I received the following email from someone writing under the fictional cover-name of "Owner." Someone needs to tell this person that they don't own other people's opinions for them or the timeline as to when they should be expressed. (This kind of mindset is regularly seen in Mormonism and other forms of authoritarian-based, institutionalized mindsets).

(P.S.: I am editing in more of the Complainer's responses as they are received. I also tweaked the subject line to reflect more accurately what is going on here).

--From the Complainer, initiallyr:

"Mr. Benson,

"Is it possible to change the subject of your daily sketch? It is overdone, boring, and done over and over and over again. We could use a new theme.

"If you consider this hate mail that is not how it is intended. So many people I know who read the paper feel OK you do not like certain people , we do, so what? Everyone of us have good and bad in us. But boredom due to lack of subject material simply breeds HO HUM. Please see if you can come up with something new and different.Now see how nicely this was said."


--My reply:

"No. I draw my views. You write yours.

"Is it possible for you to change the topic of your emails? That’s up to you. The content of my cartoons is up to me.

"And who is this collective 'we' for whom you speak and when did they designate you as their 'owned' spokesperson?

"Thanks for writing."
_____


--The Complainer's response:

"I have tried to be polite but you have not. Shame on you . I guess you not only draw nasty but you also write nasty. I do not have to tell you who 'we ' are as they are my friends who feel you are impossible to have a civil conversation with so why bother? I trtied and they are right.

"Nasty is what benson is.

"Your welcome for your curt and insincere reply"


--My reply:

"With all due respect, you did not answer my question.

"Who is the 'we' for whom you speak as to their group view that my cartoons are 'overdone' and 'boring'? Please be specific.

"Moreover, where in the U.S. Constitution does it say that I am to support your point of view, even if it means editing my view, changing the expression of my view and/or aligning the timing of my view in order to align it with your preferred subject/view?

"These are not 'nasty' questions. They simply go to:

"(a) the basis of your assertions; and

"(b) the heart of the First Amendment right for me to disagree with you (and for you to disagree with me) as to when I express my views.

"Please note that I am not asking you to alter either your view or the timing of it. I am merely inquiring as to certain details that your initial email to me naturally raise.

"Welcome to America."



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2017 10:27PM by steve benson.

Ha ha ha...

I love the passive/aggressive stuff...

"See how nicely I said that you suck?"

:)

I'll take a wild guess here that "Owner"'s favorite password is "password"...

Oh good grief!

Nice reply.

But not always desirable.

Complainer: "Is it possible to change the subject of your daily sketch? ... We could use a new theme."

Benson: "My job description, as a political cartoonist, outlines (pun!) my daily task - to create a - wait for it - political cartoon. By definition, my work involves politics. And drawing something relating to politics. Daily. So, on the question of changing my 'subject' that would be a no. If I turned my artistry to sketching the American desert or the birds in my garden my boss would also become a Complainer in a NY minute. And his complaints I take seriously.

Unless a pipeline were situated in said desert. Or birds were being poisoned by contaminants in their bath. That would be political.

Therefore, job done.

See the theme?


Please excuse me. I was channelling my inner Steve for a minute there. :)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2017 09:37PM by Nightingale.

. . . was asking me (politely or not) to quit commenting on the impeachable Richard M. Nixon in a way that comported with the complainer's preferred calendar dates pf expression. That's what Nixon would have wanted me to do.

I prefer the kind of reader response that indicates a degree of measured respect for the U.S. Constitution's rules of the road when it comes to expressing one's personal opinion. Here is an example of such, which I just received:

--From Another Reader:

"I am obviously not a cartoonist, but when this idea dropped in my head I really felt moved to ask you to draw it. . . . . Take a look and IF YOU AGREE [emphasis added], it’s all yours."

(The reader attached a copy of their own proposed doodle).


--My reply:

"Funny! But, alas, this is a family newspaper.

"Thanks for writing."



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2017 10:12PM by steve benson.

and apt.

If you know what I mean.

Dylan (was it him?) sang "the times they are a-changin'".

Some weeks, not so much.

. . . WE tell you what to draw and when to draw it, depending on when WE determine your opinons to be boring or overdone. Thank you for your patriotic cooperation. Oh, and WE don't have to tell you who the WE are. End of discussion."



Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2017 10:04PM by steve benson.

My uncle was a noted editorial writer for an eastern newspaper for decades. The owner did not often agree with him and there was a certain limit of what he could write. But when it was news, my uncle got his points made. My uncle supported my political aspirations although at the time we did not agree. My uncle was right and I have changed some views, though some changes were after his death. I gave the eulogy at his funeral.

You should do a cartoon depicting the supporters of "certain people" harassing you to change your cartoons to better suit their views and beliefs.

Terrific idea, Jonny.

I'm thinking a guy sitting in his bathrobe in the basement surrounded by stuffed animals (his "supporters")...

I'm thinking of the president signing executive orders that force everyone into line with his views...and with his supporters giving Steve executive orders to draw what falls in line with those views.

Too political for this forum? Perhaps :)

in one of his dark-of-night tempest tantrums.

Given his extraordinarily thin orange-peel skin, I wouldn't be surprised if he did.

"Now see how nicely this was said," is soooo condescending! Especially when he was making assumptions about how you would react based on his friends' views of you, not even because he had ever spoken to you before!