We received a couple of complaints today about a cartoon that ran on the editorial page of the South Brunswick Post from the Copley News service.
The cartoon — pictured to the right — by Mike Thompson depicted a Muslim woman in Iraq recounting the trouble that has beset her life thanks to the war. In the fourth and fifth panels the woman says “America’s attack ruined our economy. So I’m jobless, homeless and starving.” followed by, “Sadly, a common plight for someone of my sex.”
The word “sex” is the trigger for the final panel, which depicts an American couple meant to stand in for a public that had no interest in her story. “Sex,” on the other hand — like the Eliot Spitzer saga — is of prime interest.
My sense is that the complaints are based on a final reading of this panel, caused at least in part by our publishing the cartoon in black and white leaving it a bit unclear as to whether the couple were members of the public or members of the military. (One of our reporters read it this way, and I can see how the misreading can happen.)
In any case, here is one of the complaints:
That is the most disgusting, inexcusable piece of garbage you have EVER printed. You insult every man and woman who has ever served in the armed forces. As a matter of fact you insult anyone who lives in this country. You owe everyone who reads your paper an apology. You should be deeply ashamed for printing that slander.
Take this for what it’s worth.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
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Hank Kalet 
Seemed like a pretty accurate description of the American public\’s interests, actually…