Cartoonist Lee Judge, Whose Fault It All Is, Responds to The Latrobe Bulletin Situation
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You may have heard about The Latrobe Bulletin publisher who pleaded not guilty to his newspaper’s readers for printing a cartoon that raised the hackles of some – not guilty because the cartoon “slip[ped] through.”
Lee Judge, the cartoonist responsible for that hackle-raising cartoon, and for the current price of eggs too for that matter, has heard about the hulabaloo and has written a short essay on the matter as a person in good standing of The Loyal Opposition.
When I draw a cartoon I email it to my syndicate, King Features, and they send it out to client papers (King Features can also decline to send it out) and then client papers can choose to run (or not run) a cartoon, but in this case the managing editor of the Latrobe Bulletin decided to use my flag cartoon along with several other cartoons drawn by different cartoonists.
The Latrobe Bulletin’s publisher, Dave Cuddihy, didn’t like my cartoon and wrote a public apology for it appearing in his newspaper and here’s that apology…
And just to be clear that Cartoonist Lee will not be apologizing for the cartoon that caused the furor he heads this column with his newest disgusting, filthy, offensive, shameful, etc. cartoon about Dear Leader’s coronation inauguration.
Lee raises some points that could get people thinking (Hey, that’s not allowed!) about the purpose of editooning:
As I once pointed out to an unhappy editor, the most controversial cartoons I drew – about abortion and handgun control and the death penalty – took positions shared by millions of Americans and sometimes the majority of Americans, so how the hell was I controversial when I expressed opinions shared by the majority?
I’m glad to pretend you asked.
Because millions of Americans also disagreed with those positions, so some editors thought it was better to ignore those subjects and avoid getting people stirred up; instead, I should draw bland, inoffensive cartoons that wouldn’t upset anyone or make them think because a whole bunch of people would rather not do that.
If you missed that link above click here to read Lee Judge’s Substack column.
Next day update
Clay Jones weighs in on cowardly editors at his Substack.
A former client in Florida who dropped my work at the end of 2024 shared this email from one of their subscribers yesterday.
The reader wrote to the paper, “What has happened with Clay Jones??? He is soooo good and on point??”
The editor replied, “We agree, and we have been proud to display Clay’s work the last seven years. However, with the reelection of someone who has vilified the Fourth Estate as “the enemy of the people,” we have taken Falstaff’s advice (“Discretion is the better part of valor”) and discontinued any content that is not germane to (edited out so readers won’t go after them) County.
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