Daniel,

I imagine some think of you as a Rhino, but I noticed one difference between your site and a Democrats site.

No censorship!

No little difference that. There you have it. The main difference in the current politic tribes of America.

And I thank you.

Re the previous comment: oh, yeah, the main difference between Democrats and Republicans is that the Democrats are pro-censorship. Right.

Dan, is this your way of confessing that you're a tax-dodging professional whiner?

Outland sucked so horribly it completely destroyed any residual goodwill I had toward the original and sublime Bloom County.

By the way: Yes. The Democrats are most definitely pro-censorship. Their response to every disagreement is to claim that you can't say something. You're not allowed to point out the flaws in the Dems' arguments about Iraq. You're questioning their patriotism (while they question Dubya's). You're not allowed to speak your mind about affirmative action. That's racial harassment. You're not allowed to point out the Muslim/terrorism correlation. That's a hate crime. You're not even allowed to have the Senate vote on judges or Medicare reform or an energy bill. Go to any college campus in America with a speech code and explain to me why the whiney left isn't the voice of censorship.

As someone who gets the Sunday paper on Saturday (I don't have a time travel machine, most papers put out an early version), all I can say is, it looks like another Outland.

Half a newpaper page for a one line joke which wasn't very funny. Seems to me it's more about Mr. Breathed's ego than anything else.

Back in the mid-late-'80s Breathed had Opus shout "Reagan Sucks." The San Diego Union refused the run the panel.

I wrote an editorial for my paper blasting the Union's lack of free-speech spirit. Won my first journalism award for that editorial. And I sent a copy of the paper to Breathed and he returned it signed. I've always wanted to get that framed ...

Forget Berkeley Breathed. Bring back Gary Larson.

I imagine some think of you as a Rhino, but I noticed one difference between your site and a Democrats site.

No censorship!

No little difference that. There you have it. The main difference in the current politic tribes of America.

Dan,

I've read a lot of stupid delusional crap in the comments here recently, but this has to be the stupidest, most delusional thing I've read in weeks.

Papertiger,

As an American, I will defend your right to say stupid, delusional things.

BTW, how's the weather on your planet?

Forget Gary Larson. Bring back Bill Watterson.

...and tell Garry Trudeau (and Matt Groening, for that matter) to call it a day.

Or is that "censorship"?

Calvin & Hobbes,

There are none better. Don't fight the power, ignore it.

Please Mr. Watterson.

Cordially,

Jim

Could Papertiger, in drawing a distinction between this site and "a Democractic site," have been talking not about the Democractic party or Democrats in general, but the receptiveness of Democractic-leaning blogs and message boards to dissent?

Just an example, quoted from the forums on democraticunderground.com:

"WHO IS WELCOME ON DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND, AND WHO IS NOT

We welcome Democrats of all stripes, along with other progressives who will work with us to achieve our shared goals.

This is a "big tent" message board. We welcome a wide range of progressive opinion. You will likely encounter many points of view here that you disagree with.

We ban conservative disruptors who are opposed to the broad goals of this website. If you think overall that George W. Bush is doing a swell job, or if you wish to see Republicans win, or if you are generally supportive of conservative ideals, please do not register to post, as you will likely be banned."

Of course, if that's what Papertiger means, he should convince us that conservative sites do not tend to do the same thing, which I doubt. (In my experience, the harder-right or -left a site gets, the more intolerance to dissent is reflected in editing decisions and in the hive/swarm behavior of frequent posters).

Of course, the sentence "The main difference in the current politic tribes of America" could be read differently than I suggested.

Guys. Guys.

Censorship is an official governmental action. Even when the Catholic Church censored books it was through the state. State officials, not the priest, came out to arrest you, throw you in jail, vandalize your business and burn it down.

What the Left does is propaganda, not censorship. They grabbed control of the means of communication last century: the publishers, Media, the schools and Hollywood. They could then ignore, intimidate and ridicule their opponents which is protected by the US 1st amendment. Not displaying an opponent's remarks is unfair, rude and ultimately, self defeating. But, it isn't censorship. It indicates their true feelings about freedom of speech.

But, times are changing; the Left's propaganda isn't going over well. They are getting a taste of competition and condemnation from the alterative media (Fox news, talk radio and the internet) and don't like it.

Now, they are the one's screaming censorship. Too bad. Turn about is fair play.

Nice to see Opus will be/is back.

Couldn't care less about the "my side censors people less than yours" debate...

Censorship is by the gummint, NOT by individuals at blogs or websites.

Dissent is the stating of differing opinions, viewpoints or observations, whereas TROLLING is leaping into a thread of comments, flinging verbal feces, and leaving...

Dissent I support. Trolling I find abominable, and only done by trolls.

You notice my post is still on the top of this thread. I have no idea if it has anything at all to do with the topic of the post. I didn't read the post.
I have never been to this site before. All I know of Daniel Drezner is that he defended Salam Pax from Lileks. I came to that post from another link by Misha. I read through most of the 300 or so posts on that thread. Couldn't post my opinion because it was turned off.
My comment is based on experience. Left leaners, not just mostly, always delete the posts they don't agree with.
To tell you the truth I was heartened by Daniel when I thought he was a democrat. He would have been the first that I came across that allowed dissent on his page.
Somewhere about post 100 someone on the Salam Pax thread spilled that you were Republican.
I should have guessed.

Of course, if that post claiming Daniel as GOP was a mistake, and Mr. Drezner is a Democrat, then change the above to read -Left leaners mostly delete the posts they don't agree with.

Bring back Bill Waterson!! Yeah, there might still be one or two Peanuts cartoons he hasn't ripped off. Outland did really suck, so I am hesitant to get too excited about the return of Opus. I am hoping, however, that he was out of ideas by the time Outland was written and that the absence has given him so new ideas.

Garry Trudeau lost it many years ago. He's just an embarassment to himself now. First, because he doesn't even bother drawing (how tired is that symbol-for-a-politician thing?) Second, because he uses his alter-ego of Mike to indulge his sad middle-age male fantasies (nailing a hot, multi-culti hip, very young girl.) Jane must be mortified.

uh_clem

That's right, er left, follow the yellow line...

I dunno about Outland. Sure, it didn't begin to touch Bloom County...but judged on its own, against the tripe that litters the comics pages today (does Rose is Rose make anyone else homicidal?), it wasn't all that bad, even if I no longer subscribe to most of Breathed's political views. (I actually liked Ronald-Ann, who wasn't a Bloom County character.)

I would agree with the calls to bring back Watterson, as long as he's come up with some new ideas since he retired Calvin & Hobbes — the only worse thing than no Calvin at all would be Calvin jumping the shark.

As far as Larson goes, I salute his genius as a pioneer of oddball cartooning, and I do miss his work ... but (in part thanks to the Internet) there are now so many oddball cartoonists, some of them actually quite good, that IMHO new cartoons by him would no longer stand out so prominently from the crowd.

I'm sure that last opinion will provoke cries of "Sacrilege!" :-)

And, yeah, Trudeau's retirement would be A Good Thing overall for cartooning. Groening, on the other hand, might just need a loooooong vacation.

Howard Owens:

A geek-like correction here: it wasn't Opus that bellowed "Reagan Sucks!", it was the creature that appears in Pat Oliphant's political cartoons. Breathed was satirizing Oliphant's penchant for blaming everything on Reagan...

In the following strip, Opus was bemoaning his inability to have the political "insight" of "L'il Ollie Funt" -- the best Opus was able to come up with was, "Reagan Socks!"

I opened my local paper this morning and I found Opus. It was a pleasant surprise and the strip was droll. For those of you in deprived metro areas, unfortuneately Berk has decided to not post them on the Net.

I agree with the posters above. Gary Larson, Bill Watterson please come back. Gary Trudeau, its Time baby.

RE: Opus. I, too am leery about Breathed's third coming. I'm glad to see the penguin, but I really want to catch up on Steve Dallas and Bill the Cat. (We never did hear learn the resolution of Bill's long-standing lust for Jeanne Kirkpatrick!)

http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/cl-et-ulin22nov22.story

THIS is the article of interest...let's see, a guy who swiped from Trudeau, Peanuts & Garfield ripping on Charles Schultz & Jim Davis, Irony? Check.

FOX News is "alternative media"? The left has control of the media?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

Oh you were serious? Really? *rolls eyes*

Ya'll are a little out of touch with the facts. Breathed's first take was the Academia Waltz*. Bloom County was a watered down version of that, and Outland just struck me as tired.

*This is soon to be reprinted! Now that is welcome news.

"And I'd be a Libertarian, if they weren't all a bunch of tax-dodging professional whiners."

Hahahahahahahahaha!

Larson, a pioneer?! Please, let me point you at this bio of B. Kliban. Larson is Kliban without artistic talent.

The less said about Trudeau, the better.

Stickdoctor, Rolling eyes is so last century.

Smerks are the rage.

BTW, the Liberals did grabs hold of the big three news organizations. They still have them

Yawn. Who cares?

Papertiger claimed: My comment is based on experience. Left leaners, not just mostly, always delete the posts they don't agree with.

Then you have a very limited experience.

I've only ever been thrown off one discussion community for my politics, and that was a rightwing community: the livejournal forum Conservatism.

Here's what I wrote about that experience on my livejournal.

Mr Jesurgislac, stop with the adverts - very unbecoming, considering your usually well-reasoned posts.

Mr. Wheeler, excellent reminder on "censorship", that should probably be made to auto-input at the top of everyone's "comment box". Thank-you.

Forget Berke Breathed. Forget Gary Larson. Forget Bill Watterson. Bring back Al Capp.

Well, "Rose is Rose" is interestingly drawn, at least.

Worst Comic Strip Ever has to be "Arlo & Janis." It's not that it's merely unfunny; it's that it's so unfunny you can't even figure out what the joke was supposed to be. "Arlo & Janis" is to "unfunny" what the Hiroshima bomb was to "bang."

My all-time favorite Bloom County strip was the one where the Meadow Party is having its 1984 convention across the street from the Democrats and a guy walks in with a Mondale/Ferraro sign & buttons and asks, "so who are you running against Reagan?" (I'm leaving out a few nasty adjectives I can't remember offhand), and Milo says "A dead cat."

[Pause]

The guy drops his sign and says "what the heck," and walks into the Meadow Party hall.

That cartoon just said it all about the Mondale campaign.

"Bring back Al Capp."

I don't think that even Dan could do that.

Various comments..

Ronald-Ann acutally turned up in the twilight of Bloom County, before moving over to Outland.

Yes, Larson owes a debt to Kilban. But Kilban would never, ever have been able to publish his work on the comics page. The world is a better place having The Far Side in it. I wish I had the extra $80 to spend on the new collection...

While Trudeau certainly has his weaknesses, Doonesbury is still a scintillating masterpiece when compared with Mallard Fillmore.

Of course, picking the worst comic around is like picking the wettest part of the Pacific Ocean; I could count the number of mainstream strips I care about on one hand.

Mr Jesurgislac, stop with the adverts - very unbecoming, considering your usually well-reasoned posts.

Art, thanks for the compliment. I didn't intend the link to my livejournal as an ad: I wrote about the experience of being kicked out of a right-leaning community for having left-leaning opinions at length on my livejournal, and saw no reason to copy and paste the whole story about it here when a simple link would suffice.

Wake me up when "Calvin and Hobbes" returns. Life hasn't been worth living since their departure from the daily newspaper.

Outland: Good draftsmanship, which is one of the things he wants it to be. He scorns the 3-panel style, but #1 is a 3-panel cartoon. Given his background, I'll keep reading and see what happens.

In the interview, he complains about the cartoons drawn by dead white guys. OK, I'll buy into that. Little Orphan Annie must be abut 70 now - time to retire. The current incarnation is a bit forced. Dick Tracy? Pushing 80.

Rose is Rose is in the top 10. If you don't get Pasquale and Peekaboo, you have no heart.

But Breathed also complained about today's drawing. Al Capp was great, but there will never be anybody that can touch Walt Kelly and Pogo for drawing. The most beautiful character in all cartoondom - and I include today's anime - is Miz Hepzibah. And Walt knew how to deflate the political hot-air balloons of his time. His send-up of Joe McCarthy is a classic.

Pogo and "Calvin and Hobbes" are the only cartoon collections I have.

I have never forgotten Opus, even though it has taken 10 years to return! I am now well into my 50's and I am still comtemplating an Opus tatoo on my "right" cheek.
My Opus T-shirt finally disengrated and if you can direct me where to purchase a new one I thank you. My Opus stuffed animal that my daughter gave me one Christmas sits proudly on my dresser. Even though my wife continually tries to put him away.

Welcome back Opus, be cool.

Did you see the Non-Sequitor on Sunday (12/28), Somehow I thought it was apporopriate, I've been reading Opus, but don't get much out of it. Oh well.