Letters to the Editor: Eastern Kentuckians react to Joel Pett’s cartoon on flooding.
From The Lexington Herald-Leader:
Editor’s Note: A number of readers contacted the Herald-Leader and submitted letters about Joel Pett’s political cartoon on flooding in Eastern Kentucky. The Herald-Leader is running a sampling of those letters. “The intention of the drawing was to lament that when heartbreaking disasters like this strike, it is often the people who can least afford it who are hit the hardest,” Pett explained. Read his full response, “Lament, not disrespect, was subject of flooding cartoon,”
© Lexington Herald-Leader/Joel Pett
In a column on Wednesday’s Opinions page, Herald-Leader Editor Peter Baniak also addressed concerns about the cartoon: “As Kentuckians, we are heartbroken by the devastation and loss, and awestruck by the stories of resilience and compassion in Eastern Kentucky. We will continue to cover this important story, and we’re sorry for any offense that was caused by this political cartoon at an incredibly difficult time for so many.”
The Herald-Leader printed Letters to the Editor condemning the cartoon.
I think the recent cartoon drawn by Joel Pett is disgusting, insensitive, and immensely cruel.
Joel Pett is a disgrace!
Joel Pett’s drawing is gut wrenching, disrespectful and pathetic.
The cartoon created by Joel Pett and shared by the Herald Leader is a disgrace.
And on and on for a dozen letters (via AOL)
They ended with one letter agreeing with Joel:
My first reaction to Pett’s cartoon on the devastating flood in Eastern Kentucky was ‘Pett captured truth’. The message reinforced my belief that many with little lost the most.
The world is filled with people who don’t get the point.