>Actually the word cynic comes from the Greek word "cynos"
>which means dog. Early Cynics were so-called for their
>indifference to manners, customs, and laws since they thought
>that as long as you were a good man no harm could come to
>you. Strange but true.

Yeah, the link above (http://www.i-cynic.com/whatis.asp) reveals his manner of introducing himself, "I am Diogenes the dog. I nuzzle the kind, bark at the greedy and bite scoundrels." It goes on to say, "He'd use a lantern by daylight, explaining that he was searching for an honest man." However, in the treatise I've read, he maintained he was trying to better his fellow man. He evidentally had his own problems with honesty, and for that matter lived out his own contradictions in that he and his contemporaries' abusiveness in stripping away layers from others left them with the enduring caricature you've listed above. From your words, I can't help but think about The Hutch, except that he makes no pretensions about trying to help his fellow man, so perhaps he is a better "cynic" than old Diogenes, himself.