I found Matt Treadwell’s justification of Nate Allen’s cartoon (“SN need not apologize for unfunny, controversial illustration; cartoon fit to print,” SN 4/24) amazingly more amusing than the cartoon itself. Perhaps he should consider a career shift.

It is beyond me as to how such demeaning portrayals of the clergy can necessarily help solve serious issues facing the Catholic Church.

Allen’s entire career at The State News has been centered around making caustic and unbalanced attacks against anything and everything that doesn’t fit his polarized liberal views - the height of his creativity being his ability to caricature George W. Bush as a monkey.

When someone tries to throw in “nonlinear thinking” to blanket the reality of what his work is, I am somewhat distressed.

Was it crudely funny? Was it tasteless? Was it something to be expected given the past work and sentiment of Allen? Did The State News have the right to print it? Yes.

But for the love of democracy, chocolate and all other things good in this world, let’s not mistake it for some profound political statement of some sort.

Kannan Raghunathan
physics and chemistry junior