May 6th 2009 06:55 am Tacit agreement
I want to thank all of you who wrote to wish me Happy Cartoonists Day yesterday, May 5. In honor of the occasion, I took the day off from my duties here at arloandjanis.com. Actually, that’s not true. I had no idea it was National Cartoonists Day, and I had a better excuse: I was busy drawing cartoons.
I also want to take this occasion to apologize to my friends, the French. It is not like me to take cheap shots. It isn’t that I’m so principled; it’s just that I’m too stubborn to take the easy way out in most cases. Yesterday, I whipped that old dog, the French armed forces. Anyone who knows much about me knows I’m something of a Francophile, and I think anyone who truly believes the old shibboleth about the French being incompetent and cowardly in battle is neglecting much of history. The French just had a bad century. To my knowledge, no one has complained about the strip yesterday. It’s just been on my conscience.
Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J
22 Responses to “Tacit agreement”
Walt on 06 May 2009 at 7:24 am #
With lots of A&J strips, it feels like JJ has been peeking in my window. I show those strips to my wife, and we both laugh. But with *some* strips, like this one, it feels like he’s been peeking into my mind. I *never* show those strips to her…
Ron in Provo on 06 May 2009 at 8:30 am #
Walt, that’s the difference between habit and wisdom.
buzz on 06 May 2009 at 10:38 am #
The French lost two wars to Italy. ‘Nuff sed.
billinbossier on 06 May 2009 at 10:43 am #
Actually, I thought yesterday’s cartoon was one of the best ones you have ever done. I have showed to a lot of people and everyone loved it.
Soleil on 06 May 2009 at 10:44 am #
Actually, there was a pretty good, if short, discussion about French military ability in the 19th century. No French-bashing at all!
I didn’t know that Cinco de Mayo was about a confrontation with the French army — so you learn something every day.
Thanks for a great strip — now that I live in France, I don’t get my regular comics, and yours is one of only two that I subscribe to, because I miss them.
Mindy on 06 May 2009 at 10:47 am #
I just read that the French Government has upgraded their Terrorist Alert Levels. They are now, in ascending order: Run, Hide, Surrender and Collaborate.
I’m sorry, I just couldn’t resist that!
Soleil on 06 May 2009 at 10:56 am #
Actually, in the comments to yesterday’s strip, there was a short but kinda interesting discussion about the strength of France’s military in the 19th century and how things might be different had they *won* that battle against Mexico — not much French-bashing to speak of, and I thought it was great — I knew Cinco de Mayo celebrated a military battle, but I didn’t know that it was over France!
Thanks so much for a great strip — now that I live in France, I subscribe to only two strips, because I miss them — and Arlo and Janice was the first one to go into my RSS feed.
John in LA late of PNS on 06 May 2009 at 12:38 pm #
buzz:
The French lost two wars to Italy. . . .
I really wonder where we’d be today except that the FRENCH helped us so much in the winning the American Revolution. You might want to check what the founding fathers of the United States thought and felt about the French and their assistance.
Pershing (maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t) didn’t say “Lafayette we are here” without reason.
Thank you France!
Joy on 06 May 2009 at 1:15 pm #
I love the May 6 comic where Arlo is singing Born Free to Ludwig!
I have a song for each of my cats and my black and white kitty with the dark beautiful eyes, “antonio banderas”, especially loves to be sung to!
Take good care of yourself, you are very special to all of us!
Jim in SE Mississippi on 06 May 2009 at 4:44 pm #
France seems to be very committed to using its military to combat piracy in the Indian Ocean/Arabian Sea area. Not that I’m comparing Somali pirates to the Wehrmacht, but they deserve some credit for that.
And yes, yesterday’s strip was clever. I don’t think it was mean-spirited at all.
By the way, “mean-spiritedness” will probably soon be declared a Federal crime. Congress apparently doesn’t have enough to keep itself occupied lately.
No reflection on Janis, but she seems to be greatly underestimating the excitement threshold of most males.
neko in San Jose on 06 May 2009 at 5:13 pm #
“Millie,” the cat,
Though confined to the house,
Twitches her whiskers
And dreams of a mouse.
I open the window.
She sees birds in the tree
And twitches her whiskers
As if she’s born free.
Scott Nelson on 06 May 2009 at 6:43 pm #
Actually, I rather enjoyed the little pot shot at the French, it’s nice to see it done with such delicacy. It saddened me somewhat when certain people’s reactions to events earlier this decade sort of took all of the fun out of bashing our friends across the pond.
Mark in Boston on 06 May 2009 at 6:44 pm #
Let’s not forget that one of the greatest military leaders of all time was French: Napoleon Buonaparte. You can’t deny that.
What? Of course you can?
What? “Course I can?” Oh. That’s very different.
Never mind.
Bob, near Mark on 06 May 2009 at 10:19 pm #
Mark,
All Napoleon needed was a little “Elba room.”
Jean from Dahlonega GA aka Trapper Jean on 07 May 2009 at 6:09 am #
Jimmy, don’t feel guilty about your Cinco de Mayo cartoon. Firstly, I thought it was very funny, and secondly, you were nicer than Homer Simpson. He calls the French “stinky-cheese-eating surrender monkeys”. And thank you for explaining Cinco de Mayo. I had never heard the truth behind the holiday my non-Mexican neighbors celebrated with tamales and tequila shots.
I loved the “Born Free” strip, but since my cats are declawed and never get out I didn’t show it to them.
Erick S. on 07 May 2009 at 6:33 am #
I love this cartoon. It should not get any man in trouble. I think this cartoon is absolutely about Arlo, not about the attractiveness of his lovely wife.
My take is not that I might not find my wife attractive after many years (though 20 years ago, that thought occasionally crosses the mind of a young man), but rather, I had no idea that *I* would be capable of adoring her as much as I do now. She has definitely made me a better human being.
Ron in Provo on 07 May 2009 at 8:39 am #
Erick S, nearly all men marry above themselves. Smart men know it. Wise men try to merit it.
Floyd in Nashville on 07 May 2009 at 9:52 am #
Ahhhh. Another one of those secret thoughts we never have.
Mark in Boston on 07 May 2009 at 10:17 am #
Bob n. M: But then his life went to Helena Handbasket.
Symply Fargone on 07 May 2009 at 1:11 pm #
I emailed this to Mrs. Fargone yesterday morning. An hour or so later I heard a laugh and squeal (yes, a squeal) of delight(?) from the deck. Later that day I inquired if JJ had made her laugh. Right on and I am Symply Fargone
Jon Swerens on 07 May 2009 at 3:41 pm #
What’s fun is that I can trace my ancestry back to a French soldier who came to America with Lafayette and evidently stayed and fell in love with a Vermont girl. Yep, those French could sure fight in the 18th century.
nonegiven on 07 May 2009 at 4:37 pm #
If you go to the google search page, put in french military victories and click “I’m feeling lucky”
you get this:
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/victories.html