Yesterday’s edition of the Detroit Free Press ran a cartoon by Mike Thompson on the subject of vouchers that was blatantly anti-Catholic.  All six cells ridiculed school vouchers, but it was the last one that crossed the line with Catholics.   In reference to a “Vouch-O-Matic” machine that destroys the constitution, sucks millions out of public education, blinds the voters and churns out wooden nickels, the sixth graph reads, “To Order, Rush Your Tax Dollars To: The Roman Catholic Church c/o Kids First!  Yes!  ORDER NOW!”

Catholic League president William Donohue responded as follows:

“If there is one public policy issue that cannot be discussed without anti-Catholicism rearing its ugly head, it is school vouchers.  Every time this issue is put to the voters, some bigot conjures up fears of a Catholic windfall.  So it is not surprising that in Michigan, where a ballot initiative on vouchers is pending, that Catholic bashers would surface again.  And they did, with the Detroit Free Press leading the way.

“The offensive cartoon by Mike Thompson in yesterday’s paper is not an isolated incident.  Indeed, he got his cues from Ron Dzwonkowski, editor of the editorial page, and publisher Heath Meriwether: the editorial on school vouchers in last Saturday’s Detroit Free Press ended with the crack, ‘Catholic priests are expected to preach at least one of their sermons on vouchers with the theme ‘eyes wide open.’  Amen.’  This editorial obviously gave Thompson the green light to bash Catholics, and he did just that.

“The Detroit Free Press owes Catholics an apology.  Even Geoffrey Fieger would have to agree with us on this one.”

On display in the window of Seattle’s Art/Not Terminal gallery are two obscene, blasphemous paintings. As described by Michelle Malkin in Tuesday’s Seattle Times, the first painting shows “a smiling papal figure standing between two nuns. Each nun has her hand on the head of a male figure who is kneeling in front of the papal figure’s crotch. Are they conferring a religious blessing—or forcing the figure to perform oral sex?” It is entitled, “A Sex Act?”

Here’s how Malkin described the second painting: “Hanging from a crudely designed crucifix made of intersecting penises is a Jesus Christ-like figure receiving oral sex from a veiled figure. Below the cross, two nuns lie on their backs with the ends of a coat hanger between their legs. Pages of the Bible are scrawled with the Satanic figure, 666.” There is also a “painted depiction of a priest receiving oral sex from a small child.”

Catholic League president William Donohue addressed this issue as follows:

“We’ve known about these paintings for two weeks but decided not to issue a statement given the fact that the artist, Leigh Thompson, was actually calling the Seattle media trying to draw attention to his junk-yard creations. The gallery’s location and status are on a par with the abilities of the artist, and that is why we decided to let this public-access TV equivalent pass without comment. The gallery is a non-juried dump on Westlake Street that accepts any submission for a mere twenty bucks.

“I personally spoke with the artist last week and found him to be barely literate. Given all this, the Catholic League has no intention of using its resources to chase after Mr. Thompson. His fifteen minutes of fame have already been exhausted and that is why he will soon disappear. Unless Larry Flynt picks him up.”