# The Secret Service and Politcal Cartoons or The Pen is Mightier... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 22, 2003, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-and-politcal-cartoons-or-the-pen-is-mightier/190241 "2003-07-22T21:30:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-and-politcal-cartoons-or-the-pen-is-mightier/190241/21 "2003-07-23T05:46:16Z")
I do not see any threat. ~ FWIW ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-and-politcal-cartoons-or-the-pen-is-mightier/190241/22 "2003-07-23T06:08:32Z")
The Secret Service can’t afford to have a sense of humor. but that’s OK because Richard Ramirez also lacks one. Possibly the dullest political cartoonist, if you can call him that, going. He shows about as much originality as a shot put. ---
**Author:** ![Tradnor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cab0a1/32.png) [@Tradnor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tradnor)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-and-politcal-cartoons-or-the-pen-is-mightier/190241/23 "2003-07-23T07:59:19Z")
Since none of the posts here mention it, I assume this is a more recent development, but following the link in the OP: > [@](#): > > Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the Secret Service owed Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Michael Ramirez an apology “and the public is owed an explanation both of how this happened and why it will not happen again.” > > The use of “federal power to attempt to influence the work of an editorial cartoonist for the Los Angeles Times,” Cox said in a letter to U.S. Secret Service Director Ralph Basham, “reflects profoundly bad judgment.” > […] > Secret Service spokesman John Gill said the service “is responsive to requests from members of Congress, and we will be responsive to Chairman Cox’s request.” So apparently some do not think the Secret Service acted reasonably in this case. I agree the cartoon was in bad taste and maybe the editor should not have run it. But clearly the cartoon was meant to be symbolic and is not a credible threat. Helms statement, on the other hand, seems to warrant a visit IMO. Much closer to a direct threat. ---
**Author:** ![Consuela\_Bobuela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Consuela\_Bobuela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Consuela_Bobuela)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-and-politcal-cartoons-or-the-pen-is-mightier/190241/24 "2003-07-23T09:59:10Z")
Whether you think the cartoon is in bad taste or not, it seems to be in deference to [this famous photograph](http://www.post-gazette.com/World/20020414warpix2.asp) , which shows the execution of a Viet Cong officer in 1968. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-and-politcal-cartoons-or-the-pen-is-mightier/190241/25 "2003-07-23T12:10:02Z")
Isn’t the cartoon _pro-_ Bush? Or am I missing something? ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-and-politcal-cartoons-or-the-pen-is-mightier/190241/26 "2003-07-23T12:29:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Consuela Bobuela \* > Whether you think the cartoon is in bad taste or not, it seems to be in deference to [this famous photograph](http://www.post-gazette.com/World/20020414warpix2.asp) , which shows the execution of a Viet Cong officer in 1968. This has nothing to do with the OP, but is there some level to this cartoon that I’m not getting? Specifically, is there some reason to reference that particular photograph, instead of just depicting a generic assassination? ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-and-politcal-cartoons-or-the-pen-is-mightier/190241/27 "2003-07-23T12:36:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by David Simmons \* > \*\*The Secret Service can’t afford to have a sense of humor. but that’s OK because Richard Ramirez also lacks one. Possibly the dullest political cartoonist, if you can call him that, going. > > He shows about as much originality as a shot put. \*\* Ah me. I obviously meant Michael and not Richard. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-and-politcal-cartoons-or-the-pen-is-mightier/190241/28 "2003-07-23T19:16:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tschild \* > Isn’t the cartoon _pro-_ Bush? Or am I missing something? The cartoon is pro-Bush, from a pro-Bush pro-Republican cartoonist. That’s what makes the whole situation humorously ironic, IMO. It’s like a Bush supporter going to a Bush pep rally, jumping into the air and yelling “YAY GEORGE!”, then getting dogpiled by a dozen Secret Service agents because they thought he was trying to leap the stage and attack the President. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-service-and-politcal-cartoons-or-the-pen-is-mightier/190241.md?page=1)