A cartoonist for Iowa-based Farm News has been fired after drawing a cartoon that poked Big Ag CEOs.
Cartoonist Rick Friday told KCCI-TV, “That’s okay, hopefully my children and my grandchildren will see that this last cartoon published by Farm News out of Fort Dodge, Iowa, will shine light on how fragile our rights to free speech and free press really are in the county.”
I think Rick Friday is genuinely aggrieved here, but as KCCI commenter Ben Snyder points out, freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom from repercussions.
“Free speech as it’s meant by the 1st amendment means that he can’t be put in jail for what he said. It doesn’t mean that you’re free from all repercussions. For instance, if you do something at your job to hurt the earning of your employer, you can expect to be fired.”
These days, it is indeed pointless to point out facts that bite the hand that feeds you. You will get rolled.
