Editorial Cartoonis J.D. Crowe's Column: The Water's Fine; The Damage Is Done

Above cartoon copyright J.D. Crowe.

Editorial cartoonist J.D. Crowe writes about his cartoon and encourages people to visit the Florida coast.

"We won't know for a long time just how much damage the BP oil spill has caused the sensitive ecosystem of the powerful Gulf, but we do know that the short term damage to the Gulf Coast economy has been catastrophic. Gulf tourism is dead. Small businesses are dead or dying. Jobs, lost.

"... One round-faced, big-voiced character, Chef Eddie, transplanted from Boston on an entrepreneurial whim just before the oil spill, was on the street in Apalachicola hawking free gumbo to lure passers-by into his restaurant. It worked on at least one dorky cartoonist and his family. It was, as advertised, some of the tastiest gumbo you'll ever eat.

"Problem was, for Chef Eddie and the other restaurants in this charming Old Florida fishing village, there weren't many dorky cartoonist families walking around looking to spend dinner money. Like everywhere else up and down the coast, the oil spill has put a hurt on this town."