Posted on 08/09/2007 9:27:04 AM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
WASHINGTON--Washington Post political cartoonist Tom Toles seems to think the events of United flight 93 were funny.
In a cartoon dated August 8, and syndicated nationally, Toles depicted a group of harried airline passengers, frustrated by poor service, sitting on a plane and plotting to attack the pilots.
The drawing, reproduced here shows a fat white man in a business suit telling his fellow travelers: "Okay, we'll rush down the aisle, break through the cockpit door, and force the pilot to fly us to the destination printed on our tickets."
In response, and in contravention to all that is decent and in good taste, another passenger says..."let's roll."
Then, as if the fact he is referencing 9/11 wasn't clear enough, Toles himself, in cartoon form, observes "[The] cockpit door has been reinforced."
The motivation for Toles' attempt to turn the heroes of 9/11 into a joke is unclear. It may be that he is just completely insensitive to the events of that date. It could be that he thinks heroes should be mocked, not honored. It might even be that Toles, like many liberals, would like to trivialize the events of September 11, and the bravery of Americans on that date, since honoring either might harm their "peace at any price" agenda.
Whatever the motivation, however, he should be ashamed of this cartoon.
The explanation is simpler than that. The good political cartoonists are rare.
Most are not the sharpest tools in the box, if you follow my drift.
“let’s roll.”
If he hadn’t included this in the “cartoon”, I’d say it doesn’t matter, it’s nothing. But by including “let’s roll.”, he deliberately trivialized the heros of 9/11. So Toles is a piece of garbage.
Nothing wrong with the humor; it is topical.
The gratuitous "Let's roll", I suspect, was simply a thoughtless addition born of ignorance and even minimal thought.
"Let's Roll" were the last words of heros. To equate that with an inconvenience of air travel cheapens the sacrifice.
IMHO
I think it’s pretty obvious that the unseen pilots and airline operators are the ones being made fun of.
They (pilots/airlines et. al.) are being compared to terrorists for holding people on runways for hours at a time etc.. The cartoon passengers are responding the same way they did on 93 to terrorists.
If it reminds people of 9-11 so be it. Never forget!
Nothing wrong with the humor; it is topical.
The gratuitous “Let’s roll”, I suspect, was simply a thoughtless addition born of ignorance and even minimal thought.
OH puhleeze - he isn’t mocking the 9/11 heroes. He’s mocking the airlines that hold people hostage — often for several hours — as they sit on the tarmac.
I thought it was funny and not in any way disrespectful.
In that case, you must be constantly and eternally bitter and disappointed.
Lighten up.
The world's not perfect. Ya noticed?
I am indignant.
I am self-righteously indignant.
I am piously idignant.
I am sooooooo idignant.
I am sooooooo self-rightelusly idignant......
uh, make that "I am sooooooo self-righteously idignant....",
Count me as one who thinks this is a horrible cartoon.
The act of huddling together is what the Flight 93 heroes did. What really tied the cartoon to Flight 93 was the statement “Let’s Roll”.
In the face of their own imminent mortality, the heroes of Flight 93 decided to fight back. To equate that bravery and selfless sacrifice to a bunch of fat travelers solely concerned with their own welfare is not funny in the least.
But then again, I knew two people on Flight 93, and I don’t brook the slightest tarnishing of their memory, or what they endured.
No one at the Washington Post has a lick of sense—this cartoon isn’t worth the ink it took to draw it.
“I am sooooooo self-rightelusly idignant.....”
I felt the same way when our neighbor’s moose bit my sister.
Moose bites can be pretty nasty!
Hmmmm.
I’m a bit puzzled.
Who, exactly, expected something other from the Washington Post?
“The cartoon is somewhat ambiguous. I think a reasonable person could conclude that it is not a joke at the expense of 9/11 heroes, but a joke at the expense of impatient airline passengers who want to get to their destination as fast as possible.”
As much as I dislike Toles’ ideas, that’s how I read it too. It’s a commentary on passenger disgust at the airline industry. I think we need to lighten up on this one. There’s plenty of things to be really disgusted about (and if you’re looking for vomit inducing cartoons, look no further than Ted Rall).
I’m not sure I find it all that offensive. The convenience of passengers is hardly comparable to flight 93 and so I don’t agree with the concept. It doesn’t work for me.
But ~offensive~ is somebody like the utterly VILE Ted Rall. Rall is a smarmy small man that needs stepped on.
In that case, you must be constantly and eternally bitter and disappointed.
Lighten up.
The world’s not perfect. Ya noticed?
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