February 26, 2007

  • It's time for me to update AGAIN!  My Lord!  How do people do a DAILY
    newspaper column?  Maybe the PAY serves as something of an incentive,
    huh?

    Anyway, the other night I watched two back-to-back documentaries on
    PBS.  The first was really more of a propaganda film about The
    Marines.  A little about their history and tradition; the kinds of
    rigorous training that Marine recruits and prospective officers go through; their total devotion to "the
    mission" and to their code of ethics; what an honor it is to serve
    one's country (i.e., the U.S.) in the Marines; etc.

    The second film, immediately following the first, was the story of the
    "Bonus Army".  The Bonus Army was a group of ragtag World War I
    veterans who, jobless and homeless during the Depression, journeyed
    from all over the U.S. to camp out and march in Washington, DC, to try
    to get money owed them from serving in the U.S. military back in
    1914-1918.  It wasn't really even a "bonus" as such; it was just money
    they had never been paid. 

    Well, I'm sure you can imagine the outcome.  Congress ended its session
    without voting to pay them, and snuck out of town.  Then a young Douglas McArthur and an even
    younger Dwight D. Eisenhower, in command of the military, chased the hapless veterans out of Washington, tear-gassing them and burning their makeshift "village" to the ground in
    the process.  The Bonus Army finally got paid after FDR replaced
    Herbert Hoover as President, a year or two later and not quite twenty years after they had served
    their country honorably and well in World War I.  One member of the
    rebuffed Bonus Army was a veteran who had been highly decorated for saving the
    life of General Patton.

    I wonder how many viewers besides me noticed the highly ironic (intentional,
    you reckon?) juxtaposition of the two films.  The shit is still going
    on today, of course.  It took many years for the U.S. government to
    recognize Viet Nam vets' exposure to Agent Orange as a legitimate
    problem; and they still haven't, to my knowledge, officially recognized
    the horrific effects of depleted uranium and other poisons used in the
    two Iraq wars.

    If you've read this far, here's your reward: a couple of cartoons by a
    very talented gentleman named, apparently, David Rees.  He's as perspicacious as I am, plus he has the ability to draw!  He calls this
    particular set of cartoons (which he started about a month after
    9/11/01 and continues to the present day, though somewhat less prolifically  than at the beginning) "Get Your War On".  There are 62 screens full of the
    cartoons now, and some of them are simply hilarious if you like
    political satire.  He's right up there with Tom Tomorrow as a political satirist.  Here's the link to his home page (he has other
    cartoons also):  http://www.mnftiu.cc/mnftiu.cc/home.html .  And here are his two most recent cartoons:

                                  
    gywo

                                   gywo

    If it's hard for you to read these, then check them and the others out at the Get Your War On web site.  You won't be sorry.

Comments (55)

  • I bet it was planned that way. I doubt that they did that (the shows back to back) by coincidence. It's true that the US government to this day won't come clean about a slew of things. I doubt they ever will.

  • "He's as perspicacious as I am"... Just because I don't perspire alot doesn't mean I don't have any drawing talent, does it?? :-d

    I didn't see either show but the odds are strongly in favor of this being part gov influence and manipulation. I'd love to put this on Bush, but ... :)

    Did Bush have any close relatives that were in government in the 1930's?  No, no, NOW I remember. The first evidence of the Bush family being on this planet was discovered in some place called Roswell.

    I'll have to check 'Get Your War On' later but sounds very interesting... :)  

  • hey what happen to our emails? stay blessed

  • *waves* Hi. Glad to see an update.

  • And now I'm already reading of the returning vets from Iraq who are homeless.  It goes on and on.  Why don't we take care of our own?  I'll never understand.

  • love my country, fear my government...

    I should have taken your class on the wimmins!

  • ryc; I believe they are the future Ecc's, Marla's, Tim's, etc.

    They turn out to be frustrated by the way the world turns out, and attempt to both warn and teach the rest of the world in how we have lost our way.

    Something happens to the altar boy, the child who's "new" stepfather turns out to be a monster, the youngster that eventually succumbs to the relentless verbal abuse of their mother and/or father. The abandoned child, etc., etc.

    It is indeed unfortunate. How do so many get so cynical , and for good reason ?  I guess I see signs of a wakeup call being heeded, but that's a whole blog in itself! ;)

    The problem is that it takes a great deal of courage to stand among those in the  minority, and go against the world's power structure. We have all read what happened to the greatest of all "rebels", which is why it takes so much courage. Jesus paid the ultimate price, and I wonder if that holds many back from going forth and spreading the word, whatever that word may be.

                                                                                                                                                                                            I too enjoyed Lauren's account of her sister's "sacrifice" for her. Not the most profound, but cute, no doubt about it. :)

    Peace

    Scott

  • RYC:  Sometimes in order to help people, you have to risk being conned.

  • that's a great cartoon!  I think poking fun at our politicians real indiscretions makes it easier to live here.

    ryc:  can't be posting all gloom and doom or  you'll talk yourself further into a hole - just trying to be optimistic .  Plus I'd played a few games of racquetball in those 2 days and spent a good bit of time on the stairclimber - that always helps to put things back in perspective for me.

  • I'm glad you updated again.  I love that five dollar word...perspicacious.  I aspire to be perspicacious.  Your post reminds me of something regarding Viet Nam vets that I wanted to write about.

  • David Rees is very funny, I'm sure he's on the "very funny" list they keep in the Office of Keeping Track of Funny People.  I'm glad we live in a country where he can insult anyone and anything and not be thrown in prison, like in Egypt. 

  • Excellent cartoons! I'm pleased to make your acquaintance via your comment on Weareloved's blog, and look forward to reading more of your thoughts.

  • Look out for a replay of the history of the Supreme Court on PBS...the Four Horsemen who were on the bench during FDR's presidency was doing some pretty nefarious things in the name of Big Business

    A few months ago i heard some Viet Nam vet call up the local limbaughnista station and complained about getting fucked over by the VA, and the host accused him of spreading left-wing propaganda The caller then asked him if he ever served, and as is the case with most chickenhawks, the answer was NO, and the host added, "What does THAT have to do with anything"

    SIR HAVE YOU NO SENSE OF DECENCY is a question still applicable today

  • It took many years for the U.S. government to recognize Viet Nam vets' exposure to Agent Orange as a legitimate problem;

    have they???

    I mean, have they given people compensation? My father spent 3 tours in Nam and has many friends with lymphomas, diabetes, lost people to stomach cancer, etc, etc. I think dow chemical and the gov't is terrible in regards to that.

    While the war is on, it's all support your troops, but fuck the veterans, they're a drain on the budget. Deny them money, deny, deny, deny. It makes me sick to think of all the vietnam vets that are homeless. The gov't should help them.

  • That denial of service is happening today. I saw a news interview of two Congressmen, one democrat and one republican. In it, they both admitted that the Veteran's Admin is making the veterans jump through hoops, sometimes through as many as 20 (!!!!!) layers of beaurocracy BEFORE granting them so much as an aspirin.

    Personally, I think the present and past Administrations in this government should hang their head in shame at the way they treat the men who have fought defending our nation.

  • <3

  • ryc let's not forget the bureacratic bullshit of veterans affairs makes soviet bureacracy seem streamlined

  • Ha, I love Get Your War On. I've even got the books. I may be a spiteful Republican, but hell, I enjoy excessive cursing.

  • RYC: Yes and you made my day by calling it a fairy tale. haha :)

  • RYC---i recently told my uncle that my next novel takes place during 1968 and he tells me what the hell do i know about '68 since i was a boy at the time, and i start reeling shit off. He forgot that i was always taking his college books as soon as he was finished with them. i REMEMBER Edward Murrows, so when i would see Bull Connors and his homies hosing down kids back then you KNOW that stuck in my mind

    New Yawk's finest would roll into the 'hood, call us niggers and tar babies as they spat on us, so THAT just put an exclamation point on what we saw on the news...and which is why when i came up with the game of trying to shoot the flashing bubble off of police cars with our homemade zip guns, everyone was down with it

    i even remember LBJ showing his appendix scar to the newsmen, but can't remember my phone number

  • Great post.  Surprised me to find that it was, given the crass nature of your comment.

  • well thanks for the comment and props but i really wanted to know for real why does it matter? stay blessed

  • I think PBS knew what it was doing.I hope the public will rabblerouse for the large numbers of vets coming home wounded.

  • i don't know HOW people do a daily column.  i wonder if i could even do a weekly column, unless someone gave me the subject matter in advance.  although, i can complain like nobody's business, so, if the column was about complaining... yeah, i could do it. :)

  • well thank you that was a better answer but as you know i only date white guys for the same reason you dont date blad girls i just dont see myself with them im sure there are some nice black guys out but i dont want them. stay blessed

  • the government is a bunch of assholes.

  • I just read your earlier post about your Dad.  Thanks for sharing that .

  • Sorry the cartoons sucked, but you didn't. The tenancy to abandon our solders after a war is a real one.
    Considering your general political bias I'm surprised you did not go into no detail on the Bonus Army.
    It was a very sad affair, something to truly be ashamed of.

    RYC

    Yes we are on the same page on this issue.

  • *more detail

  • "Yes. But is loneliness the cause or the effect?"

    I all but said the same thing, I notice that happens a lot.
    We think in similar ways, have similar political interests.
    Similar religious beliefs, and a similar sense of humor.

    And have diametrically oppose opinions. Interesting really

  • I enjoyed reading your response on Trun.

  • I think for the most part we (government and likely society as a whole) don't want to know about the bad stuff that happened.  We just want to get on with our pretty little lives.  Leave us all alone please is our attitude.       ryc  we are in central cali.  less than 100 miles S of sacramento and a bit to the east in the foothills.  at an elevation of 3,000 ft we do get snow on occasion.

    Tim

  • ryc:  thank you , and as for the gum on the bedpost - I think it depends on the kind .

  • I wonder how those people write daily columns too.  I post a lot but I just summarize issues.  It isn't anything like having to write a daily column.

  • somnulant and moribund are both excellent words.

  • Great hook.  Ok, so let's hear this story about the prostitute and your adolescent French.

  • ello :)

  • Hi there - always enjoy your thoughts and love the cartoons - great satire even though I don't always agree.  That's the beautiful thing about our country - it is not only OK to disagree, it is the raw stock of which the political process is made of.  It is how our system is meant to work.  From the level and loudness of the disagreement currently, our system must be working just great lol.

  • "Over chicken fried steak at the local fine dining establishment..."  If I didn't know better, I'd think you'd been spying on my cultural surrounds.

  • :)

  • "gave up."  sounds like "unanswered prayer?" am i right?

  • yet, here i am.  a friend.

  • yea, , , ill check them out, , , im in the middle of editing a new video, , , speaking of our legislators, , , i guess its the senate since the unseen star is ted kennedy, , , with a lot  more action (i think anyway) than my last  ted kennedy video clip.  dont be alarmed, , , its all fiction, , , except the speech.  it will be a little while before its up, , , still editing.  this one was really fun putting together.

    yes, thats my ride. people laughed when i told them what i was doing to my tracker, , , i started to wonder myself if it was a good idea.

    when i walk down the street, , , people either are afraid of me, or dont trust me, or just think im an old beggar,  police types obviously dont care for me, , , hahahahaha.  when i get in my car and drive down the street, , , everybody likes me, , , waves, smiles,  take pictures, , , , hahahahaha , , , lets me see more than one side of people.  other than my car, i refuse to change my appearance to give them peace.  sure i could wear less raggedy clothes, and shave once in a while, , , but, , , naw.

  • No, she's so stubborn about keepin that baby in that she crosses her back legs and puts her butt up against the stall wall. Silly horse.
    Hows' your monday, ecc?

  • RYC: that's how it frickin' SOUNDS is how.  Frickin mish mash of euro-speak is frickin what.  And doesn't frickin everybody want to go North of the Circle?

    Gotta tell ya, man, that comment was funny.

  • *waves* hi. hope all is well with you.

  • I LOVE Get Your War On. When I first read the strip, I did not think anything ever could come close to so truly nailing my sentiments in 9/12 America.

    Thanks for the comments. I think you did a good job of presenting yoru case on ttp's blog.

  • You might be interested is all the new research that has been done on who actually gives their time and money to help others. Seems liberals tend to be both cheap and selfish. I will dig it up for you, i doubt you are going to want to believe it, but the evidence is undeniable. In all ways conservatives are the most charitable of people as a group. And political liberals tend to rather selfish with both time and money. Rich liberals being the worst of all

  • I forgot to thank you. Your responce was one of the best thought out.

    I don't need to agree with it to see an intelligent man behind it

  • "Bush & Co. are in no way conservatives in the classical sense."

    They are politically conservative in only a few things. I am not really a fan.
    My political philosophy is very close that of Russell Kirk.

    Social concervatives swing the results to the right.
    But they swing it a very long ways

  • The 60's an era that I am fascinated with at the moment. Much happed then, good and bad depending on the subject.

  • ryc: no, they haven't been on my blog.  one has been published already at commonties.com.  put tennessee in the search bar and the story is called "and if i had two coats."  the other is for the serenity project.

  • hahaha, , , its not that im all hopped up to import mexicans, , , i have just put a lot of thought into it, , , and it seems to me that everything that is happening leans toward a muslim takeover, , , like the trans fat thing for example.

    no one ever mentioned building a wall to seal off mexico before.  and all of a sudden, , , a wall must be built.  where did this idea origionate.

    and after careful  thought, , , with all the mexicans streaming over, it slows down the muslim assimialtion of the us.  the idea had to have come from the iranians, , , i am merely thinking of ideas to thwart them.

    mexicans could not be broken by the catholic church and muslims can do no better.

    iranians fear mexico, , , that is what i believe.

    and yes, , , i should use spell check.

    i misspelled several words in the title on my video i made yesterday too.

    the healthcare system, , , im sure is leaning in my favor, , , if you can actually pay, , , im sure you are treated better.

  • lol sorry your confuzzed i thought you would be able to explain it to me, stay blessed

  • I read a book last year and can't for the life of me remember the name that describes the event in detail. I, not being a history buff, had never heard about it and checked with my brother, who IS a buff, about it. He gave me even more shameful details of the event. Sad commentary on our history of repaying the men who have fought and died for our country.  Even worse...it is still happening.

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