Much has been said and written about the lack of the American flag at Rangeview Library District facilities.  The controversy brought a great deal of media attention, including in the pages of the Northglenn-Thornton Sentinel.  This week the Sentinel editorial cartoonist took a shot at the issue and showed a clear lack of understanding.

The cartoon, published in the July 15, 2010 edition, shows a suited man saying, “Budget cuts continue to force staff reductions throughout the entire area.  However, we’ve found the solution.”  He continues in a second pane saying, “Buy flags for the libraries.” 

• Be sure to pick up a copy of the Sentinel to view the cartoon.  Due to copyright restrictions we can’t publish it here.

The cartoon insinuates that the purchasing of the United States flags and flagpoles took priority over retaining employees.  A casual reader walks away with the impression that someone lost their job due to the purchase of the flags.  Nothing could be further from the truth and the cartoon is entirely misleading. 

The fact of the matter is that the Rangeview Library District is flush with cash and has in fact added staff in recent years.  Thanks to the generosity of Adams County taxpayers not one person with the district has been laid off due to budget issues. 

A more accurate cartoon would have been a drawing of something similar to the image we whipped up with our original story on the topic shown below. 

Perhaps depict a man saying, “Thank you Adams County taxpayers for the millions of dollars per year you give us.  With your money we have bought fireplaces, big screen TVs, video games, spent thousands on marketing a new name, and bought dozens of banners for our parking lots.” Then perhaps a second pane showing Old Glory and the man saying, “We thought those were more important than flying our nation’s flag.”