I have always read Bruce Tinsley’s Mallard Fillmore with a strange mixture of irritation and complacency.
Irritation, because the nationwide omnipresence of this clumsy, leaden, and supremely unfunny strip is clear testimony as to what "wingnut welfare" and the knee-jerk effort of the media to give space to bogus conservative views in the name of balance can achieve.
Complacency, because every morning as I read the strip and watch another lame punchline thud into its pre-dug grave on the last panel, I take comfort in the realization that This is the best the Right can do, and the Left holds the high ground not only in politics and intellect, but also in comic strips.
Recently, a third emotion has come into play: embarrassment.
In the past few days, Tinsley has been using his strip to promote one Walter Williams for the Republican presidential nomination. As far as I can tell, the only purpose of this endeavor is to bait the papers that publish his strip and the Left by using the comic pages to openly advocate a political candidacy. The papers gripe about equal time, lefties quack Dump the Duck, Tinsley claims persecution, and voila! publicity and controversy magically convert Mallard Fillmore into something important and readable.
Trouble is, the desperation surrounding Tinsley’s attempt to breathe some life into his strip is so palpable that the emotion he arouses isn’t indignation—it’s sick fascination.
Reading the strip now is like watching a bug die after you’ve sprayed it with Raid(tm): there’s the bewildered running around, the desperate flailing, and finally the wretched, uncomprehending demise.
I tend to stop reading strips that are so bad they actually make me feel pity for the creator. Bruce Tinsley might want to think about that.