New York Post / Michael Ramirez Cartoon Mocks Challenger Accident
Keith’s note: Here is the original color version by Michael Ramirez. You can share your opinions with him on his Facebook page or the IBD editorials Facebook page
or post a comment here. What is truly disgusting is that the comment originates from the part of the cloud where the crew cabin was. This man Ramirez is sick and pathetic.
NY Post mocks the Challenger disaster — anyone of a certain age can identify what this smoke formation references. pic.twitter.com/psEFMjEIrG
— katierosman (@katierosman) October 24, 2013
No, it is mocking the branding of problems in the ACA’s web site as “glitches”, but putting up something that clearly was not “just a glitch”.
He could have put up a picture of the Costa Concordia with the same text, to the same effect.
You are just as pathetic as Ramirez and the NY Post are. And you are afraid to use your real name.
Yes, but I understand what the joke is aimed at, and it is not the Challenger disaster.
“Michael Ramirez Cartoon Mocks Challenger Accident” is simply a false statement.
Love of space has nothing to do with it. People died, while trying to do great things. It was a major malfunction in the equipment that carried them. It is showcased as the most “non-glitch” example Mr. Ramirez could come up with. (plus related to “launch”.)
I can’t believe I’m explaining a joke.
You think that a cartoon that uses the image of Challenger being torn apart is funny? You have some serious screws loose. Go post somewhere else.
I can’t believe I’m explaining a joke.
Don’t worry. You’re not.
Jokes make people laugh.
If this thing doesn’t fill you with revulsion and horror, you need to get your moral compass recalibrated.
Actually, the purpose of an editorial cartoon is to make an editorial statement using images, not necessarily to be funny, amuse people, or make a joke. In fact, sometimes they even aim to shock and/or disgust.
In this case, although we understand the cartoonist’s statement, I think the comparison he used was badly chosen.
meekGee said:
No, it does mock the Challenger accident by making this ridiculous comparison at all. It’s not the intended goal of the cartoon obviously, but it does mock Challenger.
You think that a cartoon that uses the image of Challenger being torn apart is funny? You have some serious screws loose. Go post somewhere else.
Keith, I quoted meekGee there (blockquote). I’ll make it italic too.
OK. Much better. Scared me for a minute 😉
Yes, Ramirez could have used the Costa Concordia, and it would be in equally poor taste, or maybe worse. He could have used any number of disasters and accidents — hypothetically, perhaps a member of your family who died as a result of medical malpractice. I wonder how you’d feel about that one.
If he had done a little research, or asked around a bit, he would have learned about the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The collapse of this bridge (aka “Galloping Gertie”) in 1940 was an accident in which the only life lost was that of a cocker spaniel abandoned in a car on the bridge, but which stands today as one of the prime exemplars of careless design. That, IMO, would have been a far better subject for comparison.
Interestingly the dog wasn’t exactly abandoned; two men tried to save the dog but the dog was too frightened to leave the car.
Another one that occurs to me is the launch of the unmanned Vanguard TV3 rocket that blew up on the launch pad. It was jokingly referred to as Kaputnik. Very embarrassing during the early days of the space race.
Michael Ramirez would have been 25 years old at the time (27 years ago) when this picture was in every newspaper in the country, so I think he must have known exactly what it was when he chose to use it. Perhaps if space isn’t important to him, he doesn’t have the same feelings about the event that we do, but he should have realized that many other people would be upset by it. This is not the first time that he has shown poor judgement, or is it poor taste? It makes me wonder if he does this sort of thing on purpose for the controversial reaction when his readership is dropping off. Either way, where was his editor when this bad decision was being printed?
It’s the Post, so his editor was probably standing next to him patting him on the back.
I am not one to hold up “sacred cows” but people died in that “glitch” and I think its very disrespectful to them and their friends/families to use that imagery in this context.
I dont know if anyone else here worked on the STS program, but I did and I still get choked up when I see videos of Challenger coming apart, and if it does that to me, I cant even imagine what it does to those who knew the astronauts on board
Running an image of the Challenger accident where seven people perished is in extremely poor taste. No one is likely to get killed because they have difficulty logging on to the Affordable Care web site so the comparison is outrageous. There is nothing funny about it and the paper’s editors should have know better. Oh wait, this was in the New York Post…never mind.
About 22,000 people die every year in the US from preventable illness because they lack health insurance and can’t afford either the doctor or the treatment (or both.)
That’s about 60 people per day. Or 7 every 2 & 3/4 hours.
Which still doesn’t make posting the image ok.
Of all the things to be upset about, the misuse an image of 7 people dying nearly 3 decades ago as a generic image of “failed launch” isn’t high on my list.
I could point you to all the people who have mockingly used the “Oh the humanity” audio from the Hindenburg, or anything that riffs off the Titanic. Or any movie about airline crashes, including the beloved comedy Airplane.
The failures of the US health system is a 8 unnecessary Challengers every single day. 180 people needlessly died in the US alone during the three days of this thread due to just that one issue. Be upset about that. Be upset every time someone stands between people and decent health-care. Be upset about a scumbag politician who has been told by his father since he was born that he is chosen by God to take wealth from the unrighteous (serious WTF here) going on a 21hr long rant to try to block or delay healthcare reform that his own Party originally came up with.
But this, the cartoon, this is nothing.
Obviously you and I are miles apart on this. I knew the crew. This photo is no cartoon.
Alan knew the crew. He and I both know their families. This image and its use is repugnant – plain and simple.
NYP is a Murdoch rag. These are the same people that hacked victims cellphones.
Using ‘Challenger’ for ANY attempt at humor is unnacceptable. Mr Ramirez and his sidekicks/cronies should take the cartoon down at once. This is NOT about ‘free speech’ or ‘satire’ – but it is in the poorest possible taste. Matthew Pavletich, Auckland, New Zealand.
If enough people complain, would they print a retraction to the cartoon with an apology to the families of these fallen crew members?
Ok I’ll come at this from the other direction. I have to say that I see problems with the healthcare.gov insurance marketplace site as really not that big of a deal. They had a steep hill to climb to get that system ready and they’ll get it working smoothly with time. Sure they could have delayed and maybe will want to delay something later, I don’t know, but the most important thing was getting it started. It will be working well soon and then we’ll have a smoothly working insurance marketplace system. It’s inevitable, so a comic like this saying instead of having glitches that it was really a horrific launch doesn’t make any sense to me. Now, as for Challenger, really poor taste. I don’t find political cartoons really funny anyway, even if I agree with their sentiments. Even if this was a picture of an atomic bomb test (and not poor taste) and I was a tea partier against the Affordable Care Act, the comic would still seem kind of lame. Why belittle the site launch when you know it’s going to happen? Does that make you happy?
I have to agree with your point about the political cartoons. Sometimes, I get the impression that the cartoonists seem to think that claiming “It’s a fair comment and this is a free country” lets them be as offensive or use the most vile imagery imaginable.
I wonder if this “cartoonist” has ideas for making a joke out of 9/11, or perhaps the Sandy Hook shooting.
I find it telling that his WIkipedia entry indicates that he decided to go into cartooning after his first effort was so insulting that it brought an angry demand for a retraction. It seems Ramirez gets his jollies by being tasteless and insulting, without any real regard to whom he might be hurting. Great political cartooning does not fall over the edge into tastelessness.
It is tasteless in the extreme, regardless of what you think of the President’s healthcare plan.
I agree
Don’t many people feel that a public health care system will be managed so poorly that it will lead to the early deaths of many??
He made one cartoon several months ago with a Shuttle launch look alike, so it is one image of a row.
US is stange, in UK I would think this would go under the cover of black humor.
Yes I think that’s probably how Aussies would view this as well and although probably in bad taste, not horrific or similar since those reactions tend to be at the time whereas other reactions such as sad or empathetic tend to be some time after the initial event.
I certainly feel for the families of those killed however the crew were operating in what was well known, a high risk environment and surely they knew along with their families that there was a heightened risk of dying over and above the normal U.S. citizen particularly since the vehicle in question had no LES whatsoever. It was a case of zero probability of survival in any loss of vehicle event.
What I found more disturbing after the event was the apparent culture that allowed this to occur in the first place and that culture allowed such an event to occur not once but twice.
That together with the seemingly total lack of accountability in both instances.
There are many instances which I would rate as horrific today in the U.S. that seem to barely rate a mention after the initial event or if they do, few authorities seem to want to change. To name one that seems to occur quite frequently, that of shooting mass murder.
I know this will upset some, Keith included, whose perspectives I frequently admire so my sincere apologies where this occurs however a free society, in order to remain free, must be prepared to allow a variety of views, even those that may not be personally acceptable. Lack of freedom to express opinion is the hallmark of a totalitarian regime and anathema to democratic societies and those of us who value the freedoms that such societies provide.
Neil Shipley
Perth, Western Australia
Well, I was watching the launch live on TV at 8 years old, saw the whole thing happen real time, it was awesomely horrible, and ruined any hopes I had for building a moon base, or working for NASA. Challenger was a horrible loss with far reaching impacts. I don’t think someone would feel comfortable making a comic out of genocide or concentration camp photos. I would call this a lack of creativity on the part of the artist, art takes effort, this took none.
So far as ACA is concerned, we won’t really know for sure how bad the damage is to business and society until it’s too late to fix it, if ACA turns out to be a huge hole in the ground it will take decades to get out of it.
I totally expect it to eat the space program, can’t name a single democratic country with government run healthcare & and vibrant space program, yet nobody else seems to understand how that works, I’m wishing for the best, however expecting the worst.
The cartoon is in very poor taste and the comparison should not have been made. But what I take it to mean is a criticism of the Obamacare roll out.
Bob Clark