# Prickly City - humor for conservative idiots **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 17, 2006, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prickly-city-humor-for-conservative-idiots/361026 "2006-06-17T02:17:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prickly-city-humor-for-conservative-idiots/361026/81 "2006-06-20T12:20:10Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > A what-about-the-poor-oppressed-convervatives non sequitur from **Clothahump**? > > Bored now. Nope. Pointing out the simple fact that Prickly City is not a “conservative” comic strip. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prickly-city-humor-for-conservative-idiots/361026/82 "2006-06-20T12:42:49Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Nope. Pointing out the simple fact that Prickly City is not a “conservative” comic strip. You might want to tell that to Scott Stantis, > [@](#): > > [Scott Stantis](http://www.amuniversal.com/ups/features/pricklycity/bio.htm) > > A conservative with a sense of humor? It’s not an oxymoron, it’s Scott Stantis and his comic strip, “Prickly City.” > > Think of it like this: if P.J. O’Rourke did a comic strip, it would be a lot like “Prickly City.” As Stantis puts it, “As a conservative it always seemed a bit unfair that there was no comic strip rebuttal to the likes of ‘Doonesbury’ and ‘The Boondocks.’…”… > [@](#): > > [Prickly City](http://www.gocomics.com/pricklycity/2006/05/28/) by Scott Stantis > > A small town in the American Southwest… everything in the desert is designed to prick you, wound you or eat you. What better metaphor for 21st century Earth? PRICKLY CITY is a comic strip about the friendship between Winslow, a coyote pup, and Carmen, a straight and narrow kind of kid. PRICKLY CITY offers a conservative perspective on political and social events within an ongoing storyline. As Carmen might say, “We may not be correct but we will always be right.” > > ©2006 Scott Stantis but I guess you know more about his politics than he does. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prickly-city-humor-for-conservative-idiots/361026/83 "2006-06-20T13:51:10Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > It reminds me a little of the conservatives attempts to mock Gore a few years back when he said something about the internal combustion engine being inefficient. Isn’t it a no-brainer that (a) the internal combustion engine isn’t maximally efficient? It generates a relatively large amount of undesired heat, no? But Clinton got a blowjob and Gore said he invented the internet! Haw haw! ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prickly-city-humor-for-conservative-idiots/361026/84 "2006-06-20T15:00:33Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > Although I’m no expert, it seems unlikely that someone could be “carbon negative.” The only way someone could be “carbon negative” is if somehow they were able to remove carbon dioxide from the air and convert it into energy that can be used as pollution-free fuel. In other words, true environmentalists become plants. Admittedly, I’m not an expert is this area myself. But photosynthesis is the only process I can imagine that would be “carbon negative” in a way that would be truly beneficial as per the comic strip. This explains why Terri Shiavo was so important to the righties. Being the vegetable that she was, she did far more to stop global warming than Al Gore ever could. See how it all makes sense, yall? There is a method to the madness. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prickly-city-humor-for-conservative-idiots/361026/85 "2006-06-20T15:05:45Z")
> [@you with the face](#): > > The only way someone could be “carbon negative” is if somehow they were able to remove carbon dioxide from the air and convert it into energy that can be used as pollution-free fuel. > > In other words, true environmentalists become plants. Well… if it is possible to do things that abate one’s carbon impact in order to be carbon neutral, then there could be a way, if one was to live in such a way as to contribute minimally to the problem but also engage in lots of abatement practices… It doesn’t seem likely that someone could really achieve this, but it hardly seems likely that trying to offset what impact each of us has will be bad. In particular, if one were to do so, **Captain America’s** concern that one would be patting himself on the back while really doing nothing seems unfounded. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prickly-city-humor-for-conservative-idiots/361026/86 "2006-06-20T15:31:25Z")
> [@you with the face](#): > > The only way someone could be “carbon negative” is if somehow they were able to remove carbon dioxide from the air and convert it into energy that can be used as pollution-free fuel. Well, more precisely, remove CO2 from the atmosphere and return it to the earth. Trees and other plants do this naturally. Mechanisms have been proposed to do this through chemically, with the CO2 ending up as a liquid that would have to be pumped into geologically stable ground. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prickly-city-humor-for-conservative-idiots/361026/87 "2006-06-20T15:39:26Z")
> [@Brain Wreck](#): > > Well, more precisely, remove CO2 from the atmosphere and return it to the earth. Trees and other plants do this naturally. Mechanisms have been proposed to do this through chemically, with the CO2 ending up as a liquid that would have to be pumped into geologically stable ground. Just curious, could this liquid CO2 be assimilated into organic material? With plant material, their carbon is converted to sugars, which are consumed and converted into energy and organic molecules by other life forms. With this liquid CO2 stuff be biodegradeable? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prickly-city-humor-for-conservative-idiots/361026/88 "2006-06-20T16:20:06Z")
> [@you with the face](#): > > Just curious, could this liquid CO2 be assimilated into organic material? With plant material, their carbon is converted to sugars, which are consumed and converted into energy and organic molecules by other life forms. > > With this liquid CO2 stuff be biodegradeable? Well, CO2 technically is already degraded, so it can’t be further degraded, bio or otherwise. There are different technologies with different problems. Some involve pumping liquified CO2 into the ground where it would remain indefinitely. The risk here is that it would accidentally be released. Large clouds of CO2 are deadly. Other techniques involve turning it into a mineral form of carbon, like limestone. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prickly-city-humor-for-conservative-idiots/361026/89 "2006-06-20T18:53:33Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Strange that you pick a strip to rant about that pokes fun at Algore, who most assuredly is a good target for derision. Apart from being a prominent politician, why on earth would Gore be “a good target for derision”? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prickly-city-humor-for-conservative-idiots/361026/90 "2006-06-20T18:58:20Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > He’s generally critical of the Bush administration for not being “real” conservatives…of betryaying conservative values. Mallard Fillmore take note! ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prickly-city-humor-for-conservative-idiots/361026/91 "2006-06-20T19:55:34Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Strange that you pick a strip to rant about that pokes fun at Algore, who most assuredly is a good target for derision. But why haven’t you been ranting about strips like these? > > [http://www.gocomics.com/pricklycity/2006/06/01/](http://www.gocomics.com/pricklycity/2006/06/01/) No conservative is bashed in this strip. What’s to rant, anyway? The Guard is inarguably overextended; this is hardly controversial. This is one of the occasional instances where Stantis tosses a trivial bone to centrism in order to make himself more palatable to the mainstream press. Anyway, if this is your idea of “bashing” conservatives, holy cow, that’s a pretty fragile sense of criticism. > [@](#): > > [http://www.gocomics.com/pricklycity/2006/05/31/](http://www.gocomics.com/pricklycity/2006/05/31/) There’s no conservative-bashing here either. They’re talking about building a wall. Then they talk about how nice if all the lawyers went to Mexico. It’s standard lowbrow conservative fare… “ooh, those nasty trial lawyers and activist judges, let’s get rid of them.” > [@](#): > > [http://www.gocomics.com/pricklycity/2006/06/19/](http://www.gocomics.com/pricklycity/2006/06/19/) You’ll notice that whenever there’s a major fuckup, this strip always goes after a underling sacrificial lamb… _never_ after Bush, ever. Again, it’s the standard conservative playbook. Whenever there’s an administrative scandal, blame Rove, blame a cabinet member, maybe, just maybe even blame Cheney. But no matter what, they don’t touch the golden boy Dubya. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prickly-city-humor-for-conservative-idiots/361026/92 "2006-06-20T22:13:20Z")
> [@Brain Wreck](#): > > There’s no conservative-bashing here either. They’re talking about building a wall. Then they talk about how nice if all the lawyers went to Mexico. It’s standard lowbrow conservative fare… “ooh, those nasty trial lawyers and activist judges, let’s get rid of them.” I think the point is not how good it would be for America but how bad it would be for Mexico. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prickly-city-humor-for-conservative-idiots/361026/93 "2006-06-21T13:28:00Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I don’t think he was seriously proposing either of those activities. Struck me more as being in the vein of hyperbole, and ont a legitimate public policy proposal. But even if he were using it as a campaign platform, I’d still hesitate from calling it _bigotry_. A dictator who quashes free speech and imprisons his political adversaries to solidate his own power can be called any number of things, but bigoted is not necessarily one of them. He’d be doing bad things, certainly, and bigotry is **a** bad thing, but not all bad things are bigotry, and bigotry is not all bad things. So what? Just because it’s “hyperbole” does that make it off limits for disparagement using whatever terms the disparager believes applicable? And maybe Oakminster’s use of “bigot” was hyperbole, too. > [@Brain Wreck](#): > > “He advocated”, my ass. I just provided my immediate gut reaction. I did say it was a gut reaction. I did put it in disclamatory language. Right. Gut reaction. Much like bigotry is a gut reaction, a visceral thing, an unreasoned response stemming directly from one’s prejudices. Right. Disclamatory language. “I’m no bigot, but . . . we oughtta put them plain-bellied sneetches in some kinda camp.” How many times have we heard that one here in the Pit? And then labeled it bigotry? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prickly-city-humor-for-conservative-idiots/361026/94 "2006-06-21T14:21:54Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Mallard Fillmore take note! “He” did, in the June 20 strip - with a cartoon of Rush Limbaugh and the duck telling Bush “This is what a \*real \* conservative looks like”. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prickly-city-humor-for-conservative-idiots/361026/95 "2006-06-21T16:27:32Z")
> [@UncleBeer](#): > > So what? Just because it’s “hyperbole” does that make it off limits for disparagement using whatever terms the disparager believes applicable? Any terms you believe applicable? Well, hell, if that’s your argument, why don’t you just say that **Brain Wreck** ’s OP raped you? I mean, you’re certainly free to use whatever terms you want to describe the OP, but some terms are going to end up reflecting more on you than on the person you’re pissed at. Calling the OP bigoted just makes the person making the accusation sound like a hyper-sensitive ninny. > [@](#): > > And maybe Oakminster’s use of “bigot” was hyperbole, too. He’s made it pretty clear that he was not being hyperbolic. Besides which, even if it were hyperbole, my original complaint about using that word in this context devaluing the word still stands. Most people who call Bush a Nazi are certainly being hyperbolic, but that doesn’t make the accusation any less childish. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prickly-city-humor-for-conservative-idiots/361026.md?page=4)