Ahh, that Garry Trudeau, always pushing the envelope… and always in the same direction (emphasis in original):
The series centers on a new Texas law that requires abortion doctors to show or describe an ultrasound image to a patient before the procedure. The comics feature a woman who goes to a clinic and is confronted by several people who suggest she should be shamed for seeking an abortion.
Media blogger Jim Romenesko reported in detail on the contents of the series. According to his blog, the woman in the strip first meets with a male lawmaker who, after she says she’s been using contraception, says: “Do your parents know you’re a slut?”
Preparing to deliver a “transvaginal exam,” the doctor then tells her: “By the authority invested in me by the GOP base, I thee rape.”
What Trudeau doesn’t tell you is that a transvaginal ultrasound (TVU) is also used to diagnose ectopic pregnancies, ovarian cysts, and even ovarian cancer. Would he say that a test for ovarian cancer is “rape,” and declare that it was done by authority of “the GOP base”? And for the comfort of those with weak stomachs, I’m not going to go into the exact mechanisms of abortion, except to say that many of them have some similarities with the TVU procedure.
Of course, this is the same Garry Trudeau of Branford, CT, employed as a “Cartoonist” by Universal Press Syndicate, who gave $15,000 to “Obama Victory Fund 2012” last year, so it’s hardly surprising that he hates — yes, I said hates — “the GOP base” enough to use them as the “authority” for “rape.”
Some papers are saying that they’re just not going to run that series of strips (again, emphasis in original):
The Oregonian announced on its website that it will not be running the comic strips, which are the work of cartoonist Garry Trudeau– who is known for his edgy political satire.
[snip]
The article said the Los Angeles Times and St. Louis Post-Dispatch have made similar decisions.
A St. Paul Pioneer Press editor also told Romenesko the newspaper would not be running the “Doonesbury” strips next week.
[snip]
Universal Press Syndicate president Lee Salem said he wouldn’t be surprised if 20 to 30 of the 1,400 newspapers that carry the strip decided to opt out and run the replacement series.
Better pull your seatbelts tight, ladies and gentlemen, this is the way the entire political season is going to go. The “GOP base” or other bogeymen are going to be demonized repeatedly, because they know that Obama can’t be re-elected on his record, so the only thing they can do is sling mud at conservatives.
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