After the announcement late Sunday night by President Obama that we finally found and killed Osama bin Laden, people poured out into the streets to celebrate. Even the most die-hard partisans, like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, gave credit to Obama and his administration, calling his actions a “gutsy move.”
As with any big event that unfolds before our eyes, most of the cartoons were non-partisan and focused on bin Laden himself, either rotting in hell or surprised to find 72 sturgeons waiting for him in the afterlife (view all of our Osama bin Laden cartoons here).
But a couple of our more conservative cartoonists decided not to go the same route, and voiced their opinions about the credit being heaped President Obama’s way. The first, by Gary McCoy, rips Obama for the so-called “leadership” he exhibited in the strike, basically says all the President had to do was tell his team “okie dokie” to get the job done.
Gary McCoy / Cagle Cartoons (click to view more cartoons by McCoy)
Here are some of our readers’ comments about McCoy’s cartoon:
cf: “After 8 years of Republicans looking for Bin Laden in the wrong place, Obama tries looking *somewhere else* and finds him almost immediately. And now Republicans just can’t admit that a *gasp* Liberal *gasp* accomplished something that they never could.”
PoliticalMangu: “I guess this is the typical conservative response to Obama’s actions on just about anything. Too bad we can’t even celebrate together.”
D.C. Wilson: “It must cause wingnuts physical pain to admit Obama accomplished anything.”
Chris Carveth: “That’s what we fight for -freedom of the press. Agree or disagree…just be willing to defend the process.”
Rosie Felci: “Even Cheney is giving Obama props for it all. Guess even he now recognizes what “Mission Accomplished” looks like.”
The second cartoon was drawn by Brian Fairington, and was actually one of the first cartoons about Osama’s death that our syndicate received. In it, Fairrington wants to make sure Obama doesn’t hog all the credit, and reminds readers about the contributions he feels George W. Bush made in hunting down Osama:
Brian Fairrington / Cagle Cartoons (click to view more cartoons by Fairrington)
And here are some reactions from readers about it:
mth44sc: “”I don’t know where bin Laden is. I have no idea&really don’t care.It’s not that important.It’s not our priority.” – G.W. Bush, 3/13/02″
JacksonW: “How crass. The man isn’t dead 24 hours and he’s already being used to divide us. The end of the life of the mastermind of 9/11 should bring us together, not be used for petty political points.”
GroovyDave1962: “I disagree. The intelligence came in last August. IIRC Bush was not in office then. At best you might split it 50/50. Bush put the boots on the ground, but President Obama led them to success.”
ejg2: “Clinton tried, was unable. Bush simply didn’t. Obama did. Case closed.”
What do you think? Are these cartoons fair or foul? Comment below, or chime in on our Facebook page or Twitter:
