Storyline

FAQs

Beta-fresh answers, uploaded occasionally

Lets face it, our favorite comic strip is often obscure or inconsistent, and key characters are sometimes left stranded for years. Long-suffering readers are within their rights to demand some clarification. Use the "Ask GBT" form to email us your questions, and we will answer those we can on the Blowback page, and also archive the answers here.

Q: I see the Texans for Truth are offering $50,000 to anyone who can prove Dubya served in the Alabama Guard. What ever happened to Doonesbury's offer of $10,000 for the same thing? If you announced a winner I missed it.
--David L., Indialantic, FL

With all the current Swift Boat Vets and Bush Guard brouhaha I was just wondering -- did anyone ever collect on the $10,000 reward for confirming Bush's Guard service in Alabama? Thanks.
-- C.A., Milton, MA

Storyline | September 29, 2004
A:We wish the Texans for Truth luck. Though it's clearly in the president's interest to have his Guard story confirmed, two presidential campaigns have as yet failed to inspire the appearance of a single definitive corroborator. Nor did Doonesbury's $10K reward do the trick. Our Bush Guard contest, announced in the strip, inspired an impressive number of entries, but most proved distinctly un-authoritative, albeit surreally entertaining. Nonetheless, first, second and third-place winners were selected and their Doonesbury prizes shipped off, and GBT made good on his $10K contribution to the USO (he saw no reason why the organization should lose out just because a credible witness couldn't be flushed).

While waiting for the recent Texans for Truth reward offer to produce results, we invite you to peruse our contest winners and selections from the Bush Guard testimony.

Q: Can we read some Bush Guard testimony? Who won?
-- Patrick P., Lompoc, CA | Storyline | September 16, 2004
A:Alas, none of the over 1600 entries we received qualified for the proferred $10,000.Three carefully and arbitrarily selected runner-ups were posted on the Straw Poll site, where DTH&WP readers passed judgement on them. Here are those submissions, and the prizes they have won -- followed by a generous and representative sampling of the entries that overflowed our in-box. We truly appreciate the efforts of all those who selflessly joined us in our efforts to take the Bush Guard story out of play.

FIRST RUNNER-UP (original of the 2-26-04 Doonesbury strip, signed by G.B. Trudeau):

I can't verify Bush's presence in Alabama, but as a dental professional I am intrigued with his dental records. Generally, an individual with a large bank account doesn't have any missing permanent molars without receiving a fixed bridge (#3 is missing, yet no bridge is placed between #2-4, #2 has a crown, but #4 only has a three surface restoration). The American public needs to see his posterior bitewings from 1973 and a current series of bitewings to better judge the authenticity of the information provided.
-- Barbara Vanderveen, Galt, CA

SECOND RUNNER-UP (signed copy of Doonesbury collection Got War?)

Bush and I were together during those months on a mission so secret it's taken years of therapy for me to remember. We were on board an alien vessel during the time in question, emissaries of the Pentagon on a successful mission to obtain "mental weaponry" far in advance of anything the Soviets had. Our memories were then wiped clean, except for the deepest recesses of the unconscious. I weep for the president's struggle with this trauma, and am coming forward to share my pain in interviews, book contracts, and the like. God bless America.
-- Matthew Wills, New York, NY

THIRD RUNNER-UP (fully-branded Duke swizzle stick)

I am an employee of the Nigerian government Toastmaster's Club. I am in hiding while rebels loot my country. In 1972 I was a colonel in the Alabama Air National Guard and flew many aircrafts. I was Bush's wingman. I was with him for his dental exams. I warned him against medical physical exams. You must keep this in strictest confidence. If you wish to pursue this business venture, then I shall need your fax and baking preferences.
-- Dr. Abdula E. Fraudena, Lagos, NIGERIA

Note: Management apologizes to those contestants whose testimony does not appear in the following sampling. In some cases, recent FCC rulings were an inhibiting factor. Essays over 10,000 words in length were not posted out of respect for those using dial-up modems. Special thanks to everyone who offered to sweeten the kitty. If we'd had a winner and all of you had followed through, the USO would have received an additional $16,590. If you would like to contribute directly, write to: Edward Powell, President, USO World Headquarters, 1008 Eberte Place SE, Suite 301, Washington Navy Yard, D.C. 20374.

Click here to read Bush Guard testimony

Q: As I recall, B.D. was also wounded in the first Gulf War. Why is Trudeau putting him through so much hell? Is he some kind of sadist?
-- Bill E., Alameda, CA | Storyline | July 26, 2004
A:B.D. was wounded in Vietnam, where he was (erroneously) awarded a Purple Heart after cutting himself on a pop-top beer can. He did serve in GWI, but it was his comrade-in-arms Ray Hightower who suffered a leg injury when their Humvee was hit by an artillery shell. Ray didn't lose a limb, but the wound was serious enough that he was evacuated to a hospital ship and eventually sent home. The series covering his brush with amputation began on February 6, 1991.
Q: In regards to your present strip with BD recovering in hospital, what the heck is a physiatrist? I thought on the first day you had just misspelled something, but now fear there is a great joke going over my head.
-- Richard Williamson, London, UK | Storyline | July 08, 2004
A:No joke. GBT has been receiving enthusiastic e-mail from the physiatrist community, happy that B.D.'s relationship with Dr. Nitz has focused attention on their important, awkwardly-named and little-known profession.

We've borrowed the following explanation of the physiatrist's role from the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilition Web site, where you can go to get more information.

What is a Physiatrist?

A physiatrist (fizz ee at' trist) is a physician specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation. Physiatrists treat a wide range of problems from sore shoulders to spinal cord injuries. They see patients in all age groups and treat problems that touch upon all the major systems in the body. These specialists focus on restoring function to people....

Physiatrists treat acute and chronic pain and musculoskeletal disorders. They may see a person who lifts a heavy object at work and experiences back pain, a basketball player who sprains an ankle and needs rehabilitation to play again, or a knitter who has carpal tunnel syndrome. Physiatrists' patients include people with arthritis, tendonitis, any kind of back pain, and work- or sports-related injuries.

Physiatrists also treat serious disorders of the musculoskeletal system that result in severe functional limitations. They would treat a baby with a birth defect, someone in a bad car accident, or an elderly person with a broken hip. Physiatrists coordinate the long-term rehabilitation process for patients with spinal cord injuries, cancer, stroke or other neurological disorders, brain injuries, amputations, and multiple sclerosis.

Physiatrists practice in rehabilitation centers, hospitals, and in private offices. They often have broad practices, but some concentrate on one area such as pediatrics, sports medicine, geriatric medicine, brain injury, or many other special interests.

Q: Isn't this week's Sunday section out of sequence -- not to mention inappropriate?
-- C. Pulver, Hartford, CT | Storyline | May 26, 2004
A:Yes. Due to boneheaded creator scheduling, this week's Sunday section appears before B.D.'s arrival at Walter Reed Hospital (the facility referred to in the strip), and while he's still at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

As to the unfortunate coincidence of the last panel's artwork (drawn in April) with the recent grisly tragedy in Iraq, Trudeau shares your chagrin: "Most Sunday sections are prepared five to six weeks in advance, and today's strip was unfortunately overtaken by events. To 'hand someone his head' is a common expression, not normally associated with actual violence. I regret the poor timing, and apologize to anyone who was offended by an image that is now clearly inappropriate."

Those newspapers around the country who print their Sunday sections late were offered a substitute strip.

Q: In a column called "Dissent Stinks if It Exploits the Pain of GI's", Bill O'Reilly criticized the current B.D. storyline, accusing Garry Trudeau of "using someone's personal tragedy to advance a political agenda". What's GBT's response to O'Reilly's assertion that he "crossed the line".
-- D.T., Hartford, CT | Storyline | May 10, 2004
A:While it's hardly a secret that Trudeau opposes the war in Iraq, he doesn't view it as a contradiction to value the warrior -- and the sacrifices he's making in our name. In a response to O'Reilly, Trudeau pointed out that he's been doing it for years. During the first Gulf War, Trudeau wrote over 200 consecutive strips about Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and at the request of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Gordon Sullivan, the Pentagon assembled a show of those strips to tour in theater. Shortly thereafter, Trudeau was invited to Kuwait by a commander who had first read Doonesbury in Stars & Stripes in Vietnam and thought the cartoonist should meet his men. Upon arrival, Trudeau received two medals of commendation from different units in Kuwait. Most of the soldiers who followed the strip seemed to appreciate the attention paid to the day-to-day conditions of their lives, whether absurd or inspirational or tragic.
Q: I'm shocked by the current storyline. B.D. losing a leg? What was Trudeau thinking?!?
-- Lela A., Portland, OR | Storyline | May 08, 2004
A:This is what GBT told ABC News on 'This Week with George Stephanopoulos' last Sunday:

The strips are about sacrifice, about the kind of shattering loss that completely changes lives. In B.D., I've placed a central character in harm's way, and his charmed life takes a dramatic turn on a road outside Fallujah. In the opening panels, he's in shock, hallucinating, with voices cutting in and out. Medics call this time the golden hour, that small window of opportunity when lives are most easily saved. B.D. is medevaced out, and in the third strip, the point of view is reversed, revealing just how grievous his wound really is. We also see his hair, its presence almost as startling as the absence of his leg.

What I meant to convey is that B.D.'s life has been irrevocably changed, that another chapter has begun. He is now on an arduous journey of recovery and rehabilitation. What I'm hoping to describe are the coping strategies that get people through this. There is no culture of complaint among the wounded -- most feel grateful to be alive and respectful of those who have endured even worse fates. But for many, a kind of black humor is indispensable in fending off bitterness or despair, so that's what will animate the strips that follow.

I have to approach this with humility and care. I'm sure I won't always get it right, and I'm also sure people will let me know when I don't. But it seems worth doing. This month alone, we've sustained nearly 600 wounded-in-action. Whether you think we belong in Iraq or not, we can't tune it out; we have to remain mindful of the terrible losses that individual soldiers are suffering in our name.

Q: What's up with this $10,000 reward thing?
-- A. Mitchell, Amenia, NY | Storyline | March 09, 2004
A:For the past several weeks, trolling-for-trash journalists have made repeated forays into the continuing mystery of George W. Bush's Air National Guard service (to catch up on developments, read Salon's "Bad news doesn't get better with age", The Decatur Daily's "Former Dannelly worker: Bush not AWOL", The Nation's "W's AWOL Spin Update!", and -- of particular interest -- The Memphis Flyer's "On Guard -- Or Awol?"). With just eight months left in the presidential campaign, GBT is hoping to speed the disclosure process along by offering a $10,000 reward to coax a witness to step forward and confirm President Bush's story, thereby putting the whole sordid mess behind us. For details, go to our special Bush's Guard Service page. We also encourage you to take a moment to vote in our current Straw Poll on the subject.
Q: Could you please make the TOTAL RECALL coupon (to recall Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger) from the 9-28-03 Sunday strip available on your site in a larger, printable format? I'd like to mail one in -- and also forward it on to my friends.
-- W.H., LA, CA | Storyline | December 04, 2003
A:The DTH&WP is pleased and proud to do its part to help keep California's new tradition of way-participatory democracy alive by providing this supersized copy of THE COUPON in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.
Q: In Doonesbury last week Alex tried to organize a flash mob for Howard Dean at the Seattle Space Needle. Was that for real?
-- H. Jones, New York, NY | Storyline | September 26, 2003
A:Initially no, eventually yes. In an interesting case of politics imitating comic strip, Alex?s flash mob plan was immediately adopted by Deanies, who boosted it on the Net. An estimated 150 mobsters and gawkers, along with local TV news crews, showed up at the Space Needle at the appointed time. For complete coverage, check out the Seattle Times or AP story.