Mideast vitriol

It’s been well documented in this space that American cartoonists are solidly lined up with the terrorists and against the president, Mom, apple pie and performance-enhanced baseball. But how tough have we really been on George W. Bush? Not very, at least compared with the visual vitriol of some of our colleagues six time zones to the east, or Mideast. The Turkish cartoonist Gurel’s flag-draped coffin depiction is simply scathing. And the twin towers metaphor by Jordan’s Hajjaj is truly the most powerful and arresting cartoon I’ve seen in a long, long time. Rounding out this decidedly simple but devastating trio, Lebanon’s Bleibel penned a touching tribute to fallen journalists. Now that’s drawing blood.

-- Joel Pett