Michael Ramirez for October 23, 2013

I suppose there are several artistic and satirical reasons Ramirez copied the famous picture of the 1986 Challenger explosion, but it made me sad to see it used this way.

Yup, rather classless.

An accurate but hardly appropriate parody.

wow! was his frist choice 9/11 and reason told him this was a better choice?? Not cool.

No, it took repeated disasters for them to abandon it.

I love Ramirez’ cartoons ordinarily, but absolutely agree with most on here: This is not funny and inappropriate.

Obamacare is more deadly than the Challenger tragedy.There are 300 million Americans at risk with this first step into Socialized Federal Healthcare.-The worst “glitch” was voters re-electing a proven radical.(Thank you Dick Cheny)

Horrible, disgusting cartoon, Ramirez. You should be ashamed. Giving people a chance at health insurance is in NO WAY comparable to the devastation and loss of life you depict. Gross, ugly, hateful.

Shuttles haven’t flown since 2011 – a rare case of a government program that was terminated once it stopped meeting its goals economically. Also, the shuttle program was developed over a 12 year period before being launched, not cobbled together in closed-door Congressional sessions, shoved down our collective throats in a midnight vote, and “implemented” in 3 years.

I don’t agree with the toon either.The Shuttle blowing up was a tragic accident.Obamacare is purposely horrific for most Americans.

Tasteless, crass and debasing of the heroism and courage of the NASA crew and team. The comparison is a cheap shot and inaccurate shot. What a tool.

Yes, the Affordable Health Care program is in the news, and there’s talk on many sites about it, as will be for months and years to come. Political discourse, or even discord, is allowed and even helpful in the long term. Good can come from bad, and bad can come from good. (I just take that on faith, sometimes.) And the old, old moon looks down upon it all..But at the moment use of the Challenger image by Mr. Ramirez interests me more. There have been other disasters that are often used to illustrate incompetence, for instance the Titanic and the Hindenburg. Why do we seem to more easily accept some but not others as suitable for satire? (Assuming we do.) .Many less catastrophic events are used for editorial purposes, too. I’m not sure if Hiroshima/ Nagasaki was ever used, but other common images I’ve seen to express points of view are boats being torpedoed, bombs blowing people apart, individuals in the crosshair of a gun. Ramirez used a comparison involving lynching several months ago that made me cringe, but even hanging images have nestled into the niche of normal. Others: My Lai, napalm use on civilians, beheadings, aborted fetuses – all kinds of images bound to offend someone..How do we come to accept horrible images for use in editorial cartoons? Are relevant factors how long ago an incident took place, the number of people killed, or the type of people killed? Does an objection occur when comparisons are not proportionate? Or when it is perceived misuse of a national icon? Maybe I’m getting into the mistake of special pleading..I deeply agree that editorial cartoonists and other commentators have protection under press freedoms. Cartoonists have long been politically incorrect even before the phrase was coined. They are often politically inflammatory, in fact. It’s said that more people read the cartoons than read the editorials, and publishers and propagandists know it. And what side issue does that lead into?.So, apart from your agreement or not with the AFC issue, does anyone here perceive a personal limit at which they think an editorial cartoonist has gone beyond acceptable?

It’s a rare day when I have to flag an entire strip,but today is one of those days!

This is in good taste.

Bad taste – it will always be too soon.

This IS the sickest Ramirez has ever gone. Disgusting.

I remember the event well, including seeing the first flames coming from the blown solid booster seal that caused the explosion, and noted it immediately. (My brother was an engineer on several aspects of the shuttle program over the years, thus I did a lot of engineering studies outside my “majors”). EVERY engineer familiar with the program knew immediately from watching the launch, exactly what went wrong.

EVERY ENGINEER said the temperature was too low to safely launch and they should wait. Reagan wanted his teacher in space, and “decision makers” at NASA (political appointees) wanted to see the boss happy, ordering the launch to go ahead. NO, Reagan wasn’t directly responsible, but the idiots his administration placed in charge, WERE!

I remember that day, too. This cartoon is cold, inappropriate—and hilarious. It is sad too, when you consider in the imploding wreckage that is Obamacare, a wreck that was predicted by Democratic senators who voted for it, it is the citizen without exemptions who are the Christa McAuliffes.

cubefarmer said, about 2 hours ago@parker misses Sr.Bullwinkle and Mr.Humphries“And yet here you are very day trolling your hate.”Does your health care plan cover psychological illnesses?

I remember that day. . . and all the previous days when astronauts were killed in their spacecraft. I assure you all, the launch of the ACA is as tragic as any of those.

Tasteless, absolutely tasteless…..

first time I’ve ever posted a comment of any kind outside of FB. I HAVE to agree with SCott23 that is is BEYOND absolutely tasteless