I Stand with Atena Farghadani Even if I'm a Crap Artist

 

Twelve years is an awfully long sentence for a cartoonist to face for sketching out the truth as she saw it. The Guardian offers a means of solidarity--sharing one's own cartoon regarding the issue. Iran is supposedly a kind of democracy--but without free speech, this is a useless exercise. If political leaders can't be criticized, then anything they do is pre-emptively sanctioned.

I tooled about for five minutes in MS Paint, and I admit, I wouldn't have sketched much better. But my little contribution is to say that images don't hurt anyone--they might be a smidgen snarky, but that doesn't harm anyone or damage society.  But sentencing caring and eloquent and talented people because they care, because they are eloquent, because they have something to say--damages society in every way. This cartoonist should not lose such a chunk of her life. No. The political figures being mocked should understand that this criticism is a part of their job. They may not like it--who would? But if they do not like to be depicted as asses, the ideal solution would be to perform as less of an ass, not to punish the person who points it out.