Hot Button Topics
Today on For Better or For Worse, Lynn Johnston dropped a subtle hint that she would like the war to be over, via the young and innocent April Patterson. It was an obvious jab at the War in Afghanistan, since Canada is uninvolved in the Iraq War. I decided to snark it over on the FOOBiverse’s Journal by pointing out (a) the Canadian Forces were in 50 different countries overseas and (b) there was not an active declaration of war in any of those countries in either Australia or Afghanistan. I even mentioned that I believed the “war” in Afghanistan was over in 2002, which is when the new Afghani government started.
So, today, I did 2 services at church, took my girl to the Girl Scouts where they go to do the “Build a Bear Workshop” and I took my boy to deliver Boy Scout popcorn, and when I got back to look at the FOOBiverse’s Journal, the response was quite startling. I can’t think of a time when I something I wrote was so misinterpreted. There were posts suggesting I didn’t know Canadians were in Afghanistan, that suggested I thought the Canadian military was unimportant compared to the United States, and that suggested I had been led astray by the American media who focuses only on the U.S. troops. I had to read my original post a few times, to make sure that I included Afghanistan in it. The conclusion I came to, was when it comes to a “hot button” topic, a topic that gets people stirred up, they don’t read very carefully, and react to what they think they read in maybe the first 5 or 6 words.
I find it very interesting that Canadians are agitated by the War in Afghanistan. For years, I faithfully followed a comic book published by a Canadian named Dave Sim called Cerebus the Aardvark. In its glory years, there was not a better book coupling political, social, and religious satire and sword-and-sorcery stories. Alas, in its later years, the author decided that women were the downfall of society and that the Canadian government was being destroyed by forces in Quebec. He started writing long text pieces for his comic book describing the destruction of the Canadian military and what he viewed was its shameful dependence on the United States for military protection. I kept picking up the book hoping it would one day return to its former glory, and unfortunately it never did. But it was interesting to read the radical perspective of Dave Sim, who makes a good argument and is very well-written, even if he was a little nutty. One of his main perspectives was that Canadians had grown accustomed to taking a passive role in its military, and preferred to be associated with U.N. Peacekeepers. So, when all the FOOBiverse Journal posters took a decidedly pro-military viewpoint with respect to Canadians in Afghanistan, I thought, “Well, Dave Sim. I guess you were wrong about your fellow countrymen.”
Tomorrow’s strip: Anthony plays his ace – little Francie. I expect some serious bonding and maybe a cute kid moment where Francie says, “She’s nice. Nicer than my evil French mommy. You should marry her, daddy.” The Liz says, “Kids say the darndest things.” Then Anthony gives Liz a meaningful look. Actually Lynn needs to move this story along. She’s got to get the Liz feelings for Anthony out in the open, in time for her betrayal by Paul during December.
So, today, I did 2 services at church, took my girl to the Girl Scouts where they go to do the “Build a Bear Workshop” and I took my boy to deliver Boy Scout popcorn, and when I got back to look at the FOOBiverse’s Journal, the response was quite startling. I can’t think of a time when I something I wrote was so misinterpreted. There were posts suggesting I didn’t know Canadians were in Afghanistan, that suggested I thought the Canadian military was unimportant compared to the United States, and that suggested I had been led astray by the American media who focuses only on the U.S. troops. I had to read my original post a few times, to make sure that I included Afghanistan in it. The conclusion I came to, was when it comes to a “hot button” topic, a topic that gets people stirred up, they don’t read very carefully, and react to what they think they read in maybe the first 5 or 6 words.
I find it very interesting that Canadians are agitated by the War in Afghanistan. For years, I faithfully followed a comic book published by a Canadian named Dave Sim called Cerebus the Aardvark. In its glory years, there was not a better book coupling political, social, and religious satire and sword-and-sorcery stories. Alas, in its later years, the author decided that women were the downfall of society and that the Canadian government was being destroyed by forces in Quebec. He started writing long text pieces for his comic book describing the destruction of the Canadian military and what he viewed was its shameful dependence on the United States for military protection. I kept picking up the book hoping it would one day return to its former glory, and unfortunately it never did. But it was interesting to read the radical perspective of Dave Sim, who makes a good argument and is very well-written, even if he was a little nutty. One of his main perspectives was that Canadians had grown accustomed to taking a passive role in its military, and preferred to be associated with U.N. Peacekeepers. So, when all the FOOBiverse Journal posters took a decidedly pro-military viewpoint with respect to Canadians in Afghanistan, I thought, “Well, Dave Sim. I guess you were wrong about your fellow countrymen.”
Tomorrow’s strip: Anthony plays his ace – little Francie. I expect some serious bonding and maybe a cute kid moment where Francie says, “She’s nice. Nicer than my evil French mommy. You should marry her, daddy.” The Liz says, “Kids say the darndest things.” Then Anthony gives Liz a meaningful look. Actually Lynn needs to move this story along. She’s got to get the Liz feelings for Anthony out in the open, in time for her betrayal by Paul during December.
posted by howard at 11:33 PM
2 Comments:
Bracing myself for the anvils. :(
Lynn has been playing it pretty sweet so far. The idea is that Liz has to slowly realize that Anthony is a great guy, and the other idea is that the reader has to ignore the fact Liz left her job in Mtigwaki specifically because she discovered Anthony was divorced (otherwise the slow realization doesn't make any sense).
I actually do not expect the Thérèse / Elizabeth smackdown over Françoise to be until after Anthony proposes and Liz accepts. So, I think it will be some time next year in the middle of the wedding preparation. For this year, Liz just has to fall in love with Françoise, and have some thought, or unthought facial expression, that she would like to be Françoise’s mom.
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