The State of American Editorial Cartooning, Again.

This is getting tiresome.

Latrobe, Pennsylvania is probably best known for being the home of Arnold Palmer, the legendary golfer. It’s also well-known as the home of Donald Trump’s penis envy.

Latrobe has a little newspaper, and I mean little in a moral sense, called the Latrobe Bulletin. The Latrobe Bulletin’s publisher is an equally small man named Dave Cuddihy.

You see, Cuddihy decided that the Latrobe Bulletin, bless their black little hearts, could no longer publish editorial cartoons. Here’s Cuddihy’s laughable statement:

“We apologize today for letting such an offensive political cartoon slip through our editorial process and into our Editorial page of Volume 123 - Issue No. 20, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025.

While political cartoons have run in newspapers, including the Latrobe Bulletin, for many years; this is a final example of how we feel they have run their course.

As Americans we respect rights and views on all sides, however, we assure you, as your community newspaper this image does not reflect our viewpoint.”

Well, buddy, first off, you don’t respect the rights and views on all sides, because you just nuked editorial cartoons, hardly an ecumenical action.

Instead of just saying, hey, we shouldn’t have run the cartoon, he decided to just end editorial cartoons all together.

This should upset you. It should greatly upset you.

The cartoon, by my former colleague Lee Judge, showed the American flag upside down over the White House in reaction to this execrable Inauguration Day we’re enduring today.

Run their course, huh? Never heard of Dave Cuddihy, until he became a poster boy for censorship. Hey, pal, do you have columnists? Do they ever say anything someone else doesn’t like? Do you run news stories about the Latrobe City Council, where someone says something someone else doesn’t dig?

Heads up: Yes, you do.

As for the upside down American flag, I’ve been putting that on Trump’s lapel for years, to no negative blowback at all, honestly. Oh, and the Russian flag. No comments at all.

Why? Because it’s commentary, and that’s what commentary is.

My suspicion (I’m so smart) is that some of the local Trump Nuts in Latrobe contacted Dave Cuddihy, the publisher of the Latrobe Bulletin and, I am sure, a local overstuffed burgher in good standing down at the Latrobe Country Club. Now, running the Latrobe Bulletin I am sure is onerous, what with all the Cub Scout meetings and the Little League scores Cuddihy and his microscopic staff have to report on.

So Cuddihy caved to the anger, again.

Lots of people in American journalism are caving to the anger.

Want them in order? Bezos. A bunch of newspaper chains. Gannett, which killed all opinion in their 236 newspaper. I could go on.

Even The New York Times decided to stop running editorial cartoons in 2018, after what I would consider to be a rather tame drawing of Benjamin Netanyahu, the war criminal, ran in the international edition. Their publisher, who was a colleague of mine at The Oregonian, where he covered Multnomah County after his dad made a call, decided that instead of just saying, hey, shouldn’t have run it, said, let’s take an entire profession and shoot in the head.

But hey.

He didn't stop running columns because people disagreed with one or the other. So this has been going on for awhile.

He didn’t stop running news stories that people didn’t like, either.

Now, Dave Cuddihy isn’t at the level of The New York Times. He’s not at the level of the Scranton Times, either. He’s just some coward stuffing his face at the salad bar at the Latrobe Country Club. Oh, and he was in charge at the Albany Democrat-Herald, in Oregon.

I knew a man who did that in Albany.

His name was Bob Caldwell, who later went on to become my editorial page editorial at The Oregonian. He died far too young at 63.

You know what Bob Caldwell did? He was a courageous journalist. Period. In Albany, in Portland, in Gresham, anywhere Bob worked, he was courageous. It’s difficult, but, as he would say, he was a chicken-killin’ dawg.

I’ll bet Cuddihy never met Bob. He should have. He might have learned something. But I doubt it.

Ever heard of William Allen White at The Emporia (Kansas) Gazette, from back in the 1930s? Maybe, but let me refresh his memory: White kicked all sorts of ass in Emporia, Kansas. Lots of small town papers showed courage. How about the Point Reyes Light, which ran a series of Synanon cult, which got them a Pulitzer Prize back in the day?

Lots of small town papers show courage.

Try Art Cullen’s Storm Lake Times in Iowa. Art is my friend, and he’s a 67 year old dude with an impressive mustache and a big brain, and he’s been letting it rip in Storm Lake, and he even runs cartoons! He even runs my cartoons! Try his Substack, while you’re at it.

Listen up, Dave Cuddihy.

I need you to hear this.

Editorial cartoonists show more guts and courage crossing the street in light traffic than you show running a community newspaper. Here’s a thought, and this won’t hurt at all, because I know you’re oh-so-sensitive to criticism.

Maybe run a conservative cartoon AND a liberal cartoon? You know. Fair and balanced. Then you keep the Trumpies happy, and you don't contribute to a profession that’s bigger than you or me.

Maybe you can even keep stuffing your face at the Latrobe Country Club.

Just a thought.

Here’s another one.

Grow a pair.

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Dear Friends of You Betcha!: When I saw this story, you can imagine what my reaction to Dave Cudduhy and his chickenshit enablers was. Heck, you can read it above. My face got, well, tight. In this hour, please consider a paid subscription to You Betcha!, so the Dave Cuddihys of the world don’t win. Or the Jeff Bezos’s. Or any of them. Because right now, they’re definitely up by a touchdown. We can stop them, but it’s going to be a challenge, and one that I am willing to take up, along with Ann Telnaes, Art Cullen, and anyone else still ready to challenge these bastards. —J.