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Cartoonists Dig In on Obama Dog Meat Story

Yesterday, The Daily Callerbroke” the story that while living in Indonesia with his stepfather, a young President Obama ate many adventurous meals, including dog meat.

From a passage of his book “Dreams From My Father,” Obama recounts that he “learned how to eat small green chili peppers raw with dinner (plenty of rice), and, away from the dinner table, I was introduced to dog meat (tough), snake meat (tougher), and roasted grasshopper (crunchy).”

Romney supporters leaped on the news, as the former Massachusetts governor has been dogged by the story of  the family’s Irish setter Seamus, who traveled in a crate strapped to the top of the family’s station wagon on a 1983 trip from Boston to Canada.

Leave it to our terrific conservative cartoonist Eric Allie to nail the president with his latest cartoon:

Nate Beeler, the new staff cartoonist for the Columbus Dispatch, also weighed in on “Dogmeatgate”:

I asked Nate about his dog meat cartoon, and if he thought either dog story were fair game for reporters. Here are his thoughts:

The “Obama ate a dog” story was too juicy (apologies) to ignore. It’s just plain funny. Adding to the comedy is the fact that people are talking about the candidates’ decades-ago treatment of dogs in the first place. Obama’s campaign is “obsessed with the dog thing,” as even liberal commentators like Chris Hayes acknowledge. And now Romney supporters will obsess over the ate-a-dog thing. There are much bigger fish to fry — and like most people, I prefer seafood over canine. When it comes to election politics, fairness goes out the window. I hope my cartoon helps highlight how silly it is.

So what do you think – is it fair to attack Obama on something he did as a child? Comment below and let us know, or leave a note on our Facebook page.

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Beeler Moves to Columbus Dispatch

I wanted to take a second to congratulate our brilliant cartoonist, Nate Beeler (view Nate’s cartoons here), who has been chosen as the new staff cartoonist for The Columbus Dispatch. Beeler will start his new job in April, and I asked him to describe how it all came about:

In all honesty, I wasn’t looking to leave The Washington Examiner. But I’m an Ohioan at heart, so when The Columbus Dispatch, my hometown paper, asked if I was interested in applying, I couldn’t say no. I know from growing up with The Dispatch at the kitchen table that it’s a top-notch newsroom and the greatest newspaper in Ohio. (They even have a sign that says it. Finally, truth in advertising!) For me, that’s an incredible platform from which to engage readers with my cartoons. I’m really fortunate to able to move from one impressive newsroom to another, and it’s humbling that The Dispatch likes my cartoons so much. Most importantly, this is an opportunity to be with family. My son will be able to grow up with his grandparents close by, and my wife and I will maybe get to have a few more movie nights out together.

This was the hardest decision of my career, and I will dearly miss my D.C. friends and colleagues. I’ve been taking solace in the fact that in the big newsroom that is social media, their friendship and wisdom are just a tweet away. It will be bittersweet to watch from afar as The Examiner continues to blossom. I can’t comment on whether they are going to fill my position because I just don’t know. This came as a big surprise to them, and they are still trying to catch their breath.

Nevertheless, I’m really excited for first day I draw a cartoon with the words “The Columbus Dispatch” written next to my signature.