Recently I posted a whimsical short satirical quip on Rick Santorum. It was, I would have thought, protected speech (and personal opinion) under the First Amendment – if, that is, you support things like constitutional amendments.

So it was with some surprise that a reader posted not one but two comments, the other being on my post “It’s the Little Things 2011” which was also humorous and satirical.  He called me a ” another mindless liberal who thinks its funny to take shots at anyone who doesn’t think with their feelings.”

Well, that comes with the territory. You run into all manner of readers when running a website. Never mind all that. He didn’t take the high road, so I didn’t either in my replies. A classical “conservative” used to be (theoretically) really strong on individual rights – for everybody – and I sincerely doubt anyone who admires Santorum (or Palin or Bachmann) can be either a real conservative, or a real supporter of individual rights. You don’t get to cherry-pick which parts of “all men are created equal” suit your fancy.

The item here: this morning’s Mike Peters political cartoon for August 24. I can’t locate a permalink for that day’s cartoon so took the liberty of posting it below.