The strips about the military do seem to provoke moving and thoughtful responses. It's nice when the strip resonates, but more importantly, I need to know when I'm getting something wrong. The last thing I want to do is contribute to the suffering that wounded warriors already endure.

America is one of the few places where the failure to promote oneself is widely regarded as arrogance.

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.

America: the only country in the world where failing to promote yourself is regarded as being arrogant.

I try not to second-guess editors; they're the clients, and I have no expectation that my strip is going to make it into every paper every day.

Not only was one cartoonist gunned down, but riots erupted around the world, resulting in the deaths of scores. No one could say toward what positive social end, yet free-speech absolutists were unchastened.

At some point free expression absolutism becomes childish and unserious.