Katrina Anniversary Cartoons Lash Bush, Other Targets

By: Dave Astor Editorial cartoonists have plenty to say today in their commentaries about the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Rex Babin of The Sacramento Bee and King Features Syndicate drew a calendar. In the Aug. 29 square, he wrote: "First anniversary of Hurricane Katrina." In the Sept. 2 square: "First anniversary of President Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina."

Mike Thompson of the Detroit Free Press and Copley News Service showed Bush on a Mardi Gras-like parade float labeled "The Feel Good Tour '06." The president is tossing tiny bandaids to less-than-pleased New Orleans residents, one of whom says: "Break out the hip waders again."

Rob Rogers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and United Media drew a New Orleans/Gulf Coast man -- half buried in debris -- saying: "One year after Katrina and STILL no relief in sight!" Standing next to him, the president says: "My thoughts exactly." But the debris he's standing in is labeled "Bush's legacy."

Matt Davies of The Journal News in White Plains, N.Y., and Tribune Media Services did a cartoon labeled "Post-Katrina Rebuilding Update." In it, Bush has only managed to nail four pieces of wood together as a broken "Bush presidency" sign lies on the ground.

Nick Anderson of The Houston Chronicle and the Washington Post Writers Group pictured a Republican elephant wearing American flags, a 9/11 hat, and a 9/11 sandwich board. The elephant says: "How tasteless of our opponents to exploit the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina for political gain."

Mike Keefe of The Denver Post and Cagle Cartoons showed a Gulf Coast woman telling a TV reporter: "We're still trying to get over it." The reporter says: "The disaster?" A Gulf Coast man responds: "The disaster 'relief.'"

Ann Telnaes of the Cartoonists & Writers Syndicate/New York Times Syndicate drew Bush holding a huge bag labeled "war costs," Vice President Dick Cheney holding a morose Statue of Liberty, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld holding a flag-draped coffin as the three men waded through water. The caption: "Still looting."

Bill Day of The Commercial Appeal in Memphis and United showed a rocking chair labeled "The Big Easy." Next to it was a small table with a trumpet and bottle of liquor. Underneath the chair was a large puddle of water.

While many anniversary cartoons criticized the Bush administration's poor record in helping rebuild the Gulf Coast, a smaller number of drawings took different approaches.

Some mentioned the irony of the Ernesto storm approaching the U.S. on the same day as the Katrina anniversary. Others had more local targets.

J.D. Crowe of the Mobile (Ala.) Register drew New Orleans' mayor with a strange piece of architecture between his lips. The cartoon read: "A Katrina anniversary gift to New Orleans. Storm shutters for Ray Nagin's mouth."

Randy Bish of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review showed an alligator labeled "crime." In its mouth was a sign saying: "Now entering New Orleans."

And Mike Lester of the Rome (Ga.) News-Tribune and Cagle Cartoons drew a TV reporter asking a man: "One year after Hurricane Katrina, what are you doing to help rebuild New Orleans?" The man, wearing a T-shirt labeled "Victimhood Parish" and holding a placard saying "George Bush STILL hates black people," replies: "This sign didn't paint itself."

But most of the cartoon blame was aimed at Bush -- who, say critics, hasn't pushed hard enough for adequate and timely post-Katrina aid. Justin Bilicki of the New York Press did a cartoon showing a bedraggled New Orleans kid looking at the still-wrecked city and saying: "Mamma, where's all the help they promised us?" She replies: "In Iraq, protecting our way of life."