Chimp-Stimulus Cartoon creates malestorm of racial tension.

New York Post cartoon angers liberal elitists, such as Al Sharpton:

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/chimp-stimulus-cartoon-raises-racism-concerns/

My first impression of the cartoon found it humorous (although a rampaging chimp is no laughing matter). Clearly, it was poking fun of our belligerent congress wildly running around like animals last week when writing the Stimulus Bill. And like animals, they (Democrats) were furiously vying for pieces of the pie. In a nutshell, it was commenting on congress' lack of professionalism. Yet, Rev. Al Sharpton was quick to make a loose connection between the artist's rendition of the shot ape and our African-American President, insinuating that, in effect, the cartoon was calling our black President a monkey.

I was reading an article on NRO by Jonah Goldberg (author of Liberal Fascism) that touches base with this very issue. "Oppression by the minority" is what he calls it, meaning, the hesitation by journalists and political critics must take to circumvent any kind of speech that might be deemed un-PC. Now, in my opinion, there is a fine line between hate speech and free speech. Anyone with common sense knows what is hate speech and what it is not. However, it is often that freedom of speech will be sacrificed in order to appease the over-reactive whims of the minority. It was freedom of speech that was a cornerstone of the Civil Rights movement. Justifiably, freedom of speech lead the way for equal rights for all citizins of this nation. Vocies were heard and rights were won. Can voices still be heard, in our present day, and keep these rights?

Some might ask if the Civil Rights movement has reached its pinnacle; with Barack Obama winning the Presidency, I have heard this issue come up many times. I wouldn't know and I wouldn't be able to make a clear speculation. One issue I am trying to raise is at what price do we sacrifice individual liberties for the sake of a group. In a "pure" democracy (like the ancient Greek city-states), organized government systems were run by mob rule and effectively stamped out any competition. Unlike unruley Hellenic mobs, I don't see minority groups themselves as mobs. I see their leaders, behind closed doors, using and abusing the triumphs made by past civil rights leaders to usher in political power for themselves. Effectively, if there is no problem, a liberal would be out of a job.