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Mark Trahant: Readers upset over military cartoon
Monday, May 30, 2005
"We have an interpretation gap. There's a natural tension between freedom and sedition that is as old as this country (even during wars). One side has always argued that dissent makes this country stronger, while the other has claimed we should rally around our leaders and the military (sometimes even being willing to jail those who cannot agree).
We may never bridge the gap. Some of us will look at such cartoons, get the point and think of ways U.S. institutions can be made stronger. Others will look at the same sketch, get angry and demand repudiation.
This gap is so wide that it may never be bridged; maybe it's a divide that will always exist in this country. We value freedom too much, the very reason why the First Amendment is incorporated into our founding documents. We laugh, get angry, agree, disagree, write e-mails, make phone calls, cancel a newspaper subscription or find a new favorite cartoonist. It is this contradiction that's the value we share."
Get the Story:
Mark Trahant: Readers speak out about Horsey's recent military cartoon
(The Seattle Post-Intelligencer 5/29)
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