The following cartoon will never get printed on Hamilton Spectator newsprint. I'm curious if it'll get picked up somewhere else. Have I offended people by portraying the Prime Minister, who's currently on a tour of India, as a religious symbol, or do people think I've offended people with this cartoon?

I didn't expect the Toronto bid to host the 2015 Pan Am Games would actually win so there's a fair amount of truth to what appeared in my cartoon the day after they actually did:

The above cartoon was drawn after the one I drew below. I don't normally do the cross hatching cartoons anymore but it allowed enough time to think of something in case the Canadian bid succeeded over Lima's or Bogota's:

The process of bringing the games to southern Ontario has been going on for over a couple years. I wrote about it at the time thinking it sounded like a pretty hair brained idea. The memories of two failed Commonwealth bids was fresh in my memory. The most recent failed bid demonstrated how much of a sham the process had become when Halifax was chosen to represent Canada and later dropped out when they realized they couldn't afford holding the games. I thought if that was the sort of dubious way of deciding host cities among British commonwealth countries, imagine the hoops a Pan Am bid committee would have go through to please a jury of mostly South American countries. Seems, I was wrong. Let the games begin.

L E T T E R S

Todays cartoon seems to portray the Spectator as thinking that Vaccinating against H1N1 is comparable to putting tin foil hats on . HMMM . Well if the Paper we trust thinks its just as likely that Aliens are beaming things into our heads as getting H1N1 you,ve convinced me NOT to get the shot . Thanks I was on the fence but youre right.

M.Doyle -- Hamilton

* * * * * * *

Graeme MacKay should be congratulated on this brilliant cartoon.
I suspect those who shun the vital H1N1 flu shot are the same people who believe in the Yeti, flying saucers and the continued existence of Elvis.

H. Painter -- Hamilton

The story of Stephen Harper stating that he chooses to watch news from the United States as opposed to Canada has caught my eye not for how it read but how its been twisted way out of proportion. There seems to be a trend, and it isn't much different to other recent stories designed to gaffe trap Harper and the Conservative all for the benefit of opposition parties. A previous example was wafergate, a story which went on in the news for way too long in the summer doldrums. There was also the earth shattering revelation in September that Stephen Harper actually wants a majority (here's a link to the explosive video) designed, I suppose, to whip up old fears that the PM has a devious hidden agenda, in this case to push through evil legislation like some dictator, or in the Canadian sense, rule like majority tyrants Chretien, or Mulroney, or Trudeau, etc.

Here's a case of a simple story blown way out of proportion. I've definitely had some fun at Harper's expense suggesting he's a lover of the low grade journalism dished out on American cable, but now the piling on Harper is in full force after having him admit to only watching it.

The reality is, according to Allan Gregg, an "At Issue" panelist on the CBC, the PM made the spur of the moment comment in jest at Gregg's expense. It was a wise crack, in other words. So what follows is a slew of interpretations not just from people blowing it out of proportion, ie: Bob Rae, but goofballs like Jason Kenny who defend Harper by saying he's too busy to be so "vainglorious" watching himself on tv. This in essence is what we get on every story churned of Ottawa. Reality obscured by conjecture, and it gives lots of fodder to editorial cartoonists.

After it's rejection a whole season ago in June, my cartoon of Copps Mausoleum finally got play on the front page in its full colour majesty.