"I Wouldn't Vote For Him If He Were Running For Dog Catcher!"
What kind of dog catcher was trying to catch Marmaduke using a net this small? Isn't that like a butterfly net or something? Come on, let's get realistic. Marmaduke is a fucking Great Dane. Not to mention that in previous Marmaduke comics it has been established that all dog catchers are extremely afraid of Marmaduke because they know he has on at least two occasions in the last few months tricked them into climbing into the back of their own truck, when Marmaduke then drives the truck to the destination of his choosing. So you'd think if they saw Marmaduke walking down the street, possibly ordering a pizza or something, they would call for backup rather than try to catch him with a net that barely fits over his head. With authorities like these, it's no wonder Marmaduke is so easily able to do as he pleases.
I was checking out the new video sharing Facebook feature and someone sent me this new viral video from the internet. This idiot singing "Mambo #5" by Lou Bega. What a putz! I don't know who this guy thinks he is trying to cover the great Bega, but I wouldn't read his political Marmaduke blog even if it was plugged by two newspapers in Florida!!!!!!1
If you've enjoyed the fact that I haven't posted the last few days and thought that perhaps the strip was finally over, I am sorry to report that a friend of mine was visiting this week and now I will be back to normal business hours. Hope that news doesn't ruin anyone's weekend.
Every now and then, when you write a blog like this one, you come across somewhat of a problem. It's time to check the daily Marmaduke. I wonder to myself what hare-brained schemes Marmaduke will be up to. How the creative processes flow as I carefully examine the latest artwork brilliantly drawn by Anderson. What will I pair it up with today? Something about the '06 election? A dig against an embattled congressman? Or one of the always trustworthy "Marmaduke is somehow also a terrorist" gags? Then comes the problem.
Here's today's Marmauduke:
And then I check the news:
In a post 9/11 world, you never can be too careful. Sometimes you walk the line between appropriate and offensive. But matching up today's news with that Marmaduke panel? Sorry, I'm not going there. Write your own caption today.
Thanks for all the positive feedback lately! For those of you Floridians just joining us, I welcome you whole-heartedly. Oh, and sorry about the whole "your votes were thrown away six years ago by a crazy bitch" thing.
Hey readers, be sure to check out this new article about this very blog, which appears in the Tampa Bay Times today. On Tuesday, it will appear as a slightly longer version in the St. Petersburg Times, which has a higher circulation than its Tampa Bay counterpart. Special thanks to Jay Cridlin, the writer who interviewed me for this piece.
Thanks, Mark Foley. The slow demise of your political career and, well, entire life truly is the gift that keeps on giving for Marmaduke-parodying political bloggers all across the Internet!
My name is Jon Katz, formerly of Kick The Leftist. And for the last eight years, I have read nearly every Marmaduke comic strip that has been published. I have not done this because I think it is a funny strip. In fact, it is not. For further explanation of this, I suggest you read my close friend Bill Benz's article So Much To See In One Panel. In it, he describes in great detail the long-standing struggle we have had with Marmaduke and his creator, Brad Anderson.
At first, I was satisfied with Bill's dissertation of the beloved Great Dane which has frustrated us for all these years. Then I came across this website, which demonstrates that the popular yet terrible comic strip Garfield is actually funny when you remove Garfield's thought bubbles. Doing this shows what life would actually be like for his owner, Jon. He does not have a witty cat, he has a regular cat. Jon is just insane.
So I got to thinking... what could make Marmaduke funny? Unlike Garfield, Marmaduke does not talk to us (though he can apparently talk to taxi cab drivers enough to tell them where he lives). Then it hit me. What if instead of being written by Brad Anderson, whose only background in comedy lies in the fact that he, too, owns a Great Dane, it was written by Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau, who has incorporated politics into his comic strip since 1970. In other words... what if Marmaduke went political??
What follows, therefore, is my attempt to answer this question. I will continue to read Marmaduke every day and, when applicable, I will update this blog with a new strip re-interpreted with a new tagline. I will preface this blog by acknowledging that I am a liberal, but I promise to be fair and balanced in my dog-based politics. Just like Fox News.
"Marmaduke Can Vote" is an unauthorized parody of the works of Brad Anderson. It is in no way affiliated with Mr. Anderson, the Marmaduke comic strip, or United Features Syndicate. But anyway, hey Brad, now that I have your attention, it's a joke. C'mon dontcha get it?
Hey, feel free to email me and tell me what you think of the strip directly. T M B Jon at gmail dot com. ;P