Happy 4th!!!

And, as a reminder of our freedoms and the sacrifices of America's finest, what better way to celebrate than to check in on our troops: Looks like they are doing pretty well - happy at least. Does anyone "get" this one? And don't tell me that all the signs on the "Happy Highway" are puns on words associated with happiness -- I "get" that. My favorite sign is the one at the end: "HA," because that's one of my favorite ways to describe these comics -- HA HA.

Beetle is protrayed as a lazy guy, and, yes, a little happy-go-lucky, but I've never thought of him as being oddly euphoric. This comic is just bizarre -- it's like an Ecstasy trip. Get it? Ecstasy! That's another word associated with happiness, and it's the first one that comes to mind on seeing this strip. I need some strobe lights, neon-colored glow sticks, and some kickin' rave music.

I had less than 24 hours to absorb the trip down X Lane before Beetle Bailey hit me with an "X" of an altogether different sort:
That's right! The General and Mrs. Halftrack in a little X-rated action. Oh, boy. There is so much to disturb me here. DISCLAIMER: I realize it is perfectly healthy and normal for older adults to have active sex lives. I certainly hope that's the case when I'm the Halftracks' age. That said, I don't want to have to think about these two "fooling around." And since in my age group, at least, "fooling around" typically connotates the stuff you do BEFORE sex (i.e., foreplay), well . . . somehow that's even worse to contemplate.

Besides, I thought these two didn't even like each other. And poor Mrs. Halftrack, portrayed with a huge belly in Panel 1. And, was she just trying to get the General's "hopes" up? Hee hee, see "hopes" is a euphemism in that sentence, because she was trying to get more than his hopes up! And, OK, shoot me now, before I make any more lame puns about the Halftracks' sex life.

"Ready or not, here I come!" That's what HE said. Heh heh. Seriously, someone put me out of my misery.

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Hey, sometime in the last 24 hours, the site went over 10,000 hits! Thanks so much everyone for continuing to visit (unless there's just one of you visiting over and over again - that's weird. Get help now). But seriously, this has been a lot of fun to write, and I'm glad there are so many other folks out there who think the comics are as lame as I do.