Uproar over cartoon (MSNBC)

[leQ]

no link, but i do have the cartoon handy

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-include-ramirez.ssipage

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. My comment is

that the cartoon portrays W as an innocent victim of politics, instead of the one who has sown the wind and is now reaping the whirlwind.

[booksenkatz]

10. Exactly

He's a willing, eager, joyful participant in the bloodbath-for-oil. It's absurd to portray him here as a poor li'l victim.

[TahitiNut]

23. "innocent victim"???

The VC weren't innocent victims. In that particular instance, the chief of police (with the pistol) had recently lost close family members to the VC and the VC he summarily executed had been given about as much of a 'trial' as Dubya has in mind for the "unlawful combatants" like the two Britons. (Searching for "good guys" in Vietnam was not an easy task.)

If anything, Smirky Doody would be the one getting a woody for the chance to hold the gun. Why not portray Duhbya holding the pistol and an "unlawful combatant" standing with hands tied and bag over head ... with a whole line of bodies on the street having met a similar fate at the hands of Duhbya?

This is precisely the kind of "justice" that Smirky Doody & Co. want to mete out to anyone getting in their way.

[displacedtexan]

2. jesus h. christ! it's a metaphor!

n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Good take on

the famous Nam photo...

Now why would the Feds get concerned over an
editorial cartoon?

It is accurate to a point, he is the "victim" of
politics, but he brought that whirlwind upon himself

[bushisanidiot]

4. I think it portrays how the troops feel in Iraq right now.

Since AWOL was the one that put them there.

[Dover]

5. Here's the Drudge story on that cartoon

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN JULY 20, 2003 20:15:27 ET XXXXX

SECRET SERVICE CONCERN AFTER LOS ANGELES TIMES COMIC DEPICTS 'BUSH ASSASSINATION'

A LOS ANGELES TIMES comic Sunday that graphically showed President Bush being held at direct gun-point has raised concerns within the Secret Service, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

The shock cartoon by the paper's Michael Ramirez depicts the president's hands behind his back with a gun to his head -- assassination style -- as an unidentified man wearing a vest which reads "politics" appears ready to pull the trigger!

"We take all images such as this very seriously," a top secret service source who requested anonymity said from Washington. "Regardless of the politics behind any speech, images of the president, such as this, raise concern."

The sketch appears to be a take-off of a Pulitzer prize winning photo...()


>>MORE>> http://www.drudgereport.com/mr.htm

[janx]

27. The sketch could just have easily been modeled after a Clint Eastwood

flick! Give me a break!

More tabloid Drudge crap.

[0007]

6. Thanks

Great cartoons -

Didn't Truman say, "if ya can't the heat get out of the kitchen?"

[Dover]

8. Or...as Dubya said to the Dixie Chicks...." don't dish it out if ya can't

take it" (or something like that).

[trogdor]

7. Gee, they bitch about Repig cartoonists now.

I say, GOOD. If you want to see what Ramirez is all about, look at the other cartoons (click on the thumbnails) on this page.

[Malikshah]

11. Went to the freep board

Along the lines of know thy enemy (or enema) and all

Fascinating reading last night. Calls for the LA Times to be shut down, painting the TImes as a commie pinko rag, etc.
One lone voice was trying to state that the cartoon was actually supportive of *-- along the lines of what's been written in this thread, albeit w/ a different take. In other words, * is reaping what he has sown. In the freeper case, * is the victim.

Ramirez, the cartoonist had (emphasis on past tense here, folks) been viewed as a loyal *-lover but now...

Interesting note-- I don't think it's an urban myth, but I remember vaguely of reading an article--sort of a Behind the Picture piece, which explains the image (from a newscast--I was unfortunate enough to see the newscast once on some documentary---first time I'd seen an actual killing--not fun) The man with the gun was a mayor of a town, the guy killed was Viet Cong (?)--but there was more to the story--the guy killed had killed/raped? the child of the mayor, etc.

Don't wish to start a whirlwind speculation, but does anyone have the link to this story or know the details.

In any case--the freeper board is an interesting read. Many are up in arms over Faux news tricking them into supporting it and then turning tail and becoming a liberal rag along the lines of CNN (please, before the attack-- these are their words, not mine)

What's the german word for loving the pain of your enemies???? sangenfreud?? Sorry it's been too long since my German for reading course...

[FreedomSpirit]

16. Loving the pain of your enemies

Schadenfreud

[sfecap]

21. The actual incident involved a Vietnamese General

and a Viet Cong fighter. The fighter was captured and brought before the General who pulled his pistol and summarily executed him in the street.

I remember the horror when the film was shown in the US.

War is an ugly thing.

[janx]

26. Did you by any chance notice the historical cartoons of

threatened presidents in that thread? Lincoln's head, etc.?!

God I had fun last night!!!!!

[bowens43]

9. The idiots at the evil site

were for the most part, completely up in arms over this cartoon even though a couple of the slightly more rational minds pointed out repeatedly that this is a PRO bush cartoon. Still they called for shutting down paper , firing the conservative cartoonist etc. etc.

It was quite a show!!

[janx]

29. Did you happen to see my responses to the hysteria?

For instance...THIS?

[Braden]

12. Dumbya ought to send Ramirez a thank you note

for that Valentine.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

13. When Nixon's time came...

He has so alientated Republicans in the House and Senate that many of them were secretly (and not so secretly) glad to see him headed toward impeachment.

One has to wonder just how cordial Shrub's relations are with the center and right-center Republicans. Will they "throw his body from the train" when the time comes?

[Merlin]

14. This is a pro-Bush cartoon.

The guy in the flack jacket pulling the trigger should be named "Truth" not "Politics."

[NNN0LHI]

15. You are right. Ramirez is always pro-Bush. Look back at his other stuff

Don

[janx]

30. But it doesn't even matter. Political cartoons are an art form

that's been around for centuries. It's free speech. Right wingers would pitch the first amendment just to defend their leader.

[Loonman]

17. It's sympathetic to Bush, though

Portraying him as a supected innocent victim of politics. I wouldn't expect freeprs or SS Brownshirts to know that.

[sam sarrha]

18. i saw the rest

he pulls the triger. it is very ugly. if the whole scene was shown, kids wouldnt play with guns. and action films guns wouldnt be so appealing. this sceene is a frame of political thugery. the guy is obviously just a guy on the street with a family that doesnt doesnt know anything. the gunman is enjoying terrorizing him...working the moment into a crescendo of panic then pulls the triger. this was a really psychotic moment... just '*men with guns'. *is a "must see movie"..it explains the central/south american fascist epidemic of political terrorism. perhaps comming to your community soon...

[Monte Carlo]

19. Ramirez likes to think that Bush is above politics...

...as well as his administration and their efforts around the world. Ramirez is quite right-wing and pro-Bush, and like too many similar commentators, they don't think of their favorite politicians as being political. It is defining oneself in the right, and a monumental double standard. It is a bunch of bullsh*t.

As for this getting Secret Service attention... I'm not suprised. They have zero sense of humor when it comes to threatening the president, even in an abstract sense.

[SideshowScott]

20. Mike Ramirez is another right wing hack trying to make a buck

His cartoons always have a right wing slant for the most part..Ok ill be fair, one or two ive seen ive agrred with but for the most part hes just another insturment player on the Bush bandwagon..Hes trying to make Bush look innocent in that cartoon..a victim of nasty of poltics..HEY HE IS IN POLTICS ! Geeze

[SoCalDem]

22. Two scathing ones from a UK website

www.b3ta.com

[gratuitous]

24. Well, that's peculiar

Since it's liberals or leftists or people that want to shake up the establishment who get shot and killed: The Kennedy brothers; Dr. King; John Lennon. But right wing political hacks are rarely even threatened with violence, and the ones who do get shot at, such as Ford and Reagan, always survive.

Not sure why the wingnuts are all in a bother about a drawing . . .

25. This isn't LBN

Belongs in GD. Please move, mods. This guy keeps putting stuff in LBN that doesn't belong there.

[Enraged_Ape]

28. This is the most extreme case of unintentional double entendre...

I've seen in my entire life.

Clearly, the cartoonist was trying to support the chimp with this panel (his work in the past has been over-the-top neocon), but it also can be readily interpreted that the little monkey's OWN politics are destroying him. Not to mention that it shockingly reminds all of the sheeple of the war that must not be named: Vietnam. It also appears to be generating some heat, which is only keeping all of the issues on everyone's minds.

Way to go, Mr. Cartoonist.

[I AM SPARTACUS]

31. that cartoon is as close to Vietnam as Smirko has ever been...

[Clete]

32. I hate Ramirez.

There was a time that the L. A. Time was left-wing in philosophy and Conrad was king of the political cartoon commentary.

[Redleg]

33. Ramirez's cartoons usually favor the Repubs anyway.

The Cincy Enquirer oves to show his cartoons.

[Fleshdancer]

34. The cartoon would be more accurate if

it depicted bush holding the gun to his own head. The gun should read "lies" instead of "politics" because it's the lies that are killing him right now.

Just my 2 cents

[LivingInTheBubble]

35. I like Steve Bell

http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoons/archive/stevebell/0,7371,337764,00.html

[Resistance]

38. If you like Steve Bell

Then you might also like Carlos Latuff -- http://oxy67.zaup.org/latuff.html

[thebeaglehaslanded]

36. Ramirez has always been a right-wing lackey, spewing

Republican hate through his cartoons. Avoid him as you would any other illness.

[damnraddem]

37. It's a disservice to the Viet Cong soldier who died in the original.

Or was it a terrorist? Even if so, it's a disservice to be compared to Dubya.

And we just don't need cartoons of even fake presidents being shot.

[progressivebydesign]

39. It's inspired by the infamous photo... in Vietnam.

There is so much more to this cartoon than some people can grasp. It is not about killing Bush.. it's about how politics will be his undoing. No doubt, the cartoonist used the infamous photo of the Vietnamese man about to be shot, as the basis for the photo... and the parallels between Vietnam and Iraq.