Garry Trudeau is losing it, both professionally and psychologically

I have a confession to make: I used to be a huge “Doonesbury” fan. I have the large compilation collections from “The Doonesbury Chronicles” up through “Recycled Doonesbury.” Trudeau used to be funny and irreverent. He seriously needs to re-read some of his older strips because now he’s just angry, peevish, and slovenly. Take, for example, yesterday’s Sunday strip which consisted of one character shouting that there is no connection between 9/11 and Saddam Hussein. That’s the whole strip. Ha ha.

It would be one thing if Trudeau portrayed the issue through the rhetorical gymnastics of Bush or press secretary Ron Ziegler…oops…I mean Scott McClellan. It certainly would have been funnier and likely would have reached more readers. The primal rant of Mark Slackmeyer, however, comes across as a ploy for attention, easily disregarded. This Sunday “comic” (derived, I believe, from “comedy”) comes on the heels of a previous Sunday request to recall Arnold Schwarzenegger if he’s elected governor. It was a laugh-riot of cut-out fun, including a form to send the California Secretary of State. Judging by Arnold’s win, I’m guessing Sacramento has received maybe eight of these requests.

When you’ve lost (convincingly) there’s nothing left to do but accept the will of the people, right? Wrong. Today’s “Doonesbury” strip indicates that we’re about to be subjected to a week of acerbic ad hominem attacks on Schwarzenegger’s character. It will be a week full of unfunny and shrill gnashing of teeth. In the end, nobody will laugh and nobody’s mind will be changed, but Trudeau will feel that he’s made a difference.

Seek help, Garry.