Enemies of the Russian State

I’m sad about not winning recognition this year. No, I’m not talking about my failure to even place in any journalism awards for 2022 (what do they know anyway, right?). I’m talking about failing to make Vladimir Putin’s enemy list.

At first, you might think I’m crazy. Why should I make Putin’s enemy list? I’m not sending drones to attack the Kremlin or Putin’s love pad. It’s not like I am at physical war with Russia or have any input on U.S. policy on the nation. It’s not like I can levy sanctions on Vladimir Putin. But when you see a lot of the names among the 500 Americans on the list, I have every right to be on it.

There are names that make sense, like Senior Director of Defense Affairs of the National Security Council Cara Abercrombie, Chief of Staff of the Air Force Charles Brown Jr, Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth, First Deputy Chief of the Press Office of the White House Olivia Alair Dalton, Senior Advisor to President Biden Anita Babbitt Dunn, and White House Chief of Staff Jeffrey Zients. Those make sense.

But why is the former Attorney General for Vermont on the list, or the Attorney of Washington, D.C? Why is a former governor of New Mexico on the list?

There are other people on the list who don’t have any involvement with U.S. policy on Russia or have any strong record of criticizing the nation. People like New York Attorney General Letitia James, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and Special Counsel Jack Smith…oh, I get it.

A lot of the people on Putin’s enemy list are folks who have been mean to Donald Trump, and not just those who have investigated him. TV hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Rachel Maddow, Brian Williams, Seth Meyers, and Joe Scarborough are on the list. Why are they on the list, for criticizing Trump? Hell, I criticize Trump more often than they do…and, in my opinion, better.

I’m shocked that people like Robert DeNiro and Kathy Griffin didn’t make the list for their criticism of Trump. Didn’t Kathy Griffin cut his head off? Maybe the entire cast of Saturday Night Live should be on it. How is Alec Baldwin not there? But most of all, why am I not on it? Do I have to submit all the comments from my haters on Truth Social? Sure, they all have typos but they still count, right?

I don’t believe I’ve received my share of hate and fury that I’ve earned and worked so hard for. I see profiles on Twitter all the time from people I’ve never heard of that boast about being blocked by goons like Donald Trump Jr and Matt Gaetz. C’mon…I too deserve some blockings by goons. What do I have to do to make racist knuckle-dragging MAGAt Putin-loving troglodytes hate me more? What does Devin Nunes’ Cow have that I don’t?

The only goons I can think of who has blocked me on Twitter are fuckers like Mike Lester (I just noticed that one) and Ted Rall (Sputnik Boy). And sure, every right-wing MAGAt cartoonist on Facebook has either unfriended or blocked me (that’s a long list), but I want to hit the big time. I want to get blocked by Lauren Boebert or Marjorie Taylor Greene. That’d be so awesome.

Or at the very least, I deserve to make Putin’s enemy list. What’s Joe Scarborough have that I don’t…other than a TV show?

Don’t you think I deserve some goon hate too? Shouldn’t I be on someone’s list?

Creative note: I sketched out this idea last Friday before the new drone attacks on Moscow. That made this cartoon even more relevant.

And on another note: I tagged the celebrities included in this cartoon on Twitter. Each of these is legitimately on the enemy list. My personal rule for tagging people in a cartoon is only when they have something to do with the issue, or they’re in the cartoon. But some cartoonists tag celebrities with every single cartoon and usually, the celebs don’t have anything to do with the issue in the cartoon. Why are you tagging Nicolas Cage on a cartoon about the debt ceiling? I want those bigtime retweets too, but I’m not going to grovel for them.

Music note: I listened to the Boss.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Watch me draw: