon

Are you kidding me with this cartoon? Do they both support democracy? Do they both encourage free market economies? You should be ashamed, at least take the cartoon down, then if you have the soul, apologize to the President.
Joe Walker

---

From: Roy
Sent: Monday, August 02, 2004 8:12 AM

is Daryl Slate queer?
sure sounds like it.

From: Marion Larkin
Sent: Sunday, August 01, 2004 4:54 PM
Subject: bush vs. osama!

hey, this is an unfair comparison.
I am quite sure that bush reads the newspaper...
M. Larkin
Vancouver, WA