A Penny For Your Murders

In today’s Comic Strip of the Day, Mike Peterson points out that right-wing goon cartoonists Steve Kelley and Michael Ramirez both drew the same cartoon and he wonders since they are represented by the same syndicate, why someone there didn’t point it out to either guy. To answer that question, the syndicate doesn’t care about the content as long as it sells. If they’re not bothered by selling cartoons that spread lies, conspiracy theories, homophobia, and racism, then why would they care if two cartoonists draw the same idea? At any rate, they also represent Gary Varvel who along with Ramirez always draws a crying Uncle Sam after every school shooting and I doubt the syndicate has sent either one a memo saying, “Hey, guys…write a new idea.”

Kelley and Ramirez both drew Batman cartoons with the argument that he can’t fight crime and be a vigilante anymore because a liberal district attorney will prosecute him for “being a good samaritan,” as Ramirez puts it. This cartoon is based on Daniel Penny, a Marine who killed Jordan Neely, an agitated guy acting weird on a New York City subway. Penny argues that he was protecting others on the subway by holding Neely in a chokehold until police arrived.

One problem with Kelley and Ramirez’s Batman analogy, and it’s one that should stand out to them since they are comic book fans, is that Batman didn’t kill people. It was his one rule. Daniel Penny is no Batman. Penny has been indicted for manslaughter and with goons like Kelley, Ramirez, and Republican presidential candidates howling in his defense, you just know that Penny is White and the person he killed is…wait for it…Black.

First off, if you’re going to be intimidated or made to feel uncomfortable by freaks on public transportation, especially the New York City Subway, then stay off the fucking subways. You can’t handle it and Daniel Penny never should have been on it. Take an Uber. You are not a superhero or a badass for murdering a mentally ill homeless guy who used to be a Michael Jackson impersonator.

But Daniel is just the type of guy the right-wing fucknuts love. He’s white, he killed a black guy in supposed self-defense, he’s a Marine, and he has a perm and mustache that looks like it was stolen from a guy who drove a Trans-Am while listening to Styx in 1982. You just know that Daniel Penny went to prom wearing a powder blue tux with a date in a Gunne Sax dress, wings, and blue eyeshadow (I got the prom dress description from proofreader Laura).

Republicans are about to slobber all over Penny the way they did for Kyle Rittenhouse, who took an assault rifle across state lines at the age of 17 to defend himself from Black Lives Matter activists. And like Kyle, Penny’s argument of self-defense is weak.

Penny claims he was protecting people but witnesses say that while Neely was acting aggressively and frightening people, he hadn’t assaulted anyone. Penny claims that Neely shouted “I’m gonna’ kill you,” and that he was “ready to die” or go to jail for life. Again, you’re on the NYC subway. I saw a guy give himself a sponge bath on the subway while eating a slice from Ray’s. You gotta take it all in stride.

Penny also says he was holding Neely until cops arrived, yet the hold was a chokehold. Also, two other people were helping him hold Neely. If you’re holding someone until help arrives, you don’t hold them in a literal death grip for three minutes.

Among the GOP candidates for president, Ron DeSantis, who signed a law making it legal to run over Black Lives Matter protesters in Florida, urged the nation to show Penny that “America’s got his back.” Nikki Haley has called for the governor to pardon Penny despite there not being a trial yet, and Vivek Ramaswamy-Ramalamadingdong has donated $10,000 to Penny’s legal defense. Recently, Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott vowed to pardon Daniel Perry, a White Army sergeant who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fatally shooting an armed man during a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest.

Donald Trump admitted to not seeing the video of Penny killing Neely, but still said he thought Penny “was in great danger and the other people in the car were in great danger.” I guess someone told him Penny is white and Neely was Black.

Republicans are all about law and order unless it’s a white billionaire stealing classified information.

Another aspect of this is that Republicans get to use this case to argue that it’s up to White good samaritans to protect law-abiding citizens in crime-infested Democratic-run cities. Just last month, Jim Jordan, who represents a district in Ohio, went to NYC for a hearing examining “victims of violent crime in Manhattan.”

Jumaane Williams, a Democrat who is New York City’s public advocate, said Republicans “have a playbook of winning elections that is based on really tapping into the worst parts of human nature and really driving it home with division and fear, and if there’s race and class played into it, then it’s like Christmastime for them.” For Republicans, cruelty is the point.

Marjorie Taylor Greene called Penny a “hero” and Matt Gaetz has nicknamed him the “Subway Superman” even though Superman also had a rule against killing people. Gaetz once offered an internship to Rittenhouse, who should have taken him up on it because it was probably the only opportunity he’ll ever have to get laid, as long as he has a Vemo account. But what would happen if a Black guy killed a White person to defend people? Republicans have already told us that answer.

When a black Capitol Police officer shot and killed white nationalist MAGAt terrorist Ashli Babbit, Republicans ran to her defense. Remember when the phrase of the day was “stand your ground” after wannabe Rambo George Zimmerman killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin for walking while Black in a hoodie and being armed with Skittles? Republicans don’t believe a Black man has a right to “stand his ground” when being attacked by white insurrectionists.

I predict that if Penny gets off, he’ll get to do the fucknut convention circuit with Rittenhouse. Republicans will pay to pose for pictures with The Douche Perm Porn Stache Subway Killer.

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