Dear Mr. Adams,
When I first read this morning that you have endorsed Mitt Romney for president, I assumed I was reading a piece of satire.
After all, one of the principle characteristics of the Dilbert comic strip series is its brutal critique of corporate culture. And I value Dilbert, as so many people do, for the way in which it highlights how workers' talents and worth are rarely compensated in corporate environments.
So I was more than a bit curious to know why you endorsed, of all people, Mitt Romney, the embodiment of corporate greed and cynicism run amok. A man who has never valued the "common folk" working for him.
Your reasoning? According to Politico, which quotes you:
A key factor in his decision, wrote cartoonist Scott Adams, is what he described as President Barack Obama’s role in a ruling in federal court to send to prison a California man who operates a medical marijuana dispensary, with a sentence between 10 years and life.
“And I assume the President — who has a well-documented history of extensive marijuana use in his youth — is clamping down on California dispensaries for political reasons, i.e. to get reelected,” Adams wrote, pinning blame for the man’s arrest on Obama. “What other reason could there be?”
Fine. You don't like Obama's decision in this case, which is fair. If you've decided not to vote for the man based upon this episode, despite your admitted agreement with the President on
most some issues, that's your business.
However, your rationale for endorsing Mitt Romney, a man with whom you disagree with on most things? You have none, other than spite. Why do I say so? You basically say it yourself:
“Romney is likely to continue the same drug policies as the Obama administration,” he wrote. “But he’s enough of a chameleon and a pragmatist that one can’t be sure. And I’m fairly certain he’d want a second term. He might find it “economical” to use federal resources in other ways than attacking California voters. And he is vocal about promoting states’ rights, so he’s got political cover for ignoring dispensaries in states where medical marijuana is legal.
“So while I don’t agree with Romney’s positions on most topics, I’m endorsing him for president starting today. I think we need to set a minimum standard for presidential behavior, and jailing American citizens for political gain simply has to be a firing offense no matter how awesome you might be in other ways.”
So while you disagree with Romney on virtually everything, you're endorsing him because he might not be principled, and might not actually do those things he says he will. Because he might be a chameleon?
There could be no more cynical rationale for endorsing Romney than what you've just given. And your comic strip, Dilbert, is a standard-bearer for calling out and critiquing cynicism.
Your integrity as a thinker, as an intellectual, as a social critic is lost for me. And I will no longer read your comics in the same way, if I ever read them again.
At all.