Editor:

I just put down your May 5 edition. I MAY finish reading it after writing this letter. I found the cartoon by Joel Mielke to be deeply disturbing on so many levels that I hardly know where to start. He would seem to imply that residents of Fortuna (and Eureka) are rednecks of low mental capacity who would run out into the street half-dressed, half-drunk and shooting firearms in celebration of the death of Bin Laden. Do I have that right?? And he also would seem to imply that by omitting other communities (read: Arcata?), he feels that they fall into another (more enlightened?) category. I would be interested to know how residents of Arcata would react to a stereotype depicting them all as pot-smoking, dreadlocked,  grow-house operators.

This is WAY too edgy for me and I don't even live in Fortuna. I am, however, a member of and range officer for the Fortuna Pistol Club, which has been promoting the safe and responsible use of firearms for longer than I can remember, and I personally know of no one who resembles the idiot depicted in Mr. Mielke's cartoon. I not only find his stereotype to be offensive to me but also feel offended by your having published it. While I may continue to read the Journal from time to time, I will, since I recycle, now and in the future visualize it as being recycled to toilet paper. Some satisfaction can be found in that thought.

Steve Courtemanche, Ferndale