Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for August 26, 2009

Now, before you all start posting comments here about Jeff’s intelligence, or the motivations behind his CO’s actions, you are all aware taht this is a cartoon right? And these these people are drawings of characters created by a very clever cartoonist as a medium for social commentary? Just checking, because some of the comments on past strips leave me wondering whether you all get the idea of satire.

This isn’t real?!? Gasp! I’m totally crestfallen….

Yeah. The parents of Mary-Jo could give the eulogy

I agree with Lewreader.

For all the benefit his big brother had on this country (imaginary or not) Ted, (although I really don’t feel comfortable speaking ill of the dead) was an example of what is wrong with American politics. I’m sure he was a great guy and all, but his political sense was exactly wrong most of his life.

To get back on the comic - the guy at the desk sure has a way of sounding officious about absolutely nothing…

Remind you of anyone?

I think Ted Kennedy was a pretty good person (flawed, but who isn’t? after Mary Jo I never saw him in the papers for that kind of thing again).

And he did do some good things in politics. But it seems like he was what Americans would call “left-wing”, so any conservative/Republican/right-wing person would just automatically condemn him.

I find American politics very polarized. You get your label (e.g. left-wing, right-wing, and so on), and then you don’t have to think about anything - your ideas about each issue (e.g. gun control, abortion, “socialized” medicine, the “nanny” state (where did that expression come from? I never heard of it until Obama was elected), etc…) are all laid out for you, and you don’t have to think. Your opinions have been prepared for you by other people, who act as authority figures.

The whole point about satire is that it must look as though the author has gone too far, in order to make a point. Generally I find that when I think Trudeau has gone too far, it turns out that I don’t know enough about American politics, and actually he wasn’t particularly exaggerating at all! It’s a case of “Truth is stranger than fiction”!

Jeff smells something fishy - by golly he really does belong in the CIA.

Kennedy did far more good for many people than any of his detractors will ever be capable of performing, including all of you Kopechne-talkers here, combined. Enough. Said.

Massachusetts native growls quietly and subsides

We’re finally rid of the jerk, but the stupidity that kept him there is still in place. Maybe Redfern could go track down something.

If the supervisor really wanted to make Redfern feel special, he would have given him a Top Secret courier envelope stuffed with newpapers…

Then the Taliban captures him and all hell breaks lose as they think that there is some encrypted info in there!

Rina’s 100% right. It’s not what ideas you actually have, it’s what side you’re on, and you’d better not deviate from the party line.

BlueRaven: You summed it up perfectly as far as I’m concerned. It’s been 40 years since Chappaquiddick and Kennedy HAS done much for the people in that time, even the ones who still rant.

…he’s been Obama-sized…

Rina & BlueRaven: Yes!

Bush just killed thousands of innocent Iraqi’s

3hourtour said

Bush just killed thousands of innocent Iraqi’s

Not to mention thousands of American troops, one of whom was almost my son-in-law.

EDIT: That is, my son-in-law survived (almost) uninjured being inside a Bradley that hit a mine (“IED” is a way of making it sound as if the Other Side are desperate and under-equipped) and was tossed through the air thirty feet away.

Not to mention finding himself face-to-face with one of the Other Side inside a Bradley another time.

Wow, Fairportfan. How is he?

@Tigger - Sure. Save for bungling around with Cuba and surviving on sheer charisma while doing very little before he got killed. Our only Great President was Washington, lamentably. The rest have just been, at best, relatively good.

RinaFarina said, 1 day ago I find American politics very polarized.

Well Spoken Rina.