Gotta love Garry Trudeau. Doonesbury has been as influential a comic strip as any in recent memory and Trudeau has earned his success.
And now he’s presenting the public with another great idea. Headlined, “His Teeth Were There: Was he?” Trudeau is unveiling a fun new contest, offering a $10,000 reward for anyone who can prove they saw George W. Bush serve in the Alabama National Guard. As Trudeau put it, this is just another way to “put this tired, recycled AWOL story to rest once and for all.”
For the past twelve years, George W. Bush has had to endure charges that he didn’t take the final two years of his Guard service as seriously as duty required. And the two witnesses who have come forward in support so far haven’t exactly cleared things up. We at the Town Hall believe that with everything he has on his plate, Mr. Bush shouldn’t have to contend with attacks on the National Guard, which is serving so bravely in Iraq. And we’re willing to back up our support with cold, hard cash.
Granted, this has been tried before. In 2000, concerned veterans in both Texas and Alabama offered cash rewards to lure former guardmates of Mr. Bush into stepping forward, to no avail. The problem, in our view, was that these enticements weren’t serious enough, that the sums offered were insulting. In contrast, we at the DTH&WP respect how inconvenient it can be to subject yourself to worldwide media scrutiny in general, and Fox News in particular, and are thus prepared to sweeten previous offers by a factor of five. That’s right, we’re offering $10,000 cash! Yours to either spend or invest in job creation. All you have to do is definitively prove that George W. Bush fulfilled his duty to country.
So don’t let the smear artists define the president. If you personally witnessed George W. Bush reporting for drills at Dannelly Air National Guard Base between the months of May and November of 1972 we want to hear about it. Help Mr. Bush put this partisan assault on his character behind him, so he can focus on more serious issues like jobs, the deficit and the coming civil war in Iraq.
Of course, Trudeau may have interests beyond just “helping” Bush. For one thing, the subject is already providing him with fun new material for Doonesbury cartoons. Second, it’s Trudeau’s way of helping to keep the story alive.
And Trudeau really is putting his money where his mouth (or pen) is. There’s a handy FAQ at the bottom of this contest announcement that explains Trudeau is personally putting up the money for the contest. Of course, since no one’s come forward with proof of Bush’s duty before, Trudeau probably feels pretty confident that he’ll be keeping his money.
And as for whether this entire scheme is just a publicity stunt, Trudeau seems unconcerned. He explained:
If by a publicity stunt, you mean an attempt to draw attention to the problem of gutter politics, trolling-for-trash, and cheap smear tactics, then sure, guilty as charged.
Unfortunately, there is a catch. Trudeau apparently isn’t prepared to literally hand over a check to anyone who responds to the contest. Instead, he wants to donate $10,000 to the USO in the winner’s name (if there is a winner). I hope this wouldn’t discourage anyone from coming forward, but since there really aren’t any witnesses with any proof, this is really a moot point.