When Bill Clinton was president and was in the middle of the Monica Lewinksy turmoil, there were plenty of political cartoons making fun of him. Now George W. Bush is mired in low popularity with the American people and his own party, and there are plenty of cartoons making light of him.

Cartoonists don’t necessarily think of themselves as liberal or conservative. Though some definitely lean one way or the other, they aren’t sheep. Cartoonists that lean liberal will make fun of liberals sometimes, and cartoonists that lean conservative will make fun of conservatives sometimes.

Some people ask why the Tribune has cartoons making light of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin? To be sure, we have had cartoons that show her in a positive way, but people don’t recall those as much as the ones that poke at her. However, now even the conservative-leaning cartoonists are making light of her sometimes.

It must reflect that even Republicans are somewhat upset with John McCain’s choice of her as the veep candidate. You can speculate on the reasons.

The political cartoons get people thinking. You can provoke thought in a drawing in different ways than you can in prose. That’s the point of political cartoons.

You don’t read a newspaper to find only news and commentary with which you agree. You should disagree with the cartoons sometimes. There is value in disagreement. American politics isn’t a football game where you are rooting for one side or another. Maybe for some people who are diehard Democrats or Republicans, it is, but for the rest of us in the middle, we appreciate and need fresh perspectives. Cartoons provide that.

Otherwise, people need to relax. Folks aren’t going to vote Nov. 4 based on what they saw in political cartoons.