Imagine if you will, NFL commish Roger Goodell “casting a wide net” in seeking advice on how to handle the reinstatement of Michael Vick. In the creative minds of “Tank McNamara” creators Jeff Millar and Bill Hinds, a certain former Vice President has some rather unique advice for Commissioner Goodell. Readers of the Washington Post, however, will have to live with a “Tank” rerun today, writes the paper’s Michael Canva, describing his employers’ decision thusly (links courtesy Paul Lukas)
Post Managing Editor Raju Narisetti says the decision was a no-brainer: The original strips were deemed “inappropriate.”
If today’s strip proves controversial, I believe it’s because the satiric point wasn’t sharp enough; in which case, some readers are left wondering why “Dick Cheney” would order that “Mike Vick” be iced. Without a clearly, commonly accepted truth to rest the satire on — no matter how exaggerated — readers are left to scratch heads or drop jaws. And editors are more likely to be the ones to decide that someone needs to be “killed”: “Tank.”
With all due respect to Mr. Canva, I’m not sure it would be such a huge stretch to envision Cheney making such a comment.