Blowback
Blowback
A clean, well-lit place to vent
Please feel free to contribute to this frequently-updated forum, which posts selected commentary on our favorite comic strip. If you'd like your critique to be posted, please note that civility, if not approbation, counts. Click here to submit a comment.
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GEN-Z
Is Gen-Z supposed to be the last generation, the generation of End Times -- as in Z, the last letter of the alphabet? How about suggesting a leap towards a new beginning with Gen-A -- the generation that will figure out how to undo the nasty beast in us, that will realize both the attitude and the technologies that will balance our relationship with the rest of nature, with a sense of renewal in sharing its resources, that will realize the human in humanity -- or at least bring it into some consummate perspective by which we may envision, empower and live by what we all share as beings over what are our differences. If not, Gen-Z is an apt bet.
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NURSING
Please. Alex should be nursing the twins (if possible), not giving them formula. It's better for the new arrivals physically and psychologically.
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SAVVY
No bottlefeeding! Alex is much too savvy. She would know that "Breast is best!"
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SENSIBILITIES
Like many, I would have expected to see Alex breastfeeding, but I guess some people aren't comfortable looking at that, and we all know Trudeau wouldn't want to upset anyone's sensibilities. Right? Then again, some people just can't breastfeed, for various medical reasons.
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NEARLY DROPPED
Not to get too crazed, but I nearly dropped when I saw Alex bottlefeeding. What's she think those new, Busty McChesty things she's been so happy about are for, anyway? Please don't cry me a river about twins. My mom was born with one breast, and managed to nurse all six of us just fine. (Okay, not all at once...)
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BOTTLEFEEDING
Alex bottlefeeding? No way! As a scientist she is surely up to date with the latest data that breastfeeding is important for brain and immune system development. Not to mention much more economical for someone who is unemployed.
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COOL
I hope that the Gen-X strip is real! How cool, very cool.
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MUCH EASIER
Bottle-feeding?! Say it ain't so! So much easier to juggle the warm noisy things when you can just uncover and feed -- no washing, sterilizing, mixing, filling, storing, retrieving, warming... while they're crying! Football carry, two at once, no problem!
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SPIN-OFF?
Spin-off? Noooooooooooooooooooooo! Sorry, that is articulate as I can be on the subject.
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CONGRESS
"Up, up and away, in our beautiful balloon…" I love what you've done with Congress this week. While the White House is heavily rooted in some attempted reality, always looking staid and conservative (the actual, not political, definition of the word), Congress is floating up in the clouds. It's evident that Congress heeds no laws, be they Newton's or the Constitution's, Biblical or Mathematical, no, not the laws of physics or numbers. Instead they float where their hot air keeps the billowy dome inflated with whatever reality they're up to creating. Beholden not even to the laws of math, they're already up to 110% of whatever deviltry was deemed possible, and they're just getting warmed up! And so the big Dome blows wherever the strongest wind takes it; anywhere but down there where real people have to walk. "Up there… is it Smoke? Is it a Cloud? No! It's Congress!" GBT, you're a genius. Congress? Mehh… not so smart. But they get points for creativity.
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POWER
Re: TO GOVERN. Let's reread Article 1, Section 8. Here's just the first bit: "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; To borrow Money on the credit of the United States; To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States; To establish Post Offices and post Roads; To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."
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BULLSEYE
Re: TO GOVERN. The Constitution assigns duties to both the executive branch and the legislative branch to govern the USA. Yesterday's strip is a bullseye. The Republicans are determined to prove Mitch McConnell correct and deny Barrack Obama another term in the White House, LOL.
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CLASSIC
Today's strip is a classic, and I hope it's saved for posterity. President Obama will go down in history as one of our best presidents, and the invented, hateful, envious comments against him will look even more foolish than they do now.
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TO GOVERN
I appreciate the humor in today's strip, but, as I understand the Constitution, it isn't actually Congress' job to "govern."
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MARK
I wonder how long the congressional investigations will have to go on before we see Mark yelling, "Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!"
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ZONKER'S DREAMS
I have the feeling that once Zonker's weed plantation dreams are snuffed, he will have a new gig as nanny for twins.
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GOLD STAR MOTHER
I am a Gold Star mother who knows a four-year-old little girl and a not-yet-one-month-old baby boy bearing, in remembrance, my son's middle name. Your May 24th strip brought most knowing tears. Thank you!
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FAVORITE
Leo has rapidly become my favorite Doonesbury character. His steady love for Alex makes her so much more likeable. I look forward to seeing them both grow.
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TOGGLE'S RESPONSE
I love Toggle's response to an ever-panicking Alex. As a father of triplets, I have used the exact line about "going to a zone defense" when discussing our experiences with our sons when they were babies and then toddlers. They are now 16 (or a collective 48). I'm sure that I lost some brain cells from the sleep deprivation in the early years. I've been a fan of Doonesbury since high school in the early 80s and haven't missed a strip since.
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REMEMBERING
What an awesome week in the Doonesbury family -- the reunion, a STEM PhD for Alex, and naming the boys; all perfectly timed. Thank you! Remembering those who served and made the ultimate sacrifice; and those who have yet to come home...