Page "Al Capp" Paragraph 37

Capp had often parodied corporate greed — pork tycoon J. Roaringham Fatback had figured prominently in wiping out the Shmoos.

But in 1952, when General Motors president Charles E. Wilson, nominated for a cabinet post, told Congress "... what was good for the country was good for General Motors and vice versa ," he inspired one of Capp's greatest satires — the introduction of General Bullmoose, the robust, ruthless, and ageless business tycoon.

The blustering Bullmoose, who seemed to own and control nearly everything, justified his far-reaching and mercenary excesses by saying " What's good for General Bullmoose is good for everybody!

" Bullmoose's corrupt interests were often pitted against those of the pathetic Lower Slobbovians in a classic mismatch of " haves " versus " have-nots.

" This character, along with the Shmoos, helped cement Capp's favor with the Left, and would increase their outrage a decade later when Capp, a former Franklin D. Roosevelt liberal, switched targets.

Nonetheless, General Bullmoose continued to appear, undaunted and unredeemed, during the strip's final right-wing phase and into the 1970s.