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There is no war
Just a note to myself, more than anything: today (Sunday, May 29) I saw a comic in the paper that amazed me. It was one of those boring-old-fart strips, "Crankshaft", which I only was reading out of pure desperation.
Unfortunately the online strip archive seems to be two weeks behind the times, so I have to remember to look for it two weeks from now.
Here's what it said:
Panel #1: Title ("Crankshaft by Batiuk & Ayers") and the front of a building labeled "VFW Post No."
Panel #2: Man in yellow (MiY) says to Crankshaft "Not too many of us showing up for a free beer on Memorial Day anymore."
Panel #3: Crankshaft: "Nope...It's pretty quiet."
Panel #4: MiY: "If we don't get more vets in here...this VFW post will probably have to close."
Panel #5: MiY: "We're going to have to do something to increase our membership."
Panel #6: Crankshaft: "I hope we don't." MiY: "You do?"
Panel #7: Crankshaft (drinking a beer) "Think about it."
And that's the end.
Now, here's the thing:
ISN'T THERE A FUCKING WAR BEING FOUGHT BY AMERICAN SOLDIERS NOW ON FOREIGN SOIL???
Or did I wander into a parallel universe?
Yeah, gee, it's sure nice we live in a peaceful, war-free world.
Okay, for all I know, maybe VFW posts are having a problem recruiting younger veterans. I don't know. But if that's the case, the punchline becomes completely nonsensical. Or, maybe, I don't know...maybe not many veterans are coming home from Iraq (thanks to that lovely retention policy), so the - no, that ruins the joke, too.
It just makes no sense at all. What the HELL is going on here?
Sorry, I guess this is picayune. But it still kind of shocked me to read a nationally-distributed comic strip on Memorial Day Sunday, and have it apparently deny the fact that we are manufacturing new veterans at a furious rate.
Damn you, George Orwell! Must you ALWAYS be right?
Unfortunately the online strip archive seems to be two weeks behind the times, so I have to remember to look for it two weeks from now.
Here's what it said:
Panel #1: Title ("Crankshaft by Batiuk & Ayers") and the front of a building labeled "VFW Post No."
Panel #2: Man in yellow (MiY) says to Crankshaft "Not too many of us showing up for a free beer on Memorial Day anymore."
Panel #3: Crankshaft: "Nope...It's pretty quiet."
Panel #4: MiY: "If we don't get more vets in here...this VFW post will probably have to close."
Panel #5: MiY: "We're going to have to do something to increase our membership."
Panel #6: Crankshaft: "I hope we don't." MiY: "You do?"
Panel #7: Crankshaft (drinking a beer) "Think about it."
And that's the end.
Now, here's the thing:
ISN'T THERE A FUCKING WAR BEING FOUGHT BY AMERICAN SOLDIERS NOW ON FOREIGN SOIL???
Or did I wander into a parallel universe?
Yeah, gee, it's sure nice we live in a peaceful, war-free world.
Okay, for all I know, maybe VFW posts are having a problem recruiting younger veterans. I don't know. But if that's the case, the punchline becomes completely nonsensical. Or, maybe, I don't know...maybe not many veterans are coming home from Iraq (thanks to that lovely retention policy), so the - no, that ruins the joke, too.
It just makes no sense at all. What the HELL is going on here?
Sorry, I guess this is picayune. But it still kind of shocked me to read a nationally-distributed comic strip on Memorial Day Sunday, and have it apparently deny the fact that we are manufacturing new veterans at a furious rate.
Damn you, George Orwell! Must you ALWAYS be right?