I have to admit, however, that a letter I received from a reader last week did trouble me.
The letter was in response to the editorial cartoon we ran in last week's issue, which was inspired by our lead story on page 1 about the massive data theft suffered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The cartoon showed the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery with the caption, "The only vets not worried about identity theft."
"I was shocked to come across a cartoon making light of the VA security breach by using the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier," the reader wrote. "Our war veterans, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice, deserve much, much better. To print this tasteless attempt at humor [at] all is shameful, and to print it on Memorial Day itself is beyond the pale."
This is the only letter I received that expressed that view, but I was bothered by it simply because I'm concerned that there are other readers who didn't write but who also feel that the cartoon was a disservice to our veterans. So it is important to me that the matter be publicly addressed.
As I explained in my response to the reader, the cartoon was not intended to be at all humorous. Editorial cartoons are illustrations that provide commentary on a particular issue. Humor is often used to convey the message, usually with some sort of visual metaphor. But the really poignant ones aren't funny. They may be witty or satirical, but they don't aim to make you laugh.
It's essential that any readers who saw the cartoon as distasteful understand that the responsibility for its appearance in Computerworld ultimately rests with me. That being the case, I'm compelled to share some information about my own background to help explain why I approved the cartoon for publication.
My dad devoted his entire career to the U.S. Army. He served in Okinawa and was buried with full military honors in a national cemetery in Alabama. As I write this, my son, an officer in the U.S. Navy, is deployed on a destroyer in harm's way. I served in harm's way in the U.S. Air Force. I was honored to receive the Air Medal twice for "meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight" during the Vietnam War. And yes, I am among the 26.5 million veterans whose personal information was stolen.
This entire matter is one I personally take quite seriously, so it frankly never occurred to me that the cartoon would be construed by anyone as an "attempt at humor." I feel strongly that what was depicted in the cartoon was respectful of our veterans. I believe my dad would agree.
That said, the writer of that letter and I do share one overarching sentiment. As far as I'm concerned, no matter what we do, or how poorly or well we do it, our veterans still deserve much, much better. That, in fact, is the message the cartoon was meant to convey.