and a dead one at that by MSM editorial cartoonists. Imagine the uproar if he was! We have a liberal editorial cartoonist Rob Rogers in Pittsburgh and a good one at that. I've seen him ripped to shreds by conservative readers for cartoons that they hated. And the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has rejected some of his cartoons.
Just on internet boards and blogs like DU did I see Bush compared to a chimp.
Rob Rogers did this "good vs. evil" cartoon less than three weeks after 9/11 -- and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette would not publish it during that hyperpatriotic time. "Emotions and feelings were too raw," Rogers says. "They probably would have run it six months later."
"America was still mourning heavily," say Post-Gazette Op-Ed Editor John Allison and Deputy Editorial Page Editor Reg Henry in an e-mail. "The cartoon was like standing up at a funeral and delivering a eulogy that pointed out that the deceased was a real jerk." They add that the cartoon "seems mild" today but that they continue to think it's wrong.
Then-Editorial Page Editor Michael McGough says "some of Rob's cartoons immediately after 9/11 flirted with suggesting a moral equivalence between Osama and the U.S. This one certainly is open to that charge."
And John Craig, editor of the paper at the time, says one possible reason for the cartoon's rejection was that it was "crude in the extreme in its historical analysis."
Rogers, who's distributed by United Media, says: "Normally, if something is killed, I accept it and move on." But in this case, Rogers felt strongly enough to rewrite the Sept. 29, 2001, cartoon's dialogue in a way that commented on the rejection of his original premise. The new words read: "I've got news for terrorists. I won't be afraid to criticize my country's policies at home and abroad. I won't be afraid to scrutinize the president and other elected officials, even if it means being branded unpatriotic. Because the minute we give up our right to free speech ... they win." The Post-Gazette published that version on Oct. 2, 2001.http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0198-42575/Hot-Toons-Rejected.html