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Where have ye gone Prince Valiant

Came across this funny column about the hue and cry among some Akron, Ohio readers of the Akron Beacon Journal after the paper recently decided to stop syndicating the Prince Valiant comic strip (via a link at Romenesko’s MediaNews). I was intrigued in part because long time ago my father used to write for this paper.

In a world filled with terrorism, suicide bombings and threatened nuclear attacks, nothing stirs the passions of readers like changing comic strips.

The column reads like a FAQ on the reasoning of the editors to drop it, while taking subtle digs at those readers who are up in arms over losing their favorite strip.

Q: Why are you trying to “dumb down” the comics pages?

A: About half of the recent callers voiced this exact question. Many praised the “high moral values” of Prince Valiant and said the removal of it was part of the agenda of the “super-liberal, left-wing media.” However, when asked to explain the latest Prince Valiant story line, many didn’t know it. Two callers hung up. One person said the Prince was searching for the Garden of Eden.

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Sully disappointed about Bush going soft on Iraq

With friends like these, who needs enemies, or with conservatives like this, who needs liberals. That’s what I thought as I read Andrew Sullivan’s crybaby whining last Friday on the “dreadful” news that the Bush administration may be going soft on Iraq:

Dreadful news today that the president may be wavering in his intent to destroy the Iraqi regime. If true, then those of us who have supported the war on terror need to revise our assessment of this president.

[…] After all that this president has said, after all that he has asked, a reversal on this central question would be nothing short of a staggering betrayal of trust, a reversal of will and determination.

[…] This president, having begun as an improvement on his father, is showing signs that he could end up as something even worse. It’s time he heard from his supporters that this is a critical matter on which there can be no compromise. If he balks, it will be worse than his father’s betrayal on taxes. It will be a betrayal of the very security of the American people.

“This is a critical matter on which there can be no compromise.” This Sullivan writes just after penning, “Of course, there should be no peremptory, rushed or botched war. Of course, all options should be examined.” So which is it? Examine all options or no compromise. Aren’t those mutually exclusive?