Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for September 15, 2009

Isn’t this a repeat from a few months back? Maybe GT is on holiday…

…which reminds me…doesn’t this republican/Rush/Fox news “Lies /One Nation Under God’ shouting remind you of the Salem Witch Hunt.Burn um at the stake whether they’re guilty or not ‘cuz we just feel like burnin’ somethin’.Wait,that reminds me of the KKK…never mind,I get where they’re coming from,now…

GT is now 61 years-old. I suspect the creative juices are now beginning to flow a little less forcefully than they use to. I suppose if Charles Shultz can republish his cartoon strip (which became increasingly more redundant as the years wore on) from beyond the grave, Trudeau can take an occasional break.

3hourtour, I wasn’t there at Salem (did CNN cover that?), but in both instances, people were afraid of insideous evil dark forces that they had reason to believe were trying to take over their lives and those of their children.

Socialism, witchcraft, what’s the difference? Nancy Pelosi makes a great spokesmodel for both.

Joe Allen, I wish I didn’t have to contribute to Social Security or Medicare… if I had my own and my employers contributions to invest myself, I would do much, much better than the ponzi schemes created by these manatory social programs, all of which are expected to go broke without major interventions.

Don’t even you left-wing loons wish you could withdraw the money that you and your employers invested in these programs and make real decisions that would ensure you and your families futures? Wouldn’t it be great if you could leave these earnings to your family?

Socialism is about not being able to make crucial decisions about what you have earned through your hard work for the “common good”. It’s a sacrifice enforced by the government’s gun. Why want more of it?

Joe Allen wrote: ” Why do you radical right-wing Republicans confuse social programs with socialism? ”

LOL

Probably because they have 6 letters in common. Which is why they have done away with ice cream socials at the churches.

Also, it is the nastiest word they can come up with to interject in a sensible discussion on issues of national import.

Nemi wrote: ” Socialism is about not being able to make crucial decisions about what you have earned through your hard work for the “common good”. ”

Socialism is what FLAMING ILLITERATES call the necessity of government involvement in aspects of the economy for which their exists no competition and for which free market forces simply cannot work.

“Socialism” isn’t meant to be pejorative… it simply is what it is, so there’s no need to get defensive about it when it comes up in conversation. I have no problem with the concept of socailism when it works, as it does for public safety and transportation. I do have a problem with it when it is used to allow the government make choices that free persons should be making for themselves.

Having choices is what it means to be free. Having choices taken away is the foundation of tyranny, no matter who takes them away, why they are taken away, or how benevolent the motives… and governments very seldom have benevolent motives.

lol A subset , of class warfare ?

My memory of the late Sixties and early Seventies was that the Liberals of the day were ardently pushing to release mentally ill people out onto the street. And voila, people that don’t have sound capabilities to think through complex notions are suddenly responsible for themselves.

I agree about SS and Medicare. They both have been proven to be nothing more than the politicians’ billy club against American citizens. http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/29/news/economy/fixingsocialsecurity.fortune/

I think it’s a rerun as well…I don’t know the specifics but I believe Trudeau’s current contract lets him do that.

Can’t complain, really, this is one of fairly few comic strips that remains relevant and clever.

After spending nearly four years as a homeless person in Tallahassee - after living well on a rather high income for years before that - I can really identify with Alice and Elmont. Not every homeless person is crazy or alcoholic, but there are some who simply enjoy the freedom. That freedom comes at a cost, though. The homeless life is not for the lazy.

There is no Medicaid and no Social Security checks for most of Florida’s homeless. You need to have a disability approved by Social Security to receive those benefits. Few receive food stamps.

Most of the homeless do not begin that life by choice. Many get back on their feet quickly with the help hard work and friends or family. Some adapt and find freedom there. (I know that I got a lot of reading done.) There are a lot of military veterans.

The majority (by choice or necessity) live alone most of the time. There are small group camps but usually camps are spread apart for privacy. As the strip says, “newbies” sometimes come in for a while. I never established a camp, but kept on the move. I had tried shelters but they were bad experiences.

There are few homeless shelters available; only one, “The Shelter,” is truly free to the needy. God bless them. Another, Hope Community, (also free) is not really a shelter but a true community for the homeless, with counseling and job search training, but there is usually a waiting list.

The others usually charge rent and require you to go “their” church as a condition of staying. We all have our own relationship with the Lord (especially the homeless) but have to attend services that many of us cannot relate to. Most were just too hard-core Baptist for my taste, although there was one particular church where I felt almost at home and attended regularly.

I am blessed to have finally escaped that life with the help of Hope Community, but when I see the homeless today I can’t help remembering the freedom and sometimes stop to talk for a while.

Guilden said: “My memory of the late Sixties and early Seventies was that the Liberals of the day were ardently pushing to release mentally ill people out onto the street”.

I don’t know where you were living, but in California, it was your hero, Ronald Reagan, who closed the hospitals for the mentally ill, saying that the individual communities should care for them, not the state. He is NOT my definition of a “liberal”.

Nemesys says first there is no difference between Socialism and Witchcraft, then says it’s not meant to be pejorative - No? He admires witchcraft? You can’t have it both ways. I think it WAS meant to be pejorative, actually.

All this uncaring talk of “Let the people do it, let the people invest their own money, blah, blah, blah”. Look at all the supposedly intelligent people who lost their savings, their retirement, in all these current frauds we’ve witnessed recently. I believe this was caused mostly by government NOT being involved as it should have been. Regardless, if everyone was responsible for their later years, what about the ones who ended up with nothing? Would you people let them starve? Throw them out? I would imagine they would actually have to be taken care of, once again, by the government, so once again the Gov. is involved, or would you rather the Gov. got involved more in protecting people’s money? Still more involvement. Talking about “what made this country great” is ignoring the fact that many, many years have passed since we could just head west and carve out a homestead, and we have about 200 million more people than we used to. My father had a low-paying job all his life, and my mother never worked outside the home, but he was able to buy a house and feed and clothe 7 children on his salary - those days are gone. We NEED government involvement in many areas of our lives now, and ranting about “Socialism” is an exercise in futility, just another way of expressing hatred of Obama and the “Liberals”. Possibly a short prayer to “You Betcha” will help your anger, relax you a little.

Ushindi, some of my best friends are Wiccans (Merry meet!!)

My comments were directed to zing at Ms. Pelosi (re: 3hour’s Salem Witch Hunt comments), not at socialists, per se, but your point that it’s a bad analogy is very valid… in no way do I wish to demean my Wiccan friends by comparing them to our Speaker of the House.

Sorry, guys. Bright Blessings, 93/93

How many Republicans has it been since Roosevelt ripped the Robber Barons an extra one, and cared about the environment?

With this group, old TR must be spittin’ in his grave. They don’t make em that way any more.

Bully, Bully

nemi wrote: ” “Socialism” isn’t meant to be pejorative… it simply is what it is, so there’s no need to get defensive about it when it comes up in conversation.”

~~~~CHUCKLE~~~~

I’m not at all being defensive.

I am just overwearied with people with second grade educations calling everything they don’t like socialism or fascism when they know less about these things than they know about quantum chromodynamics.

rricch wrote: ” what is the differance between their and there? ”

Here’s what you do.

Get your mommy to RUN (not walk) with you up to the local elementary school.

Have her sign you up … oh say … first grade.

Somewhere between now and the time you get out of high school, you will find the answer to your question.

scott wrote: ” But now we have OSHA and a million other things that make stupid stuff like social security unnecessary. ”

Please explain how the Occupational Safety and Health Administration makes SS unnecessary?