The political cartoon that caused the furor

Yesterday, state House Speaker Bill O’Brien barred two Concord Monitor reporters from a State House press conference as retaliation for a political cartoon the Monitor published depicting O’Brien with an Adolph Hitler mustache.

When the cartoon first appeared, Concord Monitor editor Felice Belman explained the paper’s rationale for publishing the cartoon:

If you missed the news, Marland’s cartoon was a direct comment on last week’s antics on the floor of the House. Frustrated by what he believed was an unfair effort by O’Brien to silence a Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Steve Vaillancourt argued with the speaker and then gave a World War II-era salute: “Sieg Heil.”

We make room for lots of different views in the Monitor Opinion pages. We’re not looking only for opinions that the newspaper’s editorial board supports — and we don’t ask that our columnists or letter-writers or our cartoonist agree with the board.

This cartoon was harsh, no doubt. But it seemed on point, given last week’s circus. … The point of an editorial cartoon is to get your attention and make you think. In that, for sure, Marland has succeeded.

Image credit: Photo by Mike Marland / For the Monitor