Dozens of Editorial Cartoonists Comment on Bhutto Assassination

By: Dave Astor Dozens of editorial cartoonists are commenting on yesterday's assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Gordon Campbell of California's Inland Valley Bulletin was one of the first to do a cartoon. His Thursday-posted drawing shows a gun, with spent bullets, labeled "Pakistan elections" and "I voted."

This morning, 13 of the 27 cartoons posted on the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists' EditorialCartoonists.com site focus on Bhutto.

One of them, by John Trever of the Albuquerque (N.M.) Journal and King Features Syndicate, shows a ballot box that has toppled over. Falling out of the box are bullets with Bhutto's name on them. The caption: "Pakistan Early Voting."

In a similar vein, Chan Lowe of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Tribune Media Services (TMS) drew a bullet whizzing through the air over a caption reading: "The only vote that really counts in Pakistan's 'democracy.'"

Another cartoon, by Steve Greenberg of California's Ventura County Star, shows a ballot labeled "Democracy in Pakistan." An "x" marks the square next to Bhutto, but it's the "x" in the word "extremism." And below the ballot is the word "Setbackistan."

Mark Streeter of the Savannah (Ga.) Morning News drew Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf with blood on every part of his body but his hands, which are in his pockets. Musharraf says: "The blood of Benazir Bhutto is not on my hands." A little character in the cartoon's lower right corner adds: "The same hands with barely lifted fingers to protect her."

A cartoon by Jim Morin of The Miami Herald and Cartoonists & Writers Syndicate/New York Times Syndicate pictures a martyred Bhutto handing a "Pakistan Democracy" torch to a young child.

Paul Fell of Artizans Syndicate drew a flower labeled "Bhutto" that had just been crushed by a boot.

Randy Bish of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review drew a candle labeled Bhutto being snuffed out. The caption: "And now, the darkness."

Over on Daryl Cagle's Cagle.MSNBC.com editorial cartoon site, there are already more than 15 Bhutto cartoons posted.

One of them, by John Sherffius of the Boulder (Col.) Camera and Copley News Service, shows a photo-realistic drawing of Bhutto with a gun-sight target superimposed over her.

Another, by Don Wright of Florida's Palm Beach Post and TMS, pictures a dark cloud labeled "Bhutto assassination." Next to the cloud is a kid labeled "2008" saying: "I bet you were hoping things might get a little better."