Only it’s not President Bush this time, it’s John Caffery, a resident of Beaumont, Texas, who last Sunday afternoon erected a large sign that had one of the controversial Mohammed cartoons on it. The sign also carries a message about the subsequent rioting throughout the world caused by the publishing of the cartoons in a Danish newspaper.

From The Beaumont Enterprise:

John Caffery called it an act of cowardice by U.S. newspapers for not publishing controversial Muslim-based cartoons, so the local resident decided to take matters into his own hands.

Caffery couldn’t understand why American newspapers opted to omit the cartoons but write about the rioting. He said newspapers were not giving the public all of the information they needed to understand.

So he decided to be a source of information, he said, because it’s a matter of free speech. At the very least, he can let his local community know the rioting, violence and denouncement of the United States is over a cartoon.

“It’s cowardly for (a) newspaper giving in to the pressure from the Muslims for these so-called offending cartoons,” Caffery said. “Most of the cartoons are pretty silly. The one out there on the sign is probably one of the least offending cartoons.”

The sign is four feet by eight feet, according to Caffery’s estimation, and was made as “large as it feasibly” could be made, he said. A cartoon of Muhammad’s head shaped like a lit bomb is depicted to the left and a statement on the right reads “For this cartoon in Danish and Norwegian newspapers, Muslims worldwide have rioted and killed, and now offer $11 million reward to kill the cartoonist.”

Read the whole article [hat tip: Fark.com] and be sure to check out the cartoons and this update on the cartoon kerfuffle at Michelle Malkin’s site.

[Update] I’m sure you won’t be surprised to learn that of these newspapers and TV stations that have carried the Caffery story:

• The Beaumont Enterprise

• Channel 10 KTEN

• Channel 4 KGBT

• Dallas Morning News (registration required)

• The Associated Press via ABC 13

Not one of them had a picture of Caffery’s sign! Our pusillanimous mainstream media!

Does anyone know if the media’s cowardly behavior during the cartoon controversy can be held against them when it’s license renewal time? It should be easy to argue that they haven’t been acting in the public interest.

[Update] I came up empty on searches for John Caffery’s email address. I was hoping he could send me a photo of his sign so I could post it here – if you read this and know John, please forward my request on to him.

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