I had so hoped that B.B. would have sharp and intelligent things to add.

It seems not.

At least Gleen G. contributes this of import, and that's why I signed up.

The idiot Camille, and now B.B., yeh! not so much.

Don't let any allegorical content hit you in the rear on the way out.

Who cares about this crap?

Hey Berkeley, did you know that seven U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq today? Over 3,500 and untold tens of thousands of Iraqis are dead? And you are wasting your time penning this absolute worthless and boring crap? What the hell is wrong with you?

Did you know that on Friday the vice president of the United States refused to cooperate with a lawful order to allow inspectors into his office to see how top secret documents have been handled?

Did you know that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney wants more Guantanamo torture camps and is in favor of abolishing the right of Habeas Corpus for United States citizens? And you're drawing some irrelevant drivel that might have been funny 30 years ago but today it's just stupid. Especially in light of all that's going on.

Shame on you, you toothless old ego maniac. Nobody cares about your crappy old cutesy fartsy penguin anymore. Why don't you draw a strip where he gets his lousy guts blown out by a roadside bomb.

Your strip belongs in Parade Magazine, not Salon.

Gah! You suck!

Get a grip, Gary. Breathed made a pretty good point in a gentle way, and some of us actually liked it.

Have you ever noticed that sometimes a milder approach to certain savage problems works better than savagery itself?......... No? I thought not.

"Have you ever noticed that sometimes a milder approach to certain savage problems works better than savagery itself?......... No? I thought not.

-- had_enough"

Here's why:

First of all, what "savage problem" are you referring to? Being embarrassed about peeing in the bathtub? Arguing over what somebody thought they heard? Wow! These are the great issues of the day? Very relevant!

Second, I'm not asking for Ralph Stedman or S. Clay Wilson here, I'm simply lodging my protest that this is Salon, not Reader's Digest.

Tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. my local Sunday paper will arrive and there will be this same strip, right next to a bunch of other "milder" strips that never rock the boat, never challenge the status quo. It will be right there next to old Peanuts re-runs, and Blondie (How long have those two cartoonists been dead?) Even Doonsbury is getting as flaccid as overcooked noodles.

How about something edgy for a change? How about something that's not dumbed down and sanitized to the point of pablum. And that's what this strip is, pablum.

Calm down? I HAVE calmed down. I'm not swearing as much as I used to. I'm straining with all my might to keep from calling people names. I'm trying be good, really I am. But when I see dreck like this in the only web magazine I really respect, I have to call it like I see it.

You know, I got deleted a lot for speaking my mind about Garrison Keillor. An Ad Hominem attack, they said. But was it so much the way I criticized him, or was it because the avuncular old git hasn't had anything new to offer since Prairie Home Companion and many people on the Left think every word he writes or utters is like the tablets of Moses.

I like my eggs with Tabasco Sauce. I like tequila straight up. I like women who can kick my ass. I like batters who charge the mound. I like my writers and cartoonists so bold that they risk getting arrested with everything they write and draw.

Is that so wrong?

We have something in common. I like women who can kick your ass too.

Here's Wikipedia's definition of a troll.

"In Internet terminology, a troll is someone who intentionally posts derogatory or otherwise inflammatory messages about sensitive topics in an established online community such as an online discussion forum to bait users into responding."

Sound familiar?

BB knows what's going on. The 7 soldiers died because of religion. The characters in the strip are fighting over an interpretation of what they think god is saying. It's so simplistically beautiful. And while BB gets his msg of religious intolerance to millions of readers, you bitch about him not being serious enough.

Here's some advice. DON'T READ IT!!! There is tons of content on Salon whereby you can keep yourself busy for weeks without even looking at BB's strip.

Sniper -- Someone who is too timid or too witless to offer a position on a blog, but can only respond to what other people write, usually with some inane joke or passive-aggressive indirect quotation that leaves him splitting his sides at his own cleverness.

It's entirely possible that he fouls his bathwater and that's why he identifies with Opus.

"Publish and be damned!" -- So said Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington

And so I shall, to my heart's content.

And if some people want to hit our heads over and over again with how horrible everything is, why don't they go do something aside from snipe at cartoons that point out how ridiculous the religious differences that lead to horrific wars are. Or do they believe that sniping's their god-given purpose in life?

Dear Garry Owen,

Who cares about your rant? Don't you know that seven U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq today? Over 3,500 and untold tens of thousands of Iraqis are dead? Yet here you are wasting your time penning this absolute worthless and boring crap in the letters section whining about how a gently amusing yet pointed comic wasn't acerbic enough for your taste. What the hell is wrong with you?

Dear Norm Abram, New Yankee Workshop,

Thanks for the measured "drawrings" for the mahogany nested tables, dickwad. The government is run by blood thirsty fascists out to destroy the constitution and all you can think about is miter cuts and tips on applying stain and polish to some worthless piece of future firewood. Way to go, moron. Safety glasses don't mean shit when habeas corpus as been abolished and the jackbooted thugs are stomping on your face. Idiot!

Dear Lady who writes the gardening column in my local newspaper,

Thanks for the tips on how to dry and arrange the flowers I grow in my garden. I'm sure that information will come in handy when I'm being waterboarded at Gitmo for the crime of not kissing Bush's ass enough. You prattling, simpering ninny! How'd you get that writing gig anyway. Who cares how many times a week I should water my zinnias? For Christ sakes, what's it going to take to wake you up?

Signed, the Sniper