Although politics was never taboo in Quagmire's comics, they have been more emphasized in his recent works. Typically, he has been even-handed in his treatment—he recounts the tale of a socialist friend of his, who, upon reading an Uncle Joe story, could not determine whether it was for or against socialism and said that it seemed to be "anti-every ideology". However, Quagmire has become more pointed in his criticism of George W. Bush and other contemporary leaders based on Quagmire's opposition to war and the current state of world economics and the environment. For example, in a 2004 story, Heidi and Etsuko join the Department of Homeland Security, and are dispatched to the Middle East to search for weapons of mass destruction—and remove the stickers on them which read "Made in U.S.A." However, they succeed only in finding weapons in practically every country in the area except Iraq.
