Plum Crazy

The above cartoon was drawn by Pulitzer Prize-winning Los Angeles Times editorial cartoonist Michael Ramirez. The above cartoon is apparently also causing a stir, unnecessarily, among the Secret Service and White House staffs.

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 that memorialized the Vietnam war for the 60s Generation. It attempts to make the point that partisan politics are more of a threat to Bush than guerilla war.

"The world's first political 'snuff' cartoon... there's a viciousness to this, that's just not funny," noted one White House reporter.

Ramirez did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Developing...

There are even some who believe this cartoon is an example of the hatred of the left. Unfortunately for them, Mr. Ramirez is a conservative Republican. A brief review of his most recent cartoons indicate that he is anti-affirmative action, supportive of the recall of California Governor Gray Davis (a Democrat), and against prescription drug subsidies funded by the government. Hardly the hallmarks of a leftist.

It appears clear to me that this cartoon represents neither a threat to the President, nor an example of viciousness or hatred from the left. The cartoon is not anti-Bush. It is, actually, pro-Bush, depicting Mr. Bush as the victim who is meant to garner our sympathy. Politics is the villain of the piece; politics which are threatening the President. Mr. Ramirez is not suggesting the President should be assassinated - the Secret Service needs to calm down a little. Mr. Ramirez is not portraying the President as a bad guy - the White House reporter and those who believe this is an example of the hatred of the left need to reconsider precisely what the cartoon is saying in light of what Mr. Ramirez actually believes, not in light of what they are making up in their heads. Once upon a time, people might have actually done a little research and tried to view the cartoon in the context of the cartoonist's politics before simply jumping to an erroneous conclusion (although I do think it is readily apparent from the cartoon by itself that it is not anti-Bush). We're a bunch of lazy bastards these days. I guess doing a Google search is too much work. Sad.