Kavanaugh cartoon in poor taste

I WAS amazed to see the Albuquerque Journal felt it was appropriate to publish the Sept. 26 cartoon featuring a controversial statement by a 4-year-old (Brett) Kavanaugh about Sesame Street.

Not only was the cartoon lacking in depth or comedy, but it was blatantly in poor taste. In an era where many victims are speaking out against their assailants or abusers, the Albuquerque Journal might have exercised even a modicum of better judgment and rejected this cartoon.

You would be hard pressed to find any American woman who has not experienced acute sexism, be it in the workplace, in their personal lives or in the political sphere — or probably, and unfortunately, all three. Somebody who was brave enough to speak out against a horrible thing that happened to her in her youth like Dr. (Christine Blasey) Ford is not to be mocked, especially not in a flippant and poorly conceived political cartoon.

Furthermore, the idea that the cartoonist would compare a statement by a 4-year-old to a physical assault (allegedly) committed by a 17-year-old is such an inappropriate comparison, especially in the age of (convicted Stanford swimmer) Brock Turners and (alleged campus assault victim) Beckett Brennans. When a 17-year-old is old enough to commit the acts described by Ford, he is old enough to face the consequences for the rest of his life, just as his victims will be forced to do.

It doesn’t go unnoticed, either, that Kavanaugh’s nomination has many LGBTQ+ Americans wringing their hands in anticipation of the reduction or elimination of their still minimal and hard-won rights.

We need to do better. As a local newspaper representative of New Mexico, you have failed to do right by all of us by publishing this cartoon that not only fails to contribute a meaningful contribution to any political conversation, but is offensive and obnoxious on its face.

KAELA THOMAS Albuquerque