In hockey there are certain physical players who are designated as "enforcers" and it is their job to pick fights and mix it up on the ice. Despite what some readers think, an editorial cartoonist is not a journalistic "enforcer." It is not my job to intentionally pick fights and mix it up on the editorial page.

But, as one of the Post-Gazette's two editorial cartoonists, it is my job to push boundaries and make people think. To rabid fans of the subjects of some of my drawings, a gentle push can look like a sucker punch to the face.

If you read any of the letters to the editor about my Aug. 9 editorial cartoon on the 60th anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bomb (shown here), you know that a lot of people took it as a punch at our soldiers in World War II.

		Rob Rogers is a Post-Gazette editorial cartoonist, rrogers@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1979.

One reader complained that "veterans fought and died for this 'man' to be able to print garbage like this and to disrespect them this way. It's a shameful use of newspaper." Another couldn't believe my "palpable stupidity." Another called the cartoon an "embarrassing indictment of the intelligence of the editorial staff at the PG."

We also received many phone calls about the cartoon. I explained to one woman on the phone that it was not my intention to label all of our brave military men and women "terrorists," but she was hearing none of it. She said she had cancelled her subscription several times before because of my cartoons and this time her cancellation was going to be permanent.

Another caller had friends and relatives who had served in the war and he wanted an apology. I told him I would not apologize but I offered my explanation. I said I have never questioned the need to join the war in 1941 or the sacrifices made by the soldiers of World War Il. Fighting -- and winning -- that war was the right thing to do.

I argued that the 60th anniversary was a chance to pause and reflect on what happened and to ask ourselves if we would do it again. Did we really need to drop two nuclear weapons that killed hundreds of thousands of civilians to end the war? Some Americans say yes, others say no. I think it is a valid question to ask and to examine, especially in the context of today's new "war on terror."

He paused for a moment, then said, "I don't agree, and as long as I have you on the phone, I want to complain about another cartoon you drew. What kind of idiot would depict our president as a monkey?"

Editorial cartoonists are like visual op-ed columnists. They express their own opinion on pages designed to house a variety of opinions. There are liberal cartoonists and conservative cartoonists. Nobody would expect George Will to take a liberal viewpoint. He's a conservative columnist who gets paid to express his conservative view. Yet I receive calls and letters all the time asking why I don't draw something with a more conservative bent.

Contrary to what some readers might believe, editorial cartoonists spend a lot of time thinking about how best to present an idea. I spend several hours a day reading newspapers, writing down topics and working out ideas in my sketchbook.

Before it ever hits the page, the editorial page editor, Tom Waseleski, weighs in. Most days he's there to help me with clarity or to save me from embarrassing punctuation, but every now and then he kills a cartoon. It doesn't happen often, but since my job is to push boundaries, it's only natural that I may cross over the line from time to time.

When readers react to my cartoons about the pope or George Bush or the war, it's nice to know the paper has my back. After all, it is often one of the editors whom the angry reader wants to speak to, not me. I am lucky to work for a paper with editors and a publisher who have an appreciation of the value of good, sometimes tough, editorial cartoons and the courage to use them. Not all newspapers are like that; not all readers are so well-served.

I love my job. I love getting out of bed and going to work everyday. (OK, the getting out of bed part isn't fun, but the going to work is.) I get to spend my day filling a rectangular box with my opinion, humor and caricatures of newsworthy people (sometimes as a monkey). Some days I hope to be poignant. Other days I just hope to be funny. The best days are when I can be both.

That doesn't mean it isn't hard work. It doesn't mean I don't have days when I struggle to come up with an idea. And it doesn't mean I take my soapbox for granted. I never do. No matter what I draw, some readers will always see me as a cartoon version of Mario Lemieux skillfully maneuvering the puck down the ice and into the net for the score. To others I will always be the "enforcer."

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