Obama Watermelon-Toothpaste Controversy: Apologetic Boston Herald Cartoonist Says, ‘I detest racist humor’

Michael Cavna, THE WASHINGTON POST
WASHINGTON (The Washington Post)— Today’s instantly infamous “watermelon-flavored toothpaste”Obama cartoon (above) was not only published in the Boston Herald. Jerry Holbert’s shocking commentary was also sent out to his clients by his syndicate, Universal Uclick. But here’s the toothpaste-toon capper, if not the real twist:

The version of Holbert’s cartoon that was distributed to client newspapers and outlets says instead: “raspberry-flavored toothpaste” — rendering the work about as benign as floss.

So what happened, exactly? Clearly someone at the Kansas City-based syndicate had the correct judgment to call up “Rewrite!” for Holbert’s cartoon, which satirizes Secret Service failures involving incidents like that of recent White House intruder Omar Gonzalez.

That someone is Reed Jackson, associate editor at Universal Uclick.
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