Some of the cartoons that we object to are at least marginally funny. Not so with recent contributions from Esquire, Phi Delta Kappan, and American Libraries.
The April issue of Esquire showed Clinton nailing himself to the cross. Coming as it did during the Easter season, we found it offensive. “It ought to have been possible to have made whatever point the accompanying article was addressing,” wrote Rick Hinshaw, “without resorting to such a trivialization of this sacred event.”
Hinshaw also lambasted American Libraries for posting in its April edition a caricature of a Catholic bishop in full regalia running a library gift shop. That sounds harmless until the reader learns that the article that it embellishes poses the question whether a nun in full habit should have a First Amendment right to volunteer in a public library (readers are asked to vote their preference). “That this is even considered controversy,” Hinshaw said, “is a sad commentary on the current state of academic life in America.”
In another elite publication, Hinshaw took after Phi Delta Kappan for depicting in its April edition Catholic parents as snobbish phonies who send their kids to high-brow prep schools. He reminded the readers of who the typical Catholic school serves, making the case for vouchers.
What these three publications have in common is a well-schooled staff pitching to well-schooled readers. Shame they’re not well-educated.
