Last night’s news broadcasts reported that Vice President Richard Cheney finally assumed personal responsibility for his negligence last week regarding the hunting incident where his friend was injured. I could certainly find more grist for my blog with this turn of events; but enough is enough.
Rather, I think the most serious news of the day related to Pakistan, our sometimes ally, where rioting regarding cartoons in a Danish newspaper several weeks back that depicted the Prophet Mohammed unfavorably are still causing a stir, a stir that killed three people, one of them an eight year old child.
Muslims view the cartoons as blasphemous; and, from their point of view, I can understand the concern. At the same time, I suspect many Middle Eastern Muslims are not well acquainted with the concepts of democracy as the United States practices it. In our country, religious icons and political figures are fair game for cartoonists. It’s not so much blasphemous as it is political commentary with a certain edge.
I doubt we can ever explain this to the Pakistanis who rioted yesterday, one reason being that their culture does not accept dissent as easily as ours does. And it’s also possible our culture will never accept the Muslim view that some figures are above cartoon ridicule, whether they are well-known American personalities or Middle Eastern ones.
For a great look at recent political cartoons — ranging from Cheney’s problems to the muzzling of cartoonists to a host of topics — please visit
http://cartoonbox.slate.com/hottopic/?image=13&topicid=71
It’s filled with wonderful work; in fact, it might make me rethink the old adage that I’ve always resisted: that a picture is worth a thousand words. As a writer, I’ve never agreed with that premise. But, now that political cartoons have become military currency, I’m rethinking the issue.
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