And reader, her reaction is about what you would expect it to be.
Every once in a while I have a tiny bit of trouble figuring out what the exit line of a ‘toon should be. And sometimes when that happens, a little voice comes down from the universe and tells me what it should be, and sometimes, someone writes a comment, which turns out to be the perfect line, and I appropriate it.
Which is what happened with today’s toon. So thanks, Jeannie!
We are going to need a REALLY big flyswatter.
Panda Solidarity Forebber Bob T is under the bed Panda
While my production goals are somewhat inconsistent these days, here’s what I’m gonna do: When I don’t get new toons done for either Tuesday or Thursday (or both!) I’ll post something that makes me happy from the archives, usually more than one ‘toon, so that’s kind of a bonus, right?
But today, I have the continuation of last Tuesday’s ‘toon, before the awful thing happened.
Huzzah?
Do you think Pinky is going to react well to the NooZ?
Hold your pandas close, Bob T somehow we will get through this Panda
Well, this is it. Today is the last day to vote, so I am posting this early so that more people see this. I’m writing this on Monday night (because I actually got today’s ‘toon done before dinner time.)
We had quite the windstorm on Monday, which started sometime in the night. Then it died down for a couple hours before it picked up again from another direction. The power went out for a bit, but it came back on again after a couple of hours at the most, so I didn’t have to put my usual outage tricks into effect. (also I was able to post this!)
Now to distract myself from the day ahead I listening to Taylor Swift (yes really) and switching off to occasionally to the SNL cold open with Kamala Harris and Maya Rudolph. If you haven’t watched this yet, I hope you will. Each time I watch it, I am struck all over again by watching the true joy between Harris and Rudolph… The roar of the crowd when they see Kamala on the other side of the mirror. I mean…I realize it couldn’t have been a total surprise to the audience or crew. I read there had been a few hints. The audience must have had to go through extra security. There must have been a bunch of Secret Service folks. Still, it could have been cancelled at the last minute due to unforeseen circumstances. Each time I watch it (not gonna tell you how many times) I feel the joy radiating off the screen. I hear it in the roar of the crowd that pauses the interaction between Harris and Rudolph.
I don’t know what we are going to wake up to on Wednesday, but the choice seems clear, has always seemed clear to me. Do we want a leader who will cheerfully do the hard work that needs to be done to try to get the country and the world in a better place? Or do we want a mentally and physically collapsing would be dictator who will bring in unprincipled grifters and con men to be his advisors, who are using him for their own purposes? Watch any of his appearances from the last week and tell me that this is someone you would trust the future of your children and grandchildren to.
Please vote for a better future, if you haven’t already. Do it for the pandas.
As you might remember, the whole panda family has moved to China, so that Binky Li and Qing Bao could move to the Panda House. I’m not sure where this story is going, but I’m sure it’s going somewhere.
I wrote this a couple weeks ago, and one thing and another jumped up and down and yelled “I’m more important! NO! I am” and so I finally got this one done.
There will be a bit of a rant after this ‘toon, so feel free to skip that if you are tired of me ranting! I am still a wreck, and I suspect many of you are too, so let’s just get to those fun-loving pandas!
Cheating is definitely not winning.
Be the Bear and Panda On Bob T stress napping for the next 5 days Panda
So here goes my rant:
I seriously can not figure out how anyone with a brain could possibly consider voting for TFG. He is visibly deteriorating every time he is on camera, and we have no idea what is going on when he is not on camera. At this point it is clear he is being used by the extreme wing of the Heritage Foundation/GQP because he is (inexplicably) popular with his rabid base. At this point it is clear that the goal is to get him elected, either pull his puppet strings or replace him with JD, who seems to be full on board with a live action version of The Handmaids’ Tale/Hunger Games.
And can we talk about Pastor Mike’s plan to toss out the Affordable Care Act? Were it not for the ACA, I would have been without healthcare from about 2010 till I was eligible for Medicare (which they also want to get rid of, along with Social Security.) In a recorded conclave with big GOP donors, he talked about the affront of having the government get between you and your healthcare.
I’ll wait while you consider that statement from Pastor M…
Yeah…the party who allows women to die of sepsis/blood loss in the parking lot when they have miscarried rather than let her determine with her doctor that she needs an abortion to save her life, is concerned about the government sliding into your doctors office.
Every time I watch Kamala Harris and the people who support her (Michelle! Beyonce!) I feel a flood of hope for the possibility of being governed by adults. I can’t listen to any more news about polls or the horse race the major media seems to want to keep talking about. I can only worry so much about TFG and Pastor Mike’s BIG SECRET for that One Great trick That Big Democrats Don’t Want You To Know About to Overthrow Democracy and trust that Marc Elias and all his clever lawyers will protect us from such fuckery.
I know everyone who is still here with me is the choir I am preaching to and believe me, I am so glad you are here and understand the assignment: To vote for Kamala and all the D’s on the ballot. Big shout out to all of you in Ohio (Sherrod Brown!!!) and those in swing states who have to listen to all the hyperbolic political ads non-stop.
Thank you who have chosen hope over retribution. I’m so glad we are here together.
5 more days!
as a reward for listening to me rant, here’s our favorite seasonal ‘toon!
Fabulous Furry Friday KNOWS that this is one of your favorites!
So…here’s the thing. I really wanted to keep Mei and Tian and all the kids in DC, even though they went back a year ago, and the kids even before that. and, had there been no new pandas in DC, I probably could have kept up the fantasy that all the pandas live together in the Panda House, with the occasional visit from Six and Sebben, not to mention Frank, Mikey, Pookie, Josie, and let’s not forget Ping. I mean…Mehitabel still rules ZooNooZ and she’s been dead for almost 8 years now.
But now Binky Li and his Qing Bao have arrived. If they are to find their stories and be the stars, along with Chuie and Xinger out in Pandiego of The Next Generation, well, it was getting a bit crowded in the Panda House, and who could surpass Pinky’s stardom. So, they have moved to China, just like their real life counterparts. I think there will be stories coming from there. They have been my constant companions for more than a dozen years.
Fortunately, there will be some continuity. Frank and Mikey and Pookie (and Josie) are staying at the Panda House. So is Ping. Somebody has to show them around town! Bob and Mehitabel will still be holding down the ZooNooZ desk.
When one of my favorite mystery writers killed off one of her most loved characters in a rather brutal fashion, she said, “if you don’t let your characters sometimes have bad things happen to them, if they all live happily ever after forever, you eventually hit a story dead end.” While I do like a bit of repetition in my stories (I find it funny that Six and Sebben are always bad guests, and that their mother is always finding excuses to send them off to her sister’s house) I think by expanding the pandas’ world, there will be more, not less stories to tell. So let’s tell some stories!
We watched them land…but what was really going on inside the plane…???
The pandas have arrived in the nick of time, even if we can’t see them yet. But knowing they are here, well, I’m going to take that as a sign that life will continue.
And on that note, I REALLY hope all my peeps here have registered to vote and have already voted or have a plan to vote as soon as you can. It becomes more clear every day that TFG is in no condition to order a pizza, let alone be president. It becomes even more clear that the Heritage Foundation/Project 2025 folks are desperate to get him over the finish line so they can install tech bro fascist JD.
Democracy is a process. It is not perfect and it is full of imperfect people. But we can’t let “perfect” be the enemy of the good enough. It is kind of weird to be agreeing with Liz Cheney, but if uber conservative Liz and her dad think that electing Kamala Harris will get us to a place where democracy survives to disagree on policy another day, well, I’m agreeing with Liz.
Let’s support a democracy, where we can host pandas from China, who happen to be the descendants of Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, and the Son of Pinky. I want to wake up on November 6th to a President Harris, who embraces joy and possibility.
I have to say, the story does make more sense (whew! what a relief!) when read in these chunks instead of once a week (or so) spread out over these last few months! And now when we definitely need some serious distraction, well…Our fairy Godmothers have shown up in the nick of time!
Let’s see what happens next!
Let the Palooza begin!!!! ‘Toon in again next time!
Only 26 more days till Election Day! Don’t forget to vote!
Be the bear Bob T how much more can we take? Panda
It’s not too late to register to vote if you’re not already registered. It’s also a good day to check your registration, even if you think you are registered. Do we have to remind you some states will cancel your registration on a whim, especially on days ending in “Y”!
Okay! We’ve made the important reminder! We want to vote to embrace JOY (although if your idea of “joy” is trampling the rights of women and minorities, what are you even doing here?)
But now for something REALLY important…
Episode 24 of Pandarella!!!!
Oh no! What will happen next? ‘Toon in next week to find out!
