Belarus

Another Border Crisis

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If the first thing you were concerned over upon hearing about the migration crisis on the border between Belarus and Poland, then your priorities are messed up. Oil before humanity, right?

This crisis began over the summer when Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko threatened to bring in human traffickers, drug smugglers, and armed migrants into his nation to cross into European Union nations. Democratic nations in the west have been at odds with Lukashenko over his fraudulent election (the kind Trump hopes for), the crackdown against protesters, the forced-landing of Ryanair 4978 to capture a Lukashenko critic, and the attempted forced repatriation of Belarusian Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya.

Lukashenko started advertising in Asia and Africa that people who needed to flee their home nations were welcome to pass through Belarus (nobody wants to immigrate to Belarus. Ask Krystsina) and into western Europe. Airlines in the Middle East increased their flights to Belarus, offered discounts and Belarusian visas. Several social media pages started providing false information on how to cross over the border from Belarus and into Poland.

After the immigrants arrived in Belarus, they were provided with axes and wire cutters to cross the border. When they arrived at the border, they discovered Poland didn’t want them and turned them around and back in to Belarus, although about 800 were able to pass through by evading authorities. For those who were not able to pass through, Belarus prevented Poland from providing the refugees with tents and blankets. As an incentive for the migrants to try again to enter Poland, Belarusian soldiers started beating them.

This is kinda like the Mariel Boatlift in 1980 when Fidel Castro “humanely” allowed Cubans to leave and paddle the 90 or miles to the United States. Among the 125,000 Cubans, and 25,000 Haitians who pretended to be Cubans (Reagan would only take Cubans, not Haitians), were some of the worst criminals Cuba had to offer. Most of the people Castro considered criminals were guilty of stuff like selling radios on the black market (here in the U.S, it’s more of an assault to force somebody to listen to pop radio). But the media in southern Florida identified at least 2,700 as “hardened” criminals. We’re talking Scarface here. This is what Lukashenko is hoping to do to the EU…give them Scarface. Lukashenko is a cockaroach.

The nations that border Belarus, Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia, have accused Lukashenko of using the migrants as weapons to attack the European Union. Most of these immigrants are trying to get to Germany, where people are civil. In Poland and Belarus, the people are more like Trumpers. In fact, the three border nations have decided to build a wall on the border with Belarus with the European Union’s support.

Belarus and Lukashenko suck, but Poland sucks too. Poland has refused asylum to immigrants who have entered its nation. They’ve also refused access to the media, doctors, and non-government organizations like the Red Cross. Yesterday, Polish border guards shot tear gas and water cannons at the migrants. Apparently, Poland has made Stephen Miller their new border czar.

Lukashenko is a monster and the true victims here are the refugees he created in order to use them as weapons. Here in the United States, we may not pay much attention to it since it’s not in the United States. And if gas prices do increase because of this, as Lukashenko may shut off pipelines from Russia to the European Union, we’ll probably blame President Biden.

The real victims in this aren’t the people paying higher gas prices, but the refugees being weaponized. And if your first concern was your gas tank, you need to check your heart and your head, because you’re a cockaroach.

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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Brute Of Belarus

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Alexander Lukashenko is Europe’s last dictator. He’s been president of Belarus (in case you’re a Republican, that’s in Europe) since 1994. Instead of having free elections, his nation has the the kind of strongman system favored by Donald Trump, Republicans, and MAGA terrorists. Belarus is a former Soviet satellite nation, yet maintains Soviet symbolism. Lukashenko may be hornier for Russia than Donald Trump and Republicans are.

Belarus also does not have a free press or the rights to oppose the president’s administration. Belarus is very much a wet dream for Donald Trump. Sorry if you were eating lunch when you read “Trump” with “wet dream.”

Over the weekend, Roman Protasevich, a high-profile opposition journalist to Lukashenko’s administration, was flying to Lithuania from Greece (which is also in Europe, Republicans). Unfortunately for the dissident who’s been living in exile since 2019, the flight went over Belarusian airspace. Even as the tray tables were being ordered back into the upright positions and the seat belt sign was on in preparation for the landing in Lithuania (in case you’re a Republican, that’s another country in Europe), the plane was forced to turn around.

A Belarusian fighter jet approached the jetliner and informed it there was a bomb threat on board. That was a lie. They ordered the plane to fly to Minsk (in case you’re a Republican, is in Belarus), even though its scheduled destination was actually closer. After the plane landed, five of the 126 passengers were detained. One of those was Protasevich. The other was his girlfriend (in case you’re a Republican, a girlfriend is a girl…you know, those things whose bodies you want to legislate but you yourselves can’t touch).

Passengers on the flight later told the media, not in Belarus, that Roman Protasevich was terrified throughout the entire ordeal, and thought the plane being ordered to turn around and land in Belarus was about all him. Sheesh, paranoid much? But as Kurt Cobain sang, “Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not after you.” They were after Protasevich.

Last year, Protasevich created a Telegram account that helped organize a protest against Lukashenko. Telegram is a social media app, like TikTok and Instragram, that’s popular in Europe and with Russian hookers who’ll pee on you in a Moscow hotel room for a fair price. After the mass protests, Protasevich was classified as a terrorist by the KBG. Those are the initials for Belarus’ secret intelligence agency. I told you they were horny for Soviets. Here’s a fun fact: In Belarus, only about 10 percent of the population speak Belarusian. The majority of Belarusians speak Russian.

After being captured and kidnapped, Protasevich appeared in a state-TV video explaining he had been a bad boy and is now cooperating with investigations into the protests he helped organize. He appears in the video with bruises on his face and perhaps even a broken nose. It’s reminiscent of those propaganda videos Saddam Hussein released of visibly-beaten captured UK and U.S. pilots where they confessed to committing crimes against Iraq and how their own governments were evil.

The European Union is protesting, working to prevent all air traffic in the continent from flying over Belarus, and preventing Belarusian aircraft from landing in other European nations. It sounds like Lukashenko is boxed in, but he’s not. He has one person on his side.

I’ll give you two guesses who that person is: Donald Trump took his side over U.S. intelligence and his name rhymes with “Schmootin.” In case you’re a Republican, it’s Putin.

We need to support the E.U. in this fight. Democracy is important everywhere. You can’t have a democracy without the right to protest. You don’t have the right to protest without a free press. It’s important to fight for this in other nations because there are too many people in this country who wants to kill our democracy.

There are people in this nation who want laws forbidding the press from criticizing their cult leader. Those people deny an election happened. Those people lie about democracy and accuse others of election fraud. Those people are changing election laws based on lies about election fraud. Those people attacked the Capitol Complex in Washington, D.C. trying to overturn an election. There are people in Congress who support those terrorists and don’t want their attack investigated. Before they attacked, their cult leader held a rally and encouraged them to go the Capitol and overturn the election.

The people who still support Trump, his terrorists, and his lies, want us to be more like Belarus. Belarus is a horrible place. It’s probably worse than Indiana. Don’t go to Belarus.

Democracy should be supported. We should have a free press, even when the press reports things you don’t want to hear. We should have the right to protest, even if protesters say thing you don’t want to hear. We should have legitimate elections where everyone eligible is allowed to vote, even if they don’t vote for whom you want to win. This is what’s so difficult for Republicans to understand. You don’t just support democracy until it doesn’t give you the results you wanted. You don’t just support democracy when it’s convenient for you. It’s not just about you.

If Donald Trump and his MAGA goons have their way, they’ll adopt a little Belarusian and tell us, “навошта закопваць галаву ў пясок, калі замест гэтага можна было« схавацца ў бульбу?”

In English, that’s “why ‘bury your head in the sand’ when you could ‘hide in potatoes’ instead?”

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: I have Three copies of my book in stock, which I’m selling 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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