Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for November 25, 2012

He’s driving on a track coated with “moly-lube”, and grip is NOT in his future.

The zip ghost writes his first book!

And the reality-crazed crowd goes wild as the democrats write another whopper.

Love this strip a lot, I do.

Jeff’s an American,Zip. He can’t be knighted.

Check the difference in the eyes. Zip has the eyes of a child, full of wonderment, innocence and vulnerability, Jeff the sunglass-shaded eyes of a no-bid-contracted “black ops” agent conning a whore in a $20 million coke deal in a bar in a Monaco casino. (DICK Cheney would be sooo pleased.)

What an obviously unrealistic premise, Zip! Everybody knows that the Red Rascal wouldn’t be eligible for a knighthood, as he’s not British.

Did the Red Rascal ever actually go on any adventure other than losing the ransom money?

“Dual nationality can occur as the result of a variety of circumstances. The automatic acquisition or retention of a foreign nationality, acquired, for example, by birth in a foreign country or through an alien parent, does not affect U.S. citizenship. It is prudent, however, to check with authorities of the other country to see if dual nationality is permissible under local law. Dual nationality can also occur when a person is naturalized in a foreign state without intending to relinquish U.S. nationality and is thereafter found not to have lost U.S. citizenship: the individual consequently may possess dual nationality. While recognizing the existence of dual nationality and permitting Americans to have other nationalities . . . .”

http://travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship_778.html

But he can be honored posthumously…

What is this Democrat/Republican thing . . . I thought the election was over!!! And besides, this is only a cartoon, true a great one, but still it is only a CARTOON fellas!

Jeff’s Red Rascal character CAN INDEED BE KNIGHTED. Under special circumstances, which can be arranged, obviously, by cartoonist Garry Trudeau. (Unbelievers, read the post above, third one up, the quote from an official U.S. government website.)

As Bugs Bunny would say, “Unlax, Doc!” Your post rightly concerns honorary knighting by the UK Queen.

My post rightly concerns the legality of an actual, real non-honorary knighting by the UK Queen of a person with dual citizenship. Two different types of knighthood.

If Zonker can be a British Lord, then Jeff can be a knight.

People who are not United Kingdom citizens can be awarded an honorary knighthood, under which they are not permitted to be called “Sir”, or “Dame”.

Some Americans who have been accorded this honour are:

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Bill Gates Rudi Guiliani Billy Graham Alan Greenspan J Edgar Hoover Bob Hope (born in England but a US citizen) Henry Kissinger Andre Previn Norman Swarzkopf Jr. Steven Spielberg

Jeff could get the KBE which is a form of honorary knighthood for non-Britons, such as Irish singer Bob Geldof for his charity work; or US Defence Secretary Caspar Weinberger for supporting Britain during the Falklands War. The real flaw in Zipper’s plan is that the Queen will never be allowed to go to Afghanistan – Jeff would have to go to Buckingham Palace (even better actually).

The real flaw in the plan is that Prince Harry is a fully-trained combat co-pilot/gunner serving in a AH-64 Apache attack helicopter.The Apache has multiple systems redundancy to improve combat survivability. It has enhanced structural strength, crashworthy fuel and landing systems, and shielding against ballistic strikes.It is armed with a 30-millimeter M230 Chain Gun ‘slaved’ to the gunner’s helmet to point where ever he looks. The Apache carries mixtures of AGM-114 Hellfire anti-tank missiles, and Hydra 70 (70 mm) rocket pods for anti-materiel, anti-personnel, and suppression.The latest versions have GFAS to detect muzzle flashes and aim the Apache’s weapons at ground-based weapons fire sources.The Red Rascal will never be in a position to “stage an ambush”.

All Jeff has to do is reach middle age. That’s what I did, and now I’m “Sir” to most of the people I deal with.

many crazy ideas, especially the bad ones, happen over food and drink, especially drink.

"never let REALITY get in the way of a “good story”lol, lol! Sorry, I forgot. Red Rascal is all ‘make-believe’ . . . so anything is possible!

Ok, I won’t say that I really dislike the Red Rascal, but he isn’t my favorite. I much preferred the story line of the last few days prior. The Red Rascal is funny, I just don’t enjoy him as much as a lot of the other characters…

Amusing how he is not feeling the writing thing, just the money thing…

Thanks to everyone for clearing up the knighting thing. I thought I had heard about Giuiliani after 9/11 and was going to have to look that up. There are rules about foreigners getting knighted but it can happen apparently. I guess it is the title which is different after being knighted if you are not British, as someone also mentioned.

Since Prince Harry doesn’t wear an Apache helicopter to bed, I’m thinking there are plenty of chances for ambush. Use your imagination.

Though Zips may only be suggesting a plot for JEFF to flesh out in a graphic novel, no gun0to-the-head prevents Zip from trying to do HIS OWN. Recent fMRI-scan research of creative people “in action” suggests he doesn’t have to worry about telling “fiction from reality”. He doesn’t have to worry at all, JUST DO A SAMP. Becca’ll tell him if he’s got a shot or not.

I’m sure they always look after the British royals, wherever they go. i know something happened to Diana, but this was after the divorce so it was a different situation. I was surprised the British lost track of one of the Cameron children not long ago, after a family outing, one of their children was left behind in a British pub. I don’t think that would happen here, with our incredible Secret Service.

It was said that even after some scandalous behavior on the part of some Secret Service agents during a trip to Latin America, the prez was never in any danger. Not so sure about the Cameron child who was left behind in a British pub, but I guess the level of security may be different for the royals. I was surprised some years ago that the British PM Blair was flying in a commercial plane with his family on his way to a Disney park.

Sir Douglas Fairbanks Jr. 
Sir Bill Gates 
Sir Rudi Guiliani 
Sir Billy Graham 
Sir Alan Greenspan 
Sir J Edgar Hoover 
Sir Bob Hope 
Sir Henry Kissinger 
Sir Andre Previn 
Sir Norman Swarzkopf, Jr. 
Sir Steven Spielberg

aren’t just “in all but name”, they’re “in name also”. The fact that U.S. media don’t bother to insert the “Sir” doesn’t mean they don’t have a right to. For their own reasons — too stilted-sounding?, not “American” enough, conveying a misleading “foreign” sense? — they choose not to. (I have a CHICAGO MANUEL OF STYLE, which is considered definitive for U.S. writers and editors, in my personal library, but right now I’m too lazy to thumb through it to find the customary usage of that title. But I will if I have to.)

Nor does another honorary title, that of “doctor”— Dr. Robert De Niro, Dr. Gwen Ifill, Dr. Kermit-the-Frog, Dr. Jon Bon Jovi, Dr. Aretha Franklin, Dr. Muhammad Ali, Dr. Dolly Parton, Dr. George Foreman, Dr. Stephen Colbert, and Dr. Mike Tyson — enjoy much usage in U.S. media, not even on Faux News.

I wonder what is up with the security situation of the PM in GB? Maybe some of our British friends could help with this? Does the PM have a private plane for himself and his family? Does the PM and his family have the same security detail as the royal family? Far from idle gossip, if any of the kids were to ever come in harm’s way in terms of the family of the PM, it would be very serious indeed. As terribly dark as it sounds, I have been told by some journalists that the reason they watch every move by our US prez is that it is kind of like a “death watch,” they are at least partially there to record it if he ever were to be harmed. We do have this in our American psyche due to our recent past with assassination attempts on our presidents.

I don’t remember the assassination of JFK, but I know many who do remember it. Even those of us who don’t remember it often grew up being told about it from time to time. I am about the same age as JFK Jr. (if he had not died some years ago in a plane crash). I saw an interview years ago where he was asked about his memory of it and he said that he just remembered being told about it many times and seeing pictures, etc. We just passed the 49th anniversary of that terrible day of November 22, 1963. Then, in the 80’s, Reagan was shot, though he survived.

Maybe our British friends just aren’t as concerned about the security of the PM due to the fact that guns are not so available over there? Do you guys just feel safer?

“I hope Jeff will be very happy in a British gaol after his hoax is uncovered.”

I imagine erstwhile P.M. Tony Blair — after the invasion-of-Iraq with fellow liar-in-chief “W” — could be immanently bribable to extract fellow reichwinger Jeff from any Brit gaol. The sticking point, presumably, would be the U.S.-taxpayer-funded FEE CIA “black ops” would have to cough up in order to spring Jeff. $100 million might be pushin’ it, since it’s team Bama-Biden that strolls the Rose Garden right now, not team Bush-Cheney.

Any British posters today? Crickets? …. Oh well. I was also wondering if more British folks haven’t adopted the spelling of jail for gaol? Gaol = jail, prison, clink

Who would have thought that Magical Realism was such scary, dangerous stuff?

Well, I think the James Bond flicks (for example) are full of danger, though we all know they aren’t real. In the real world, the CIA director can’t have an affair without everyone learning about it.

Ronald Reagan got a knighthood

Re: Mr SpockI have a feeling he was called that because of recent books by a real Dr Spock, and they didn’t want to risk lawsuits.

Spock was a Lt. Commander, and it was naval practice to address junior officers (below Commander) by mister.

“Smith-sonian … on the sign in front of the building …. Is that a lawsuit in your mind?”

Nah, the case would B laffed outta court.

“… loot the company …” ‘n’ send the jobs overseas.

Isn’t that what Willard “I like firing people” Rmoney did at Bain Capital with perhaps 100s of smaller U.S. businesses?

I might even write that one….

Susan Newman: Excepy got yjr ovvasional “Jewish” name, how would you know what peers are Jewish or not? I rather doubt that the Crown issues EEOC-type statistics. An, ongoing right now is the Levinson inquiry about the Murdoch scandals, headed by Lord Levinson, who is what is called a "law lord,’ a judicial position somewhat akin to our Supremes.

Sir Steven Spielberg

Just saw his “Lincoln” movie. And I hardly ever go to movies, maybe one every two years. Awesome — last four month’s in the great President’s life. I knew Spielberg was Jewish, but he’s as American as they come! (I think I’ve seen all of Spielberg’s movies.) To me, the honorary knighthood title means almost nothing.

Spielberg selected one joke out of the multitudes that Abe actually told, that for me really sums up the relationship between the two nations (although I myself am of English descent).

An American was visiting an English lord some time before (Lincoln’s time). He had to use the bathroom, says Abe with a grin on his face. The lord pointed him toward it. When the American entered he noticed a large oil portrait of General George Washington fixed to the wall just above the privy. After the American emerged the lord asked him if he didn’t think the portrait was “appropriately placed”.

“Yes,” said the American.

The British lord raised his eyebrows in surprise. “How so?” (Meaning, Are you a traitor to your country or something?)

“Yes, appropriate. When an Englishman needs to go, there’s nothing that’ll make him s___ faster than a picture of General George Washington on the wall.”

DTpi writes: "I knew Spielberg was Jewish, BUT he’s as American as they come! (emphasis added)Maybe an innocent slip, but disgusting nonetheless.

And you were not discussing his Jewishness in a way that was in any way derogatory.

Steven Spielberg is a very public and very famous person. It isn’t that tough to know about his background and life story. Why don’t you google it George Alexander?

I may have missed it but I didn’t see any reference to the Doonesbury strip that featured MSNBC on the Maddow blog or on her show. Rachel Maddow strongly defended the Doonesbury strip several months ago when he was doing the story about the abortion/transvaginal probe controversy. She showed the strip and talked about it at some length on her show at that time.

I don’t think I’ve seen anyone in a comic strip eating a bagel mbefore.

Welcome back Trudeau.

Steven Spielberg’s Jewishness.

Here’s a quote from the movie-maker himself:

“It isn’t something I enjoy admitting,” he once said, “but when I was seven, eight, nine years old, God forgive me, I was embarrassed because we were Orthodox Jews. I was embarrassed by the outward perception of my parents’ Jewish practices. I was never really ashamed to be Jewish, but I was uneasy at times. My grandfather always wore a long black coat, black hat and long white beard. I was embarrassed to invite my friends over to the house, because he might be in a corner davening [praying], and I wouldn’t know how to explain this to my WASP friends.”15 Spielberg also said he suffered from acts of anti-Semitic prejudice in his early life: he later said, “In high school, I got smacked and kicked around. Two bloody noses. It was horrible.”16

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Spielberg

I don’t think Doonesbury was running reruns in the last few days. We just had an election a few weeks ago and the subject of the last week had been about some TV commentators talking about the election results. Seemed pretty current to me, certainly not reruns.

There is a whole process which has to be gone through in order for Trudeau to get the strip printed. He provides sketches and dialogue to someone who is an inker. The inker fills in details for the strip. All of this takes some time.

“… unconstitutionally they are knighted ….”

No it means that constitutionally they are knighted. The courts have ruled that, ordinarily speaking, you can’t be deprived of your U.S. citizenship against your will or wishes.

And I see the Queen flying to Kabul either.

Sorry, don’t get round to reading on Sundays normally, but you seem to have got to the right answers! The only point to note is that KBE is not an honorary title, it is Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and is what UK citizens get. The difference is that they kneel and are ‘dubbed’ by the Queen (or her representative) with a sword on each shoulder. That means they are styled Sir (or Dame). What foreigners receive, apparently, is an “honorary KBE”, they are not dubbed, and therefore are not styled Sir or Dame.

These days we tend to use jail, although the official title of any jail will use the word prison instead. The PM does not have his own plane; the RAF operate planes of the Queen’s Flight that are used for official government business. Security, on the whole, is less obvious in the UK, but Prime Ministers and Ministers for Northern Ireland still get lifelong personal protection so far as I know. Whenever the POTUS comes over, we all laugh at your security service’s ridiculous demands to have hundreds of security service personnel, large swathes of London to be cleared of traffic, etc. I think MI5 generally says no in its usual urbane and diplomoatic way and we get to a sensible compromise.