From 2006: Barbie asks a good question about the American flag.

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Hey, it's an honest question.  There was a time when that flag seemed to stand for freedom, but even then...

...it only represented the idea of freedom and the reality for many Americans was not far from the complete opposite.  Then, after 9/11, when we all turned into cowards, apparently, we were all cool with trading what freedom we did have for cops and cameras on every other street corner in our cities and towns.  Then came Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay and indefinite detention of so-called "enemy combatants" and the reinterpretation of the founding documents that allowed many Americans to believe that only Americans are created equal and are deserving of certain inalienable rights.

So, like I said, Barbie's question is a good one.  Especially now, almost 11 years after I first drew this comic, when Donald Trump gave a voice and validity to racists and sexists who hated Obama and didn't want to see Hillary Clinton become president, thus lowering this most recent election season to a level never before seen in this country.  An election so muddied and devalued, it's only fear of an orange-skinned president that got many of us to the polls in the first place.

Hope you voted!

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