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Thursday, August 13, 2009

Those damned Thoughts

What's Mallard raving about today?

Schools, Zero Tolerance

Isn't zero tolerance the domain of Republican moral absolutists? Isn't moral relativism evil?

20 comments:

Factinista said...

Rush wants to murder his father. And people are supposed to find this funny.

Really, what is there to say?

GeoX, one of the GeoX boys. said...

The bright magenta background was certainly an interesting choice on the colorist's part. I suppose when you're working on Mallard Fillmore, you do whatever it takes to amuse yourself.

Or maybe we're just meant to assume that Dave'n'Rush live in a discotheque. That prospect is certainly more interesting to think about than this "story."

Eight Point Five said...

I'm posting this comment mainly because A) it is still relevant, and B) I posted it only an hour ago, and don't think it would get read now there is a newer entry now uploaded. :P

"I never got why conservatives associated "zero tolerance" with "liberal". Sure, Tinsley, you won't be tolerated saying that "chink" got your order wrong due to the liberal man "keeping you down", but I always thought ZT was a very apolitical issue.

It is the same with censorship and tolerance of hurtful religious beliefs. Sure, Hilary C. is a bitch with things like video game censorship, but hell, I see just as many (if not more) conservatives getting up in arms over sex in the media and tolerating hate-speech (at least when Jesus tells you it is okay) than liberals any day of the week.

I guess liberals are more sensitive over violence a little bit, but again, it's a pretty apolitical issue."

Tog said...

Why...why is Rush's belly talking?

This strip ranks right (far right?) down there with the one in which Mallard debates strangling his liberal human girlfriend. (You stupid feminazi liberals! Why are you so uncivil!?)

And this ZT nonsense is already starting to give Michael Jackson Overexposure Week a run for its money. Seriously, even devout Dittoheads must be looking at this and scraping their scalps, wondering what the $%#@ is Tin's problem.

ian said...

HT, as i said before it's part of "blame everything bad on liberals"

wv: ferting, the regularized form of the sound a fart makes

Iron Dragon said...

Ok...the whole zero tolerance thing seems more an authoritarian growth and expansion of the antidrug policies as exercised under republican leadership than anything I've seen the dems do. The problem is that Zero Tolerance policies are stupid mostly because they aren't practical or very logical in terms of how they're applied. Some of it is that parents, teachers, and the media ended up in such a frenzy over tragedies like columbine that they figured that if they could do stuff like zero tolerance, stronger dress codes, or banning music by people they find disagreeable things would get better.

They ignore the underlying issues, students bullied and tormented who desperately want some form of vengeance. Parents who were largely distant and uncaring and thus not giving them needed support and emotional release that could have let them turn away from their precipice. Hell, the fact that they had easy access to weaponry unsupervised is a big issue too.

NickE said...

Tinz isn't whining about ZT. He's dancing around the fact that he just hates schools, period. The regimentation, the dioramas, the ZT -- they're all (what he thinks are) populist arguments in favor of just shutting the damn things down. Close the schools and firebomb 'em into ashes.

The resulting mass ignorance will help rebound the Conservative numbers.

WV: distop. How the resultant masses will spell "dystopian," though they won't know what it means.

PRiverside said...

Tinz will spin this into a zero tolerance for school prayer "joke" by next week. Just watch.

dlauthor said...

Hey, kids! If your teacher tries to take something away from you because it could be dangerous, be sure to stab them with it! HAR!!!

Also, if Tinshley doesn't believe in tolerance, and he doesn't believe in Zerp Tolerance, what's left? (Besides believing he'll have another shot and a beer.)

Michael Foley said...

Tinsley believes in having a high alcohol tolerance.

Mr. FourDotEllipse said...

I dunno, what about that scene in The Dark Knight where The Joker kills the guy with a pencil? And what's not funny about murdering your father? I LOL'd all the way through "Oedipus!"

Rebochan said...

Awww, how precocious. Rush is planning on killing his father! Family values, they are a-thriving.

Frank Stone said...

Yes, isn't it just AWFUL how those evil public schools with their monstrous "zero tolerance" policies (which, as noted, the moralistic poseurs actually embrace) treat our kids as potential CRIMINALS who could, at any moment, viciously ATTACK someone with their perfectly innocent PENCILS, which those nazi-like "teachers" regard as deadly WEAPONS! Why, those horrid public schools are no better than PRISONS!!

Steve the Pocket said...

Yeah, Zero Tolerance is pretty much an apolitical issue. That is, one that citizens on both sides agree is stupid, but politicians on both sides think is a good idea. ;)

Ducky is Right said...

What a flaming hypocrite! Attacking stupid Zero Tolerance policies, while at the same time holding his own Zero Tolerance against good strips.

rewinn said...

We all disdain "Zero Thought" policies and salute Tinkley's new alliance with the ABA, the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union.

CasualBrowser said...

One manifestation of ZT is mandatory sentencing "guidelines". It's easy to foment anger against criminals who're out of prison (through parole or end-of-sentence) and re-offend. Then it's easy to make the connection between the crime and a judge/politician/system that's SOFT ON CRIME!!! The resulting outrage makes the voting public easy to steer toward policies that take penal decisions out of the hands of people who have experience with such matters, and substiute a flow chart which brooks no dissent. (It can also come in handy as a smear, ready made to wreak a presidential campaign.) This gives the outraged the impression that 'aint nobody gonna git away wit 'nothin!' But, in reality, it hurts innocents, the society they live in, and gives authorocrats an excuse to exercize their authority.

I see ZT as a means for:

a) lazy people who "just want something done about crime" to have something done without them actually having to put forth effort or thought. "There! I solved the problem by coming up with the ultimate solution. Now I shouldn't have to be involved in these things any more. And since I came up with it, if there are any more problems, it's somebody's fault, but not mine!"

or

b) scared people who just want to be safe, no matter who it harms. "Oh! Oh... Please, let's just make it so nobody can hurt me! I'm a good person and deserve that assurance. Just put bunches behind bars, throw away the key, and repeat at any sense of dread or local TV news report.

Sorry people, that's not how it works. As long as there's 2 people on the planet withing travelling or communication distance of each other, they're going to find something to be in conflict about. Better to learn some problem-solving skills than to take the eliminate-the-problem shortcut. No matter how many problems we eliminate (jail, ban, exile...), some others will take their place. It's just part of life.




um, could someone help me off of this soapbox please?....

confused said...

WV: Mudhed -- Sometimes there's no reason to say anything else

David in NYC said...

For a very well-reasoned and well-written look at the stupidity that is ZT, I highly recommend this article by Randy Cassingham.

The incidents he writes about may be a little dated (written in 1999), but the thinking and analysis is the important part.

WV: reconu. Past tense of the French verb "reconer", meaning "to con someone again" (you know, like BT apparently does to his editors and publishers).

Anonymous said...

The punchline is somewhat funny, and Rush's expression sells it a little. Of course, it's telegraphed from a mile away, but hey, it's something.