Washington Post's disgusting cartoon

The Joint Chiefs of Staff have quite rightfully rebuked the new Washington Post cartoonist Tom Toles – who is so very much less talented at drawing than the late Herb Block.

And while I often disagreed with Herb Block, there were few times that he ever outraged me as much as Toles' recent cartoon about a quadruple amputee – with "Dr." Rumsfeld saying "I'm listing your condition as 'battle-hardened.'"

TRENDING: Ben Carson stands for Trump, blasts impeachment, censorship, swamp-creature GOP in bold interview

I am glad that Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, his vice chairman and service chiefs of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force joined in writing the following to this newspaper:

We believe you and Mr. Toles have done a disservice to your readers and your paper's reputation by using such a callous depiction of those who have volunteered to defend this nation, and, as a result, have suffered traumatic and life-altering wounds ...

While you or some of your readers may not agree with the war or its conduct, we believe you owe the men and women and their families who so selflessly serve our country the decency to not make light of their tremendous physical sacrifices.

Advertisement - story continues below

Did the Washington Post apologize for this outrage?

Are you kidding?

The Post, with no apology at all, had its media columnist Howard Kurtz try to explain this away, with the following rebuttal to the Joint Chiefs (and to millions of our Armed Forces families) with the following from Toles – who called the Joint Chiefs letter: "an understandable response."

How understandable Mr. Toles?

Well, reports the Post:

Advertisement - story continues below

... he did not regret what he drew. In thinking about Rumsfeld's remarks, he said, "What came soon to mind was the catastrophic level of injuries the Army and members of the armed services have sustained ... I thought my portrayal of it was a fair depiction of the reality of the situation.

I certainly never intended it to be in any way a personal attack on, or a derogatory comment on, the service or sacrifice of American soldiers.

Advertisement - story continues below

And I say: Of course not! You just used a triple amputee – with his head also covered with bandages – as a joke in a cartoon.

The Post also quoted Toles as saying:

"As for the Joint Chiefs' letter, he said: 'I think it's a little bit unfair in their reading of the cartoon to imply that is what it's about.'"

Attention generals and admiral: You were "a little bit unfair" in your reading of this cartoon – which used the secretary of Defense and a triple amputee to try to get laughs.

The Post also reports:

Fred Hiatt, The Post's editorial page editor, said he doesn't "censor Tom" and that "a cartoonist works best if he or she doesn't feel there's someone breathing over their shoulder. He's an independent actor, like our columnists." Hiatt said he makes comments on drafts of cartoons, but that Toles is free to ignore them.

Asked about Sunday's cartoon, Hiatt said, "While I certainly can understand the strong feelings, I took it to be a cartoon about the state of the Army and not one intended to demean wounded soldiers."

I remember that during the last union strike at the Washington Post, some militant strikers displayed a poster proclaiming that former Post publisher Philip Graham, who committed suicide, had "killed the wrong Graham" – meaning he should have killed his wife, publisher Katharine Graham.

I remember that on the air and in print I denounced this incredible cruelty, just as I now denounce the Post's incredible cartooning about quadruple amputees in our armed forces.