I received several dozen e-mails about this cartoon from people who were grateful that I pointed out the disconnect between our troops fighting and dying in the Middle East, and the American public that’s too concerned with trivial matters to even notice. Unlike previous wars, our soldiers and their families bear the entire burden while the rest of us prattle on about things like Paris Hilton and the Sopranos finale. We haven’t been asked to sacrifice for this war. Instead, we’ve been told we can have it all. We can have a multibillion dollar war, and at the same time we can have billions of dollars in tax cuts. Families of soldiers may lose their loved ones, but the rest of us don’t have to worry about our own lives or the lives of our children because it’s an all-volunteer army. To most Americans, this war is painless.Readers were glad to see someone mention this – as Candorville has done on many occasions since 2003.One new reader, however, seems to have completely missed the point:

Sir,Your cartoon of June 11th with the characters talking about the good die young and then goes on to talk about 3800 soldiers being killed in Iraq and ending with them actually talking about Battlestar Galactica was the most despicable callous unfeeling cartoon it has ever been my misfortune to read. Families all around the US are grieving for their family members that have died in this war, and all you can do is use it to TRY to be humorous. I belong to the Michigan Patriot Guard and if you would get off your ass and attend one of these funerals and see the grief in the faces of the families you would not even consider this type of HUMOR again. As far as I am concerned I am going to write to the Lansing State Journal and ask them to remove your strip from the paper. How in the hell can you be so callous to use this type of comparison ?Michael Deline

Here’s my response:

Mr. Deline,Yeah, I agree with you completely. That was the POINT of the cartoon – that most Americans don’t notice or care that nearly 3800 soldiers have been killed – Americans are too busy concerning themselves with Paris Hilton being freed from jail, the Sopranos series finale, who was fired from Grey’s Anatomy, Battlestar Galactica coming to an end, etc… I’m CRITICIZING that shallow aspect of American culture with this cartoon, and I am astounded that you could so horribly misinterpret it. You were completely wrong in your characterization of the dialogue when you say “…and ending with THEM actually talking about Battlestar Galactica.” It DOESN’T end with THEM talking about Battlestar Galactica, it ends with Susan talking about the troops, and Lemont feeling GUILTY that he was thinking about Battlestar Galactica when he SHOULD have been thinking of the troops. You were 100% wrong about the intent of this cartoon, and you were literally the ONLY person I’ve heard from who misinterpreted it. Everyone else seems to have understood and appreciated the point. I don’t mean that as an insult, I’m just trying to help you put your misunderstanding in perspective.Thanks for taking the time to write.