Cartoon occupies unfairness

The Michael Ramirez political cartoon published in the Nov. 21 paper was decidedly unfair and unbalanced. As he was drawing for Investor’s Business Daily, his bias should be clear, but he still has a responsibility for accuracy, as does The Spokesman-Review.

Ramirez’s drawing shows a clean-cut male wearing a USA shirt and waving a flag with a “Tea Party” label juxtaposed to a bearded, unkempt man with hammer and sickle on his shirt who is standing on an American flag labeled “Occupy Movement.” He poses the question, “Which one is closer to the 99% of America?” The brief answer is both – and a whole lot of us he chooses not to depict.

Having visited the Occupy Wall Street demonstration in New York City, I can say that his depiction of the Occupy movement is incomplete and atypical. I saw grandmother types knitting, students attending seminars, presentable men and women dressed for an outdoor activity, veterans telling their stories and lots of American flags proudly waving.

Their political views were divergent, but they were speaking to and for the 99 percent of the United States who are being undemocratically misused by the people for whom Ramirez apparently writes.

W. Ross Coble

Spokane Valley