Mr. Toles is using a crippled soldier as a comic device in an anti-war cartoon. The soldier is just a prop; his portrayal of the person's suffering is on the level of crude Hustler magazine humor or lower. This would be the height of disrespect for anyone; for a U.S. soldier it's reprehensible. Anyone claiming that such a cartoon is actually meant to advocate empathy for our troops is demented; it would be like saying that a horror film with chainsaws buzzing and limbs flying somehow advocates life. This cartoon is just more garbage for the garbage eaters.
Cartoons are for children, or should be. A cartoonist should at least assume that children may see their work. I can only image the reaction to the children of one of these injured service people to a cartoon such as this.
If you judge Mr. Tole's cartoon against the work of Bill Maudlin, you'll realize it's impoverished. He doesn't have a darn thing to say about the U.S. Serviceperson that's insightful or of value.
