| Advisory |
Dear Friends and
colleagues of Cartoonists Rights Network:
A Mike Ramirez (Los Angeles Times) cartoon on President George W. Bush draws the
interest of the Secret Service.
The following is taken from Daryl Cagle's web site newsletter. Visit his site
at:
Daryl Cagle's Professional Cartoonists
Index!
From Daryl Cagle's Web site. 7/22/03
"Today's controversy surrounds a cartoon by Michael Ramirez that ran in the Los
Angeles Times on Sunday. Michael drew a cartoon based on a Pulitzer Prize
winning Vietnam war photo that appeared to depict the president being
assassinated.
The intent of the cartoon doesn't matter much to the Secret Service, which
doesn't like to see depictions of the president being assassinated, even from
the president's supporters.
The Drudge Report quotes an anonymous, "top Secret Service source" as saying,
"We take all images such as this very seriously, regardless of the politics
behind any speech, images of the president, such as this, raise concern."
Drudge quotes an anonymous White House reporter saying, "The world's first
political 'snuff' cartoon... there's a viciousness to this, that's just not
funny."
There is no more conservative cartoonist on our site than Michael Ramirez. I
asked Michael to explain the cartoon, and he told just what I expected ... that
he thinks this controversy is ridiculous, that cartoonists are supposed to push
the envelope in what they do, that he intentionally chose a disturbing image to
convey the point that the president is the subject of a political assassination
that the cartoon was obviously not intended to encourage violence, that there is
a parallel between the politicization of the Vietnam war and the current
deconstructions of the success and politicization of the Iraq war. I think we've
said enough on this one.
I'm told that Mike had a police escort on his way in to work Monday morning and
that he spent the morning doing radio interviews about the cartoon. A secret
service agent visited the Times yesterday, expecting to talk to Michael about
the cartoon, but the Times had the agent speak to their lawyer instead. I
suspect that Michael will spend quite a bit of time dealing with the fallout
from this.
I should give a prize for the most absurd, worthless, political cartoon
controversies. This could be our first winner".
Daryl Cagle on Mike Ramirez' cartoon.
I thought you'd all be interested in an American style of censorship!
Bro
Robert Russell
Executive Director
Cartoonists Rights Network, International
10600 Alison Drive
Burke, VA 22015 USA
Phone: 703 250 0035
Cell: 703 338 3322September
13, 2003
Burke, Virginia, USA
By Robert Russell