I would like to register my disgust with Bret Furtwangler’s cartoon in the May 16 ODE. To depict Governor George Wallace’s infamous stand to bar black children from segregated public schools in Selma, Alabama as similar in any way, shape or form, to today’s Democratic objections to President Bush’s court nominees is insulting to the intelligence of every reader.
There is no evidence whatsoever that Sen. Harry Reid and the Democrats oppose Janice Rogers Brown’s appointment to the U.S. Appeals Court because she is African-American. Rather, she is opposed because she is a right wing ideologue who routinely abuses her position of power to twist the law to the conservative agenda.
It is upsetting to see Furtwangler resort to such dirty tactics as comparing a principled stand against extremism to a despicable act of racism. Whatever one’s stand in relation to the upcoming battle over court nominees, such behavior is not acceptable.
I respect Furtwangler’s right to his own opinion. However, it would be appreciated if in the future Furtwangler did not draw his cartoons directly from the right wing propaganda machine, and perhaps showed some independent thought.
Kirk Wintermute
Senior