Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for March 11, 2011

This might be too much for Zipper!

Two lost causes.

The blind leading the stoned.

It’s kind of confusing, jumping between last week’s moving examination of PTSD and vets, and this week’s odd parody of slackers in combat zones. Not that I’m complaining.

Are Jeff and Zipper members of the Extractor’s Union?

Zipper my boy, you are in waaay over your head.

\\//_

Go you guys - we’re cheering for you! Go-go-go!!

What makes Jeff think that the ‘package’ once in the helicopter will be willing to wait around long enough for the hoist to be lowered a second time?

The ‘package’s’ ideas of loyalty work only in one direction.

What makes us think that Jeff can even extract him?

Maybe Jeff should just text Zipper the plan…

Stirring background music is essential for this kind of op. How about “Send in the Clowns”?

Umm, since when did Jeff get merc skills? Not al Walden for sure. And he was a dud in the sandtrap.

Doughfoot said,

What makes Jeff think that the ‘package’ once in the helicopter will be willing to wait around long enough for the hoist to be lowered a second time?

The ‘package’s’ ideas of loyalty work only in one direction —————————– Hmmmm … I think you’ve hit on what we are going to be viewing next week – Jeff trying to get out of Berzerkistan after being abandoned by the chopper (probably on Overkill’s direction.)

The prez will be saved, but Jeff will be left behind. But no worry! When the people see him, they will think he is there to save them!

Can’t lose. Yeaaaa, right.

The “A Team” in action. “I love it when a plan comes together.”

Yeah, Justice, but as for Jeff, I pity the fool!

I agree with everyone who says that Jeff is being set up for being left behind (Zipper’s fault), but his adventures after being stranded will only contribute to the legend of the Sorkh Razil.

Once Jeff gets down he is greeted as a conquering hero by the locals. He feels compelled to stay true to his persona and joins them, once again losing Overkill $50 mill.

Potrzebie, Jeff was trained by the CIA and worked with Havoc in Afghanistan.

Coyoty, he was just a gofer and showed to be a dud, including shooting a missile and shooting down a chopper with an AK47!

It’s G.I. Cheech & Chong to the rescue…!

Potrzebie, nobody said Jeff was well trained, or that he worked effectively in Afghanistan.

And as for your question “since when did Jeff get merc skills?”, it’s yet to be shown that he does. He’s still gonna try, though.

I think Sorkh Razil may end up running the place. With President Beefsteakplatter gone, there’s gonna be a power vacuum.

But he doesn’t have a Berzerkistan birth cirtificate.

The nice thing about magical (or is it magickal?) realism is that it allows for channeling. Jeff knows what a merc does, so if he can well fake being a merc for 10 minutes, he will BE a merc for 10 minutes, and that’s all he needs to do.

But to be sure, the most magical realism involved here is the way GT started this off by saying that President Obama declared a no-fly zone in the area. If this mission is supposed to be taking place in quasi-Libya, Obama hasn’t yet gone past the “tsk, tsk” phase of dealing with it. No matter how many civilians get decimated by gunships, there seems little chance that our president will declare a no-fly zone on Gaddafi. He’s going out of his way to find creative reasons not to, and his National Intelligence Director is making public statements that Gaddafi will win. Why is anybody’s guess.

jspiro, I like your idea that Jeff will flip, but I love fritzoid’s even better.

ChukLitl, I’m sure that “the package” will sign a Certificate of Live Birth for him instead. Most people don’t know the difference. As they say, good enough for government work.

Dollars to donuts they “extract” the dictators body double from a couple of strips back by mistake.

I could see this developing along the lines of either “The Man who Would Be King”, with Jeff as Sean Connery and Zipper as Michael Cain, or “Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now”, with Jeff as Kurtz and Zipper as Willard. Which is more likely hinges on whether Zipper winds up on the ground with Jeff at this point.

(Neither of these is a prediction, but I can imagine either…)

I think Indyvice has it right - and Jeff’s gonna end up running the palace when he accidentally turns the President over to the mob.

Orion

Nem: What part of Libyan oil is not ion your portfolio? Egypt was easy. No oil, let it fall. But Libya. The only reason Kadaffy Duck is still in power is the trip switch that will blow up all the oil producing facilities if he thinks he’s going down. The UN is even making noises about “Stabilizing” the country. If O keeps us out of that mess, he will have done us a favor. Unless you like the idea of us fighting on yet another front with frazzled used up troops.

You may also ask why we’ve been footing the bill in Iraq and the Chinese now own oil company rights from the last “bidding process”.

Besides, I believe this would more likely refer to the Egyptian mess if anything since the time line for publication is a couple weeks for GT.

^Well, actually it could be any of a number of these places, not a great problem.

And several ways it could go – the tension is building!

The thing that jumped out at me was Zipper getting OJT on the hoist and sling, under (probably, no certainly both hostile and ‘friendly’) fire! Too easy to say “Ah, ‘twill end in tears!”

Time to write the instructions on his hand…