Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for October 21, 2011

Alex did the right thing! Leo let Alex drive.

Leo, let Alex drive before both of you are playing harps.

Those OWS people are slobs.

Yay, Alex! You’re there for Leo!

Question: What are two differences between NY and Kandahar?(1) Both have trashy streets, but at least Bloomberg clears away the donkey carcasses (= Weiner and other dead Democrats)(2) No suicide bombers (yet) among the OWS crowds

Leo obviously needs more treatment. Just as Ray does. BD seems to have stabilized much better. What are the residual effects of post-traumatic stress disorder? Is Trudeau being accurate to evidence-based medicine? Alex needs to be more like Boopsie if she’s going to continue to hang in for her man.

Stay out of Baltimore! And Boston!.Those cities could use a little taste of Sorkh Razil.

Leo’s having Afghanistan flashbacks of Iraq.

I want a T-Shirt that says “Sorkh Razil” or perhaps “Sorkh Razil lost my $50million”

America needs more treatment. or any.

@pcha1969 Agreed! A reminder and hint: Not every trigger is dramatic or obvious, they can also sneak up during a quiet moment on a park bench.

Note the architectural detail in panel 2. GT goes the extra step.

I’m no expert but letting Leo maintain control of his faculties makes sense to me. War, like most traumatic experiences, never leaves you.

Don’t fret…it will probably be a recurrent theme.

This is pretty much how those of us who are attached to vets with severe PTSD end up learning about triggers. Unfortunately it’s a lot of trial and error. She’s right though, Leo needs to get out from behind the drivers seat, otherwise it could end up getting bad. Thanks to GT for making this realistic.

End the oligarchy? All governments, including “anarchy,” are effectively oligarchies.

Donkey carcasses is a good one. My cab driver in Karachi took it in stride. If you think traffic is bad in NY, throw in donkey carts & camels.

You can’t find the donkey carcasses when you’re neck deep in elephant dung.

They voted in a flock if scoundrels who gave away our national treasury to their bank buddies and bogus solar companies, and now they think it’s tragic that the economy’s collasping and the money’s all in the hands of a few.

SPOT On Mr. Trudeau! Thank you for adding this very important theme to the story line. So many service members suffer from PTSD, and are overwhelmed. They need coping skills and help to sort it out and have a better quality of life.

U bitch, babygirl.

In case you didn’t know, DT is praising you when he says, “u bitch…”

“General Eyechart’s carcass being rolled down the streets.” Wasn’t Mussolini’s fat carcass mutilated by Italian mobz after he fell from power as the allies were booting behind from the south during WWII?

Toggle’s an Iraq vet, not Afghanistan.

My spousal unit has put up with my PTSD for 42 years. A couple of months ago, a “trigger” set me off while driving in a "hazard reminder situation. She had to fight HER instincts, and let ME continue to drive. Our son deals with PTSD from Bosnia, Iraq, and elsewhere, and he’s very familiar with those “carcasses”, plus foam-formed fireplugs, cinder blocks that aren’t, and vehicles parked where they shouldn’t be. Our troops coming home today have a lot of “every day items” that can represent a lethal threat- it was easier after coming home from ‘Nam where they didn’t have as much “civilization”.

The worst annual heap of (actual) garbage in DC is the crap left behind after the Right to Life March.Second place? The detritus from the Gay Pride Parade.I HATE walking in downtown DC after either one.

There are plenty too many of both right-wing slobs and left-wing slobs. Nuf sed.

@dylanThomasPI – the difference is, today we have right wing media which deliberately creates confusion and division by playing to the fears and ignorance of those not educated enough to see through how they’re being manipulated by this media. They deliberately create “right wing slobs” or bullies, who try to intimidate anyone who thinks differently. All totalitarian regimes – on the left or the right – do this.:It’s the oldest trick in the book – the masses overwhelmingly outnumber the few at the top, and so those at the top pit one group against another, to divide and conquer. We waste enormous energy on a manufactured right vs left divide, or any other division (race, religion, or ethnicities are good candidates) that can be exploited by the few at the top. The Koch bros and those like them, can remain behind the scenes, while the propagandized mob does their work for them.:As for “left wing slobs” – yeah there are some, but they don’t have the full force and weight of the “moneyed aristocracy” (as Thomas Jefferson put it) behind them.

@DylanThomas, Tea Party gatherings are when the surrounding vicinity gets cleaned up even cleaner than it was when they got there.

I saw it happen a number of times in D.C. The OWS and similar types left mountains of trash; the Tea Party an similar types lined up and policed up everything, placing it in or right beside the trash cans.

It’s called being responsible and socially conscious. I’d rather hang out with those who clean up after themselves, than those who feel entitled to trash wherever they are, expecting someone else to clean up for them.

Being confirmed litterers is not how one wins over the uncommitted…

Oligarchy, democracy, anarchyThese terms are from Plato’s Republic. Plato’s famous book 8 describes how the republic decays when its Philosopher-king dies and is succeeded by his well-meaning but glory-seeking son, who scorns wealth and sacrifices himself in battle to preserve the republic.With peace achieved, the oligarchy (rule by the few) takes over (oligarchy is the same as plutocracy which means government by the wealthy). Oligarchs and plutocrats are like our CEOs with their lobbyists: they are proud of their money, whereas the aristocrats they replaced were ashamed to flaunt their wealth.Oligarchy gives way to democracy when those working or fighting for the plutocrats realize that their superiors are in fact lazy cowards. In a democracy, everyone has an equal stake in the nation’s wealth and health.Democracy sounds even better than the original republic that depended on a Philosopher-king, but in fact it is far worse, as Plato explains. The republic was based on justice and the P-king’s job was to be constantly on the lookout for injustice suffered by any member of the commonwealth.Unfortunately, democracy substitutes bare mathematical equality for justice. Every adult gets one vote and the majority that prevails stomps on the rights of the losing minority, so that instead of a just democracy (or a commonwealth), you get something like a “numerocracy”: not active rule by the people (democracy), but passive rule by the majority that holds the power or wealth.Plato says this pseudo-democracy, where nobody cares about justice for all, will soon collapse in anarchy, which is almost as far as you can get from a just republic or commonwealth.Almost but not quite. The polar opposite to a republic is reached when the majority, fearing for their property, elect a “strong man” or tryant. “Give me a bodyguard,” he promises, “and I’ll protect your wealth.” And so we get tyranny.

I knew yesterday Alex wouldn’t leave Leo hanging. Trudeau has too much compassion for soldiers and war veterans to allow it to happen.

Can’t believe it, only a few more hrs left in D-Day, (pacific time) and people are still talking about the comics. Didn’t people pay attention to Camping’s Prophecies? Don’t let the “will probably” qualifier lull you into a false sense of security. And I hope the Jews are paying attention, hate to see some one get blindsided. Come hell or high water, I’m taking my OWS sign with me, “Corporations will be persons when Texas executes one”

Well I guess this is it, I wanted to take a moment and let everyone know how I feel about them, but there’s just not enough time. Now I know what the “Silent Scream” feels like. See some of ya’ll on the other side.

Why is Leo flashing back to Afghanistan? He was never in Afghanistan. He was in Iraq.

I’ve been back from Vietnam for forty years … and I’m still not back from Vietnam.

Poor guy. She just got done telling him the donkey carcasses were gone.