[Right_to_die] Bizarro Cartoonist Response

[World right-to-die news list (nonprofit)]

When I posted my thoughts about the Bizarro "Death With Dignity" cartoon- drawn
by Dan Piraro- to this list calling for "objections--if any"-- along with email
addresses for Dan Piraro, his syndicator, and Hearst Corp. I had no idea what
the reaction would be.

 

I was so impressed by Dan Piraro's straight forward, classy apology to this list
<mailto:right-to-die%40lists.opn.org?Subject=Re%3A%20%5BRight_to_die%5D%20Bizarr
o%20Cartoonist%20Response&In-Reply-To=%3C254658BF-0509-4749-A491-D83445E2D1A8%40
earthlink.net%3E> (see Thu Nov 26 10:49:11 PST) and in particular his statement,
"the superstitious attitude toward life that American law often reflects is
utterly archaic,"  that I wrote to him to thank him.  This resulted in an
excellent email exchange with Dan.  One of the things he said was, "I've enjoyed
learning more about this topic from folks like you and the sites you've
recommended" and "I'd like to increase my chances of reaching anyone who might
have been offended by my comic who didn't happen to write to me.."  Dan also
wrote that he has created a blog regarding this cartoon incident.  The link is
below.

 

There are a few omissions and misunderstandings in his blog-he didn't mention
the state of Washington's law or that there is currently a case before the State
Supreme Court with a ruling expected this month. I've emailed to inform him of
these and in addition that, "it is NOT a crime to be present when someone takes
their life-but nearly every state makes it a crime to 'aid' or 'assist' in a
suicide. Across the country, each state's statute has its own peculiar language,
but every one of them requires that a person provide assistance in another's
suicide in order for their conduct to be criminal; until now, there was no
precedent for charging someone with assisting in a suicide absent such actual,
material, physical assistance."

 

 <http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.com/2009/12/death-controversy.html>
http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.com/2009/12/death-controversy.html

 

Dan takes his role as social commentator quite seriously, his irreverence and
off-beat sense of humor notwithstanding, and wants to "get it right." I'm sure
you'll enjoy his blog post on this subject-and others--and he'll enjoy receiving
any comments you wish to make.

 

---Diane Harris, San Francisco Bay Area