CSotD: Seeking resolution
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Steve Sack takes top honors today for connecting the famous/infamous statement by Nancy Pelosi about the Affordable Care Act with the current GOP discovery that they can't explain it, either.
Pelosi said that the Act was so complex that fighting it out point-by-point in the media before it went into place was foolish, that once it was happening, people would see how it worked.
The Republicans and their talkshow cohorts spun that into her having not read the bill, which not only requires willfully misinterpreting what she said, but willfully suggesting to the public that legislators personally read and interpret every word of every bill they vote on.
Legislators have staffs who read and vet the texts of proposed bills and report back on them, and anyone who has gone beyond the Schoolhouse Rock level of "how a bill becomes a law" knows this.
Not only would it be physically impossible for one person to read the entire text of every bill — passed or defeated — in a legislative session, but it would be futile since, in many cases, they'd have to call in someone more versed in specifics to advise them on various narrowly targeted, technical proposals.
It's perfectly understandable for some voters not to know this, but it's the sort of thing they would instantly grasp if they weren't being blatantly lied to by people who know the facts but prefer not to tell the truth.
And I think they would understand if more people would point out what Sack has pointed out: That the Republicans are no closer to a perfect system and are hiding that fact.
And that the answer to "Who knew that healthcare could be so complicated?" is "Everyone who has made an honest attempt to deal with it."
Meanwhile, Clay Bennett brings us up to date on the investigation into Russian hacking.
The obvious right move would be to hold non-partisan hearings right now and get to the bottom of it, and, if there's nothing there, so much the better. If there is something, we can deal with it and move on.
Right now, it's like someone who doesn't want to ask the doctor about a lump because he's afraid of what he might be told.
Maybe it's nothing. Maybe it will just go away.
Or not. We'll see.
Which brings us to Steve Breen's cartoon, tying in the Russian Connection with a meme that's been running around, criticizing Trump because he doesn't have a dog.
The cartoon is funny, but the meme it's based on seems unfair.
Bo didn't move in with the Obamas until April, 2009, but the Obama daughters had been promised a dog as soon as the campaign ended and they added a second dog later, so, details aside, it's fair to describe Obama as a dog-loving president, or, at least, a daughter-loving one.
It's not clear, after all, how much of the Roosevelt menagerie TR himself wanted, though he was guilty of sending some of it home to his kids as gifts when he was on the road, including Josiah the White House Badger.
Barney Bush was born a few weeks before George W was elected and so was basically a White House dog from the start, and the fact that the Bushes got a second Scottie before leaving indicates that Barney was not simply a PR prop.
But Bill Clinton didn't obtain Buddy until December, 1997, nearly the end of Clinton's first term. I really don't think the Clinton's count as pet-lovers, given that they gave away Socks when they left the White House and Buddy didn't last long after, though, yes, he was replaced.
Still, Trump seems to be moving on this vital issue faster than Clinton did.
Cartoon Content
It's hard to beat the bond between FDR and Fala, though the story of Fala being left behind and retrieved by a tax-funded Naval mission was a partisan myth.
But Fala did double-duty as a presidential pal and a politician, and inspired a series of cartoons by Alan Foster which ran in Colliers, of which this pair is the only survivors I could dig up.
History, Bernice. Not 'Baggage'
Luann takes a surprisingly sweet turn today, remembering Quill, the Aussie who was her romantic interest for quite some time.
Luann is a strip that moves forward not quite in real time but at a relatively credible rate.
Some years back, the lack of continuity in the strip inspired the term "Luanniverse," meaning a place where continuity is, at best, optional, but Greg Evans may have taken the criticism to heart, or it may be that adding his daughter, Karen, to the creative effort has helped keep those balls in the air.
Whatever the cause, the strip has improved greatly in that respect and it's nice to see a bit of the past brought up and warmly remembered.
Last week I mentioned to a friend that I had once known someone from her relatively obscure hometown, which set me on a "whatever happened" Google quest.
Turned out she was from a different relatively obscure hometown in that state, but the fact that she'd been a cheerleader in college made her a little easier than average to find, and I was apparently right in remembering that this incredibly cute blonde I only knew through friends had turned out, over pizza, to be better company than expected: She has since become a pediatric anesthesiologist.
I believe we label that as "brains and beauty."
We were never more than casual friends, but it made me think back and realize that most of my actual dating regrets are of the "good person, bad timing" nature.
There is, of course, a potentially creepy side to Googling former lovers, but it's nice to find that someone you liked so much is doing well today, as long as you are, too.
It's also worth realizing that, had you stayed together, neither of you would have ended up where you did.
That's history, Bernice.
This is baggage:
Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.
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