Nicole Hollander

 We've all been traumatized by the events of September 11. We worried about anthrax. We fear another terrorist attack. We've got a lot on our minds. Who can blame us, if like the woman in my cartoon we're too preoccupied to notice our civil liberties are in danger?

Why not let John Ashcroft define our democracy? And why not repeat our past mistakes.... let's put all young Muslim men in desert camps and apologize later.

The challenge of this cartoon was to be oblique and humorous about a serious issue. I set it in the style of the '40s detective story... complete with a curvy dame in trouble. She throws herself on the mercy of the Lonely Detective, friend of those who have no friends, a man fatally attracted to redheads and lost causes.

His client is distraught. She's turned the house upside down searching for her civil liberties, but they're gone. She fears they've been stolen. Can he get them back for her? It's his kind of case, a long shot with no fee in sight, and the cops will probably knock him around in the process... but he's used to that. It's part of the job.

About this contributor
Nicole Hollander is the creator of the syndicated cartoon strip Sylvia, which appears in many newspapers, but not really as many as she would like. If you can help, she would appreciate it and so would the cats.