The Daily Cartoonist

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Are there any editorial cartoonists defending the NSA?

Alan Gardner62 mins

Michael Miner of the Chicago Reader examines why no editorial cartoonist of any political persuasion is defending the NSA:

Yet the president made a pretty good point, and I bet a lot of these cartoonists don’t disagree with it. So why didn’t any of them say so? Let me propose an answer. A cartoon attacking Obama and the NSA for snooping on Americans practically draws itself. A cartoon defending the NSA surveillance as regrettable but necessary?how the hell do you draw that? A great editorial cartoon (not that any of the Tribune’s was) is like a great epigram?it’s easier to admire than trust. Like the gleaming Bean in Millennium Park, it’s got seams but you can’t see them.

And when you find every cartoonist in the land not only agreeing with each other but agreeing with you?which is what happened to me here?it’s time to worry. You might be thinking a little too much with your gut.

6 thoughts on “Are there any editorial cartoonists defending the NSA?”

  2. I don’t know if I’m indifferent to this surveillance, or if I’m just exhausted from the constant stream of “scandals”, but frankly I just don’t care either way. If it’s a scandal I can’t tell anymore!

    I’ve had doubts for years that any human could “manage” the sheer volumes of data that are scooped up by this sort of thing. They say that better data mining and algorithms make it possible, but they’d say that in any case.

    the one thing that does bother me is that with all the billions spent in both dollars and work-hours on this, they had no clue about the Boston Marathon bombers, so how efficient can it be? It’s probably more like the closing shot of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” than anyone is ever likely to admit.

  3. Privacy? That horse is long out of the barn.

    I’m not sure how anyone who actually reads the ‘terms of service’ involved with any website, app or device would care at all about this NSA business.

  5. We were being shouted down by ‘patriots’ running to enlist to fight the terrorists who’s airplane crashes subsequently caused our ‘leaders’ to legislate every inportant freedom except to covertly buy weapons.

    Happily our government has no power except to make us criminals.

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