Tom the Dancing Bug by Ruben Bolling for June 24, 2011
Transcript:
the Tom the Dancing Bug Comic Strip by Ruben Bolling Counter-Earth Sun Earth There circles the sun another Earth, a Counter-Earth, whose diametrically opposed orbit keeps it forever beyond our detection. Let us explore this strange world that is not quite the opposite of our own...BUT SOMEWHAT DISSIMILAR IN CERTAIN WAYS! On Counter-Earth, women have the constitutional right to abortions, and are able to undertake them without legal obstacle. But the President's ability to unilaterally wage war is conditioned on legal obstacles designed to logistically and psychologically thwart him. President: I've made my decision. Joe: Let's go! In order to initiate military action, the President must first drive 500 miles to a designated "armed crisis center." President: I told you to get gas back in Salem, Joe! Joe: Even below "E", we've got a few miles!! Lean forward!! At the center, the President must be shown pictures of civilians who might become "collateral damage": MAKE LOVE NOT WAR Man: ...and this is eight-year-old Ahmed Matar, who lives less than a mile from an arms depot... Then the President must remain through a 72-hour waiting period. Man: Just cool your jets, Mr. President. Woman: You know how emotional you get. After the waiting period, the President can go ahead with the procedure, but CAN'T USE ANY FEDERAL FUNDS!! President: WHAT?!! No federal funds??!! Joe: Let's see...I've got $70 and an Amtrak ticket...
Nebulous Premium Member over 13 years ago
Can we limit Congress on voting their own pay raises this way?
bdaverin over 13 years ago
And can the cartoonist learn the difference between “cooperating in a group NATO mission” and “unilateral war?”
QuiteDragon over 13 years ago
Um, I believe you forgotten the most important condition, Mr. Bolling. That is, to wage war, the President ***must*** lead the charge.
Possum Pete over 13 years ago
^ Like Bush did? Then it will be “Mission Accomplished”!
serion over 13 years ago
Actually, I think this is a commentary on the laws designed to prevent women from getting abortions: must travel out of state, must watch a sonogram and/or hear a description of an embryo or fetus at that stage of development, may not use federal funds.
serion over 13 years ago
Oh yeah, the waiting period laws as well.
Paul Rider Premium Member over 13 years ago
Brilliant! Just brilliant! Thanks, Ruben.
Ironman92 over 13 years ago
See, this isn’t really a comment on the war, guys. It’s a comment on how difficult it is to get an abortion. Because the war procedure on OtherEarth is the same as the abortion procedure here. /Explained
annamargaret1866 over 13 years ago
Ditto.
Wildcard24365 over 13 years ago
Well, it is an interesting contrast between how hard it is for one (1) woman to have an abortion versus how relatively easy it is for one (1) President to commit the military to, well… war, or whatever newspeak phrase he uses to call the governmental act of hurting people and breaking things.
Malcolm Hall over 13 years ago
The problem is that if the restraints on war making seem reasonable, then maybe the roadblocks to abortion aren’t so bad. No federal funds for war, a cooling off period, looking at the consequences of the planned action. It’s a great piece of satire but it really does work both ways.
person918 over 13 years ago
but see, forcing the president to have a 72-hour waiting period before starting a war would be patronizing because men carefully and rationally think through all actions before making them. women, on the other hand, are prone to abort children on a whim if they haven’t had enough chocolate that day, missed a shoe sale, etc.
person918 over 13 years ago
*prone to aborting (?)
pschearer Premium Member over 13 years ago
“Lean forward”? Can MS-NBC really believe their new catch-phrase will deflect attention from how far they lean Left?
3hourtour Premium Member over 13 years ago
..why is the president allowed to kill my son,but not me(I mean..why waste all the time,money,love and effort just to have the president kill him)?!?…
mrsullenbeauty over 13 years ago
This was clever, Mr. Bolling!
hugh_jainus over 13 years ago
Abortion is murder. War is hell. AGW is a hoax.Film at 11.
ickymungmung over 13 years ago
The United States attacks countries it deems “soft” i.e. read ‘female’. If Iran had nuclear warheads (explosive phallic symbols at their most turgid) we would never attack, but we knew Iraq, which lacked nuclear weapons and was therefore not a masculine threat, would have to bend over to our bold and penetrating Grab and Thrust Policy (shock and awe, baby). There is a War on Women, whose sovereignty over their own bodies is always in question—some day the “cooling off” period will be in morgue refrigerators after more poor women die. Thank you Mr. Bolling for another great srip—the counter argument to women’s rights is the Thou Shalt of Bronze Age priests.
MiepR over 13 years ago
Awfully well done; thanks, Ruben.
drtom01 over 13 years ago
That is what has always amazed me about Republicans. They care nothing about the woman. Make zero effort effort at pre-natal care. Heck they are doing everything they have to block most women’s pre-natal care by shutting down funding for it. They care zero about babies that have been born. No health care, cutting education, pre-K classes , food stamps ect. However the unborn are a major issue for them.
RickFyock over 13 years ago
I stopped showing up at war protests when our new President was elected. I am attending them again. Wrong is wrong even when my candidate does it, no excuses….
hugh_jainus over 13 years ago
Yo Ricky:Would you have shown up to protest the Revolutionary war?Just wondering…..
h_lance over 13 years ago
hugh_jainus -
Would you have shown up to protest the Revolutionary war?Just wondering…..
No doubt the person you are addressing can differentiate between defensive wars, domestic revolutions, and wars of aggression against nations which don’t pose a threat to the US.
It’s called the Department of Defense, not the Department of Making Somebody Else “Democratic” at the Point of a Gun, or the the Department of Using Everybody’s Taxes to Enrich a Few Military Contractors and Oil Industry Companies.
It should be used for defense.
Defense, good, unjustified aggression and/or looting, bad.
I realize that you disagree with this, but please don’t misrepresent the positions of others.
MisngNOLA over 13 years ago
I often wonder why those who are so adamant about a woman’s right to undergo an abortion are so willfully blind to the types of truly misogynistic behavior in many of the nations the US is now engaged in armed conflict against in some form or another. For example, when was the last time an American woman had her genitals mutilated because some male-dominated religious figure decided she might get some pleasure out of sex? Or when was the last time an American woman was put to death because she was raped by a relative? Or when was the last time that American women had to protest to ensure their right to drive their cars? I suppose women’s rights are only important when they involve being able to use the most invasive, expensive, and emotionally challenging form of birth control there is.