Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for July 05, 2010

happy 7/5 !

jad1a: So easy for someone like you to bad-mouth Joe or anyone else. I suppose you are just another of those Jekyll and Hyde characters who are infesting Gocomics - what name will you use tomorrow? You and your efforts are a waste of space.

Stop picking on the ladies; they are serving their country in a dangerous place, and deserve our support. I’m sure that someone will now attach GT in some strange way that has nothing to do with this cartoon, but I think that he is supporting our troops.

The ladies (characters) are correct. No news is generally good news in a combat zone. When you are called in to the company HQ by yourself it is generally bad news.

However, while I believe any soldier who uses rank to force a woman into sex should be hanged, it isn’t always the guys who initiate it. Some of the women are hard core out to get you, whether or not you’re married. Some because they like it, some because they want favors or better positions, some want blackmail ammo. Not many do that, but enough. In Afghanistan I was fortunate to be in an all-stud unit. But in Iraq I had to deal with that sort of thing. Sexual harassment runs both ways, you know.

Joe: Agree wholeheartedly, perhaps verified ID should be required to allow comments. Those chamelion stalkers are wretches who are contaminating Gocomics. Some of their statements are libellous and publicly stated. The person at whom those statements are directed should be able to get redress.

Don’t know about anyone else but I’ve had these episodes up to my neck. Sure, nobody has to read the comments but I, for one, like to see the opinions of others re the comics and also to catch up on some news from the commentators, such as you write from time to time. For many, contact on Gocomics is an important social exercise.

Will anyone join with me in requesting that Gocomics demand verifiable, but not for publication, ID before an applicant can comment?

I think what we need is an “ignore” button. That way we can use it and not be subject to the drivel of some posters

… but what if it turns out that either or both, jad1a and usfellers is/are Joe-Allen “Joe” Doty?

Hi FriscoLou. Good point. Those of us who are not chamelion stalkers can be suspected of that sort of thing until it is stopped. Now you have mentioned it I feel that point concerns me more than reading trash. The answer is, “No” on all counts and neither Joe nor myself have multi-personalities on Gocomics. Joe lives in the US, I live in Australia for starters. Nothing to hide my friend, makes for a happy, easy life.

Is jad1a today JackAssD…..ings yesterday. Hmmmmm!

Well, in the Navy the saying was “join the Navy and ride the WAVES”, and the sexual harassment was appalling. Nearly every case of women called up to a captain’s mast that I knew of was instigated by a male petty officer against a female he’d been harassing; usually instructors in one or another of the training schools. I was pawed at my desk by my watch chief, mauled in the hallways, and even assaulted in my cubicle in the women’s barracks because it was known that I wouldn’t “put out”. Of course, it was always somehow my fault for either “teasing” or being so stuck-up.

Jack A.s Dr….ngs, oops, today you are jad1a, nice photo of yourself in the avatar. No need to show it actually, everyone already feels sorry for you. Oops, sorry again, I didn’t know it was of your face; the Ed Zachary syndrome giving you hell again is it?

You know, for a while you were upsetting us, but now that we are catching up on your aliases we sort of look forward to see what name you are under each day.

Why not try to give me a hard time instead of Joe, I need a good laugh now and again.

We won’t be in Afghanistan long. I heard it from the Prez a week after he accepted a Peace Prize.. Remember that speech? He swore we were getting out next year. To ensure this he put 30,000 more American troops in. How’s that been working Prez? Didn’t a Prez of your party do the same thing with the Gulf of Tomkin Resolution? How did that work out for him? 58,000? That many? Glad the Prez says he’s getting the men out. Look, he got one out who spoke the truth to Rolling Stone. Cheeky General, thinks he knows more than a politician with 2 years Senate experience. In the Marines we called such generals brave leaders but Washington likes yes men. Is Westmoreland still alive? Who are the military to outguess politicians?

@Jad1a

I often find Joe’s comments tedious. I often reply unkindly and at times thoughtlessly. But your “NAM” comment is insufferable. You show a general contempt for everything that isn’t you. This is only your second day here. Try showing some restraint.

I tend to insult (challenge?) the comment, not the commentator. However I also yield to the temptation to make fun of Joe’s tendency to explain everything in overly simplistic terms and to bring up obscure personal experiences. I’m hoping to ween myself from these kinds of comments altogether.

When I see your shoddy nasty comments I tend to be ashamed of my own.

BTW Jad1a has, as of this post, already had one comment deleted and his NAM comment is likely to be deleted too.

Looks like it happened just as I was editing this comment.

With you poohbear8192, although I do like what Joe writes about his family.

jad1a was only jack……..ings from the day before and unless he is as thick as two short planks, he has realized his rantings are having the reverse effect of what he was hoping to achieve. That NAM rant may have been the last resort in a jealousy rage of a sick individual.

We have to pay by credit card to join Gocomics as a ‘genius’. I am sure none of us would object to Gocomics requiring that the card and check number on the reverse would have to accompany any registered name. That NAM comment was bordering on libellous and victims of that sort of things should have avenues through which to take legal action.

Provision of ID would go a long way to getting rid of rubbish and allowing genuine commentators to view the opinions of others and for friends to greet each other every day.

clark: Stop the name calling.

Personal attacks are contrary to the spirit of GT’s satire. A simple question will help to decide which comments to ignore or mentally “flag.” Is the comment relevant to the strip? If not, then it’s spam. And spam is an offense against the kind of social intelligence GT represents. (See horce manure’s daily “apatheid/Iran spam.”)

On Doonesbury, impertinence is more offensive than obvious slander.

Meanwhile, back to the comic. The “good news” can be a promotion or a hot shot home. I can’t think of much other good news in a war zone.

I agree with you wndrwrthg.

If we could just select posters to ignore when we are logged in, that would solve a lot of the problems on the comment pages.

They do it in chat rooms, why not here?

Yay! New story!

@jtpozenel, wndrwrthg

We already have an “ignore” button. It’s called judgment, and nobody else should exercise it for you unless you’re an imbecile.

Doonesbury has a lesser proportion of imbecilic posters than most other blogs. I like to think that’s because imbeciles find GT’s strips boring and the discussion too hard to follow.

I’m still not convinced, fellers/Doty. That sounds like a stunt Jeff might pull.

Sooner or later Trudeau turns everyone into a cynic.

I served in Nam! I was there for Tet! The military did not fail in Nam! The DC politics did! Not allowing our troops to fire back if unable to identify the shooter was idiotic then and is now!

May those wishing to give advantage to our enemies thank those who die for that right! And eventually question why they will no longer die for THEM!

palin drome said: “Doonesbury has a lesser proportion of imbecilic posters than most other blogs.”

Apparently not palin drome, judging from your uncalled for response! Anyone who doesn’t share your opinion is an imbecile?

And how does adding an “ignore” button preclude someone using judgment? Or don’t you understand how an “ignore” button works?

“Imbecilic poster” = a poster who ignores GT’s strip (e.g. horce manure). Any comic strip forum is also a blog. The only way to judge whether a comment is impertinent is to look at it. Not even Jad1 (?) is always imbecilic–although horce manure is, and nobets/stebon. (I’ve tagged them, so there’s a couple of buttons for you.)

You seem to have avoided the question of how adding an “ignore” button would prohibit someone from using judgment palin drome.

Feel free to ignore me.

Breaches of public decorum are hard to censure, Joe-Allen. In any civilized forum, impertinence is more destructive than vulgarity.

At the president’s address last September, had Congressman Wilson merely shouted “Bullshit!” (instead of “You lie!”), his vulgarity would have isolated him effectively and the House needn’t have taught its more barbarous members the embarrassing lesson in how to address the POTUS. Wilson’s impertinence was echoed at the State of the Union by Justice Alito, shown on camera mouthing “not true.” These impertinent comments tarnished the dignity of the occasion and therefore insulted all Americans.

If you don’t care how you look or sound in a civil discussion, you probably should just listen and not speak. (‘Love America or, if you don’t want to leave it, keep your hatred to yourself.’)

jtpozenel: If you ignore (in + gnosco, not know) a comment, how can you judge it?

Why are they re-running such a recent strip?

PALIN DRONE Congressman Wilson’s shout was rude though true’ He could have said his opinions later at a press conference. On the other hand, the entire Supreme Court was ordered into a political speech thinly veiled as a State of the Union Address,. The prez then proceeded to badmouth the Court (as he has since also) while they were a captive audience without the means of rebuttal. The Justice Alito whispered a comment under his breath. He was caught on camera because the press wanted to see the Court’s reaction to being internationally insulted by a politician with 2 years Senate under his belt.

Sorry Prez, the press, America, and the world saw it.

Impertinent truth can destroy civility just as a lie does, Lew. Wilson and Alito were as heedless of their impertinence as you are when you use expressions like “Sorry, Prez.” None of you care if your words make you look foolish.

grampaspot, I think it was underground comix, more than DC’s politics that turned the tide in Nam. R Crumb’s insurgency sapped the draftee’s fighting spirit.

Well, what do you know… GT’s calling on someone from my extended family for this arc! :)

Animus tamen idem, soldier!

@usfellers, I agree that gocomics ought to be able to identify commenters, not for publication. as for me, as somebody once said, “This feeds me up!” and from now on, whenever i see an offensive comment, i am not going to tell myself to ignore it; i am going to flag it.

one should never tell oneself to ignore bad behaviour, but be ready to stand up for what is right. in all sorts of contexts.

hey this comment doesn’t post. it just displays in some language i’m not familiar with.

i don’t like this format at all. i hope it hasn’t been applied to all the other comics too.

I have another question: what if some comments are already flagged by the time i get them, and i don’t agree, and would like to unflag them?

one

Κατάλαβες όλα αυτά;

A real fan just enjoys the strip Occasionally makes a ribald quip Points out when there’s flaws Or mistakes when there’s cause A real fan does not say That others may not play In what they think is hallowed ground If they don’t like the way they sound Who is it that gets to set the rules And chastise others as being fools To decide the moral tone To tell others to go home If you don’t like what I say Why don’t you be the one to go away Why must I bow to you With your pious, priggish view Why must you act like a sod I mean, who died and made you god? You feel yourself our superior But only prove that your inferior.

Added couplets (next morning):

Garry Trudeau’s honest fellas Never hide behind an alias. Watch how our ignoring buttons Quash those imbecilic put-ons And see how we, your watchdogs civil, Guard against moronic drivel.

palin, I’d be willing to bet that neither Justice Alito, nor Congressman WIlson would have acted or responded in the way they did if they knew that they would be afforded a chance to rebut the remarks made by the President. However since both undoubtedly knew that the opposite was true, they felt compelled to respond as they did, in a manner which, though not to your liking, at least let people know that there was an opposing viewpoint.

Their thoughtless incivility nevertheless undermines our respect for the presidency. If every presidential address can be reduced to a public wrangling over policy, what’s the point of having our president address the electorate? Why not give every congressman and every Supreme Court Justice his five minutes to lead the nation–in front of the cameras, anyhow?

Any way you explain it, the fact remains that their impertinence merely expressed their childish frustration with Obama’s painstaking search for the political truth, and it shows their ugly contempt for the majority of voters who elected him to help find and execute the policies most likely to lead us out of this mess.