Letter to the Editor
07/19/2018
For a long time politics in the U.S. have primarily involved Democrats and Republicans competing within the fragile framework of democracy. Since the arrival of Trumpism – the powerful combination of bigotry, authoritarianism and thuggery – politics have changed to anti-democracy vs. democracy.
Rob Rogers’ political cartoons have been a clear recognition of this change and an effective challenge to Trumpism. This is the likely reason why the pro-Trump owner of the Post-Gazette, Block Communications, and its editorial page overseer, Keith Burris, fired Rogers (June 15, “Post-Gazette Fires Cartoonist Rob Rogers”). We should all hope that he will find another place to continue his superb talent for creating incisive cartoons and inspiring us toward a more generous politics.
Several years ago I invited him to give a lecture to our Center for Interpretive and Qualitative Research at Duquesne University. He impressed all of us who attended that event with his insightful grasp of the political climate and his ability to capture it in his cartoons. It is very difficult to understand why a newspaper would want to fire him. Except, of course, that a narrow ideology blinds otherwise intelligent people.
Fred Evans, Professor, Dept. of Philosophy, Duquesne University
412-396-6507
evansf@duq.edu
