Pluggers: Pluggers believe that the "Greening of America" begins in their own backyard.

Today's installment of Pluggers is especially brilliant because one needs to break it into two parts to truly grasp its message. It also shows why it's so important to read Pluggers every day.

The first point this cartoon makes is that pluggers are lazy. This is illustrated by the length of the grass, suggesting that the bear has eschewed yard work all summer long. It is also illustrated, however, by the fact that this cartoon is nearly identical to one that ran last Sunday. That's just a little nod to the die-hard fans right there from Gary Brookins, from one lazy plugger to another.

The second point is what really raises the stakes though, recasting laziness, which some have labeled a defect, as a positive quality. After all, it is laziness, claims Brookins at his most audacious, that will save the planet from the threat of global warming.

That is, of course, only if you accept that global warming is an actual threat. Because Brookins is building a world here--surely you don't believe that Pluggers is just an outlet for his personal opinions!--he has demonstrated in prior cartoons pluggers that clearly disagree with the ethos of laziness. Indeed, one of them appears to be the dog in this very cartoon! The dog, having performed yard work, therefore must believe that global warming is a myth, given that he refuses to do nothing to stop it.

And this is why we read Pluggers. No other comic strip tackles the philosophical preoccupations of the day in more nuanced or objective a manner. We can only imagine the calm, reasoned, common-sensical debate taking place right now between the lazy bear and the hard-working dog. It's downright Aesopian. Except, of course, that Brookins is no cheap fabulist, and there are no easy morals here. Brookins just raises the questions. It's up to us, the bears and dogs of Pluggerville, to find the answers.