Bruce Tinsley and `Mallard Fillmore' strike again!

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Oct 15, 2002 | by John Elvin

As the accompanying cartoon surely demonstrates, the popular conservative comic strip "Mallard Fillmore" continues to take a stand against liberal hogwash. The strip is the work of Bruce Tinsley, profiled in INSIGHT [see "Right to Laugh," Aug. 13, 2001] as a commentator who views his mission as bringing "to public attention things Americans don't normally see in the mainstream media and certainly don't see commented on as I do."

Tinsley's cartoons are shaped in reaction to the news; he looks for a story "that really makes me angry or shocks because of its stupidity." He thrives on absurd examples of political correctness, and thus had a field day during the Clinton regime. In one series, TV newsman "Chet Hunkley" turned the cameras on a "right-wing paramilitary hate group" that turned out to be Cub Scouts on a camping trip. Revelations included "evidence of their bigoted, hateful philosophy" consisting of a tree house with a "No Girls Allowed" sign, and the scoop that the group was manufacturing napalm--though, as it turned out, they actually were roasting marshmallows.

Difficult though it may be for liberals to fight back against a duck, "Fillmore" does have detractors. Tinsley has received death threats and routinely gets hate mail. He also has helped some editors discover how out of touch they are with readers. A few newspapers that cancel led the comic strip subsequently recanted in response to vigorous protest.