An Open Letter to The Sacramento Bee @SacBee_News

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Ugly.

To the Editor and Publisher,

Two days ago you published a cartoon depicting Governor Perry and the State of Texas as being culpable for the tragic explosion that resulted in 15 deaths and more than 200 injuries on April 17th at the fertilizer plant in West, just outside of Waco.


As a libertarian, I actually embrace the individual artist's First Amendment Right to depict the tragedy into a grotesque image.  As an artist, I recognize and encourage free expression coming from an individual artist's mind, heart, and/or soul. 

But as an ethical human being, I would question the intent behind the publication of this the cartoon. The Sacramento Bee is (a  McClatchy Company Newspaper), the 27th largest newspaper publication in the country. And it has a website that is visible to the entire world.

What message does this cartoon send to all of your subscribers? To anyone who sees it on the internet? Have you published a cartoon about the Boston bombings? Is Governor Deval Patrick culpable for the 3 deaths and horrific injuries of over 200 people? By publishing this cartoon did you give any thought at all to the victims and families of the disaster in West? Any thought to how many lives this tragedy, just like Boston, have been affected forever?

Or is it just that deaths and injuries in a prosperous, primarily Conservative and Christian state are less equal than the deaths in, say, a Liberal, largely agnostic state?

In the First Amendment there is also the right to free association. I would not associate with the Sacramento Bee. 

The logic behind publication of this cartoon is lacking. You published this cartoon to punish, with most ignorant intent. Somehow, Governor Perry and the State of Texas is to blame because of "lack of regulation." 

image courtesy of Twitchy.com

Guess what, California? It's not against the law to make mistakes, have accidents, or even to  be stupid in the Lone Star State. 

So Cali, how are massive amounts of regulation working out for you?

I lived in California the first three decades of my life. I've lived the past decade in Texas, which I call my true home state.