2010-07-21
Explanation
This comic imagines the development of a plasma forcefield technology. A scientist announces, "It wasn't easy, but we now have the ability to create a plasma forcefield." She explains it can withstand bullets, explosives, and temperatures up to 6,000 Kelvin. An impressed colleague asks, "Wow! How'd you get the billions in funding for it?" The scientist's expression turns uneasy as the comic reveals the answer: the forcefield was placed on the surface of the Sun to protect an American flag planted there.
The final panel shows the flag encased in the forcefield sitting on the Sun's surface, with Earth visible in the background. A character explains that the President is about to give a speech entitled "It's ours, bitches" -- apparently claiming the Sun as American territory. The joke satirizes nationalistic space programs and the idea that governments might fund extraordinary scientific breakthroughs not for their practical applications but for absurdly petty displays of territorial dominance. It is a commentary on how scientific funding often depends more on political prestige than on rational priorities.
The votey panel shows a note reading: "Dear Bitches. In your face. Sincerely, The Goddamn President." This is presumably the full text of the presidential speech, reinforcing the absurdity of spending billions on advanced technology just to make a childish geopolitical power move.