Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for September 27, 2009

And aren’t those speeches well delivered? As much as I disagree I find myself mesmerized by how well spoken.

Yes, it’s symbolic of the moon, doofus!

@glslightning

I salute your perspicacity! Anybody else?

Good one ! If you had art , it would be better then the comic . lol

Hook , line and sinker cryptomaniac for ah little guy you have a mean streak . lol

In case you spuds can’t figure it out, this is a joke.

You see, while the Nazi’s started a war and killed millions, Obama gives speeches. Oooh, so scary!

A quick quiz, who started the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Not Obama. They were started by the last guy in charge who spoke like a drunk chimpanzee.

Trudeau is smart enough to recognize what the crescent means. What kind of symbol do you think he’d be putting in 2 panels when his main point is in all the panels? I take it as just the phase of the moon.

I’m a huge Doonesbury fan, and I’m definitely not of the right wing persuasion, and most of my left leaning friends would say that they are more conservative than I am.

Even so, I don’t think Trudeau had to break Godwin’s law.

You are confused with the PREVIOUS administration, Trudeau!

Why are you so mean to chimps?

Wait, so people are comparing Obama to Hitler? I thought that only applied to “Bushitler”? Man, I must be behind on the times…

Ah, satire. BEAUTIFUL artwork here, even if this particular strip is illegal in Germany.

Do you vote?

I guess that’s why it’s called lunacy, eh?

It’s a shame that some people don’t understand satire.

Obviously the moon a secret message to Obama’s Muslin greenshirts. Something big is in the air. Be very afraid.**

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**especially if you wear synthetic fibers

(sigh) AVATRBR, the Nazis were as much socialists as Saddam Hussein’s guards were Republicans. Check the historical record rather than a word jumble.

The Nazis were fascists, not socialists. And fascism is a form of ultranationalism that regards one ethnic or ethnoreligious group over all others. This sort of runs against the idea of providing equal services and resources for all members of a pluralist society (a hallmark of socialism).

Good toon, Trudeau!

Over the line Trudeau…It was racism that motivated Hitler not religion…

What may be misleading for some…at least in San Diego, is that the first 2 panels were missing from the comics this a.m. The first two panels provide the structure for the closing panel and make it satirical. Try reading it w/o first 2 panels.

caruby- you are so correct. Same thing here. Printed without the first 2 panels in the interest of space. This has happened before with same results of loss of meaning.

Remember that Trudeau was upset when the newspaper folks cut the size of the daily.

History IS written by the winners as the losers molder in the dock or swing from their ropes… I am forced tor resort to quote Brion Gyson - “MAN IS A BAD ANIMAL”

GT should win the highest award in the land for achievements in the letters of critical thought !

Oh oops, we don’t have one of those… first time for everything.

Most of you are missing the point completely. Hitler was also very famous for making good, charismatic speeches. While his style was certainly different, they have a lot in common in that regard. They both swayed a nation with style, and very little substance.

Ok you lunatics (pun intended) if GBT pens his strips two weeks in the past, then the lunar phase for that particular date would have matched what he drew. Look it up!

http://www.moon-phases.net/calendar/index.php

It’s possible GBT is setting up a joke, or that he’s decided Obama is fair game because of the political maneuvering. It’s also possible he is making this comparison because of the news footage with schoolchildren singing praises to Obama. Hitler is only one of many political leaders that did the same thing. Where he takes it from here will tell.

obummer does “give” speeches, he reads speeches!!!

I don’t care, he still has more brains than the last administration, and at least is trying to do better than just ordinary station keeping. The last guy we had had the brains of a rather stupid dog, the morals of a frat boy, and the idea that if he just shouted loudly enough, everyone would agree with him, rather like a two year old. I am all for rational, serious, informed discussion, rather than bombastic scare tactics and backroom politics.

thebird55 said, Most of you are missing the point completely. Hitler was also very famous for making good, charismatic speeches. While his style was certainly different, they have a lot in common in that regard. They both swayed a nation with style, and very little substance. ————————————————————– Bird, you’ve brought up a good point. Evil or not, Hitler was a great, charismatic speech maker. It’s what got him his job.

I would think that the comparisons would have to stop there. Obama has the will and ability to do what we hired him to do; lead our country. The problem is that many Americans are uncomfortable with a strong leader, one who isnt afraid to show and use his strengths. Most want (perhaps it’s better to say expect) a president who sits back in the shadows and lets others make his decisions. Thats what got us in this mess.

Obama tells us what he think this country needs, he tells us how we can get it and he expects us to follow him. This is leadership. Maybe the problem isnt his leadership, it’s our ability to follow.

Many thanks Garry Trudeau for having the guts to print what many of us have been thinking about on your Sept 27, Doonsbury comic strip. Obama….Hitler, who can tell the difference? You are a hero by doing what the mainstream media has failed to do. Keep up the good work, you should know that you have a huge following on this one. Some naive liberals won’t like it much but have they ever liked anything outside of their usual small realm?

Many thanks Garry Trudeau for having the guts to print what many of us have been thinking about on your Sept 27, Doonsbury comic strip. Obama….Hitler, who can tell the difference? You are a hero by doing what the mainstream media has failed to do. Keep up the good work, you should know that you have a huge following on this one. Some naive liberals won’t like it much but have they ever liked anything outside of their usual small realm?

I dont care if you vote for me or not! As long as I end up being president. You won’t get any ice cream anyway, so just shut up and vote for me!

Yeah, I can dig it. We all want someone to fix our problems, but when someone tries we just talk about how they can’t manage it. Rather than doing anything to help.

You do realize, Sengal69, that Trudeau’s point is that Obama is NOT like Hitler (except in the charismatic speech category)?

And hello, AVATRBR? The National Socialists used the term “socialist” in their party name because they were trying to appeal to the working classes. There was nothing leftist about them. The true left parties were the NS’s sworn enemies, the SPD and and KPD. Wollen Sie, dass ich dasselbe auf Deutsch typen? Vielleicht sollen Sie Ihre Information anderswo als Wikipedia bekommen.

^What s/he said.

I don’t care what you lived through. It doesn’t give you the right to falsely claim that the National Socialists were actually socialists in ideology. It was name only. Again, the Nazis were fascists, and their ideology was antithetical to the precepts of socialism. Virtually every historian I know of is clear on this point.

Truly amazing and saddening that there are apparently people who think today’s strip was actually making the point that Hitler and Obama were alike? I thought it brilliant satire on the disgusting “similarities” people are making and never entered my mind people would think otherwise. Then I read these posts, and am truly sad.

While Hitler and Obama are poles apart, they are alike in that they seem to rely on speeches to circumvent the proper protocols of government. Capture the public’s imagination to distract them from what you’re really doing and to maintain popular support. Of course, Hitler also used force (might makes right) to silence his critics. Why can’t people see that comparing one aspect of the two is not necessarily saying that the two are alike? I am not saying that Obama is as bad as Hitler, just that he is using the same tools. I can’t speak for Mr. Trudeau, and will not try to.

I’m appalled by Americans. For once they get a president who is intelligent and caring and idiots compare him with the worst dictator that ever walked the planet. Even when Trudeau makes fun of it, there are jerks who thinks HE makes that comparison. No wonder the country is going down the drain. Obama is too good for the US. Somebody will probably try to assassinate him anyway.

Because, thebird55, any comparison of a contemporary politician to Hitler is a logical fallacy referred to as a reductio ad Hitlerum and instantly stops rational conversation. The conversation immediately elicits a raw emotional response (and understandably so).

And besides that, not everybody agrees with your characterization of the President as having circumvented the “proper protocols of government”.

Boy, it’s sad that righties connot understand the subtle satire of the strip. He’s not criticizing the president, rather his detractors whom have accused him of being a dictator in diguise.

The LA Times was obviously disturbed by the strip. They attempted (unsucessfuly, may I add, my editing out (censoring actually) the first two panels.

Why would a left-wing newspaper do that unless they didn’t like the context suggested by all eight panels of the strip?

Wilbur wrote: “Even so, I don’t think Trudeau had to break Godwin’s law “

He didn’t. He is making fun of the right wingers who are incapable of opening their mouths without breaking Godwin’s Law.

Ava wrote: “The Nazi’s were socialists in case you forgot.. “

Educated people understand the following undeniable, indisputable facts:

The NAZI were fascists. Fascists were and are the most anti-socialist political force out there. They are the most anti-liberal political force out there.

AVA continued: “They were far left..not right..yes Virginia there are parallels’ “

The following is an absolute, undeniable fact. Fascism is right wing. Each of the components of fascism in Gentile’s 10 point organic definition of fascism is a right wing attribute.

AVA continued: “Look it up yourself and learn something about history, it’s in Wiki, here’s the opening paragraph.. “

Run (do not walk) to the nearest elementary school and enroll. It is YOU who know nothing about history, who know nothing about poly sci, who know nothing about econ.

Steban wrote: “ blah blah blah“

Please …. Get help!

As to GT’s comic … genius!

“donaldo said, about 5 hours ago

I’m appalled by Americans. For once they get a president who is intelligent and caring and idiots compare him with the worst dictator that ever walked the planet. Even when Trudeau makes fun of it, there are jerks who thinks HE makes that comparison. No wonder the country is going down the drain. Obama is too good for the US. Somebody will probably try to assassinate him anyway.”

OH PLEASE!!!! Obama is intelligent and caring? You haven’t read the Healthcare bill have you? Nor have you been watching what he has been doing in the name of America at all of the meetings and summits he has attended. He has nothing to say but bad things and constantly “apologizes” for all thr “bad” things we’ve done to the World. If the USA is such a bad Country, why does every Tom, Dick and Harry want to come here to make better money than they do in their own Country, or for that matter, when there is a natural disaster in some back water country, who is the first ones on scene, with medical, food and cleanup help, not to mention pouring millions of dollars into getting them back on their feet? Trudeau has had some sort of object that represents the President in every administration, but so far, I’ve seen nothing for Obama. Why is that? Come on Gary…..let’s see who you think Obama is?

donaldo - a great many of us in the USA are appalled by “our fellow Murkins” as well, but I have to point out that, even if we get completely disgusted and try to leave, shaking the dust from our sandals, that Canada, Mexico and most of the rest of the world doesn’t want us except as tourists. We can only emigrate legally if we’re already employed at our intended destination, or are independently wealthy. Heaven forbid that we should try to emigrate illegally… that just isn’t done.

donhef wrote: ” You haven’t read the Healthcare bill have you? ”

It is acutely obvious that YOU have not.

donhef continued: ” why does every Tom, Dick and Harry want to come here to make better money than they do in their own Country ”

Many of them don’t. Many of them get here and turn around and go home. Many have been here for years and have decided the opportunities are better in their home country after the annihilation of the economy that occurred during the last administration.

donhef continued: ” when there is a natural disaster in some back water country, who is the first ones on scene, with medical, food and cleanup help, not to mention pouring millions of dollars into getting them back on their feet? ”

You mean like New Orleans?

misterwhite, I was in new orleans shortly after hurricane katrina, having grown up there and still owning a house there in which my kids lived, and having other relatives and friends in the area. What was missing from the response was not Federal government assistance, but rather any sort of local infrastructure at all to aid those in need. All of the Federal assistance got to New Orleans in about the same amount of time as it got to Florida the year before when they had 4 hurricanes strike. Make no mistake, there were and are still hundreds of millions of dollars of aid available in New Orleans. The fact that they are being misused and squandered by the local governments is not the fault of the Federal government, no matter who is running it. No matter how much you want to paint the former President as inept, the simple fact is that the vast majority of ineptitude which left New Orleans in chaos, lay within the boundaries of the City of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana.

Wow. So there are wingnutz who read Doonesbury. (How can you tell they’re wingnutz? They completely lack the ability to deal with irony.)

Good job, Trudeau.

Oh no! Please God! Not another speech! (And I am not comparing Obama with God.)

As others have mentioned, the first two panels were removed in the San Francisco Chronicle version. But to me, the strip made more sense without the first two panels.

Bush/Cheney gave patriotic speeches full of lies and sent tanks, air craft, and bombs into an oil rich area. Anyone that tried to oppose them was dealt with swiftly and harshly. Justice was denied. People were imprisoned without any due process and without any sentence - they were just left in a prison camp. The RepubliNazis tapped all the communication lines and spied on its own people. State Attorney Generals were fired just for not following the RepubliNazi line. The Constitution was replaced with a RepubliNazi doctrine and all must follow it are pay the price. Lousiana, with its poor and black skinned persons, got no help when Katrina hit, and ended up living as if in concentration camps, wet, dirty, no clean water, and no food. The RepubliNazis were to busy with the $50,000 a plate fundraisers. Meanwhile, taxpayer money was being stolen from the populus and transferred into the hands of the oil companies (Bush family), Haliburton (Cheney), and the Saudis. But yet to some, a black man in the White House is somehow worse than the RepubliNazi dictatorship. How bizarre and twisted.

So Obama uses a teleprompter - every president since Carter has done so - and GWBush STILL couldn’t put two coherent sentences together!

Trudeau is mocking thsoe who think that Obama’s national health care program is kin to Hitler’s oppressive regime - brilliant satire, but apparently requiring a level of intelligence absent in many Americans today. They’d rather worship Rush “don’t bother me with the facts” Limbaugh.

Uhhhh….. (God, I HATE explaining jokes!!) This strip is an example of SATIRE…. compare and CONTRAST, if you will… And quite keenly done, IMHO…

thebird55 said: they are alike in that they seem to rely on speeches…. I am not saying that Obama is as bad as Hitler, just that he is using the same tools.

Well…. YEAH, bird…. Speaking is HOW you inspire people to accept your ideas…It’s a fundamental element of effective leadership. You’re probably just confused because there has been so little good speaking OR effective leadership in America in the last 60 years or so….