Pogo<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The defenders of our country — Thank you for your service — must be made of tough stuff. That’s what military service means. Yet elements of the media worry, presume service personnel and veterans have thin skins. “Garfield” on Veterans Day ran a routine cat comic strip. Many comics just did their daily gag, though […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-culture"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2316,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2010\/11\/war-paths\/","url_meta":{"origin":2469,"position":0},"title":"War Paths","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"November 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Copyright 2010 Ben S. Pollock WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Sometimes you have to stop and think. Often thinking and writing looks like loafing. As Steinbeck wrote: \u201cI write many thousands of words a day and some of them go on paper.\u201d It can take quite a while. Visiting Washington's Vietnam Veterans\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life Lessons"","block_context":{"text":"Life Lessons","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/life-lessons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Abe and Ben. Ben Pollock mini-tripod photo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Abe-and-Ben-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2375,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2010\/11\/drafty-barn-door\/","url_meta":{"origin":2469,"position":1},"title":"Drafty: Barn Door, Cracked Window","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"November 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Copyright 2010 Ben S. Pollock Now that the Republicans have done so well in the 2010 elections, they should use their momentum to enact the next sweeping measure for our time: Universal conscription for all American youth. A measure of Democrats would support this as well. Reviving -- and broadening\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "American Culture"","block_context":{"text":"American Culture","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/american-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2395,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2010\/11\/heeeeeres-bedtime\/","url_meta":{"origin":2469,"position":2},"title":"Heeeeere’s Bedtime","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"November 5, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The most useless habits can be the hardest to break. The three most annoying routines have dwindled to one. None of them ever was harmful. For me, it was a curiosity, why keep on, no pleasure, not even any risk. The first silly habit I knocked off as an adult\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life Lessons"","block_context":{"text":"Life Lessons","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/life-lessons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2165,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2010\/08\/newspaper-paper-or-plastic\/","url_meta":{"origin":2469,"position":3},"title":"Newspaper, Paper or Plastic","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"August 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"My first \"President's Column\" for columnists.com. Thank you for electing me president of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. Didn\u2019t you hear? I have not published a running column since Sept. 16, 2001. Instead I\u2019ve written at www.benpollock.com\/brick for nearly seven years. After the first year, the water warms up.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Course of Words"","block_context":{"text":"The Course of Words","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/course-of-words\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":409,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2008\/02\/no-country-for-old-dudes\/","url_meta":{"origin":2469,"position":4},"title":"No Country for Old Dudes","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"February 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.\" -- Uncle Ellis, No Country for Old Men, Cormac McCarthy Book report: No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. Yes, I read the book first, finishing it a few hours before the matinee. It's a contender\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mr. Boo Klist"","block_context":{"text":"Mr. Boo Klist","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/mr-boo-klist\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":173,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2006\/03\/the-line-part-ii\/","url_meta":{"origin":2469,"position":5},"title":"The Line, Part II","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"March 18, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"There are three parts to this consideration. Here is Part I. Here is Part III. The subject is the Bring the Troops Home from Iraq march and rally of Saturday afternoon, March 11, 2006. Both papers estimated 500 people attended, which is a lot. Here is a decent recap. 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