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August 29, 2006
Cowboy Bebop Diplomacy, or Talking Never Solved ANYTHING
For our more sensitive readers, I'd like to warn you in advance that you might not want to read the following line I'm about to write in reference to today's Prickly City:
WHAT. THE. FUCK???
Yesterday Stantis set up the false argument used by Karl Rove that the stupid stinky smelly liberals want to talk with terrorists about their feelings and give them therapy. Republicans of course think that dropping lots of bombs is the answer. Well, not them personally - they want the kids of other people to fight their wars for them - but you get the idea. Dems = pussies, Reps = tough guys.
So today the freshly liberal Winslow decides that it's up to him to "start a dialogue" with the desert hamsters.
Let me pause for just a second, because I'm going to need to pick CJo's memory for help on this. When Winslow went off to war in the desert against the hamsters, was there any direct mention that they were just the terrorists? Or that he was fighting against the insurgents as well? You see, this is one of the problems Republicans have. They think that the terrorists and the insurgents are all one in the same, when in fact the terrorists make up about 10 percent of the people fighting over in Iraq. The majority of the other 90 percent are Sunnis who lost power when Saddam was booted, Shi'ite death squads, and Kurds who want their own country. But I guess it's easier to think they're all Al Qaeda.
Anywho, back to PC. Winslow dials a cell phone and gets a message that says the number he just dialed SET OFF A BOMB. He then uses a punchline that hasn't been funny in years.
I don't even know where to begin. I'm guessing Stantis is trying to say that if you try to talk with the enemy, you're embiggening them and they'll just kill more people. Which means, of course, that since you're the one talking with them, YOU'RE JUST AS GUILTY AS THEY ARE. Yup - Winslow is just another terrorist. Just like Ned Lamont.
This kind of thing irritates me to no end. What brought all of this about was the foiling of the British Bombers case. Bush and the Republicans immediately politicized the issue, saying that it showed they were strong on terrorism while Democrats would rather coddle the terrorists. What they left out is the reason British Intelligence was able to catch these guys wasn't because they invaded Pakistan (where they were from) and killed them all. They used a little something called "intelligence" (yup, that means lots of talking) in order to stop them. They even asked the White House to help, and they did - they went and got a warrant and then spied on them, exactly like the Democrats want them to. Geez, you mean the system worked without having to resort to illegally wiretapping the enemy? Guess W's argument doesn't stand up anymore. But you won't hear that in the media or from the White House.
Another thing that bothers me about today's strip: where exactly did this bomb go off? Was a terrorist sitting with it strapped to his chest? Was it in a restaurant somewhere in Baghdad? Was it on a plane flying across the ocean? Has there ever been a good suicide bomber joke? I can tell you right now, this definitely isn't one.
I think the reason Stantis used this as an example was because W said the following in a press conference: "I would surmise that some of the more spectacular bombings are done by al Qaeda suiciders." Now Bush doesn't have any proof whatsoever that this is the case, but he said it so people continually think that Iraq = 9/11. If Republicans knew that the odds (9 to 1) are much more likely that the suicide bombers are Iraqis killing fellow Iraqis then it might be a lot harder to justify staying there. Oh, wait, they're already figuring that out.
I'm surprised. You'd think that since things are getting so bad for the Republicans and their continual false arguments, use of straw men, and outright lies it would be hard for a guy who claims he's not a Republican (he's a conservative, dontcha know) to do a strip like this. But nope - it seems as though Scott Stantis just picks up the RNC talking points and says what the Republicans want him to say. Just like the rest of the media.
Comments
I'll have to workshop some suicide-bomber jokes, but 2 weeks ago, the Washington Post had a nice story about the Lebanese joking about their situation.
"As one joke has it, residents fleeing the Shiite suburbs of Beirut were flashing the victory sign -- to indicate that only two buildings were still left standing.
It was followed by excited speculation that real estate values in the poor neighborhood of Ain al-Rummaneh, a crowded cluster of aging buildings overlooking the southern suburbs, had shot up by 50 percent. Why? It now has a sea view."
Send Scotty over there to pick up some tips on humor.
Posted by: Sacki at August 29, 2006 01:15 PM
You sillies! This is just further evidence of the havoc wreaked by all our gadgets! It has nothing to do with politics. Obviously, you have missed Scott's sophisticated wit.
Posted by: Ann at August 29, 2006 02:23 PM
