Duke 2000: Whatever It Takes, 20: A Doonesbury Book

This Doonesbury book takes us back a bit.It starts around May of 1999 and ends with the strip of May 13,2000.What a year it was. Events were a little unfocused ,then we see Thudpucker reviving his career with Net Aid, the gay marriage of Mark and Chase,Mike enters the business world of a Dot Com company,Zip goes to college ; but things all get focused when Duke decides to enter politics with his own Reform party ,with a platform of Compassionate Fascism;and starts a campaign to run for President. It's hard to believe that this was 6 years ago. Can you believe it;Dubya with the help of Scull and Crossbones beat out the Duke despite the backing of Mr. Butts and the tobacco industry . With all the other wannabees really never in contention. If there was anything that might have produced a different outcome; all I can think is that Duke erred when he passed up Honey for his "Arm Candy". What I really enjoy about these books is reading them several years after the stripts; boy,don't they bring back the memories. I have only one complaint,though,the use of black and white just doesn't do the artwork justice. This book really emphazises how unpredictible even 6 years can be. Who could ever have imagined 9/11,The War on Terror,Dubya getting re-elected over Kerry ,who wasn't even on the radar screen.Then the demise of the great HST ,his blast off into space .And now ,the biggest issue of all;how to deal with 12 million illegal immigrants. Heck,6 years ago,that issue couldn't even get a dozen lines in some border weekly newspaper. The pundits are all talking about Condi vs Hillary;n but it could very well be someone like Al Sharpton vs some Mex.American from Cain's great State of Arizona and with the right running mate,wake up ,Ms.Huan is still available. And this time no Campaign Headquarters in Coon Rapids MN; put it anywhere on the border with Mexico.Keep it moving and if its on a river bed,just keep an eye out for flash floods. Hey,if you think this is crazy,take a stab at it. I got a feeling "You ain't seen nothing yet."...Keep tuned!

Err... I mean Uncle Duke for President. This time -- why not the worst? Compassionate fascism!?!? Isn't that, more or less, what we got in the last election? It almost seems like Uncle Duke was elected -- a former drug abusing wack job. What a country.This book is the best of the post-1980 Doonesbury books. It is good to see that Trudeau hasn't grown tired of his HST knockoff. He is a true American Orginal... and the Trudeau take on Raoul Duke is classic.

Trudeau draws his (real-life) politicians as invisible men. Except for a whaffle (Clinton) or a cowboy hat (George W.). Now in case of Duke (who is fiction) one can see his political message speaking from the man's brain: Mini-D brings us a message of compassionate fascism. Does this mean that we can see fiction clearer that the real people in political life?The campaign 2000 was so much of a (life) cartoon itself that any (drawn) cartoon can only pale beside it. Anyway, this newest book in the "Doonesbury"-saga is only part one of things to come in Duke's presidental quest. The strip has become very bitter compared to its heydays in the70s and 80s. But still - it's the best!

This book is excellent for anyone who loves Zonker's uncle Duke. The former ambassador runs for president in this hillarious book. Its worth the money.