The Official Doonesbury Appreciation Thread - SIGN THE DU CARD That's Going To G. B. Trudeau!

Hey, folks. For what he has been doing lately, in particular, but, as well, for what he has been doing all along these past six years, I've decided that it would be great for the Democratic Underground membership to show our appreciation to Garry Trudeau with a surprise acknowledgment, and I can guarantee delivery of a card of appreciation personally to Mr. Trudeau. (I wrote to him once back about 15 years ago and he responded with a nice friendly handwritten note that came in an envelope complete with an Uncle Duke postmark on it. This address I have now, however is new.) See what you think, sign on up, and enjoy this overview of his work over the course of the Shrub disaster.

Sept. 1, 2005




This week runs a series of Doonesbury strips, as you see below, communicating Trudeau's satirical take on Bush and his veto of the war funding bill. This Garry is doing, after a week of reprints from 2002 reminding Americans that the foolishness of invading Iraq was known to many of us before the war. The aforementioned strips have followed a week advertising the issue of impeachment via the Vermont Impeachment movement presented through his comic strip panels in thousands of papers across the country. BEFORE THAT he was calling out GOP hopeful Mitt Romney on his flip-floppery hypocrisy - and I haven't even mentioned what he's been up to in the Sunday pages.

This Week




The frequency and ferocity with which Trudeau has been satirizing Bushco and the right-wing in Doonesbury has increased of late, though it is NOT new that he has been on the administration's case since the beginning, as you can see from some of the earlier strips I am posting. Still, in the past few years, Trudeau's righteous anger and incredulousness toward the administration has been much more evident in his work.

Nov. 7, 2000



April 16, 2001




I will take care of the creation of the card - it will be oversized, but not so big as to be a piece of annoying clutter (the hope being that it will join his treasured memorabilia) and I will take care of the transcription of everyone's name or username to it - like the "here in spirit" protest posters that inspired this idea. The DU logo will be printed on the card, as well an appropriate Doonesbury image of some kind, and a message inside (see my proposed text below). Roses have been the traditional gift of appreciation here, as most of you know, but also ... as many of you have pointed out in past appreciation threads ... they cost money, funds that could be given over to a good cause related to the concerns of the person to whom we are showering our appreciation. So, for those wanting to do more beyond just signing the card, I mention that you might please consider donating to one of Trudeau's favorite charity efforts: http://www.fisherhouse.org

Oct. 19, 2002



April 2, 2004




Fisher House is a private-public partnership that is designed to provide "comfort homes" for family members of military who are hospitalized for illness, disease or injury." As it states on their website, these servicepersons and their loved ones must often travel great distances for specialized care. The program meets "a humanitarian need beyond that normally provided by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs," according to the website. There is "at least one Fisher House at every major military medical center to assist families in need and to ensure that they are provided with the comforts of home in a supportive environment. Annually, the Fisher House program serves more than 8,500 families, and have made available more than two million days of lodging to family members since the program originated in 1990." Trudeau himself, devoted one week of Doonesbury narrative to a visit to Fisher House, having Boopsie lodge there.

April 10, 2004




The Fisher House programs include Hero Miles, which has provided over 9,500 tickets to hospitalized service members and their family members, worth over $12 million, Scholarships To Military Children, and the Newman's Own volunteer award. Here is the link to donate: http://www.fisherhouse.org/contribute/contribute.shtml

April 20, 2004



April 21, 2004




This suggestion of charitable donation from the hearts and wallets of DUers, of course, brings us to the inevitable, required, proverbial and much-beloved... DU DISCLAIMER

The administrators of Democratic Underground have given permission for one discussion thread on this topic. The administrators of Democratic Underground make no claims regarding the legitimacy or illegitimacy of this fundraising effort. Permission was granted by Skinner on May 4, 2007, and the moderators have been notified. My contact person with the "Trudeau people" has guaranteed me that this will be a surprise for Mr. Trudeau (unless Garry happens to read DU regularly, which I guess is a possibility, but otherwise...!)

Oct. 11, 2004




Trudeau, a classmate of Dubya's at Yale in the late '60s/early 70's, said in an interview in Rolling Stone in August 2004: "The Bushies simply do not trust the people to get it right. So like the pigs in Animal Farm, they rewrite the laws that protect us all, in the middle of the night." Let's show this guy some DU love.

Sept. 28, 2005




Here is my proposed text for the card: "To G.B. Trudeau from the varied and multi-national membership of the Democratic Underground website: In appreciation of you exceptional work in the use of satire in the service of speaking truth to power during a critical period in the history of the United States and the world. We are daily inspired by your continued efforts at communicating with humor and through your characters our humanity and the values of reasoned and free-thinking persons."

March 29, 2006



April 27, 2006




Feel free to debate and suggest any alterations to my card message. I do realize, I might mention, that there are other editorial cartoonists and public servents who are deserving of our recognition, and maybe we can do something for them later, but, really, Trudeau is unique in what he has been doing with the media outlet he has at his command. This is not about hero worship (I, myself, don't always agree exactly with the sentiments or concepts communicated in his strips), but about appreciation.

Oct. 19, 2006




Nov. 20, 2006




Please kick and recommend this thread so that as many people as possible get to see it and we can get as many signatures on the card as possible. I will check back later tonight and tomorrow and then we'll see where it goes from there. Thanks! - H'spit

March 27, 2007



April 13, 2007




Below, a final Doonesbury Sunday panel "blast from the past," so to speak:

Dec. 19, 2004

Please sign me up, too.  Garry Trudeau is my one link to
sanity in this absolutely insane time.  I have been a fan
since the very beginning...I even have some strips I cut out
of the paper in 1971!!!  I literally wallpapered by office at
my previous place of employment with Doonesbury strips....my
former employer was a Republican!!!!  It really pissed him off
and that gave me such pleasure.