May 1, 2013

The Sacramento Bee Dances on Texans' Graves

By William Sullivan
The Sacramento Bee recently caught some flak for a cartoon that it published, the left panel of which shows Texas Governor Rick Perry standing on a platform with a banner reading, "Low Taxes! Low Regs!" telling the audience that "Business is booming" in Texas. In the "payoff panel" to the right, we see a representation of the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas where fifteen people lost their lives and over two hundred were injured.   Apparently, cartoonist Jack Ohman's aim was not to mock the tragedy that took place, despite the cartoon's publication on the day of a memorial service to those who lost their lives, but to make the political point that a lack of regulation may have caused the explosion. Clearly, this is an effort to slather blood on Rick Perry's hands for the deaths that occurred in West. Bad taste doesn't adequately describe such a thing. In principle, it is no different than the Westboro Baptists showing up at the memorial service in West, Texas to get...(Read Full Article)