Tough times for Cartoonists

[highnote]

Cartoonists are having a tough time of it lately. This from Yahoo:

Military Denounces Newspaper for Cartoon

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060202/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/war_cartoon_1;_ylt=AqrdMIjqS1hYF0ixM9NsAZGWwvIE;_y lu=X3oDMTA2ZGZwam4yBHNlYwNmYw--

[JustRalph]

That cartoon was out of bounds. Tasteless.

I suppose nobody gives a damn when soldiers are drawn in this manner. A few years ago Colin Powell was depicted as a gorilla in a cartoon.........nobody cared about that one either..............had a conservative been the cartoonist..........all hell would have broken loose.

[lsbets]

I don't like the cartoon. I also don't think its very different than a lot of the Doonesbury drivel. However, I also think it was wrong for the Joint Chiefs to get involved and write their letter.

[highnote]

Reminds me of a cartoon that I saw when I was in college. It was a cartoon that depicted a cocktail party. Three characters were standing around talking with drinks in their hands -- the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and Jesus.

I thought it was kind of funny, but sacriligious at the same time. I'm sure it offended a lot of people. But so what? It's free speech.

Half the world doesn't think that Jesus is the son of God or supernatural.

So I agree with Isbets. Maybe it was a tasteless cartoon, but the best thing the Joint Chiefs could have done, IMO, is just ignore it. Surely they could spend their time more productively than writing letters to the editors.

Come to think of it, don't I have better things to do than write editorials? :D

[Tom]

It was a tastless cartoon - disgusting.
As was the comment made by Rumsfeld to begin with.
The difference is that cartoonist is a powerless idiot who can do nothig but piss people off from time to time.
Rumsfeld, on the other hand, is a dangerous, driven lunatic who has cost many young peplle thier lives to fed his ego. And he is allowed to continue to screw up this war.
Let's compromise - fire the cartoonist and Rummy for being disgusting low lifes.

[highnote]

It was a tastless cartoon - disgusting.
As was the comment made by Rumsfeld to begin with.
The difference is that cartoonist is a powerless idiot who can do nothig but piss people off from time to time.
Rumsfeld, on the other hand, is a dangerous, driven lunatic who has cost many young peplle thier lives to fed his ego. And he is allowed to continue to screw up this war.
Let's compromise - fire the cartoonist and Rummy for being disgusting low lifes.

I just looked at the cartoon for the first time. My first impression was that I felt bad for the soldiers who have to endure comments like Rumsfeld's. He could be a little more tactful.

How old is he now? Maybe it's time for him to be relieved of duty?

Has he ever seen any action? Maybe he's in over his head?

Lots of questions I don't have the answers to.

Then again, maybe he's just speaking his mind and the way he perceives things. Maybe the soldiers are battle hardened. Aren't they?

Haven't we all gotten a little harder since 9/11. That's probably not a good thing.

Do you know that the ancient Romans did not see compassion as a virtue. They saw it as a weakness. Their gladiator fights to the death and public killings of humans by wild animals for the public were meant to show how fierce Romans were. Ruthlessness was a virtue.

It wasn't until the Barbarians from the North started to invade and until the Christianity was a recognized religion that the circuses ended. Both the Barbarians and Christians thought compassion was a virtue and a sign of strenght. The Barbarians thought the circuses were nothing but murder. The Romans thought that if you didn't like killing you were weak.

Now, I'm not saying that's how we are today. So don't read too much into this.

What I'm saying is that battle hardened might not be a virtue.

I saw an interview with a battle hardened Russian soldier. He talked about how they would see a person laying on the ground -- dead or alive -- and he might shoot the top of their head off just to see what their brains looked like.

I remember watching Ken Burns' Civil War documentary. Some of the soldiers described how after awhile they saw so many dead bodies laying by the side of the road that it didn't have any emotional affect on them.

So when Rumsfeld talks about battle hardened, it is not exactly clear to me what he means by that.

I'm sure he meant it in a positive way. And I'm sure it is a good thing -- at least I hope so.

[highnote]

I understand that a lot of Muslims are upset over the depiction of Muhammed in the newspaper.

My question is, "What would Muhammed do?"

Now, I don't know much about Islam, so, can I even ask that question without repercussions?

[lsbets]

I was thinking about this today. The difference in reactions is striking. Our military leaders write a letter to the editor. Muslim leaders issue death threats. The newspaper in Belgium has received bomb threats. Hello? The cartoon showed Mohammed with a bomb on his head. WTF are they thinking? Hey, let's show them they're right and lunatics have hijacked Islam. Everytime someone in Europe writes something critical of Islam, they get a fatwa against them. Remember Salmon Rushdie (I'm sure that's not how you spell it)? The sad truth is, while 95% or more of the world's Muslims are no different than any of us, their religion has been hijacked by lunatics, and ultimately it is up to them to take back their faith and end the madness. Until that happens, all we can do is slow it down.

[Suff]

the US military should keep its nose out of Democracy.

[Tom]

I understand that a lot of Muslims are upset over the depiction of Muhammed in the newspaper.


Screw the muslems. They have NO SAY in freedom of the REAL people of the world. If they don't like the way we portray thier false prophet, tough crap.


BTW...I are theses just MORE islamic extremist rioting in the streets or this a real good at what the islamic world really is like?
I do not see this kind of outrage over terror attacks, or when some palestinean animal straps on a bomd and boards a bus.
Get real - this is a HOLY woar with a culture, NOT a group of extrremist.
"Eurabia" is fast becoming a reality- they are being colonized by muslems and will fall in short time. It may already t0o late for them.

[Tom]

the US military should keep its nose out of Democracy.

You mean democracy dosen't allow THEM free speech too! :eek:
When did they change THAT?:confused: