Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for August 20, 2011

Jeff is going to be a ghostwriter. Congrats to the poster who suggested that earlier this weak.

Note the new elements: • Trff is smoking a cigar, inconsiderate as usual, • he gets off the subject of sex with her, • he lets her know what he thinks his story really is, • the smile drops from her face, • her, “We’ll be in touch” (= “Don’t call us; we’ll call you”, predicted by one of our illustrious group), • Jeff appears (also predicted) as Trudeau’s segue into the next scene, • Trff’s “I would hope so” and clinched fist, as an indication that perhaps he realizes that his backside is booted..These 7 new elements more than make up for the dearth of new elements in last strip. TRUDEAU IS BACK.

Coming soon from Random House — THE LEGEND OF THE RED RASCAL, A Novel — Definitely a Novel …

Any predictions as to whether or not Jeff also is going to try to put the moves on this hottie?

Actually, I’m looking for a team-up of the has-been and the never was, perhaps becoming respected media pundits expounding on how we can “win” the Middle East.

I remember Jeff making a pass (“hitting on” is too strong a term) at a woman by saying, “Share a taxi?” She replied, “Fail. Move along.” Ouch! Can Jeff take rejection? If he put moves on Becca, waaay out of his league, and she rebuffs him, what would he do? Pass out?

Melissa is the sergeant in the army, right? The one usually wearing camo fatigues? When did Jeff interact with her?

Yep. Saw that coming… not so Random House after all.

I see people, lots of people, all day long. And yet GBT is able with a few words and some simple lines to create a cartoon woman more attractive than 99.9% of the women I see every day. Becca is really sweet. But then, fantasies are always better than realities, that is what fantasies are all about. It’s what fuels not only Jeff, but Hollywood, and, it would seem, most politicians and their most ardent supporters. It what makes us “fall in love at first sight.” Our ability to project our dreams and wishes onto others. Art is showing a partial reality, showing us only those parts that convey the thing that the artist wants us to see. When you look at Becca, what voice do you give her? Print give her none, we do that. Imagine that voice a high-pitched whine, or with the thickest of New York accents, and poof! the attraction is gone. Odd the things you think of looking at a cartoon at 5 in the morning.

I’ve always wondered if those who criticise “The Prince” ever read it, even in English. Democracy is an old idea nobody accepted for thousands of years. I can’t understand why mob rule never caught on with the greatest minds in the world. The minority of those who embrace it have not had a very good track record according to the liberals. I can read of many great kings, not so many great Congresses.

Panal #3 says it all. A fine wrap up to this weeks lesson.

For those interested in “great kings”, here’s one, Il Duce Mussolini by name………………………………………………………………..CREATION OF FASCISM from Wikipedia (emphasis by capitalization added)………………………………………………………………..An important factor in fascism gaining support in its earliest stages was the fact that it claimed to oppose discrimination based on social class and was strongly opposed to all forms of class war.4647 FASCISM instead supported nationalist sentiments such as a strong unity, regardless of class, in the hopes of raising Italy up to the levels of its great Roman past. The ideological basis for FASCISM came from a number of sources. MUSSOLINI utilized works of Plato, Georges Sorel, Nietzsche, and the socialist and economic ideas of Vilfredo Pareto, to create FASCISM. MUSSOLINI admired The Republic, which he often read for inspiration.48 The Republic held a number of ideas that FASCISM promoted such as rule by an elite promoting the state as the ultimate end, opposition to DEMOCRACY, protecting the class system and promoting class collaboration, rejection of egalitarianism, promoting the militarization of a nation by creating a class of warriors, demanding that citizens perform civic duties in the interest of the state, and utilizing state intervention in education to promote the creation of warriors and future rulers of the state.49 The Republic differed from FASCISM in that it did not promote aggressive war but only defensive war, unlike FASCISM it promoted very communist-like views on property, and Plato was an idealist focused on achieving justice and morality while MUSSOLINI and FASCISM were realist, focused on achieving political goals.50,MUSSOLINI and the FASCISTS managed to be simultaneously revolutionary and traditionalist;5152 because this was vastly different to anything else in the political climate of the time, it is sometimes described as “The Third Way”.53 The FASCISTI, led by one of MUSSOLINI’S close confidants, Dino Grandi, formed armed squads of war veterans called BLACKSHIRTS (or squadristi) with the goal of restoring order to the streets of Italy with a strong hand. The BLACKSHIRTS clashed with COMMUNISTS, SOCIALISTS, and ANARCHISTS at parades and demonstrations; all of these factions were also involved in clashes against each other. The government rarely interfered with the BLACKSHIRTS’ actions, owing in part to a looming threat and widespread fear of a COMMUNIST revolution. The FASCISTI grew so rapidly that within two years, it transformed itself into the National FASCIST Party at a congress in Rome. Also in 1921, MUSSOLINI was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the first time.6 In the meantime, from about 1911 until 1938, MUSSOLINI had various affairs with the Jewish author and academic Margherita SARFATTO, called the “Jewish Mother of FASCISM” at the time.54……………………………………………………………….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolini

“Congrats to the poster who suggested that earlier this weak.”.That was me. Goes to show we don’t disagree on everything..I’m not sure DT understood what i meant when i said Mein Kampf was “pretty honest” – because his reaction mystifies me. I meant that Mein Kampf is an accurate reflection of Hitler’s mindset. It was the initial formalization of his ideas for National Socialism..The Time article wasn’t really connected with any of my arguments. It’s an interesting tiny snapshot into the Reich. Would have liked some background on why Nazi businessmen were told “they would have to take more risks and expect less profits.” It also stokes a little curiosity about Wohlthat and Thyssen..There’s a lot of whackjob ideas that make it into academia, so I take the consensus of scholars with a grain of sand. How do those scholars define “right?” That label has been applied to both Nazism and the Heritage Foundation, so one has to ask. Heritage isn’t nationalist, monarchist, racist, imperialist, or infatuated with the might of the civil service.

Jeff will not make a move. The young lady, ’Becca" will sleep with Trgff. The book about Red Rascal will be made into a comic.

RE: interacting with Melissa… I have wandered since the first time when they would meet again. I thought maybe in Jeff’s return after the hostage release but alas no.

I don’t remember the exact strip but Jeff was going on the secret mission where he accidently set off the missiles I think. They shared a helicopter ride.

DTPi: Trff’s “I would hope so” and clinched fist, as an indication that perhaps he realizes that his backside is booted.

I think Trff is so consumed with his own ego that “We’ll be in touch” must mean a private rendezvous is in the future.

“Power isn’t pretty…If you don’t have the stomach for crimes against humanity than you are in the wrong line of work, my friend.” about says it all.

That’s a quotable. And look! It’s the Red Rascal!

Is Jeff the “two o’clock?”

I mentioned about three weeks ago that Jeff’s forté may be in writing as he comes from good writing stock. Maybe this is his turning point? Might a steady lady be soon in his future? To quote Scarface: “In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women” He’s gonna need a WHOLE lotta power…

The print publishing industry is dying. But the internet publishing industry is booming as never before. If you write something and put anywhere on the internet, you have an automatic copyright (in the U.S.) on it.

Boy, with all his ballistic rhetoric about Bernanke and threats of secession wouldn’t be funny if Rick Perry got the Mussolini Treatment? Not funny in the “ha, ha” way, but funny in the karmic way.

He made the trains run on time? Actually what he did was to change the schedules to correspond to when the trains actually arrived and departed.

Anyone can make the trains run on time; just adjust the timetable schedules to reflect the actual running times.

It’s been argued that Machiavelli meant “The Prince” (1513) to be understood as a satire of tyranny. If so, Trff’s being a bit meta here.

“Democracy is the worst system in the world – except for all the others.”

I grew up with the following understanding:Communism is BAD because it is not democratic. Communists believe in forcing people to do things. This makes it unacceptable. A communist country must be a dictatorship – BAD.Socialism is GOOD because it is democratic. Its goals are similar to communism’s goals (e.g. universal health care), but people are to be persuaded into accepting it. E.g. in Sweden, the system swings back and forth from more socialism to less, as people vote in each election according to their preferences.Capitalism? We didn’t actually talk about it!! I only had a vague idea of what it was, and to this day I vaguely feel that I don’t approve of it, because it seems to say that it’s ok for the stronger to destroy the weaker; and its definitions of stronger and weaker vary according to the speaker.Americans seem to equate capitalism automatically with democracy (both of which they say are GOOD). I can’t see why.(I’m a Canadian. Hence I froth at the mouth about these things less than an American would. I don’t feel it’s my Manifest Destiny to save the world, i.e. to make it be like my country.)

The thing I find about capitalism is that it feeds off Man’s inherent selfishness. “Give me more” “Don’t take what is mine” “I have material wealth and am therefor superiour” I’m Canadian as well and though I’m pretty Libertarian (actually, I classify myself as a cynical Libertarian) but I find, for the most part, this Capitalism works. But only up to a point. When used “unfairly” (manipulating the markets, hedging on funds you don’t have etc.) it can have serious repercussions on the nation as we’ve seen in last two years.I keep waiting for the little boy to look at his ten dollar bill and cry out “It’s only paper!” before the world economy collapses and becomes as invisible as the Emperor’s new clothes.

Becca’s poker smile has disappeared. Not a good sign for Trff. Perhaps Jeff’s “Tales of the Red Rascal” will make her smile again..Let’s hope…