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************************* Uh-oh. Seems you all really hit a raw nerve in our nation's capital last week. The following appears on the editorial page of today's The Hill newspaper and pretty much needs no further comment on my part (for now)... ************************* DECEMBER 11, 2002 On the Record by Albert Eisele Editor, The Hill "Attack of the right-wing pod people" Yes Virginia, there really is a vast right-wing conspiracy. For proof, turn to the next page for a sampling of the nearly 200 e-mails we received protesting Chris Weyant�s cartoon in last week�s issue of The Hill, compliments of conservative political activist Chuck Muth. Mr. Muth, the executive director of the American Conservative Union (ACU), edits a website catering to �card-carrying members of the vast right-wing conspiracy,� which took Mr. Weyant and yours truly to task for depicting Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) aiming a missile at an airliner labeled �Campaign Finance Reform.� �For Chris Weyant to compare Sen. McConnell�s principled opposition to the blatantly unconstitutional campaign finance reform legislation to shooting down an unarmed jetliner loaded with innocent civilian passengers � as al Qaeda tried to do just days ago in Kenya � is WAY beyond the pale,� Mr. Muth wrote on his website, which is dedicated to demonizing Democrats. �It�s sick. It�s disgusting. It�s outrageous. And it�s unpardonable.� Mr. Muth urged his readers to contact me, which they did with a vengeance. Barking like trained seals, cranky conservatives from coast to coast gleefully denounced me and Mr. Weyant with varying degrees of vitriol and sometimes hate-filled rhetoric. Almost without exception they parroted Mr. Muth�s words exactly, often adding imaginative endearments, some unprintable: �You are two sick puppies.� (Bob Lee, Lusby, Md.); �You liberals have sunk to an all-time low!� (Brenda Woodland, Weatherford, Texas); �You left-wing emotional cripples have gone beyond the limit.� (D. P. Brennan, Olympia, Wash.); and my favorite, �Faggots, all of you are faggots.� (Carol Gallagher). Actually, some of the e-mails were rather amusing. James Clark accused me and Mr. Weyant of being �spineless, morally bankrupt lying liberal Dems� and suggested, �You need to be cained.� But when I pointed out he had misspelled �caned,� he laughed and wished me �a good day�. To their credit, most of my new Internet pen pals grudgingly agreed with Mr. Muth that even �sick, twisted and demented� cartoonists like Mr. Weyant and �socialist liberals� like me are entitled to the protection of the First Amendment. Well, I�d suggest they take a deep breath and consider several facts before composing their knee-jerk jeremiads and hitting the �send� button. Chris Weyant is one of the most talented practitioners of the time-honored art of political cartooning, which is not noted for subtle nuance. His work appears regularly in such prestigious publications as The New Yorker as well as the Christian Science Monitor and other newspapers. We are lucky to have him. Mr. Muth failed to point out that his boss, David Keene, chairman of the ACU, writes a regular column called �The Right View� for � are you ready for this? � The Hill. (You can read it on p. 8.) However, I�m afraid that Linda Smith of Brainerd, Minn. (�I will no longer read a word that you print!�) and Tom Henderson of Grosse Point Park, Mich. (�The Hill will never darken my screen again.�) are out of luck. The distinguished senator we have so irresponsibly maligned apparently is not as offended as those who have demanded we apologize to him. �His press secretary e-mailed me yesterday,� Mr. Weyant said from his home in Los Angeles Friday. �He said the senator would like a signed copy of your cartoon to hang on his office wall.� # # # Albert Eisele is editor of The Hill. *********************** LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Hill�s McConnell cartoon strikes a nerve Editor�s Note: Here are excerpts from some of the nearly 200 letters to the editor prompted by Chris Weyant�s Dec. 4 cartoon on Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). --------------------------------------------------The Chris Weyant cartoon on your website is extremely inappropriate and in very poor taste. I urge you to remove and print a retraction and apology to Sen. McConnell. - Garrett A. Miller, Hoboken, N.J. -------------------------------------------------- Chris Weyant�s cartoon was in such bad taste, I couldn�t believe my eyes when I saw it! You liberals have sunk to an all time low! - Barbara Taylor, Boca Grande, Fla. -------------------------------------------------- Just when I thought Democrats couldn�t stoop any lower you guys prove me wrong. You should be ashamed of yourself but since leftists know no shame, that is physically impossible. - Brenda Woodland, Weatherford, Texas -------------------------------------------------- Fortunately for you, stupidity is also protected by the First Amendment. What a great country. God Bless America. Merry Christmas. - Paul Bartomioli, Falls Village, Conn. -------------------------------------------------- I saw, with dismay, the very tasteless Chris Weyant �cartoon� � it failed the humor test by a lot ... by a Trent Lott � ha, ha. Now, that�s irony. Perhaps there needs to be a new editor. One with taste and decorum would be nice. Do you know anyone? - Suzanne Boyer, Baltimore, Md. --------------------------------------------------Chris Weyant must have been a kid who tortured animals when he was small. He has a sick mind. I�d watch him carefully. - Ed Auerbach, Columbia, Md. -------------------------------------------------- A bit sick, aren�t you??? Not a BIT sick. REALLY sick! Give it up, you lost, live with it! - Dotty and Joe Zwicker, Metamora, Mich. --------------------------------------------------I normally find your publication well written, informative and a help to me as I attempt to stay informed as a citizen. Thank you. However, I am compelled to write regarding the poor taste of Chris Weyant�s cartoon. � Better judgment should be used in the comparisons cartoonists are allowed to draw between U.S. senators and al Qaeda terrorists. - Keith Brumley, Hillsdale, Mich. -------------------------------------------------- Thanks for printing the McConnell cartoon. With this kind of help from the MEDIA, the Democrats know best how to trash America and degrade our Constitution; it is no wonder it has come back to haunt them ... ha, ha, ha, ha! - Winnie Baden, Troy, N.Y. -------------------------------------------------- What a tasteless cartoon. You either have poor taste or bad judgment or both. - Gregory Bitterman, Jonestown, Pa. -------------------------------------------------- You are DISGUSTING! I will no longer visit your website, nor read a word that you print! I cannot believe you would even consider printing anything with such a sentiment as that cartoon ... totally unpardonable. - Linda Smith, Brainerd, Minn. -------------------------------------------------- The Weyant�s World cartoon is despicable. Don�t you have any decency? Don�t give me the �First Amendment� crap here. It�s a matter of decency. You shouldn�t have run it. - Ernie Lane, New Port Richey, Fla. --------------------------------------------------Chris Weyant�s cartoon is hysterical. Here are some other suggestions he could use in the future: * Have Sen. McConnell pilot a plane flying into a tower named �Campaign Finance Reform�. * Have Sen. McConnell pilot a boat ramming into a ship named �Campaign Finance Reform�. * Have Sen. McConnell, strapped with explosives, walk into a building named �Campaign Finance Reform.� Shame on you. - Stephen Toms, Abilene, Texas -------------------------------------------------- I think the mind that came up with such a depiction of Sen. McConnell is sick, sick, sick. I also believe that whoever authorized the publication of such a tawdry effort is despicable. - Tom McKee, Jackson, Tenn. --------------------------------------------------This is another example of mean-spirited hate-speech by the liberal press that gives a false impression of conservatives. - Gail Forsythe, Nashville, Tenn. --------------------------------------------------Where do you draw the line on taste? Chris Weyant obviously has no taste, and in your position you are to help such deficient individuals. Put the reins on this mindless soul. - Al Hranicka, Glen Burnie, Md. --------------------------------------------------If this is free speech in practice, perhaps this country needs to reform its First Amendment. Apparently lunatics like this Chris Weyant (and you, perhaps?) do not have the ability to understand and respect the high cost that came with that right. - Jennifer Reisinger, Sheboygan, Wis. -------------------------------------------------- I am disgusted with Chris Weyant�s cartoon assaulting Sen. McConnell and the First Amendment! I think Mr. Weyant should be fired, and furthermore you should resign for not stopping it from being published! This is from a real American who believes in the U.S.A., the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Do you? - Wayne W Clark, Hillsboro, Ore. --------------------------------------------------You must be a bunch of socialist liberals who can�t handle defeat. Grow up. Keep this up and you�ll find very quickly why you got blown out of the water Nov. 5th, and you see it happen again in 2004. I hope they blow your e-mail service for an action like this. CMSgt. Al Kauses, USAF-Retired Florosa, Fla. -------------------------------------------------- I have always thought that newspapers had SOME social responsibility for ensuring the �public good� but you�ve obviously surrendered any commitment to the �common good� in order to support your liberal �take� on our elected officials. And [Sen.] Tom Daschle [D-S.D.] complains about Rush Limbaugh? - Tip Killingsworth, Timberlake, Va. --------------------------------------------------In re: Weyant�s World �cartoon� � as Ronald Reagan would say, �There you go again!� - E.Glasspool, Wayne, N.J., ------------------------------------------------- YOU LEFT WING LIBERALS ARE DISGUSTING!!!! We are sick and tired of the lies, distortions, smears and dirt you folks sling. And you wonder why you lost the midterm elections! - M. R. Freeman, Long Beach, Miss. --------------------------------------------------The Weyant cartoon was in very poor taste. God forbid the terrorist scumbags successfully take a jetliner down, would you still print this sick cartoon? As a 1975 graduate of Montoursville High School (Flight 800) I find this cartoon particularly offensive. - Ken Shafer, Williamsport, Pa. -------------------------------------------------- Your Chris Weyant' is one sick son of a bitch in my humble opinion. - David Pruett, Murphysboro, Ill. *************************************************
