I don't think so, but it's always in the back of my mind that many of the soldiers being wounded and killed in Iraq are about the same age as my kids. My godson is going over soon, so the war's about to get personal for me.

Medical decisions have been politicized. What doctor wants a state legislator in his consulting room?

Well, it's a humor strip, so my first responsibility has always been to entertain the reader... But if, in addition, I can help move readers to thought and judgment about issues that concern me, so much the better.

I've been trying for some time to develop a lifestyle that doesn't require my presence.

The poor are the only ones who suffer. And they're used to it.

When you're young, you don't feel iconoclastic - you're just kind of doing what seems natural, what moves you.

Commencement speeches were invented largely in the belief that outgoing college students should never be released into the world until they have been properly sedated.