Comic strips Editorial cartooning Politics

Trudeau Derangement Syndrome

Garry B. Trudeau’s Doonesbury comic strip isn’t the powerhouse influencer it was in the mid-1970s when Trudeau won The Pulitzer Prize, made magazine covers, and was mandatory reading by The President of The United States.

But it still raises the hackles of the Far Right. Particularly one Peter Parisi, who just can’t not read the strip.

Last Sunday’s (July 21) Doonesbury was the most recent commentary to raise Mr. Parisi’s blood pressure:

President Joe Biden grudgingly announced he was abandoning his bid for a second term in office on Sunday—just one day after marking three-and-a-half years in the White House.

That same day, as Democratic Party bosses finally succeeded in pushing the cognitively impaired Biden out of the race (more than three weeks after his disastrous debate performance), far-left political cartoonist Garry Trudeau’s “Doonesbury” comic strip still wasn’t ridiculing Biden.

Instead, Trudeau returned to his well-trod turf yet again, attacking former President Donald Trump—for the fifth time in the past eight weeks alone, no less.

The weekly strip, featured prominently on the front page of The Washington Post’s Sunday color comics section, on July 21 depicted a constellation of a supposed “Trump Crime Org,” the kind of treatment Trudeau has never given to any of Crooked Joe and son Hunter Biden’s shady international influence-peddling business deals.

Peter Parisi’s latest criticism of Doonesbury’s one-sided political attacks can be read at The Daily Signal, an offshoot of The Heritage Foundation – the very definition of non-partisanship {sarcasm}.

Mr. Parisi apparently does not know about the lead time for Sunday comics:

Nor would you ever know about Biden’s countless verbal gaffes—including most recently “We beat Medicare” at the June 27 debate and his train of thought frequently derailing off to “ … anyway … ”—if you relied on “Doonesbury” as your primary source of political news and commentary.

Kamala Harris is not left out of the rant as Mr. Parisi credits her with the popularity of “word salad.”

Trudeau will never tell you the term “word salad” was added to the political lexicon thanks in large part to Harris’ incoherent speeches. Nor has “Doonesbury” ever ridiculed her oft-repeated pseudo-profundity about “What can be, unburdened by what has been.”

If it’s any consolation to Mr. Parisi this coming Sunday Doonesbury lays off the MAGA cult leader…

though DEI comes into play.

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Comments 6

  1. And, no surprise, Parisi gets it wrong. The term “word salad” in its current meaning dates back to 1904 according to Merriam-Webster and Oxford dictionaries. And Snopes and other debunking sites are full of fake quotes attributed to Harris. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/kamala-harris-today-is-today-speech/

    “Trump Derangement Syndrom” better describes his supporters than his opponents.

  2. It seems that Mr. Parisi is unaware that partisan support is biased. Maybe someone should tell him? God forbid he should look in a mirror…

  3. The opening quote from Parisi contains the assumption that Biden’s announcement was “grudging,” and that “Democratic Party bosses” “pushed him out,” both of which are characterizations that exist in Parisi’s head.

    It’s Trump’s followers that ACTUALLY have “TDS.”

  4. As I’m weary of all the political brew haha, I do like when sanity’s brought to light. Trudeau’s always hit the bull’s eye on reality, atta way Gary !!

  5. Peter Parisi is not wrong. Trudeau has never turned his cynical spotlight, with any seriousness, on the gaffes doled out by the Democrats. It’s not surprising given that our own corporate media refuses to muster up any serious skepticism toward Democrats the way they do toward Republicans.

    But it’s Trudeaus strip to do with as he likes: constantly harp on Republicans while not having the guts to see beyond his own blind partisanship and give equal treatment to Democrats. Not that anyone cares, but I would have far more respect for Trudeau if would’ve through the years.

    Meh.

    1. Oh give me a g** d*****d break.

      Show me a conservative figure, cartoonist, commentator, anyone demonstrate an OUNCE of self-deprecation about anything their side has done and I will eat my hat.

      And, here in Trump country I already get to hear about his many, many valuable qualities from every waiting room TV in town. I swear to God if I hear one more right winger bellyache about how “unfairly “ he’s being treated I am going to vomit.

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