Tuesday, February 07, 2006
A New Cartoon
Here's my (first) contribution to The Cartoon Wars. The idea was my wife's; the artwork, such as it is, is mine.
Comments are welcome. Please address all fatwas to the guy who represents me in such matters: The Hon. John F. Kerry, 304 Russell Bldg., Third Floor, Washington D.C. 20510.
UPDATE: Michelle Malkin has some other new, original cartoons about this as well. Have a look.
Hippo Campy, on the other hand, has, uh, more edgy cartoons. (As one of his commenters says, he's asking for a fatwa. Could be.) Thanks to Roger Simon's commenters for the link!
UPDATE II: Lest I be misunderstood, drawing (and posting) the cartoon above was not an act of courage. It's just a cartoon, folks... and hardly anybody visits this blog anyway. It is highly unlikely that I'll risk anything, anything at all, for posting my artwork online.
Printing the original Danish cartoons in a national newspaper -- well, you wouldn't think that would be an act of courage either, which makes it all the more astonishing that only three American newspapers to date have done so.
This, on the other hand, is an act of courage. (Hat tip: Michelle again.) The New York Press planned a special issue devoted to the cartoons and the furor that surrounds them; at the last minute, management got cold feet and forbade them from running the actual cartoons. In response, the entire editorial staff resigned en masse. My hat's off to them! -- their principles were more important to them than their jobs.
In an e-mail, sent out by former editor-in-chief Harry Siegel, he says, in part:
We have no illusions about the power of the Press (NY Press, we mean), but even on the far margins of the world-historical stage, we are not willing to side with the enemies of the values we hold dear, a free press not least among them.Amen. Sometimes it doesn't matter so much if your actions can make a difference or not; there comes a time when a person must take a stand.
UPDATE III: Remember the Iranian Holocaust cartoon contest? www.israpundit.com has responded in kind:
The Iranian reply to the Danish published cartoons of Mohammed - some of which are satirical - depicting Mohammed of the head of a -surprise- violent religion is to sponsor a contest making fun of the Holocaust.Oh, my!
I did not know that the Danes are Jewish and would have thought that a parallel reply would be to make fun of Jesus. The Dutch have agreed to show their solidarity with the Iranians by publishing the cartoons. Bonding by kicking the Jews – nice!
In any case I assume that the Iranians intend the Jews to be made fun of in their new cartoon contest. Perhaps we can turn the tables on them.
Here is my idea – a picture with in the background a concentration camp with smoke spewing ovens in the back, labeled Auschwitz , and in front in full Nazi-SS uniform – Mohammed with a bomb turban.
Personally, I much prefer the idea of one of the comments to that post:
I wouldn't do anything to offend mainstream Muslims (who are not our enemies). Instead, however, we should draw cartoons that say, "This is how Islamofascists PERCEIVE Mohammed (or Allah)." In other words, our cartoons, like mine above, are not actual depictions of Allah or Mohammed but rather depictions of the blasphemous and evil ways in which Islamofascists use Allah and Mohammed to justify their atrocities.
Hmm, I'm beginning to get ideas here! Stay tuned.
UPDATE IV: Cox & Forkum have already published their proposed entry to the Iranian contest.
Personally, I hope they enter the contest more than once!
UPDATE V: My my, 2010 has brought in some interesting new comments!
I've replied to some of them in a new blog post. Enjoy!
