Editing 497: Secretary: Part 4

{{comic
| number    = 497
| date      = October 30, 2008
| title     = Secretary: Part 4
| image     = secretary part 4.png
| titletext = It's time to draw the line.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Ron Paul}} is an American physician, author, and politician who is a {{w|US House of Representatives|House Representative}} for {{w|Texas}} and is a three-time Presidential candidate, running as a {{w|Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian}} and a {{w|Republican Party (United States)|Republican}}. He has a very dedicated and vocal base of supporters who believe he is [[1083|the only true alternative]] to either side of [[661|the Two-Party System]].  These supporters go under the name "{{w|Ron_Paul_presidential_campaign,_2008#Ron_Paul_Revolution|Ron Paul Revolution}}" with the letters "evol" reversed to emphasise "love".

{{w|Tron (film)|Tron}} is a movie made by {{w|Disney}}. The title text refers to the line of virtual light that streams out from the back of Tron's light grid vehicles. Normally it is a single, solid color, but in the comic it is the color of the American flag to show Ron's patriotism. There is also a joke about {{w|Pokémon}} in the phrase "... evolves into ...". Pokémon is a game where the player, a "Trainer", has their Pokémon battle other Pokémon to level the Pokémon up. As the Pokémon levels up, they evolve into the next, more powerful, form of the Pokémon.

Ron Paul and {{w|Cory Doctorow}} are fighting because Cory Doctorow believes he must support fellow bloggers no matter what and Ron Paul wants the nomination Black Hat, a blogger, is getting.

There is a subtle joke in the panel where Ron Paul and Cory Doctorow are firing at each other; the sound effect for Cory's guns is "Boing! Boing!," which is the name of [http://boingboing.net Cory Doctorow's blog]. Also, a visual joke is that Cory's turret in panel 5 very much resembles an upside-down {{w|Dalek}}. The latter might not be an intentional joke, however, as Ron Paul's turret is designed the same way as Cory's.

The reference to gold touches on Ron Paul's desire to see monetary policy once again be driven by the gold standard, namely that a country's currency value be driven not by its economic activity, but by the amount of physical gold it owns. Earlier in American history, this was the case; owning a dollar would (in theory) be owning one dollar's worth of gold somewhere in the treasury. This is in contrast with the current international practice, where countries are able to print an arbitrary quantity of paper money that is not necessarily backed by physical gold. Adherence to the gold standard is an extreme minority view; most economists, and the population at large, (Citation Needed!) agree that the current system is much better.  This may also be a reference to the final scene in {{w|The Italian Job}}, where the heroes face a decision over losing a large quantity of gold - or death.

All comics in the [[:Category:Secretary|Secretary]] series:
*[[494: Secretary: Part 1]]
*[[495: Secretary: Part 2]]
*[[496: Secretary: Part 3]]
*497: Secretary: Part 4 (this one)
*[[498: Secretary: Part 5]]

This series was released on 5 consecutive days (Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule.

It is possible that this series is a continuation of [[493: Actuarial]], in which Black Hat demonstrates great power over even Internet trolls via his sociopathic ways. This would explain why Black Hat was chosen as Internet secretary.

==Transcript==
:[The Ron Paul Revolution blimp floats.]
:Pilot: Sir! The balloon is hailing us!

:[Cory Doctorow's balloon appears.]
:Cory: Ahoy.
:Ron Paul: Doctorow!
:Cory: I won't let you stop this nomination. We bloggers watch out for our own.

:Ron Paul: Stand aside, Cory.
:Cory: Nay!
:Ron Paul: Very well. Battle stations!

:[The Ron Paul Revolution blimp's gun takes aim.]
:''Whirrr kachunk''

:[Cory Doctorow's balloon's gun takes aim.]
:''Whirrrr kachunk''

:[Both airships open fire.]
:''Pew pew pew''
:''Pew pew''
:''Boing! Boing!''

:[Inside the Ron Paul Revolution blimp's control room.]
:Ponytail: We're taking damage!
:Ron Paul: Keep firing!
:Ponytail: No good! We're losing altitude!

:[Outside the Ron Paul Revolution blimp, it hangs smoking in the air.]
:Ron Paul: All engines full! Pull up!
:Ponytail: Can't, sir!

:[The Ron Paul Revolution blimp begins to sink, smoking more heavily.]

:[The blimp sinks further.]
:Ponytail: Sir, maybe if we dropped all this gold...
:Ron Paul: Never!

:[Inside the control room, tilted slightly.]
:Ponytail: We've lost, sir. We have to abort.
:Ron Paul: Not yet, we don't! Open the loading bay doors.

:[Camera zooms out slightly.]
:Ron Paul: You take the blimp and fall back.
:''click''
:Ron Paul: I've got a message to deliver.
:''Whirr''

:[Ron Paul tosses his cane aside.]

:[Ron Paul steadily transforms into Tron Paul.]
:Narrator: RON PAUL evolves into TRON PAUL

:[Light cycle begins to form.]

:[Tron Paul bends over the light cycle.]

:[Light cycle finishes its formation.]

:[Light cycle speeds off, trailing an American flag.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Secretary|04]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Secretary]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cory Doctorow]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ron Paul]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Airships]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]