Searching for the center

Searching for the center

Editorial cartoonists often stretch the limits of credulity (and, sometimes, taste) to make a point. A safe cartoon runs the risk of being a boring cartoon, and a cartoonist would rather be dead than boring. Which is why so many cartoonists are willing to risk attack from an angry mob of readers than make one reader yawn.

The cartoons that appear on this page are picked from a service that provides the work of about a dozen cartoonists, and from day to day we try for a mix between conservative and liberal. Today, we stepped outside the box. We’re using two cartoons to make three points.

The top cartoon’s point: Some people think Republican alternatives to President Barack Obama’s proposed health-care reform have a wing-and-a-prayer quality.

The lower cartoon’s point: Democrats do not take kindly to even the suggestion that their proposals may be flawed.

Our point: In between such rancor, there has to be a middle ground. One of the things the press can do is present different sides, even the extreme sides, in the hope that people can at least talk about the possibilities.

Taking a long look

Since Aug. 1, we’ve run an average of nearly a column a day focused on heath care, covering a range of conservative and liberal commentary, from Thomas Sowell to Ellen Goodman. Three pieces were written by local physicians. Letters to the editor were also mixed. Ideally, this mixture encourages thought, dialogue and, eventually and to whatever extent is possible, consensus.

Tomorrow, The Vindicator, in conjunction with WFMJ-TV and Vindy.com, is presenting an important opportunity to see how this area will be represented in Washington as the debate over health-care reform continues. U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-17th, will be answering a broad range of questions from area residents concerned about what Congress and the president intend to do. Based on their answers to a short online questionnaire, their inclinations range from let the market prevail to nationalize health care — and their questions reflect those differences.

It will fall to Ryan to listen, to answer and to return to Washington, where he won’t have the uninhibited luxury afforded an editorial cartoonist. There he will have to work to get legislation passed that is in the best interest of the nation, with the accent being on the greatest number of his constituents. That’s not an enviable task.