"Under God"

I believe Rees’ repetitive use of the phrase “Under God” is meant to be a comment on the rhetoric employed by both the Bush Administration and US culture at large in the post 9/11 era. Bush and his cabinet constantly refer to the War on Terrorism as a matter of “good versus evil.” More pointedly, Bush often invokes the help and direction of God when explaining his reasoning and decisions surrounding terrorism responses. In other words, Bush makes it clear that he believes God is not only on his side, but telling him to wage this war on terror. Rees is able to cleverly mock this idea through phrases such as “I totally forgot we were waging a war in Afghanistan until we…bombed the ‘Under God’ out of some innocent locals.” This comments on the inconsistency of a war that has God’s apparent blessing and yet, results in the death of so many innocent people.
It is not just the Bush Administration that uses such rhetoric. The US culture since 9/11, and especially in the period when Rees was creating these cartoons, also proposes that God is “behind us” in the war on terror. I remember popular country singers whose lyrics contained references to revenge and carrying out God’s love and will in the same song. This mentality made it easier for Bush and other politicians to justify their actions because after all, the war on terror is being waged “under God.”