Partisan Mistake in Sunday's Doonesbury

[Schuck]

Re: Sunday's Doonesbury column (2/10/02)--does anyone want to tell Gary Trudeau Teddy Roosevelt was a Republican, not a Democrat? Another Liberal playing fast and loose with the facts.

[Texaggie79]

i know i know

[Andrew Wiggin]

If the Dems are reduced to quoting the originator of 'gunboat diplomacy', then Bush has pretty much won the war at home.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

I used to read Doonesbury sometimes, but I suddenly realized once who the bag lady in one of Trudeau's themes represented. I have never since had any illusions that Doonesbury might bear some subtle worthwhile insight.

The very idea that someone could publicly mock Ronald Reagan's affliction was stunningly offputting. But that's what Trudeau did. Trudeau is trash.

[XBob]

TR was a Republican, and when there was a party rift and he was not up for a 3rd term (he filled out McKinley's term, I think), then was elected, then he formed the Bull Moose party, but as a third party candidate he failed to win.

[IronJack]

Garry Trudeau is no more relevant than mood watches. And TR was a "progressive" Republican, which is to say, the forerunner of John McCain, Jim Jeffords, and those other folks we affectionately know as "RINOs." In fact, he was the original "Bull Moose," a name which seems prophetic as well as at least halfway descriptive.

[tonyinv]

Anyone who continues to believe that President Bush is an idiot will never change their mind, so it doesn't really matter what this Trudeau guy says.

The more people try to continue the lie the worse they look. It also shows those that are still reachable just how mean and vindictive these liberals are.

I think we should encourage these idiots to continue their idiotic missives, it can only help now.

[JoeMomma]

The comic strip's goal was to portray GWB as a dunce who doesn't know that Teddy Roosevelt was a Republican.

[Mamzelle]

Hate to tell you, but the last bubble, clearly in the head of President Bush, is meant and is not an error by Trudeau. He is trying to draw attn to the cliche of Bush being a lightweight, someone who wouldn't know that TR was a Repub. However, Trudeau won't reach many because the irony will sail over the head of his audience...who are mostly Democrats and "educated" by our public schools. There's such a thing as being too clever by half, Gary Slyboots...

[Texaggie79]

i know, read my next post

[nicmarlo]

Trudeau is a bitter, partisan malcontent who wants Bush to be criticized, simply for the sake of Bush being criticized. Distortion, or even bald fabrication, in order to do that would be just fine and dandy with Garry.

Sadly, you are right. Daschole is the same way.

[Lancey Howard]

re: your post #28

Good observations.
And speaking of "clever by half", Trudeau uses another slimy old trick of semantics where he hopes the opening words of a long quote are overwhelmed by the rest of the quote. The alleged TR quote begins, "To announce....". Trudeau seems to be subliminally informing us that somebody "announced" that Bush should not be criticized. There was, of course, no such "announcement" by anybody.
When you catch this, it makes the whole rest of the strip even more lame.

[kylaka]

Truth be told, Teddy was more a liberal democrat than Bill Clinton. In the end, his Bull Moose party delivered unto us Woodrow Wilson. So if Trudeau is attempting to portray Bush as stupid.... he outfoxed himself.

[marktwain]

Teddy, like Woodrow Wilson, was a clear racist. It was a part of the times I guess. Try reading "African Game Trails" It is a good read, but sometimes startling when Teddy starts pontificating about "White Man's Country, and the necessity of White Men having lots and lots of kids.

[jedi]

What were the circumstances under which Roosevelt made this quote?

I suspect it was part of an attack on Woodrow Wilson, for not being bellicose enough during the early days of the First World War.

That's funny; JP Morgan funded Teddy in 1912 to split the Republican vote between him and Taft, in order to get Wilson elected.

[Heyworth]

Well, there was Ari Fleischer: "They're reminders to all Americans that they need to, to watch what they say, watch what they do, and this is not a time for remarks like that. It never is! "