Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for February 18, 2021

You have to take care of FAMILY first!

Duke wouldn’t try to bribe that sheriff, because the sheriff might accept. Offering bribes to people who aren’t corrupt doesn’t cost you anything.

I get a feeling the gendarme is just going to look the other way and let him go!!

Duke thinks he’s in his element. Of course, he thought the same with the inspector. But – different man, different chemistry.

What is the purpose of depicting Duke has he is being in the clergy ?

“Kids? What kids? There’s no one here but my son.”

…I knew it…

♪ ♫ I bribed the inspector, but I did not bribe the sheriff ♪ ♫

If the sheriff is “like family,” he should be getting a salary.

“Ask [the kids]!”

The kids left, Duke. Like fifteen minutes or so ago your time. Please try to keep up.

Notice that the sheriff’s eyes are hidden, much like Duke’s, Honey’s, Earl’s, Zeke’s, adult Jeff’s, Sal Doonesbury’s, Havoc’s, Elmo’s, and many another character who resides some sort of moral netherworld or another. They are neither wide-eyed nor narrow-eyed, neither innocent nor cynical. They are simply other.

Guess who is getting added to Duke’s payroll now

Duke’s forgotten. The Sheriff IS Family.

3rd cousin, once removed.

Kids don’t care about a lot of things: Their diet, their wardrobe, their health, their safety, basic laws of physics and logic, to name a few. That’s part of why they need adult supervision in the first place. :-|

Honey should have called in Zonker (who actually is family, sort of) to be her right hand man. He seems both to enjoy taking care of children and to be reasonably good at it. Oh well.