February 4th, 2009: "The Real Poop"

[Citi]

Not a whole lot going on today (Tuesday). I've been spending my day swallowing a gallon of laxative in preparation for home movies up my backside. So by the time you read this the pirated DVD will undoubtedly be available on line in torrent form with hard copies at finer train and bus stations everywhere.

I named this strip "All I Ever Wanted" in reference to the old Go Go's song. But as much as that song used to remind me of my youth, it has now been forever linked to Fahrenheit 9/11 and W's vacation time in his first year of presidency. Man that's just good satire I don't even care if it's true.

Artur is going to Iraq on vacation. I know that probably seems a little weird to a lot of you. For me, when it comes to the current Iraqi conflict I tend to feel some guilt. I remember my time in Saudi Arabia and Iraq with a great deal of clarity. I remember the long drives into the heart of Iraq; our path's marked by tripods of metal welded together by engineers. I remember the destroyed vehicles, the burning buildings. Most of all I remember the dead. They haunt me.

I have had a lot of years to reflect upon what those memories mean to me and the one thing that always comes back to me is the desire for meaning. What is life if not a quest for meaning and I have always felt bad, that by cutting that conflict short, letting Saddam have another ten years in charge, and leaving the task to another generation we cheated the people (soldiers and civilians) who died in that war of meaning. We cheated them of having their sacrifice mean something. We denied them that the end result be worth the cost of their lives.

And in some ways, we are all responsible for those that had to go back and finish the job. Both those of us who were there already and in position to finish the job, and the commanders and politicians that made the decisions. I am reminded of this every time I go to the VA for medical care. They have a sign there that says "The Cost of Freedom is Visible Here." No truer words were ever spoken.

So it may seem a bit strange to you, that Artur would want to go back and see if there is any meaning to be found for those ghosts that haunt him much like mine. But to me, it seems perfectly normal.

Reader JB asked me to direct your attention to this post on our forums. I've already given my thoughts on the subject in the forums as well. Feel free to take a look.

Essentially JB has some feelings about Bank of America and how that company and others are utilizing the bailout money. Our money. He has some interesting things to say and it's worth reading.

That's it for today. On Friday and Saturday I'll be at New York Comic Con. I don't have a table or anything but I may have a gift or two if you recognize me. If you see a guy wearing a black T-Shirt with Remedy's "Rx" symbol on the front; go up to him and ask for some stuff. Because he probably has some stuff.

Have a great day. See you (hopefully in person but certainly on line) on this weekend.

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. - Sir Winston Churchill