It has come to this: The Democrats get called out as spineless on the Sunday comics page.

[Jim Sagle]

[MrModerate]

1. I noticed that. Does anyone know anything about the cartoonist?

Is he a wingnut, a radical leftie, or just some guy plugged into the zietgeist?

[lligrd]

3. Been Going Through Old Cartoons And Lots Of Chimp Stuff

Plus this from wikipedia:

Conley, an animal rights activist and vegetarian, lives in Boston.


Doesn't sound Right Wing to me. But that was biting.

[tblue37]

19. A lot of us who are very progressive are pissed at the Dems for

being spineless. As Arianna Huffington says, why do they keep folding when they hold all the cards?

The cartoonist is a progressive. He is not bought. His Bucky the cat character is selfish, snotty, and all-round obnoxious. Sweet Satchel, the dog, is a Dem, though also a bit dim, like Garfield's Odie. Rob, the guy in the strip (the cartoonist's alter ego) is also a either a Dem or simply a progressive. Bucky is a Republican--of the frothing Freeper type. Think of Mark and Chase in Doonesbury. Chase was the mouthpiece for the RW talking points that Trudeau disagrees with.

[Recursion]

26. I keep forgetting Get Fuzzy doesn't run nationally

Bucky (the cat) is the "villain" of the strip and an arch-conservative. He sometimes goes on rants like this. He also has a deep hatred for the French ("oh Jacques, that's awful that you broke your arm. And it's your surrendering arm, too!") Conley, insofar as you can glean his politics from his strip, seems to be a blue-collar-Boston-style liberal who, like most of that breed, are pretty sick of the Democrats for not standing up for those of us who elected them.

[opihimoimoi]

2. Prolly bought...the PUBs buy their support....

[Recursion]

29. Conley's to the left of Trudeau, mostly

Though in a blue-collar-Bostonian kind of way.

We shouldn't ostrich this moment, people; we're losing the people that voted for us in '06 daily.

[ProudDad]

4. Google is your friend

"Before becoming a cartoonist, Conley held a wide array of jobs: elementary school teacher, art director for a science museum, lifeguard, and bicycle repairman. This eclectic collection of professions is reminiscent of those held by Douglas Adams, whom Conley has mentioned as a comedic influence.

Conley, an animal rights activist and vegetarian, lives in Boston."

<snip>

"Conley has admitted that he considers himself more of a "dog person" than a "cat person", and Satchel Pooch was based partially on his beloved childhood pet Patch. Despite Satchel's endearing characteristics, it is unquestionably Bucky Katt who has proven the most popular character of the strip. The idea for Bucky's character came from a friend's Siamese who seemed to hate Darby no matter what he did. Darby drew several versions of Bucky with his ears up, until he hit on drawing Bucky with his ears constantly pinned down. Conley was intrigued by the idea of a cat who was so unrelentingly hostile that his ears were permanently flattened against his skull, and the unique look of Bucky was born."

You make the call for you...

I think Conley is showing the same level of disappointment with the Dems as I have...



On Edit: In the interest of Full Disclosure -- I've always enjoyed his strip.

[lligrd]

6. Yep And That Is Why It Hit Me So Hard

Sounds like something Hannity (the cat) would say and we (the dog) no longer can deny it.

[movonne]

5. Where was this?? some newspaper?? I hate to say this but it is

sort of true..

[lligrd]

7. Exactly! nt

[alphafemale]

8. The cat's a FReeper.

A raving, lunatic FReeper, as a matter of fact.

But the strip itself is pretty liberal.

[ChazII]

9. Ignore it and read

Doonsebury for today instead. instead.

[tomreedtoon]

10. Ignore, hell! Hunt this guy down and confront him!

Otherwise you are as spineless as he claims the Democrats are. Find this guy - he can't be hard to find. Face him down. Yell in his face. Demand the truth of him.

[sufrommich]

14. I hope that was sarcasm.n/t

[Jim Sagle]

16. It IS the truth. Otherwise he would not have inked it.

This cartoonist is on our side, and he's as sick of Dems caving as we are.

[tblue37]

21. Um, the cartoonist is on OUR side! He is just telling the

truth. A lot of us progressives are frustrated that the Dems keep folding when they hold most of the cards. But the cartoonist is liberal--and so is his strip.

[sufrommich]

24. Regardless of whether he's on our side or not

why hunt him down and shout in his face as the poster calls for. I picture some guy shouting "Why are you making cartoons I disagree with?!?" It's a frickin' cartoon no matter how you cut it and posts like that are as disturbing as shouting for the head of the dutch cartoonist.

[tblue37]

27. Yeah--but I was responding to the knee-jerk attitude that

anyone who says something one doesn't like, even if it is obviously true, is an enemy. Freepers are like that. The second a Republican strays from the party line and tries to say something almost reasonable, they go for his/her throat.

Similarly, any careful reading of this strip would show that the author is frustrated with the Dems for not standing up against Bush. That by itself suggests that he is not a Bushbot, even if one of the characters is. Readers can disagree with people who are angry at the Dems for caving, but the ones who are angry at the Dems for caving are almost always on our side, not BushCo's. A bit of thought would show that to be the case.

[robinlynne]

30. what truth would that be?

[Recursion]

28. Get Fuzzy is one of the best liberal-ish strips out there

Instead of shooting the messenger let's ask why a vegetarian animal rights activist from Boston who has drawn hundreds of progressive strips is frustrated by our party. It shouldn't take very long to figure out.

[Double T]

11. Maybe if the congressional jellyfish..eh..Democrats would get a spine........

we wouldn't have to contend with this crap. There is a REAL PROBLEM with perception here people and it can not be ignored or we're going to have it handed to 'US' in the next election.

[Buzz Clik]

12. Well, it's a major improvement over Bruce Tinsley's Mallard Fillmore.

We may not like the message, but at least it's clever.

I'd say it's odds on that the cartoonist is a frustrated Democrat.

[fiore280]

13. The Democrats deserve it

They deserve to be called spineless. Or even worse, maybe they are just enablers.

[papau]

15. No impeachment is spineless - but not stopping war funding is the reality of not

having 67 votes in the Senate.

[Jim Sagle]

17. Hogwash!

They could stop the spending by not submitting a spending authorization.

[tbyg52]

25. And they could make more hay of the Republican obstruction

Instead of the constant "we don't have the votes," how about "the Repubs are blocking an up-or-down vote."

[papau]

33. true - when it happens, but usually it is just lack of votes n/t

n/t

[papau]

32. we finally have the military being ordered to make up-armored humvee's available - to not

pass the 90 billion sup is to stop those from going to the troops.

Plus the Pres under his self-declared "war-time emergency powers" can keep the war going using other appropriations until he leaves office.

If we are not going to impeach for stuff to date - a few more will such moves by Bush will not worry him.

[progressoid]

18. Sounds like he reads DU.

[EFerrari]

20. "If the dogs are barking, you are winning."

-- Joe Kennedy

[seasat]

22. I read his strip daily, he's pretty progressive. Mabye supports Obama.

It appears that he may be an Obama supporter. Note the Tee-shirt the main character is wearing in this strip.

[IndianaGreen]

23. It is bad enough when bin Laden calls Democrats spineless, to universal agreement!

Why wouldn't be surprised when it becomes a motif for pop culture?

[Mythsaje]

31. One of my favorite comic strips...

I think he's pretty pissed off. He might as well be a DUer.

[NewHampster]

34. Have you people never heard of sarcasm?

This strip was so obviously being sarcastic and trying to show how stupid the repub arguments are.

When I read it this morning my first thought was that all of those humorless folks on DU will get all riled up.

Guess I was right.