Is there any other reason, besides trying to influence cartoonists to make more complimentary cartoons, that he might be requesting them?
That’s a pretty weak explanation; he’s already offering to purchase the existing ones which are far from complimentary, so why would the cartoonists even bother to try to be softer on him? In case Lowell threatens to stop buying them if they don’t stop bashing Abromoff? I doubt that’s a powerful incentive.
Is there any legal reason, like (and I’m tuly truly talking out of my non-lawyer ass with this, no need to point that out to me) perhaps to show it’s difficult to get non-biased jury? But he wouldn’t have to actually purchase the cartoons for this, he?
Well, even if he’s of cough questionable morals, he does seem to know how to do the money thang quite well. Perhaps he considers this a timely investment, one that will appreciate in years to come. Signed copies might bring an extry pretty penny, and Lord knows he’s gonna need some pretty pennies in the long stretch of time to come.
Or, maybe he thinks he can dangle a $$$ carrot to the political cartoonists, and they’ll cave at the bait. Cause, well, it’s worked before…
Either way, it really is way too icky for a decent mind to comprehend…
If I were a cocksure SOB (which I’d probably have to be to reach the level of influence that Abramoff has) who felt certain that he’d emerge from this with only a few scrapes and soon be back on top, I’d probably be collecting these cartoons as trophies, too. Kind of like celebrities saving their hate mail. They can look at it and say, “I faced these bastards and I’m still here.”
IIRC, in his autobiography Shred This Book, cartoonist Doug Marlette said that a fair number of public figures asked for signed copies of his cartoons of them, which were usually unflattering.
Jury selection’s got nothing to do with this. Abramoff has already plead guilty to mail fraud, conspiracy to defraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials.
If he purchases the cartoons then he can prevent them from being reprinted and he’s got his trophies. Now the cartoonist might say, “I’ll just make more so he will buy them and I make more money.” The problem with that rationale is that the cartoonist has to stay current. The American public has the attention span of less than a nanosecond so continuing to beat up on Abramoff isn’t going to win any Pulitzers for the cartoonist.
Huh? Buying the artwork, original or reproduction, isn’t the same as buying all rights to the material or its licensing. How could he prevent anything from being reprinted?