First, the Sorrow

It's in the nature of political writers to turn disaster into cliche. Seismic shifts end electoral droughts. Windy politicians with volcanic tempers create surging oceans of debt and ignite firestorms of criticism.

Cartoonists are no different. We'll label a wildfire "AIDS," tag a tidal wave "personal debt" or rechristen a hurricane after a school board member. No act of God is too disastrous to stand in for even the most mundane political issue.

But in the wake of true tragedy, our blithe use of such imagery seems flip and disrespectful.

For some period we treat the catastrophic event as what it is, a fearsome and remorseless killer. Eventually, employing the adage that tragedy plus time equals comedy, we'll be back with a new wave of tsunami metaphors.

But not for a while.