The Washington Post is taking heat for posting a cartoon caricaturing Sarah Palin speaking in tongues and God telling St. Peter "All I can hear is some dam' right-wing politician spouting gibberish."

The Washington Post Ombudsman Deborah Howell wrote on Sunday that 350 readers have complained since the cartoon was posted online September 9, saying the cartoon lampooned their faith.

Cartoonist Pat Oliphant depicts John McCain saying, "She's a Pentecostal and speaks in tongues, and only God can understand what she's saying, but it gives my campaign a direct line to the almighty."

"Readers were right to complain; I will deal with political cartooning in another column," Howell writes. "Political cartoons and comics aren't selected at washingtonpost.com the way they are for The Post in print; they are automatically posted."

Universal Press Syndicate, which distributes Pat Oliphant's cartoons, writes: "No one is safe from the acid brush of Pat Oliphant. Oliphant is acknowledged as the nation's ...

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