On August 26 and September 2, the Washington Post refused to run the weekly "Opus" comic strip by cartoonist Berkeley Breathed out of concerns of insensitivity to Muslims. NewsBusters associate editor wrote about the controversy here and here, and MRC president and NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell discussed the Post's double standard on religious sensibilities on Glenn Beck's CNN Headline News program.
Weeks after the controversy has subsided, NewsBusters reader Rusty Weiss shot me a message informing me that a classic "Bloom County" strip from Breathed in the September 28 edition of Yahoo Comics is quite appropriate coming on the heels of the controversy (see below fold for the comic strip). Writes Weiss:
It would appear that Breathed noticed the sensitivities of the liberal media even back in the 80's. Wouldn't it be great if someone could stand up to this liberal double standard when it comes to material deemed to insensitive to Islamists, and tell those sensitive readers to do exactly what the character states in this strip?Of course, had that Opus strip simply offended Christians or Jewish readers, then it would have run without a hitch in the Post. The more things change, the more they stay the same...
—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters
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Breathed is ...
September 28, 2007 - 14:55 ET by tenthreeleader...a flaming liberal. Breathed is part of the liberal media. I have never seen this cartoon as a lampooning of the left - he'd be cutting off his own nose to spite his face. This cartoon, IMO, lampoons what he sees as conservative censorship.
Yes, he's a leftie and yes,
September 28, 2007 - 15:28 ET by Ken ShepherdYes, he's a leftie and yes, left-wing censorship has cut against him at the Washington Post.
That having been said I think he, unlike many liberal cartoonists, actually has talent and a sense of humor. He beats Tom Toles or the late Herb Block any day.
Bloom County
September 28, 2007 - 16:56 ET by JohnboyBeing a long time fan of Bloom County, and a Conservative, I can report to you that these are reprints of 20 year old strips, and the original cartoon was whited out by Breathed himself because this was the joke, the punchline being that it was too saucy to print. You can fill in the blank in your mind, like, "They can go screw themselves," but the white out was put there by the cartoonis himself. I'm surprised that we've reached the point where we can't see his humor but think he has been censored, but then again, we've lost the ability to laugh at ourselves. Breathed would probably be amused to know that his old cartoon was being misunderstood. He loved to poke and prod people. I've always been a conservative but also appreciated his ability to insult just about everybody.
Misunderstanding
September 28, 2007 - 18:03 ET by Rusty WeissI think perhaps you may have missed the story about the Opus strip being literally censored a couple of weeks back. We understand that the white out is part of the punch line, and that this strip is a reprint. What was actually censored was a new verison of Breathed's strip, called Opus, because it was too insensitive to their Muslim focus group. Please check the links that Ken provided in the beginning of this post, and you will see why a reprint of that strip is kind of ironic.
Breathed has typically poked fun at both sides of the politcal spectrum over the years. While his strips sometimes lean left, I too am a hardline conservative and still find and understand the humor he is trying to capture. I have always been a fan of his work, and sometimes find myself laughing out loud at a strip that may actually be a target of my own ideals. As they say, you have to laugh at yourself sometimes.
He very well may have been referring to conservative censorship (as one post mentioned) when this originally was printed, but its hard to miss how rich in irony this whole situation is.
I guess the above don't
September 29, 2007 - 00:16 ET by BritcomI guess the above don't understand the entertainment value of irony with regard to hypocrisy.