<\/p>\n
Shut the f*ck up.<\/span><\/p>\n Go ahead and call the murders what they are, go ahead and give support and call attention to the backwards ass thinking of the individuals who did this and their ilk.\u00a0 But do NOT for a split second, think you have ANYTHING in common with the guy who drew the cartoons that were responded to with automatic rifle fire.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The president of the National Cartoonists Society ( never heard of it? me neither) Tom Richmond\u00a0 of Mad Magazine, I guess felt obligated to bask in the glow of it all and field phone calls, interviews, and puke up a blog saying nothing in particular beyond what someone who has never picked up a pen might add to the subject.<\/span><\/p>\n Tom does not live in France, nor I doubt has any notion whatsoever what the mood is or was over there in regards to the clash of cultures going on in parts of Europe as they are flooded with immigrants of Muslim decent…Many of whom , even though they are not actively murdering anyone, are pretty damned hard core about making Frances laws reflect THEIR laws. YET, he dished out some vapid nonsense about if there was a point to the cartoons, and whether or not the cartoons should have been published.\u00a0 Safely at his desk in the USA he pontificated about something that was published, by people who already had attempts made on there lives,\u00a0 in a part of the world that is on the brink of riots, because of an underlying tension, because of stark\u00a0 issues that are in people’s faces on a daily basis.\u00a0 If Tom had done anything controversial he would know that a controversial piece is the usually RESULT of PROVOCATION .\u00a0 Not the other way around.\u00a0 It is a REACTION…otherwise it wouldn’t actually be controversial no matter how hard it tried.<\/span><\/p>\n He then went on to say this…and I am going to quote it here so you don’t think I am making it up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Do I think this attack will cause cartoonists to think twice about doing cartoons criticizing Islam? Absolutely not. Cartoonists are a fearless lot. Most that I have talked with are incensed about this and determined NOT to let a bunch of terrorists silence their pens. If they find they have something to say about Islam, or any religion or topic for that matter, they are going to say it. They make take a few more precautions for their personal safety, but I don\u2019t think anyone is going to stop doing what they do, or more accurately, let someone else stop them from doing what they do.”<\/span><\/p>\n I don’t know where to start.<\/span><\/p>\n Let’s start with this….IF you have ever done anything controversial, then you will admit, at least to yourself, that YES a big negative reaction does stay in your head the next time.\u00a0 Maybe you use the reaction as motivation, maybe you decide it really, in all reality, wasn’t worth the hassle.\u00a0\u00a0 But YES OF COURSE IT MAKES YOU THINK TWICE.\u00a0 You know who DOESN’T think twice when they see someone murdered over a cartoon?\u00a0 Some goofball in midwest U.S.A. snug as a bug in a rug an ocean away from the violence who has NEVER FACED CONTROVERSY IN THE FIRST PLACE.\u00a0 Those of use who HAVE ACTUALLY DONE CONTROVERSIAL WORK, are giving people like Tom the -jerk off- gesture this week.\u00a0 I can guarantee\u00a0 you Tom, my\u00a0 peers in the U.S., and anyone reading this,\u00a0 that cartoonists who live in Europe have no choice but to think twice.\u00a0 This attitude Tom is relaying is akin to some guy in the National Guard in Nebraska saying he would defiantly have charged up the beachhead during D-Day and not felt any fear. What an absolute JOKE. What an embarrassing paragraph from a grown man. <\/span><\/p>\n Let me just stew on this sentence for a moment..let’s ALL stew on it.<\/span><\/p>\n “Cartoonists are a fearless lot.”<\/span><\/p>\n LOL!<\/span><\/p>\n Fearless?\u00a0 How would they even know if they are “fearless”?!\u00a0 Are they dodging RPG’s in Afghanistan?\u00a0 Kicking their way into flaming houses to rescue children?\u00a0 Hell, they ain’t even writing speeding tickets in Yawnville U.S.A.\u00a0 They are drawing cartoons and sending it off the be printed and sold…far far away from them.\u00a0 They draw something, usually in their own house, and then\u00a0 lock their door.\u00a0 Even the more controversial among us doesn’t face much actual danger beyond the email death threat here and there…several shades away from living in a city where people are willing to kill each other over the subject you are drawing.<\/span><\/p>\n Tom works for Mad…I worked for Mad.\u00a0 I can tell you first hand , the slightest tinge of controversy sends the editor in chief hiding under his desk.\u00a0 The current Mad is not even going to risk a stern look from a mother at the Wal-Mart magazine rack, much less rifle fire. Although I do look forward to seeing them publish some obligatory watered down strip about this months from now when the water has cooled.\u00a0 50\/50 odds they won’t even go that far.\u00a0 That’s\u00a0 fine, the editors can lead that mag in any direction they wish, but given that… what would Tom know about any of it?\u00a0 Perhaps he received an angry letter of two from a Justin Bieber fan, but personally I don’t think that counts.\u00a0 In my estimation, this is a guy ( an example mind you of MANY cartoonists being heard from) that has no earthly idea what he is talking about.\u00a0 No idea about the mood of the country in question, the reason for the publication in the first place, or what it means to deal with being controversial.<\/span><\/p>\n Here’s another good one though<\/span><\/p>\n “If they find they have something to say about Islam, or any religion or topic for that matter, they are going to say it. “<\/span><\/p>\n Well, here’s a big golf clap for them.\u00a0 IF they find they have something to say…about a topic that is literally reforming government policies all over the globe.\u00a0 IF…?\u00a0 They might be too busy, but on the off chance they happen to give enough of a crap about the world in which they live…they will defiantly uhm…say something. \u00a0 We’ll see a few more cartoons about it now, from those coming late to the party who want to act like they do in fact matter, and get on board the “aren’t we all important bandwagon”, that they know full well will be lost in a glut of such cartoons for the next week or so.\u00a0 Any of them going to bother to research anything?\u00a0 stay glued to the topic awhile?\u00a0 Produce any work that is actually relevant?\u00a0 My money is on No.\u00a0 Don’t give a crap?\u00a0 Dealing with controversy isn’t your thing? NO PROBLEM.\u00a0 I can respect that. As long as you REMEMBER THAT AND DON’T ACT LIKE YOU HAVE SOME CONNECTION TO ANY OF THIS.<\/span><\/p>\n So…go ahead, be disgusted at the murders, and make your comics and hashtag away.\u00a0 If you want to do so to keep attention on it, or as a middle finger to the murdering swine,\u00a0 Do not let me dissuade you from that.\u00a0 And if this has genuinely made you reconsider how and what you write\/draw about that’s fine.\u00a0 But do keep in mind your hash-tagged cartoon is not in any way shape or form “fearless” or “controversial” given the late date, and safety in which you produced it. www.arseniclullabies.com<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\n<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\n