Ah, it simply wouldn't be a Salon arts article if it wasn't accompanied by an extended bout of huffing and puffing from tomreedtoon. You'll notice, of course, that he offers no evidence of the "petulant name-calling and personal insult" that he perceives in this piece. This is Mr. Toon's calling card: a combination of smugness and lack of substance for which he takes a certain Salon TV critic to task on a near-weekly basis, with a determination that routinely threatens to make the infatuation he clearly feels for her explicit. I'm surprised that he hasn't laid out an arbitrary set of rules that political cartoonists should be expected to follow. Maybe next week? (Fingers crossed!)

tomreedtoon:

"There were even touches of heartbreaking humanity, like the street hooker showing up for free medical care from a bus, who was encouraged to sing a brief refrain from Phantom of the Opera. She once had dreams of being a singer, before she became a repository for the disgusting fantasies of worthless men."

I'm not surprised that tomreedtoon would generalize about an entire cross-section of people (men who have sex with prostitutes, in this instance) without offering anything to back it up. I am somewhat surprised, however, by this:

"Moment of genuine self-disclosure, instead of the

Havrilesky kind; when I discovered my older brother patronized prostitutes, I broke off relations with him and his family as much as possible. I knew he was a thief, liar and cheat, but this "victimless crime" made him a supporter of human slavery, which was unforgiveable. His funeral was three weeks ago. I didn't go. I might never go to see his grave."

I cannot imagine how tomreedtoon's brother could've become so obviously troubled (and, might I conjecture, lonely?) with a figure of such empathy and familial support at his side. A chicken-or-egg question of sorts: was tomreedtoon's brother "worthless", as he seems to describe virtually all johns who visit prostitutes, BECAUSE he solicited sex from hookers, or did he seek out prostitutes because he had ALREADY been made to feel worthless?

Tomreedtoon's response was considered and substantial- more so than his first comment, which is all I would ask for. At least, it was until the final lines:

"I'm guessing you're a modern, young man for whom lines don't exist; no difference between kicking a can or a child. Good for you. I'll keep my boundaries, thank you."

Exactly the kind of rhetorical sucker punch I've come to expect. I'm no supporter of prostitution, and never claimed to be in my previous post. However, the fact that I called on tomreedtoon to explain his argument in more depth, as he routinely does with Havrilesky, somehow marks me as scum. Absurd.

Pure comic genius. You are being ironic, correct? If not, let me try to address some of your points.

"In public, people do have some expectation of privacy, sure, but my sensibilities are assaulted all the time when I see obese women wearing spandex leggings, for but one example. My mental privacy, where I imagine bare breasted virgins all around me in sunny splendor feeding me grapes as I recline (apocryphal dream, all right?) is VIOLATED by these fatties. Should these women be arrested for ASSAULTING my sensibilities? I am beginning to think so."

Good luck trying to prove that these "fatties" in spandex leggings dressed in that manner in order to interrupt your own personal, private reveries. Let's try to stay within the bounds of reality.

"The next time a girl that I AM NOT INTERESTED IN smiles more than normal at me, or starts talking me up, or does ANYTHING whatsoever that implies she may be interested in me, I may have to consider having her arrested for violating my space."

Are you seriously equating this with someone, say, taking pictures of your crotch when you're not looking? Do you have any sense of social boundaries, or is anything fair game to you when two people interact with each other in public?

"A redhead skank I knew had no problem exposing her underwears at my friend, who she was into, by spreading her legs apart slightly. So women are more than happy to use this power WHEN IT SUITS THEM, but want to criminalize it when men that the women are not into react back."

Got any evidence that in this particular case, the woman courted this kind of attention? And just how many redhead skanks DO you know, by the way? Just curious.