Dr Cynical understands poor picked on Firemen! Yea Right!

These guys are cryin about a Cartoon! Read This one!

Published on January 18, 2005 By Dr Cynical In Current Events

Some guys have nerve, I am talking about pure unmitigated gall here! How in the world can you cry about a stinking cartoon when you have the nerve to pull half the pranks these clowns have and then not expect your life to look like the circus? I will let you read the story so that I dont put one iota of my opinion or cynicism into it and you can decide for yourself whether these clowns are indeed not worthy of a cartoon, oh wow if I could only remember the name to that whistling wolf on those cartoons where the wolf will see a woman and he goes bonkers that is exactly what these guys acted like, not only did they cruise the Boulevard picking up chix in thier FireTruck and regularly attend bars in the neighborhood where they worked but they also went to a Porntstars Ball WITH THE TRUCK!! Can you believe it that they are miffed at being made fun of? They also sexually attacked a reporter at the Pornstars Ball and the story STILL GOES ON from there, all allegedly of course I mean this is America and we are innocent until proven guilty! (of course they may wanna plead guilty at arraignment to save them time) Ok, well here it is with a link to the site itself for your reading pleasure, I will try to bring you more of these and I have been meaning to incorporate my daily life into my blogs as well but I am taking up a new skill and that is PC Security and helping people out removing Spyware/Adware/Malware/Trojans and the like ............................. all for free of course and you thought I was just a natural, Professional, Full TimeCynic didnt you? Well theres a few things about me that you didnt know like I am a professional Poker Player and make a living that way, I have this GF that HATES my using the PC, now I ask you is THAT Cynical or what, and I have this habit of being ADD on the PC..lol, I start one thing and end up with 5 browser windows open, for instance I am learning the Security yes, well I am also reading a printed out copy of a giant almost 500 page book on the Registry and how to do ANYTHING YOU CAN IMAGINE on the PC in the way of tweaking WindowsXP and other OS. I am a trained EMT but only did it to see if I liked the Medical Field because I was thinking of going back to school to be a Dr, but I decided it was Vanity, all vanity so see I even have a giant spiritual side! Ok, thats enough about me I can guarantee you that I have some great stories like someday if someone asks me nice I just might decide to impart the story of my going into the Polar Bear Exhibit in the Bronx Zoo in the middle of Winter because I thought there would not be Polar Bears in the Winter! lol, I can be dumb as well I guess but still not HALF as dumb as these guys, so enough about me and heres the story I hope you enjoy it and Im eager to hear whether you think they deserved to be villified eben tho Firemen do place thier lives at risk! 1/18/05 Dr Cynical Babin cartoon draws fire over 'sacred' images www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/12042094p-12912190c.html One measure of good journalism is impact. Does a story strike a nerve? Does an editorial take a tough and unequivocal stand? Does a photo make an emotional connection? And does a satirical editorial cartoon elicit a reaction? Judging by the dozens of e-mails received by this office in recent days, The Bee's editorial cartoonist Rex Babin has ignited a controversy within the nation's firefighting ranks. On Jan. 6, the paper published Babin's "Great Moments in Sacramento Firefighting ..." which is reprinted here. The three-panel cartoon was Babin's commentary on the well-documented misdeeds of some Sacramento city firemen. The firefighters - while on-duty, in uniform and driving firetrucks - attended a porn star costume ball, drank on the job and had a habit of cruising downtown bars at night looking for young women and giving them rides on the bright, shiny trucks. Some were fired, some resigned, some were suspended, some were reprimanded. A woman photographer at the porn star ball has filed a civil claim with the city alleging she was sexually assaulted by two firemen in one of the fire trucks parked outside the ball. A city investigation showed that one group of firemen picked up four women from a bar and then had them ride along as they responded to three fires, red lights flashing and siren screaming. And this sorry tale doesn't stop there. The city fire chief and the city manager - who waged a battle to keep much of the disciplinary process secret - compounded the problem with an outrageous political bait-and-switch right out of Mayberry. They made a big show at a City Hall press conference, with the mayor and city council members in attendance, of publicly announcing the firing of several firefighters, only to turn around two days later and reinstate five of them when no one was looking. It left the embarrassed mayor and city council looking like hayseeds, leading to a humiliating public apology by the fire chief and city manger. To say the least, the city's boneheads - those in uniform and in suits and ties - have provided a rich milieu for the political cartoonist's palette. In weighing in, Babin used two images that, in post-terrorism America, are considered sacred in some quarters, especially among firefighters. The first is of firefighters raising the flag at Ground Zero in New York City, where more than 300 firefighters lost their lives trying to save people at the World Trade Center on 9/11. The second is of a firefighter carrying a victim in his arms similar to the famous photograph from the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, which also took many lives. To make his point, Babin substituted Playboy magazine's well-known bunny mascot onto the flag and, in the second frame, depicted a firefighter carrying a bikini-clad woman with the words, "Hey, Babe... ." Within days, the e-mails began arriving, spamming the paper through an orchestrated Internet campaign, as the cartoon made its way through firehouses across the country and overseas. The cartoon has been prominent on Firehouse.com, a site popular with firefighters. Interestingly, very few of the messages received have been from Sacramento, where the firefighters' escapades have received much news coverage. The farther away the e-mails originated - some have come from as far away as Europe - the more strident the message, ignoring or giving scant recognition to the local problem in Sacramento that led to the cartoon in the first place. These are some of the words used to criticize the cartoon: "tasteless," "deplorable," "sick," "distasteful and disrespectful," "despicable," "idiots." And there have been harsher words, too, the kind you can't print in a family paper. Some of the critics have been more thoughtful. "... You have crossed the line," wrote Steve Simmons, fire code compliance officer with the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District in the Bay Area. "The scene from Ground Zero in New York has become a rallying point for firefighters as well as for the war on terrorism." Wrote Michael Shane Phillips, fire chief of the McNairy County Fire Department in Selmer, Tenn.: "You took two sacred photos that are burned into the memory and heart of American firefighters and completely trashed them. These are two images that show the true spirit of the firefighter that you have just made a complete mockery of ... how dare you drag us all into one melting pot for your pleasure." And that is the essence of the complaints, that the editorial cartoon unfairly tarnishes firefighters everywhere, the good guys, by satirically recasting the very symbols firefighters consider as icons. But as heartfelt as some of the critics might be, I believe they are wrong and are missing the point: It is the wayward Sacramento firefighters who have besmirched the heroic images. The job of an editorial cartoonist is to be strongly opinionated and to cast his commentary in vivid images, even ones that some might find offensive. It is part of the editorial license that comes with the job. Whether you agree with the point of view is irrelevant. Fewer things are sadder in journalism than a weak editorial cartoonist, one who practices his craft in fear. "I stand by the cartoon," Babin said. "There's nothing wrong with the use of the images." In fact, he said, he chose the Ground Zero and Oklahoma City images to make his point precisely because they are considered icons among firefighters. "The Sacramento firefighters stained these images ... It's their behavior that is a disgrace." Editorial page editor David Holwerk is Babin's boss and he approved the cartoon for publication. Holwerk is a veteran newsman and experienced editor. He knew what was coming once Babin's cartoon made the rounds. "It was a legitimate use of the images. The point of the cartoon was that the behavior of the firefighters in Sacramento was shameful - certainly outrageous. It was not in keeping with the best tradition of firefighters anywhere," Holwerk said. "I know anytime you use these iconic images, they will touch a nerve." Certainly there were a handful of e-mails from current or former firefighters who praised the cartoon and were critical of their more myopic brethren. More broadly, though, editorial cartoonists have a rich history in American journalism of using "sacred" images to make a point. The famous image from World War II showing Marines hoisting the flag on Iwo Jima, for example, has been used as cartoonist fodder any number of different ways. Some make you laugh; some make you cringe; some make you angry. That's what they are supposed to do. The inevitable outcry from some readers "is an occupational hazard of the business," Holwerk said. "It is a classic tool in the cartoonist's tool bag and one I won't take away." I agree, the less infringement the better Link

Comments

No one has commented on this article. Be the first!

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!