Much has already been written about the Freeh report, which shows that Joe Paterno and the head honchos at Penn State knew about the predatory rape being committed by former assistant head coach Jerry Sandusky, and did nothing.
Now, syndicated political cartoonist Glenn McCoy (twin brother of Cagle.com mainstay Gary McCoy) has drawn a cartoon comparing Paterno’s actions to those of Democrats who knew about the dalliances of Bill Clinton:
As you can imagine, this cartoon has caused a torrent of comments from readers:
Josh Cedor: As a parent, it is beyond disturbing that Clinton having sex with a (by all accounts) perfectly willing adult was compared to boys under the age of 10 being molested and having it covered up.
Shana Elizabeth Dennis: The only way McCoy could have compared the two within the same zip code of justifiability is that Clinton abused his position as Lewinsky’s boss, but that STILL is not equivalent to Paterno covering up for a kiddie fiddler because football.
Jeff Kiser: Clinton had several affairs, and he used women who were working for him. That is the classic definition of sexual harrassment. The left, and democrats did wink and smile about it, and NOW simply rolled over like a good dog. This is all true.
Chillbilly: A perfect summary of right-wing sexual mentality: extramarital sex between consenting adults is about the same as an adult authority figure raping children.
Joe Ondrechen: Not only does the cartoon equate child-rape with consensual sex, it’s also not so accurate. I’m pretty sure the cigar in question wasn’t lit.
I asked Glenn to comment on the cartoon. Here’s what he wrote:
It’s hard to specifically respond to the criticism of the cartoon in question when the criticism has been so unspecific. Many “outraged” readers are saying that I’m somehow defending Joe Paterno, a dubious claim seeing how I’ve clearly labeled him a “scumbag”. Others are saying that I’m equating the cover-up of child abuse to extramarital sex between consenting adults. If that were only so, but unfortunately a long line of victims including Juanita Broaddrick, Paula Jones, Elizabeth Gracen and Kathleen Willey have stepped forward to accuse the former president of a list of sexual crimes that were anything but consensual, from exposing his genitals to unwanted groping and even rape. I chose to draw Monica Lewinsky on Clinton’s lap simply because time, space and discretion would not allow me to depict all of the victims the ex-president has left in his choppy wake or the sordid nature of the abuse.
Incidentally, in regards to Miss Lewinsky, during the Clarence Thomas hearings the left was quick to point out that consent cannot exist when someone has more power over the other. Apparently this way of thinking went out of fashion when the most powerful man on the planet became aroused by a 21-year-old intern.
My cartoon is basically about selective outrage and how our society denounces one man who knew of abuse while ignoring the 800-pound, cigar-smoking gorilla in the room. Bill Clinton is still one of the most powerful and respected people in the Democratic Party. He is also a serial sexual predator who gets a free ride for his crimes from his party and the press. For example, hardly any coverage has been given to Clinton’s ties to convicted pedophile billionaire Jeff Epstein. It is my job as an editorial cartoonist to be impolite and point out the fact that the Emperor has no clothes, especially when he’s chasing a screaming woman.
What do you think – fair or foul? Comment below.
