At the End of the "Day"

Readers of mwbh are aware that I have featured the comic strip "Day by Day" at the bottom of this page. The author, Chris Muir, provides the code for bloggers to feature it on their own sites, continually updated. I've been rather out-in-the-open about a problematic turn in the story line. Lest there be any mistake, I do not endorse the mature theme being dealt with of late. My display of it here was in order to call attention to such a trend, particularly as it concerns the issue of abortion, in an art form that purports to reach a politically and socially conservative audience.

To wit, "Belloc" makes a good point in the comments section of "Huh???" I want to thank him for bringing it to my attention, if for no other reason than to plead that so many people would care one way or the other. Quite frankly, those of us who inhabit the arena known as "St Blogs Parish" understand all too well that a mere three or four blogs tend to dominate the Catholic blogosphere. Now, your mother and mine always used to say, that you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. But I've learned over the years, that the best results come from a fresh road kill. To put it another way, sometimes you have to raise a big enough stink to get any attention. That may not seem like much as you, dear reader, are sharing in this. But if you're like me, you only have so many hours in a day, and you go where the action is. Meanwhile, I'm more than content with a modest and dedicated cult following. Some of us have to work for a living, you know.

"Day by Day" has been with this blog from its beginning, and when the code was provided by Mr Muir for daily display and updates, I availed myself of that service. I appreciate it less for what Belloc calls its "feminine allure" than for its clever witticisms. (Blogcritics.org has an interview with Muir, and highlights from the series.) Now, no one reading mwbh would ever accuse me of being a prude, but I'd be lying to you if I didn't say I was a little troubled by the comic strip's direction in the past couple of months. If our two sets of lovebirds are going to be hitting the sheets in lieu of marriage, there's only two ways this story can end; one a bit tawdry, the other badly. That doesn't matter much in our world, and we presume to be inundated with it by Hollywood or Madison Avenue, but it should matter to someone with the kind of audience that Mr Muir wants to reach.

And so, after taking the matter under further advisement, I am deleting the "Day by Day" strip from the bottom of the page effective today. In addition, the segments featured in the past week will be replaced by a simple link. In the hopes that some influence may be brought to bear on Mr Muir, I am returning the link for his page to my section entitled "The Usual Suspects." Should the story continue to "slouch toward Gomorrah," I may have no choice but to delete it even from there.

Now... which one of us is going to break the news to Chris?

Don't all jump up at once.