Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for April 28, 2014

I never met a Cambodian named Martha.

Name suggested by Catholic missionaries, no doubt.

Probably educated in a Catholic school; some converts liked their “Christian” names so much they used them in public.

Well, Cambodia was a colonial territory of France, and the wife of the French saint Amator was named Martha. She herself is venerated by some, although non-canonizedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Martha_%28French%29

This is one of the early strips that I always remember (along with the opening the floor to rumor ans innuendo). GT at his best and most concise.

American Gothic.

Martha Washington?

True, but the good guys (Veitmanese people) won in the end.

They sound like Edith and Archie Bunker, who were America’s first couple at the time of this installment.

I was just thinking of this exact strip a couple of days ago, having watched a documentary on Kissinger.

@ragarmsSo, critics of Nixon’s Cambodia bombing policy are now communists. How McCarthy of you.

Is that Phred?

It was a secret to the Nobel Prize committee.

Something I don’t remember but have read recently. Did the Democrats suffer politically, significantly and for a long time, for cutting off funding for the air war after the US ground troops left Vietnam?

JPW, you don’t have to know what went on in the strip leading up to this. You need to have an idea of what went on in the US. I intuited that the strip was alluding to “secret bombings” that our leaders didn’t tell us about. The people who were bombed did notice.

@LadyKatYes, that is Phred. This story arc involved Phred going on vacation in Cambodia, hoping to see the ancient sites, only to be disappointed by finding most of them destroyed by the war.

Not only did I miss these strips, as I was out of the country in the early seventies, I missed a lot of the news. Thanks, all, for explaining this. I will stay tuned.

That’s awful Clark! But take care! This public venue is a dangerous place to share such a personal part of your life! There are some vicious trolls hiding in these weeds.

@LameRandomNameTell that to residents of Ho Chi Min City.

Remind me again what a great deal we negotiated – I did notice the Viet Cong were prohibited from occupying the United States….and I guess they did let us evacuate the embassy by chopper.

Not all, but we got out and that’s what mattered.

@ragarmsSorry about the friendly fire (I could’ve meant Eugene McCarthy but you know I didn’t).

@ragarms,Chickweed doesn’t allow readers to post comments.

@LameRandomNameIt is not a non-sequitur unless by “improving our bargaining position” you mean, providing us with time to get out and let the NV roll in.The North Vietnamese were shocked by how easily they defeated the South Vietnamese. They figured, with all the supplies and training provided by the US, the South Vietnamese would put up some kind of fight.

@LadyKatYes, Phred was traded to the Patheti Lao, but he decided to take a vacation in Cambodia, as you can tell by the shirt.

Unbelievable. People are still debating this? Where have you been for the past forty years? It is now a matter of settled and uncontroversial history: the hippies were right.

Martha Mitchell, wife of Nixon’s AG?

@Tigger, from yesterday:

(T): “Yet you do nt have a problem with Obama cancelling Millions of Insurance Polices when he said he wouldn’t.”

(QD): Actually, I never said any such things. Please be aware that strawman arguments are pretty transparent to most and I don’t appreciate words being put in my mouth. In fact, I do have many criticisms of the ACA, not the least of which is that it is a very poorly constructed, GOP plan which provides more incentive to insurance companies than help to those who need healthcare.

(T): “You do not have a problem with Obama denying The Poorest of the Poor Government Subsides to help them by Health Insurance because they do not make enough money to qualify for the Subsidies. Where is your ire toward Obama for him denying millions the right to buy Health insurance because they’re too rich for Medicaid and too poor for ObamaCare or whatever you want to call it?”

(QD): Regarding, “…denying The Poorest of the Poor Government Subsides…”, you should note that that had little or nothing to do with the President, who provided increased and expanded Medicaid monies to states, many of which then decided not accept them. This was not the President’s doing, but rather that of GOP governors attempting to frustrate Mr. Obama and the ACA.

“a problem with Obama cancelling Millions of Insurance Polices”How very Nineteenth Century to capitalize our Nouns!.In any case, where did Obama find time to cancel Millions of (probably all republican) Insurance policies when he was so very busy destroying the country and seizing everyones’ guns?It reminds me of a satire I saw where Obama was going to fire all the doctors and take care of all healthcare personally. Imagine the lines!

Bombings are never secret from those on the receiving end.

@rick mcdermottYes, Obama does like to lie down, especially with his wife.As far as bigger LIARS go, nobody was bigger than Tricky Dickie.

Well, bush could keep up with the biggest mendicants. He actually started a war on lies, not just kept one going.Reagan could have been a great liar, had he not had Alzheimers during his presidency.

This 1973 Doonesbury rerun was 16 years before the Berlin Wall crumbled.

@beprepnThe Democrats did not suffer. By 1974, the country’s attention was focused on Watergate and the economy.The Democrats made significant gains in the midterm elections of 1974 and picked up the White House in 1976 in a very close election.It wasn’t until 1980 — with Iran hostage crisis, inflation and gas shortages occupying the electorate’s minds — did the Democrats suffer major losses.

@TiggerThe 1994 election had nothing to do about Vietnam.

The only place the bombings were “secret” was in the US — and that was only because so many folks weren’t interested enough to find out (as is often the case in war — if it isn’t your own butt or that of your kids on the line).

What reruns are you talking about?

Ok why don’t you try Googling "Donnesbury reruns and FIND OUT!! ??

How long are you going to hang around wasting your time?I should have realized you were a cat hater. Wasting our time, too.

Nice touch, having them posed almost like the “American Gothic” pair.