911

Homeland Terror

Let’s make one thing clear. What happened on January 6, 2021, was a terrorist attack against our country.

It was an insurrection by white nationalists to overturn a free democratic election and install an unelected dictator. It was a coup attempt.

It was an attack designed to stop the certification of the election, a duty mandated on Congress by the United States Constitution.

The people who did this are terrorists. Ashli Babbitt, who was killed during the attack, was a terrorist.

This was an attack on the United States of America. It was not a protest. It wasn’t just a bunch of tourists. It was a terrorist attack that was instigated by conspiracy theories and the lie that Donald Trump won the 2020 election and it was stolen from him by Joe Biden, Democrats, and a Deep State. One of the biggest advocates for this lie and assault on our nation is Marjorie Taylor Green, a representative from Georgia.

Why would the Speaker of the House put someone on a committee designed to protect our nation from terrorist attacks who’s expressed support for terrorist attacks? Marjorie Taylor Greene said, very recently, that if she had planned the attack on January 6, 2021, then “we would have won” “We?” “We,” as “we the terrorist?” “We,” as in “we who attacked our country?” “We,” as in “we, who attempted to destroy our democratic system and replace it with a fascist state?” “We,” as in “We, the white nationalist racist goons?” That “we?” I bet MTG thinks that if she planned 9/11, then more hijacked planes would have flown into buildings killing more Americans.

Even without examining MTG’s treason, she’s too stupid to be on the Homeland Security Committee or any other committee. This is the same idiot who believes wildfires in California were started by Jewish Space Lasers. But Kevin McCarthy isn’t looking to put talented or capable people on committees who are effective at legislation. Liar George Santos was placed on two committees, one of which is the small Businesses which I guess he’s qualified for from working with Ponzi schemes and running a GoFundMe scam to steal money from a dying dog.

Jim “Gym” Jordan is actually the chairman of the Judiciary Committee and he displays on a daily basis how dishonest he is. If you don’t know why the FBI hasn’t raided Joe Biden’s home yet, you’re either lying or you’re an idiot. Plus, Jordan doesn’t create legislation that gets passed. Last year, a study by the Center for Effective Lawmaking (a joint effort by the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University) ranked Jim “Gym” Jordan as the 202nd most effective Republican in the House of Representatives…out of 205. As a person elected to represent a congressional district, he sucks. To be fair, he sucks just as a person. He’s a horrible and vile human being. A lot of the human excrement left on the floors of Congress on January 6 by the MAGA terrorists was mistaken for Jim “Gym” Jordan. He doesn’t do anything in Congress except gaslight and bark. In the last congressional session, he sponsored zero legislation that passed the House. This makes him ineffective. All Jordan does in Congress is deflect for Donald Trump and conduct bullshit investigations to hurt Democrats politically.

And just like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jim “Gym” Jordan played a part in the January 6 coup attempt. This goon who ignored subpoenas from a congressional investigation will now lead an investigation. This is like putting Jeffrey Epstein, Harvey Weinstein, and Donald Trump in charge of sexual assault investigations.

In the last session, MTG was stripped of all her committee assignments for racist and antisemitic rhetoric, for spreading conspiracy theories on the 2020 election, 9/11, and the 2018 Parkland shooting, and for supporting violence against Democrats. MTG expressed support for executing Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton. During her first congressional campaign, she posted an image on Facebook of herself holding a gun next to images of Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib with the caption, “We need strong conservative Christians to go on the offense against these socialists who want to rip our country apart.”

In 2019, she encouraged her fans to “flood the Capitol” and resort to violence.

When it comes to protecting the homeland, she has fear-mongered that Muslims are coming to “conquer America.” She’s posted on Facebook, “We don’t need gun control! We need Muslim control!

MTG has jumped on the conspiracy theory bandwagon that George Soros, a millionaire who donates to Democrats, is a Nazi and said he’s “a piece of crap that turned in his own people over to the Nazis.” Soros is actually a Holocaust survivor.

Putting assorted goons and terrorist supporters on committees is part of the deal Kevin McCarthy made to become Speaker of the House, which took 15 ballots. Kevin McCarthy doesn’t care about this nation or Congress. He only cares about power and he’ll hand the House of Representatives over to goons and terrorists in order to get it.

You can’t faux that you care about President Biden misplacing classified documents and the security of this nation when you put a terrorist-loving lying racist antisemitic Islamophobic conspiracy theorist on the Homeland Security Committee.

Music note: I listened to ZZ Top. If you’re a guitar player and can’t get into Billy Gibbons’s playing, then you’re probably not a guitar player.

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.

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911/20

Cjones09102021

“Too soon” in this cartoon is accurate and it’s not.

Editors are word people. Most cartoonists prefer as few words as possible. Yes, even me. While a cartoonist believes the best cartoon is one without any words (this is true), an editor will sometimes suggest, or demand, that there be more text and labels. From my experience, this isn’t always a big deal and it’s just something cartoonists and editors don’t see in the same way. A cartoonist should be able to explain to the editor why his suggestion doesn’t help the cartoon and he should also be able to listen to the editor just in case his suggestion actually does improve the cartoon. Most of all, you need to respect what’s being offered.

But the other area where cartoonists and editors differ is on “too soon.” Often when there is a tragedy, especially one that involves a death, editors will say “too soon,” unless they want you to do a memorial type of cartoon. These are necessary at times but honestly, they’re usually not good cartoons. There are exceptions to this but crying Uncle Sams, Statues of Liberty, or weeping bald eagles suck. But when an editor says “too soon,” what he really means is never. Most cartoonists don’t do “too soon.”

Even readers will yell at me that a cartoon is “too soon.” Those readers may not know me well enough because I don’t really do too soon. I don’t worry that much about negative reader reaction, especially if I feel I’m saying something I believe needs to be said. I stand behind my work. Also, I’ll take another shot tomorrow. If you don’t like me today, maybe you’ll like me tomorrow.

9/11 was definitely a too soon situation when it was too soon. But that kind of dragged on. In fact, it’s still dragging.

There is so much to reflect on with 9/11. There are so many details and aspects of it. And when I saw there was a new documentary on Netflix on 9/11, I didn’t really wanna watch. When I see the previews for all the upcoming 9/11 specials, they’re telling what time I don’t want to watch my TV. I don’t really wanna live through that again. When I talked to one of my copyeditors this morning, she thought this cartoon was too light for the subject and said she didn’t want to watch the documentary. Another cartoonist has already commented on the cartoon with “yikes!”. Maybe this is the wrong cartoon for the 20th anniversary. I had another idea that was much more insightful and sophisticated, but it had a lot of words and panels. And I kinda wanted to capture the “too soon” part of this. Even my copyeditor who thought this was the wrong cartoon said she can relate to the “too soon” part since she did work for newspapers.

Lately, I’ve been getting into some of the documentaries on Netflix. Check out Cocaine Cowboys. How To Be A Tyrant was entertaining but more like Cliff Nights on fascist history. I watched Metallica’s Some Kind of Monster, but fast-forwarded through the middle of it because man, Metallica is whiny. I’ve watched a few episodes of Fear City on the New York mafia in the 70s (it’s good, even with Rudy Giuliani in it). I’ve watched a few episodes of Toughest Prisons (some are hard to watch). I’ve watched every one of the creations of classic movies from the 80s and 90s, and I don’t even like Dirty Dancing. There’s a documentary on video games. I started to watch the one on Jeffrey Epstein but honestly, I had a hard time with all the icky details. It’s weird I can watch Evil Genius, where a guy gets his head blown off, but I can’t watch things about pedophiles.

And when I saw the preview for the 9/11 documentary, I thought it was probably something put together really well, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to watch it. So I started watching it. I got halfway through the first episode (they’re in installments) when my internet went out. My internet went out because Cox sucks. Since I have internet TV, and no cable, I couldn’t watch it. When my internet was finally restored, I wasn’t in the mood any more. I had to build myself up to put it on the first time. But I do plan to finish it. I think I probably should go through it again. But, I don’t want to watch all the memorials. Is it still too soon?

I have a really good friend who was born right before 9/11 and it intrigues me that she doesn’t know a world before 9/11. Perhaps a documentary for her will be on that. I wonder how she feels about watching stuff on 9/11 now. It’s not as much reliving for her as it is is for me and you. I’m going to ask her about that.

For me to watch a documentary on 9/11, it’s to remember that day and learn behind-the-scenes stuff. Or maybe it’s more for the personal stories of survivors. But I haven’t learned anything new from this one yet. Perhaps this documentary will ask hard questions. Why haven’t I learned anything from this documentary yet? Because I was there. I remember what I was doing when it happened. I remember that entire day. It’s a day I don’t want to relive.

Since I started this blog, I got three more comments on this cartoon on Facebook. And they’re all negative. So now I don’t know how to feel about it because I don’t know if the negativity is for the right or wrong reasons.

But then again, maybe the negative comments (all from friends and supporters) kinda proves the point of this cartoon.

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 9103, Fredericksburg, VA 22403. 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 FIVE 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 9103, Fredericksburg, VA 22403.

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Bush, Barney, Biden

Cjones08302021

After the two bombings in Kabul that killed over 100 people, including 13 Americans, Republicans started calling for President Joe Biden to resign. They didn’t even wait until the next day.

Nikki Haley, former South Carolina governor and Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, tweeted a rhetorical question and answered it herself in case nobody else would. She tweeted, “Should Biden step down or be removed for his handling of Afghanistan? Yes.” Funny that she didn’t call for Trump’s resignation after he bailed on our Kurdish allies in Syria and allowed Russia and Turkey to slaughter them by the hundreds. Does Nikki have an opinion on the over 130,000 Kurds who had to flee their homes from Trump’s betrayal?

Missouri Senator, Josh Hawley, who gave a waving fist bump to Trump’s terrorists gathering outside the United States Capitol, tweeted, “It is now clear beyond all doubt that he has neither the capacity nor the will to lead. He must resign.”

Tennessee senator, Marsha Blackburn, said, “It’s time for accountability, starting with those whose failed planning allowed these attacks to occur. Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Antony Blinken, Lloyd Austin, and Mark Milley should all resign or face impeachment and removal from office.” Accountability? When a Republican is in the White House, accountability is like a black Barbie doll in Arizona. Nobody’s going to buy it (I stole that joke from 30 Rock).

Did you notice the pattern where none of these Republicans used “President” when referring to Biden? On the day of a terrorist attack that cost lives, including 13 Americans, they can’t stop playing politics. Even the political cartoonists whose first response is typically a crying Uncle Sam or crying Lady Liberty, drew cartoons attacking Biden. Sure, a president should be held accountable, but we usually wait until at least the next day in this nation.

One of my conservative colleagues drew a horrible unimaginative cartoon of the Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, and Lincoln Memorial. Next to those, he had the Biden Memorial which was a symbol of dead soldiers. Several years ago, I walked to the Lincoln Memorial with this very same cartoonist. While walking through the Vietnam Memorial, I should have pointed out that every name on it was for a dead soldier. So, yeah…we have those in Washington.

But here’s what he’s missing: Americans were killed in combat during each of those presidential terms. Over 750,000 died during Lincoln’s tenure. This same cartoonist is a huge fan of Ronald Reagan. He still thinks trickle-down worked. I’m sure he never called for Reagan’s resignation, and probably worked for his reelection, after 241 Americans were killed by a terrorists attack in Beirut in 1983.

This same guy never called for George W. Bush to resign, and probably worked for his reelection, after terrorists killed 2,977 people on his watch. I don’t remember any Republicans calling for his resignation, especially not the day of the attack.

Do you remember what happened after 9/11? The country rallied and everyone put American flag magnets on their cars. There were “support the troops” bumper stickers. People, and the president, said, “If you’re not with us, you’re against us.” If you asked for Bush’s resignation, or oh my god, asked for any accountability, or asked, “Do we really need to create laws to spy on Americans and suspend the U.S. Constitution?,” then you would be accused of being against us. George Bush was given a blank check by Congress.

What did we do after 9/11? We created a brand new federal department and cabinet position. We created the Patriot Act which Republican’s didn’t hate until we elected Obama (How dare he use that law we created!) We started torturing. We detained prisoners in military jails off American soil so they wouldn’t have any rights. We even invaded the wrong country. During the build-up to that invasion, we in the media were told we weren’t supposed to ask “why.” I almost got fired from my newspaper job at the time. It’s really difficult to be a political cartoonist when you’re prohibited from questioning authority and that’s exactly what happened to me.

Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney didn’t even wait until September 12 to start creating connections to Iraq so they could invade that country and give no-bid contracts to their buddies. After Beirut, Ronald Reagan invaded the wrong country too, sending troops to kill Cubans in Grenada TWO days after the Beirut bombing. Invading Grenada got people’s minds off the 241 Americans killed by Reagan’s ineptness, and made them feel all warm and squishy inside even though they didn’t know where Grenada was. Maybe Biden should do the same thing? Is there another Caribbean island that has it coming? Maybe do Grenada again since it’s been about 40 years.

I am just a cartoonist which means I suck at math. Math is NOT my area of expertise. I count on fingers and toes when I’m adding a tip. But, despite my suckiness at math, I’m pretty sure that 2,977 and even 241 are greater numbers than 13.

One American killed on Biden’s watch, or any president’s watch, is too many. But you’re demanding a resignation from 13 deaths while you rallied the troops after much larger attacks? I’m starting to think this might be partisan. Maybe? Hmm? Did you know George W. Bush was even warned of an impending attack by al Qaida? Yeah, he knew and still, nobody asked for his resignation. It was only until a few years after he invaded the wrong country that people started to notice that he wasn’t a very good president. OK, a lot of us knew sooner than that, but the general population was in favor of invading the wrong country and even elected the guy. It wasn’t until the middle of his second term that the rest of the nation was done with Bush. He didn’t even go to the GOP convention in 2008 because the Republicans didn’t want to remind people Bush was a Republican. It took the god-awful horrifying presidency (sic) of Donald Trump for people to look at Bush in a positive light again. The best thing about George W. Bush is that he’s not Donald Trump.

Republicans are even calling for President Biden’s impeachment. But the thing about impeachment is that a law needs to be broken. You know, “high crimes and misdemeanors.” President Biden has not committed any crimes. And the people making these calls ignored the crimes Donald Trump committed that justified his TWO impeachments.

No Republican called for Donald Trump’s resignation after 26 people were killed in a mass shooting in Sutherland, Texas, or when 17 were killed in a school shooting in Parkland, Florida…or the 10 in a Santa Fe, Texas school shooting, or the 11 at the Pittsburgh synagogue, or the 12 in Thousand Oaks, California, or the 12 in Virginia Beach, or the 22 by a Trump supporter at a Walmart in El Paso. Not one Republican called for Trump’s resignation after hundreds of thousands died from the coronavirus after he said it would “someday magically disappear” or after he admitted he downplayed it.

President Joe Biden is a good president. He had a bad day. This attack still would have happened no matter who was in the White House…especially after Donald Trump negotiated this withdrawal with the Taliban. The attack on the U.S. Capitol only happened because Donald Trump was president (sic).

After supporting, enabling, and refusing to hold Donald Trump and his terrorists accountable after January 6, 2021, and are now calling for President Biden’s resignation after a terrorist attack, are hypocrites. You can’t call for a resignation after a terrorist attack when you’re a terrorist sympathizer.

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 9103, Fredericksburg, VA 22403. 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: here are SIX 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 9103, Fredericksburg, VA 22403.

Watch me draw: