CARTOON: ‘Utah Stomps on Planned Parenthood Funding’

From cartoonist Clay Jones on his cartoon ‘Utah Stomps on Planned Parenthood Funding,’ created exclusively for The Independent:

Utah’s Gov. Gary Herbert is trying to take away Planned Parenthood funding because of all those sneaky (probably illegal) videos made by the Center For Medical Progress. That’s an odd name for a group trying to restore back-alley-clothes-hanger abortions.

These videos are smearing Planned Parenthood and trying to mislead the public. Never mind the fact Planned Parenthood is not doing anything illegal. Five states—Pennsylvania, Georgia, Indiana, South Dakota, and Massachusetts—have already ruled that Planned Parenthood is clear of any wrongdoing (chew on that). You won’t read that at Breitbart. Another thing you won’t read at right wing troll sites is that the Center For Medical Progress receives funding from Operation Rescue which has an ugly history of being connected to violence against abortion clinics and doctors.

Being anti-abortion is fine. That’s your opinion, and you’re entitled to it. Spreading false information is not fine. It’s disgusting and irresponsible. It’s especially disgusting if you’re elected to serve the public or you work in the media. It’s revolting for journalists to engage in lying. Yes, if you’re in the opinion game in the media, talking head, editorial writer, columnist or even political cartoonist, you’re a journalist.

If you have information that doesn’t help your argument then you tend to ignore it. To ignore it and keep spreading lies is a violation of ethics, and it makes you a liar. Unfortunately, too many appear not to have any ethics, and they don’t have a problem being a liar. I know ethics is something some “journalists” don’t think about, but guess what, you’re supposed to have them (I’m willing to venture that the publications that run your work actually have ethics policies. You should look into it). If you have to lie to support your argument then you have a weak argument.

I think what really infuriates me is that lying to support your cause works. It’s been working for a long time. Republicans have been doing it effectively for a long time. It helps their base is stupid. But it does work. ask Joseph Goebbels.