Yo, Canada!

I take exception to the editorial cartoon published on page 91 of the November 21 issue of The Santa Barbara Independent. It is unfair to cast aspersions on the country of Canada and all of her citizens because of the repellent actions of one seriously ill, wacko politician.

I am a Canadian citizen who happened to be travelling in your area recently and came upon this edition in a local coffee shop. It should have been beneath the dignity of your publication to have printed this gross insult to myself and all of my fellow Canadian citizens, the vast majority of whom are, like most Americans, law-abiding and decent people who are somewhat astounded but mostly appalled at the behavior of this unfortunate caricature of a human being.

To have disgraced the Canadian flag in this manner is simply unacceptable; imagine the outcry of all Americans if a Canadian newspaper used the antics of an American petty criminal disguised as a politician to disgrace your American flag and national anthem in a similar manner. I accept your cartoonist’s right to free speech in matters of public opinion and your company’s right to publish and print what you want, but I think you have grossly overstepped the boundaries of good taste and friendship with your neighbors to the north.