Iraq cartoon challenge to Bush

[UpInArms]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/story/0,11711,1196956,00.html

The Doonesbury cartoon strip, long the scourge of US presidents, has caused more trouble for George Bush with a storyline that will leave an all-American hero seriously injured in Iraq.

But the publishers have decided it could be so offensive that it has sent out a warning about today's strip, saying they will understand if newspapers choose not to run it.

<snip>

Creator Garry Trudeau's latest storyline is the most controversial yet, featuring former American football coach BD suffering a serious battlefield injury and waking up to find his left leg amputated.

The character, a fervently pro-war Republican, is an army public affairs officer embedding journalists in frontline military units.

<snip>

"The subject matter... in large part prompted by the nearly 4,000 wounded troops in Iraq, is a serious one," warned the strip's distributor, Universal Press, to its 1,400 subscribing newspapers in the US.

...more...

[ellie]

1. How can it be so offensive?

I thought the 'Merican people wanted this war? Go USA! Rah! Rah! Come on people! How can you be offended by what happens on the battlefield? Color me disgusted. The realities of war should be beamed into every home nightly so the 50% that support this war-mongering murderer can see what is really going on. Maybe that would put an end to it.

[zonmoy]

28. why wouldn't it be offensive

to all the re-thugs who need to have the blinders kept on the American peoples eyes.

[No Mandate Here.]

2. A very powerful image, indeed.

Thanks, Gary

[nostamj]

3. here's the strip

also believed to be the first appearance of BD w/o a helmet of some kind...

[central scrutinizer]

18. check this one, as well

Rob's cousin, who lost his leg in Iraq, is coming home. Today's installment of Get Fuzzy:

<>

[m-jean03]

20. Ouch .

That's hard hitting. Wish our paper ran that strip

[trogdor]

23. You all realize this is the first time...

...B.D. has ever not worn some kind of helmet.

[Jacobin]

4. Murkins just Love blood, guts and gore

They just censor breasts.

The UK doesn't understand us.

[Just Me]

8. Hell, I don't even understand "us" anymore! *eom*

[LittleApple81]

5. Why is this controversial? Don't we have more than 2000 American kids

(I really don't know how many because the Pentagon is not clear on this) who have lost limbs. Should this be a secret? Are we supposed not to talk about it?
And this is not counting all the Iraqis who have been killed, maimed, arrested, tortured, etc.

[rocktivity]

6. Doonesbury's done serious stuff before

Didn't a character die of AIDS? Have you EVER known B.D. to take his helmet off? And what about Boopsie?



:headbang:
rocknation

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

11. You're right about the AIDS thing.

Andy Lippincott, a friend of Joanie's from law school. Also the strip's first openly gay character.

And yes, I believe this is the first time we've ever seen BD bareheaded.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

17. Garry is right. This is something that "Merikuns" need to see.

[dbt]

7. Never thought I'd see anybody catch more hell than Nixxon

From Trudeau. Hell, I never though I'd see anybody worse than Nixxon, either.

Geau Trudeau!

:bounce:
dbt

[Merlin]

26. ...Or deserve more! n/t

.

[Fovea]

9. Even with the preparation

this comic made me weep.
I feel like it happened to an old buddy.

[benfranklin1776]

13. Indeed. It was powerful.

Kudos to Gary Trudeau for speaking a powerful truth, as he always does, with his work. I note with regret though that it is a measure of the degree to which our media has deteriorated when a comic strip covers the stark human toll inflicted by Mr. Bush's folly more clearly and directly than our "major" media.

[alittlelark]

10. When I read it this morning I got very sad

I've known BD for at least 30 years. I know it's silly.....

[Spazito]

12. I hope Gary Trudeau follows up with future strips showing...

the despicable way in which the bush cabal treats the returning wounded and vets. This would be the perfect way to segue to that, imo.

Edited to change header from Doonesbury to Gary Trudeau for clarity.

[MisterP]

24. Get Fuzzy seems to be doing this:

Rob's cousin loses a leg, and Rob asks why he's being brought home at 2 a.m., when a Secret Service agent(?) pokes in and makes shushing noises...

[Dogmudgeon]

14. Gary Trudeau Brings It All Back Home

The enemy isn't Iraq.

The enemy isn't the conservative next door.

The enemy isn't even the pro-war flack.

The enemy is the small group of men and women who profit financially and politically from hatred, from war, and from murder.

My fear is that the Devil has set up shop and convinced the public to do his bidding in the name of God.

--bkl

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

15. Well, at least we know he'll live...

[AZCat]

16. I am curious to see how many papers cancel Doonesbury

Trudeau's work has been around for a long time, and has chronicled some rather tumultuous times in America. I wonder how accepted his editorial comic is compared to others that suffer cancellations (Ted Rall, Aaron McGruder).

It would be nice if editorial boards recognized the value of Trudeau's strip and weathered the inevitable shrieks of 'patriots' who don't want to see this sort of thing cluttering their 'beautiful minds'.

Please, everyone- write/call your local papers (if they carry Doonesbury) and express your support for the strip! We need all the voice we can get.

[Amerpie]

19. Newspapers in Military Towns

I live just outside of Ft. Bragg, NC. Our paper carries Doonesbury. Todayit ran a story about a soldier who had his leg amputated. I wonder if they will run this strip.

I hope they do.

[RetroLounge]

21. Powerful stuff from Trudeau

and Get Fuzzy Too...

Wow...

RL

[wabeewoman]

22. Its a scary time when folks

find what is happening to flesh and blood people offensive when presented in a cartoon. There is a letter to the editor in the News Tribune that suggests the media is undermining support for the war in Iraq by reporting deaths and injuries. The author suggests the media should police itself before the police do it for them. Lots of scary scary people coming out of the woodwork. Leonard Pitts was correct in saying that at this time America faces the greatest threat to democracy since its inception.
http://www.tribnet.com/opinion/letters/story/4988778p-4916895c.html

[progressivebydesign]

25. It was okay to show mercenaries burned alive... on t.v.

..but it's offensive to see a cartoon character with his leg blown off? Oh, because it's not part of the approved propoganda. The okey-dokey attitude of seeing humans burned and mutilated corresponds with the effect it has in whipping up support for this suck-ass war... I can't wait to see Get Fuzzy being pulled from the papers for his story line..

[Karenina]

29. Really.

Real live people whose health care has been cut are hobbling around the malls and da press is "worried" about a FUCKING CARTOON????

[damnraddem]

27. Saw it this morning. It's not at all offensive.

It shows much more concern for U.S. troops than the Bushistas could ever imagine feeling, much less showing.