POTATO MOON, Part 43: “That Which Directly Follows Part 42,” by Tayna Laubacher

potato_moonAs the madness unabashedly continued elsewhere in Washington state, two men sat a picnic table on a hill overlooking a quaint American town, that could have been anywhere in the nation. Accept that it was somewhere near the northwestern Pacific coast, which meant persistent clouds, chilled air and the vast majority of the days filled with rain.

Which, interestingly, never seemed to occur unless there needed to be thunder and/or lightning.

The picnic table was situated with several other of its kin near a small restaurant. The smell of overcooked allegedly beef patties on a grill that most likely hadn’t been cleaned since late last century. But the two men weren’t actually eating anything. They sat at the table with a game positioned on the tabletop. A square board was marked with a black and white checkerboard pattern. A dozen game pieces were still in play. Those which had been taken off the board had been tossed into a pile on one side.

One man was reading a book, the same book had been given to Woeisme some chapters ago. His eyes scanned the pages as he ignored his opponent who was rubbing his neck in not entirely teenage angst over what appeared to be a difficult decision. The man was taking the game far too seriously, in his expert opinion.

And his opinion had great merit. He was a doctor, after all.

A Doonesbury Icon for Obama

For the last few decades, Garry Trudeau has represented each American President with an icon. GWB went through the most, eventually ending up as a floating Roman centurion’s helmet with increasingly tattered plumage as the war dragged on.

Thus far, though, Obama has yet to be assigned an icon.  Today’s strip asserted that Obama, as “a change agent,” is too complex to be reduced to a single visual.

I find that hard to believe. Is he really so impossible to distill to an essence?

What would work?

Perhaps a handful of coins to represent change?  Or one of those old style change dispensers that you wear on your belt, or even a cash register (both of which would represent not only change, but the GOP’s assertion that he’s too ready to dispense money).  A yin and yang symbol to represent balance? Or a pair of scales? Since he is so likened to Mr. Spock, perhaps a logic board (i.e., a computer circuit board). Maybe a basketball because of his preference for shooting hoops.

Any other thoughts?

PAD