Lucky for you and every U.S. citizen, you live in a country that was founded by men of the Enlightenment and that free speech is a constitutional right, as is freedom of religion. Lucky for you that U.S. citizens do not have their thought controlled by some religious establishment whose primitive concepts repressed the rationality of the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome from 2,000 years, continued to do so for more than a millenium and a half, burning books, burning free-thinkers and punishing scientists. It's not hard to name countries where religion or anti-democratic political dogma prevents free speech, and these are some of the greatest threats to the world.

Free speech is not just a right, but an obligation. Thank you for having the skill and wit to show us that which we don't always have the courage ourselves to confront. Your genius lies in doing so with humor and not malice. Even when I disagree, maybe even especially then, I find myself respecting your courage in telling us what we don't want to hear. It makes us better people. Please don't ever stop. We need that more than ever these days.

I think that politics and religion should be separate, as our Founding Fathers believed. Being critical of a president's policies does not mean you are Satanic.

Garry, I respect your opinion, although I'm very resentful of how large of an audience you affect with your strip. In a conservative, Christian society it would have dried up by now. Lucky for you we live in a society driven by Satan, and the liberal help he has sold to his cause, and you are one of those in the forefront of his army. The Bushes love our country, and our causes. Their only crime is success.

I think I love you, Garry Trudeau. Keep on blowing through the b.s., please!

In Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut offered a very accurate transliteration of the asterisk.

RE SOPHISTICATED ANALYSIS: I don't interpret the GWB asterisk symbol as anything more than denoting that his first presidency was decided in court under contested circumstances. Kind of like Roger Maris' home run record exceeding Babe Ruth's. (We don't apply it to Barry Bonds' records but many, many people keep a mental asterisk on him.)

In his recently published collection of essays, But Enough about You, Christopher Buckley says this about George H. W. Bush: "I would have never traded my own father for any other, but I've always thought that George Bush is the father we all wished for." Sunday's strip was an uncharitable and inaccurate shot against a decent man who has contributed so much to America, far more than any journalist that comes to mind. In my mind it crossed the line from sharp satire to gratuitous meanness.

And while you're joyfully doing the Bushwhacking, I'm sure you'll include Jeb's own mother's comment that the country has had enough Bushes.

I'm glad to see the Bush Buster back in action. Please allow me to contribute a more sophisticated analysis.

I enjoyed today's Bush-busting strip, and am looking forward to many more. I hope you include Jeb's intervention in the Terri Schiavo tragedy.

Many thanks, Garry, for the humor in your comic strip. Every morning, I read it and all the comics in our local rag, Naples Daily News. And now , thanks to the TOAST post, I'll be looking for the little changes that you make in each strip. Thanks for humoring us all of these years.

I love the subliminal commentary on Mike in today's final panel. When it comes to J.J., he is indeed toast.

Excellent geek-reader-provocative change of toast in fourth panel today.

I wonder if it is true that Doonesbury will go away during the next polar vortex.

If you'd vote for Liz, you must still be smoking Maui Wauwi.

I think Elizabeth Warren should run for President. She lacks charisma in her speeches, but makes sense all the same. She advocates for the homeless on the street but also for the disaffected behind their computers. I like that she's a she. I like that she has always thought of herself as Native American. I like that she researches her speeches and has taught at Harvard. Hell, been a teacher. I'd vote for her. I can't think of a single reason not to vote for her. Does she hate baseball?

Today's strip is portentous, but sadly unclear of what. Whatever comes to pass, I'm happy to be known as a "Masshole" and a New Englander. A lot of good stuff starts here, as did "Lizzy."

Thanks for today's Jesse Appell stand-up comedy-in-Chinese video, especially the part about ordering in a restaurant. This is a big problem in New Zealand, where one must never think one's server is one's servant. Starving to death in a restaurant there is a real possibility.

Well, if "nerd" and "nurd" are just alternates, as Speak Good English implies [see NURD VS. NERD, below], why bother to change the spelling? My inner geek says that one member of an equivalence class is as good as another. That said, I have a "Nerd Pride" button given to me by one of the greatest nerds of all time, Prof. G.J. Sussman of MIT. And it says "Nerd," not "Nurd."