A puzzling political cartoon -- supposedly "from the right," but . . . read on

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Pulitzer Prize winning political cartoonist, Mike Lukovich, is definitely liberal.    A few years ago, the paper began reprinting cartoons from other papers to "balance" the viewpoint.    So we can generally assume that outside cartoons are going to have a conservative slant -- often more like an anti-Obama sledge hammer.

Monday's cartoon, labelled "From the right" by Glenn Foden (King Features), was a little puzzling.  At first glance, it seemed garden variety conservative, this time anti-Hillary.   It shows a rifle-toting Hillary and several quaking hunting dogs perched up in the limbs of a big tree named "Benghazi."   At the base of the tree is a snarling skunk, labeled Trey Gowdy, who is the newly appointed chairman of the Select Committee to investigate the government's handling of the Benghazi attack.

The first impression is that it's simply depicting the current situation -- Gowdy and his committee going after Hillary.

But why a skunk?   They are not attack animals, nor do they track hiding prey, like bloodhounds.   They simply emit a terrible odor to repel everybody else.   To double down on the point:   skunks don't uncover a stink made by someone else;   the bad smell comes from them.

If that is what the cartoonist is saying, why did the AJC staff label it "From the right"?   Because what it seems to be saying -- and I totally agree -- is that the investigation does not pose any real danger to Hillary;   but the investigation is likely to really make the whole place smell bad.

Either it was a badly chosen metaphor;   or else the cartoonist is a bit subversive with his right wing audience.

Ralph