Bernie Sanders

The Voting Blue No Matter Who Blues

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Here’s your cartoon for CNN’s weekly newsletter, Provoke/Persuade. Please sign up to get these in your inbox every Sunday for the rest of your life.

A friend and fellow cartoonist is having a major freakout over Joe Biden probably being the Democratic Party’s nominee. I’m using him as an example because he’s the perfect case of a liberal freakout.

My friend is being a baby over this. Sure, we should all fight for what we believe to be the best direction of our nation, but I think this guy, who is in his mid to late 50s, is being irrational and whinier than any millennial over not getting his way. The guy is creating new anti-Biden posts on Facebook on a near hourly basis. I also disagree with him on three major points: He doesn’t believe Donald Trump did anything wrong when he asked Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Biden. He believes Joe and Hunter Biden are corrupt. And quite possibly the craziest one, there’s no difference between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

While he does receive some resistance, he also has a lot of friends leaving comments who agree with him. Here’s where I disagree.

The Bernie Bros make the argument that it’ll be Democrats’ fault if Trump is reelected if they don’t make Bernie Sanders the nominee. Sure, a lot of whiners won’t vote for Biden because he’s too moderate or they believe he’s no different from Trump. But the Democratic Party can’t appease these people if they’re going to be irrational and with all due respect, stupid.

The argument here is if they don’t get what they want then they’re not going to help you, but you better give them what they want and then help them. That is, give them Bernie and then vote for Bernie against Trump, even though you feel about Bernie the way they do about Biden.

But even if you like Bernie Sanders, and I do, it’s ridiculous to believe a self-admitted socialist has a better chance of beating Donald Trump than a moderate.

I have a solution. Vote for the nominee no matter who it is. Bernie, Joe, vote blue. There is a difference between the Democratic nominee, no matter who it is, and Donald Trump.

If you don’t vote blue, then you’re allowing Trump to continue to appoint conservative fucknut judges, throw babies in jail, build a racist wall, ban Muslims from entering the nation, engage in further racist attacks and policies, build nationalism, starve poor children, destroy reproductive rights and further attack women, attack our allies, destroy NATO, hand South Korea over to North Korea while legitimizing Kim Jong Un, appease Vladimir Putin and ignore Russia’s attacks against our nation, slobber all over dictators, continue nepotism, enrich himself from the office, violate our environment while disregarding science, allow Iran to build nuclear weapons, increase the deficit while giving himself tax cuts, and install a government that serves Trump and only Trump.

And as displayed over the past two weeks while placing his ego over a pandemic hitting our nation, Donald Trump doesn’t know how to be president.

Voting for Donald Trump is voting for Kellyanne Conway, Mark Meadows, and Stephen Miller. It’s a vote to allow the worst people to run amuck over our government.

And you need to seriously ask yourself: Would you rather Ruth Bader Ginsburg be replaced by Joe Biden or Donald Trump? If you don’t think there’s a difference, then you’re dumber than I could ever give you credit for. You’re a special kind of stupid.

It doesn’t matter if the next president is Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders. What matters is that Donald Trump is no longer president. This nation can’t afford another four years of this.

Get over your vanity. Get over yourself. Grow up. Stop being an idiot and vote blue no matter who.

Support the cartoonist.

You can help me continue to create cartoons, blogs, and videos by making a contribution. All support, large and small, is greatly appreciated. You can also support me by purchasing a signed print (8 1/2×11) for $40, or a signed poster (18×24) for $100 by clicking the PayPal button (just include a note if you’re purchasing a print). If you want to support but don’t want to use PayPal, you can send a contribution through the mail (address is on the contact page. Again, include a note for a print). I don’t plan on going anywhere and your support will help guarantee that. Whether you support, can’t. or just choose not to, please know that I am truly thankful that you visit my site and read my work.

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Conspiracy Pox

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I would really love it if Democrats would stop sounding like Donald Trump supporters.

It’s bad enough that Vladimir Putin is helping Bernie Sanders because he believes that’s the best way to help Donald Trump. It’s just as bad that Bernie Bro’s are online dicks and trolls. And then, you even have Bernie complaining about the “establishment.”

Let’s make something perfectly clear. There is no grand conspiracy to “steal” the nomination from Bernie Sanders. Before Super Tuesday, he only had 58 delegates. That’s a long way from securing the nomination. Nobody is rigging the system against Bernie. And to show you just how stupid it is to play the conspiracy game about the DNC and Bernie, Donald Trump called the endorsements from Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, and Beto O’Rourke a “coup” against Bernie.

Congratulations, Democratic conspiracy theorists. You’re on the same level of thinking and paranoia as Donald Trump. Voting or endorsing is not a coup. It’s democratic. It’s politics. Bernie would have to be the leader of the party and then thrown out in an illegal manner for it to be a coup. Donald Trump’s excuse for not knowing the definition of a coup is that he’s Donald Trump. If you’re a Democrat, you don’t have an excuse.

Donald Trump sandwiches his conspiracy theories about the DNC between his conspiracy theories about Ukraine election meddling and his conspiracy theories about Covid-19 being out to get him. Don’t be like Trump. You’re supposed to be better than that.

You don’t need a conspiracy to believe the majority of the party rejects a socialist who isn’t a member of the party. You don’t need a conspiracy theory that the majority doesn’t want to run a socialist against Donald Trump. You need a conspiracy theory to believe Beto O’Rourke, who is no longer in Congress, is a failed Senate candidate, and a failed presidential candidate represents the establishment.

The DNC didn’t give Joe Biden a huge win Tuesday night. Democratic voters did. If you really believe black voters, who solidly supported Joe Biden, are the establishment, then I challenge you to put that on a T-Shirt and sell it.

What happened Tuesday night may not have even been a sound rejection of Bernie Sanders as much as it was a mandate that the majority of voters are ready to move on to the nominee and start the campaign against Donald Trump. I don’t think there’s better proof of that than Elizabeth Warren coming in third in Massachusetts.

No, her constituents don’t hate her. They’re not sexist. They’re ready to move on. They saw that Warren doesn’t stand a chance to get the nomination so they put their eggs in baskets where they thought they’d be used better. Basically, her voters in her state didn’t view her as a candidate anymore. Hell, most of them would probably prefer her but she’s no longer in the game. Maybe on Tuesday, she finally got that message.

I like Bernie. I like Elizabeth. I would prefer one of them over Biden. But I get it. The party wants to move. And, you don’t have to like it. Just deal with reality. The thing is, it’s not important if Bernie, Liz or Joe is the President of the United States of America. What’s important is that Donald Trump is not. That’s the reality you need to get.

Take this from a guy who shouts at his television and talks to himself along with inanimate objects: Stop talking like you’re in the Trump cult…or I’ll call the truck and have them take you away.

Support the cartoonist.

You can help me continue to create cartoons, blogs, and videos by making a contribution. All support, large and small, is greatly appreciated. You can also support me by purchasing a signed print (8 1/2×11) for $40, or a signed poster (18×24) for $100 by clicking the PayPal button (just include a note if you’re purchasing a print). If you want to support but don’t want to use PayPal, you can send a contribution through the mail (address is on the contact page. Again, include a note for a print). I don’t plan on going anywhere and your support will help guarantee that. Whether you support, can’t. or just choose not to, please know that I am truly thankful that you visit my site and read my work.

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

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Hard Ballin’ For Biden

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I’m going to state something that will make Bernie Sanders’ supporters unhappy. What the Democrats are doing in joining together to support Joe Biden isn’t wrong. It’s not a bad thing. It’s not fixing, gaming, or corrupting the system. This is not the Democratic Party denying the nomination to Bernie. These are individual candidates. And even if Joe Biden made backroom deals with them for their endorsements, there’s nothing wrong with that if it’s all legal. It’s not corrupt. It’s politics.

That doesn’t mean you have to like it. I’m not crazy about it. But it’s smart. The GOP tried to do the same thing in 2016 to keep Donald Trump from winning the nomination and forcing all of them to join a cult. Unfortunately for Republicans, the candidates didn’t cooperate with that strategy and while they did win the White House, they lost their party and their freaking minds.

If Michael Bloomberg drops out tonight, Biden will probably win the nomination. That may be too much moderate support for Bernie to defeat, even if Elizabeth Warren drops out. Warren is hanging in there through Super Tuesday and trust me on this; She’s not taking any votes away from Joe Biden.

Also, the dropouts yesterday totally discourages voting early. I tried to vote early last week (they didn’t let me over moving snafus) and I was undecided between Warren and Sanders, But now, I’m going for Sanders even though I’d rather see Warren get it and take on Donald Trump.

I’m not excited about Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders. Sure, I like their positions. I agree with Sanders a lot more. But I’m not wild about them. Quite frankly, I think they’re too old. For that matter, I think Donald Trump is too old but that’s just one of many things wrong with Donald Trump.

But, I am glad more of these people have dropped out. It wasn’t long ago when we had over 20 candidates and had two nights of debates. There are still other candidates, but they’re not important.

The dropout and resignation I’m happiest about is MSNBC’s Chris Matthews resignation as host of Hardball.

I don’t know if I ever liked Chris Matthews. But to me, he’s kind of like Joe Scarborough. He has a good show. The format is great. There are great guests. But the host is an obnoxious, pretentious fuck that isn’t the most knowledgeable source of every subject that he thinks he is. But on top of that, Matthews has been losing it for a few years now.

Hardball has been on since 1997 and yesterday, the 74-year-old Matthews abruptly resigned at the start of the show. He left his duties for Steve Kornacki (who should have probably been given the show a long time ago) to take over, who was in visible shock. Kornacki gave an unplanned tribute to Matthews and called him the “most human person he knows” because of his bluntness and honesty. But sometimes that bluntness and honestly revealed a lack of understanding and downright stupidity.

Last week, Matthews compared Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign to the Nazi’s invasion of France. During an interview with Elizabeth Warren, he came off as condescending and sexist. Then, journalist Laura Bassett published an essay accusing Matthews of making multiple inappropriate comments about her appearance, which revived longstanding accusations of the man’s sexist behavior. On Friday, he confused the identities of two African-American politicians, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina and Jaime R. Harrison, a Democrat running for Senate in that state.

In announcing his retirement, Matthews made it clear it’s not his choice. He said, “Obviously, it isn’t for a lack of interest in politics. Compliments on a woman’s appearance that some men, including me, might have once incorrectly thought were OK are never OK,” he said. “Not then, and certainly not today.” Yeah, but I don’t think there was any point between 1997 and 2020 where it was ever OK to approach a woman at work and say, “Why haven’t I fallen in love with you yet?” According to Basset, he he told the makeup artist, “Keep putting makeup on her, I’ll fall in love with her.” At what point between those years was it ever OK for a TV host to joke on the air about giving Hillary Clinton a “Bill Cosby pill?” And guess what, there are reports that MSNBC has paid women not to sue over Matthews’ “comments.”

Was Matthews, who was disbelieving during his interview with Elizabeth Warren about Michael Bloomberg’s non-disclosure agreements, also the beneficiary of non-disclosure agreements? If MSNBC has paid women to be quiet to save Matthews’ ass, then it’s unethical for him as a journalist to conduct an interview on the subject without disclosing it. Even more troubling, it’s unethical for MSNBC to allow him to conduct those interviews.

Conservative writer Kathleen Parker was upset over his firing and defended Matthews by tweeting they had “flirted unabashedly for 20 years.” CNN host S.E. Cupp tweeted, “The friend’s ‘He never did it to ME’ vouch-for is meaningless, since the friend wasn’t always there, AND it discredits alleged victims.” Comedy writer Maura Quint tweeted, “Congrats! Glad that you had fun flirting with your friend! I don’t know if you know this but that doesn’t mean he had the same relationship with everyone else! I understand it’s complicated! Also, when I put my hands in front of my face, I don’t actually disappear! You’ll get it!”

MSNBC knew for months it was past time for Matthews to go, and there were discussions on moving him out after the election. But Matthews’ own actions sped up that process. And you know, the network will be better for it…eventually.

There should not be any place on any network for someone like Chris Matthews just like there shouldn’t be a place in politics for someone like Michael Bloomberg or…Donald Trump.

We deserve better. We deserve better in the area of equal and fair treatment along with better journalism. Matthews was failing with both.

Now, if he could just get Joe Scarborough to leave with him.

Support the cartoonist.

You can help me continue to create cartoons, blogs, and videos by making a contribution. All support, large and small, is greatly appreciated. You can also support me by purchasing a signed print (8 1/2×11) for $40, or a signed poster (18×24) for $100 by clicking the PayPal button (just include a note if you’re purchasing a print). If you want to support but don’t want to use PayPal, you can send a contribution through the mail (address is on the contact page. Again, include a note for a print). I don’t plan on going anywhere and your support will help guarantee that. Whether you support, can’t. or just choose not to, please know that I am truly thankful that you visit my site and read my work.

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

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Kissy Cuddly Commies

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Maybe it’s just me, but if you identify yourself as a socialist in the United States and you want to be elected to the nation’s highest office, maybe don’t go around praising communist leaders.

Last Sunday during a 60 Minutes interview, Bernie Sanders praised the increase in literacy rates in Fidel Castro’s Cuba after his 1959 communist revolution. And while I understand his intention is that there’s something good to take away from that, and I think a lot of people are overreacting, I don’t understand why it’s a fixation for him and why now. Not a good time, Bernie. What’s next? Praise for Mussolini for getting the trains to run on time?

Bernie is a self-described socialist. He’s advancing ideas that are only radical in the United States like healthcare is a right. He’s campaigning on implementing policies that are successful in democratic socialist nations like Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Denmark, etc. Yet, all Republicans have been wailing on is that Bernie wants to turn us into Venezuela. Well, now Bernie has given them Cuba to add to the mix.

Sure. There are great things in Cuba, like healthcare and free education from preschool to doctorates. But it was implemented and rnn by a communist dictator who controlled the island from 1959 to 2008. There was no free press or speech. Travel from the nation was extremely limited. He made his nation a satellite of the Soviet Union. He helped instigate the Cuban missile crisis. He jailed thousands of dissidents and oversaw human-rights abuses which led to a large exodus of the nation’s citizens. The effect of Castro’s anti-imperialism and socialist-run system created an impoverished economy.

But you know who else established a very successful literacy program and provided free education to his citizens from cradle to grave? Saddam Hussein. Yet, nobody is talking about creating a government that mimics Iraq. No one is advocating for a system where everyone is literate but no one can operate a pencil because they criticized the leader and their hands were chopped off.

Bernie has made it clear he’s not praising authoritarianism. But in a way, he is. How about you just stop, Bernie? If Bernie Sanders is the nominee, he’s going to have a rough time winning Florida as it is without praising Fidel Castro (they rejected the extremely intelligent Andrew Gillum for a guy who made commercials where he’s building Lego walls with his baby). Bernie has pointed out that President Barack Obama also praised Cuba’s literacy rate under Castro, but there are a lot of Cuban Americans in South Florida who still have their knickers in a twist over him establishing diplomatic relations with the nation.

While I’m not happy with Bernie praising Castro, I’ll take that over Donald Trump, who has praised authoritarians over and over. And no, Trump isn’t praising their literacy programs as he’s not one who puts a lot of emphasis on reading or knowing stuff. Donald Trump is praising the practices that silence dissent and throws journalists out of high-rise buildings.

On North Korea, Trump said, “North Korea has tremendous economic potential like perhaps few other developing nations anywhere in the world.” Really, Donald? While Republicans are screaming that Democrats want to turn the United States into Venezuela, Donald Trump believes a one-man communist regime can create a “tremendous” economy. On Kim Jong Un, He said that they “fell in love.” At least Bernie hasn’t said he’s in love with Fidel Castro.

Donald Trump is currently seeking out Never Trumpers in his administration and purging those he deems disloyal. He defended the move by tweeting, “We want bad people out of our government!” Which is something a tyrant would say. That also leaves you with the kind of people with qualifications of the likes of an Ivanka Trump. So, with this purge, Trump is probably admiring that Kim Jong Un disposes of Never Kimmers with anti-aircraft guns and by having them ripped to shreds by dogs.

Let’s not forget that Kim Jong Un hasn’t just starved, brutalized, and tortured his own people, but he’s murdered American citizens. Kim Jong Un murdered American Otto Warmbier after torturing him and Donald Trump says Kim “feels bad about it.”

On Turkey’s president, who’s imprisoned journalists and dissidents, including a 16-year-old who insulted him and a Miss Turkey who shared a poem criticizing him. He jailed over 50,000 after a failed coup. He’s consolidated his powers to personally appoint or dismiss ministers, select judges, and rule by decree. Trump said, “It’s my honor to be with a friend of mine, somebody I’ve become very close to, in many respects, and he’s doing a very good job.” What kind of “respects” there, Trump? Are you going to start jailing people who write poems about you? Roses are red, violets are blue, Donald Trump is a racist fucking moron.

On China’s Xi Jinping, “President Xi, who is a strong man, I call him King, he said, ‘But I am not King, I am president.’ I said, ‘No, you’re president for life and therefore, you’re King.’ He said, ‘Huh. Huh.’ He liked that.” And then this one time…at band camp.

Donald Trump has had high praise for Philippines Rodrigo Duterte, especially in his war on drugs, which has involved that nation’s president personally dragging accused drug dealers in the street and murdering them. Duterte compared his killing of drug addicts, not dealers, with Hitler killing Jews. He said, “Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now, there is three million drug addicts. I’d be happy to slaughter them.” Fact check: Hitler killed over six million Jews, but Rodrigo probably didn’t have access to the type of education you’d find in Cuba. Rodrigo also said, “Just because you’re a journalist, you are not exempted from assassination if you’re a son of a bitch.” 72 journalists have been murdered in the Philippines since 1992.

This one is a little personal for me because, in 1997-98, I filled in for the legendary Corky Trinidad at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, who was in exile from his home nation of the Philippines during Marcos’ reign. It was an education being friends with Corky who I am confident would be furious with Donald Trump’s praise for Duterte if he was alive today.

A couple days ago, a conservative cartoonist accused me of practicing an “intolerant liberal religion.” And he’s right. When it comes to conservative cartoonists and journalists worshipping at the feet of a man who calls the free press “enemy of the American people,” and he’s admiring men who murder members of the press, I’m very intolerant.

Then there’s Russia’s Putin. When it was pointed out that Putin has had dissidents and journalists jailed and murdered, Trump responded with, “What, you think we’re so nice?” After Putin won a sham election, Donald Trump called to congratulate him, even after his staffers told him and left notes “not to congratulate.” During his press conference in Helsinki with the Russian president, he took Putin’s side over American intelligence. He has mimicked Putin’s lies about the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan and Ukraine meddling in the 2016 election. Trump wants to reward Putin by placing Russia back into the G7, which they were removed from with President Obama’s insistence after their annexation of Crimea.

Donald Trump praised Putin while criticizing President Obama. Donald Trump has refused to ever criticize or say one thing negative about Vladimir Putin. Not even his height and he’s shorter than Michael Bloomberg. And throughout his praise of Putin, Trump has been feuding with our Democratic allies. It’s OK for Putin to poison people on foreign soil and to attack our elections, but our national security is being threatened by Canadian cheese.

No, I’m not super happy and giddy about Bernie Sanders praising Fidel Castro. But given the choice between the man who admires the education and healthcare of Cuba vs. the man who admires the murderous, and oppressive tactics of dictators and strongmen like Kim Jong Un, Rodrigo Duterte, Recep Erdogan, Xi Jinping, and Vladimir Putin, I’ll go with Bernie. And if nothing else, at least Bernie hasn’t described people marching with Nazis as “very fine people.”

I’d rather feel the Bern than feel the hate.

Support the cartoonist.

You can help me continue to create cartoons, blogs, and videos by making a contribution. All support, large and small, is greatly appreciated. You can also support me by purchasing a signed print (8 1/2×11) for $40, or a signed poster (18×24) for $100 by clicking the PayPal button (just include a note if you’re purchasing a print). If you want to support but don’t want to use PayPal, you can send a contribution through the mail (address is on the contact page. Again, include a note for a print). I don’t plan on going anywhere and your support will help guarantee that. Whether you support, can’t. or just choose not to, please know that I am truly thankful that you visit my site and read my work.

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

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Vote Blue No Matter Who Except You Know Who

cjones03012020

Recently, Nikki Haley, former South Carolina governor and ambassador to the United Nations tweeted, “It is amazing that a liberal socialist won in Iowa and New Hampshire. The idea that we would give up the freedoms our veterans fought and died for. Other countries have to be scratching their heads wondering what we are thinking.”

That, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call gaslighting, which is a form of psychological manipulation in which a person or a group covertly sows seeds of doubt in a targeted individual (I got that from Wikipedia). Gaslighting also targets history and people’s memory, like the economy wasn’t great before Trump came along. It’s also a great example of how someone can go to work every day and not learn a damn thing.

Nikki was ambassador to the United Nations. She was surrounded by foreign ambassadors and diplomats on a daily basis. And yet, she never noticed that basically, every single one of our allies are the types of governments Bernie Sanders, that liberal socialist, is campaigning for. A lot of these are the same allies who fought with us in the past. They’re not scratching their heads wondering how people can vote for Bernie Sanders. If anything, they’re scratching their heads wondering what took us so long. Or, they’re scratching their heads wondering why we fought to defeat the Nazis and now have a president (sic) who defends them. Or maybe just maybe they’re scratching their heads wondering how someone who warned us about following the “siren call of the angriest voices” could end up selling her her soul for Donald Trump’s siren call. Seriously, Nikki Haley. We don’t need no freaking lectures from you, you gaslighting, ignorant sellout.

Gaslighting is also warning that Democratic Socialism is the same as Venezuela when the fact is, it’s what they’re doing in Canada, the United Kingdom, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark, etc. The don’t mention that the top ten countries rated on “happiness,” are Finland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia. Either it’s the snow, smaller populations (fewer assholes), and maybe it’s the socialist programs. In case you haven’t noticed, and if you’re a Trump cultist then you haven’t but all of these countries are liberal.

We are already a socialist system. It’s just that our socialism works in the best interest of the rich. And when you hear conservatives warn about candidates promising “free stuff,” they’re the same people who voted for a racist asshole promising them a free wall.

And what is free and what isn’t? College shouldn’t be free but we should have a free military? Healthcare shouldn’t be free but we should have free nuclear weapons? C’mon, people. Nothing is free. We’re paying for it. Free college is out of the question but we can’t even discuss that we spend nearly $700 billion a year on our military? And when you hear people complaining about “poor” people on welfare, they’re ignoring the fact that we spend double on corporate welfare than we spend on food stamps and housing assistance. When someone’s complaining about welfare, it’s not really the welfare they have a problem with. I’ll give you one guess what really bothers them.

Yesterday, a Facebook “friend” posted a meme that Bernie is going to tax everyone who makes at least $29,000 a year at 52%. They took the 52% from what Bernie said about people making over $10 million. And get this: The person who posted that is a Democrat.

So for the past four years, Democrats and liberals have been attacking Bernie Sanders and his supporters for not voting and giving enough support to Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party after she secured the nomination. Fair enough. I think they could have been more supportive also. During this primary season, Democrats have been chanting “vote blue no matter who.” They have the idea that Bernie won’t win the nomination so his supporters better accept the idea now to support whoever does get it. I agree. Every Democrat should get used to the idea of supporting whoever gets the nomination. That also means you need to support the nominee if that person is Bernie Sanders.

Sure, it may be hard to beat Donald Trump with a candidate they can malign as the next Hugo Chavez, but remember, we were able to elect a black man with a Muslim father from Africa who has a name that rhymes with “Osama.” Can we elect Bernie Sanders? Yes, we can.

If you disagree with Bernie’s policies, that’s fine. If you want to scream at me about them, go ahead. But stop lying. Tell the truth. Don’t act like you’re in the Trump cult. And, if you’re on Bernie’s side, don’t act like a troll.

Democrats, socialists, liberals, and blues need to support each other. Go ahead and fight right now. Do it honestly. And when the time comes, support the nominee. And if Bernie’s the nominee, then it doesn’t matter what Bernie wants to do with Medicare or public education right now. What matters most is getting rid of Donald Trump.

I still haven’t made up my mind on who I’m voting for on Super Tuesday. But I’m leaning toward Bernie.

The way I see it, it’s the most honest and ethical vote for me. I liked him in 2016 but I voted for Hillary Clinton in the primary. This time, I’m voting for the most honest and ethical candidate on the ballot. This is a second chance and I’ll probably never be able to vote for someone this honest and ethical ever again. He’s had the same positions his entire life.

That said, I don’t think I’m a Bernie Bro. I don’t like the trolling. I don’t like the attitude of his supporters. Quite frankly, there’s not a lot of distance between your tactics and those of the Trump cult. But you are not Bernie. And also unlike you, if Bernie doesn’t win the nomination, I’ll still be voting for the Democratic candidate to defeat Donald Trump.

For me, voting blue no matter who is real. It really doesn’t matter who.

Support the cartoonist.

You can help me continue to create cartoons, blogs, and videos by making a contribution. All support, large and small, is greatly appreciated. You can also support me by purchasing a signed print (8 1/2×11) for $40, or a signed poster (18×24) for $100 by clicking the PayPal button (just include a note if you’re purchasing a print). If you want to support but don’t want to use PayPal, you can send a contribution through the mail (address is on the contact page. Again, include a note for a print). I don’t plan on going anywhere and your support will help guarantee that. Whether you support, can’t. or just choose not to, please know that I am truly thankful that you visit my site and read my work.

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

New Book: Tales From 

Watch me draw.

Bloomy’s Slutty Slots

cjones02292020

Did I mention in the last blog after the debate that Michael Bloomberg had a lousy night?

It wasn’t just that Bloomberg got kicked in the teeth by Elizabeth Warren all night long, but that he wasn’t prepared at all. For example, at one point, he criticized Bernie Sanders for owning three homes despite being a socialist. At last count, Bloomberg owned at least 12 homes. In case you’re a Republican, 12 is more than three.

But it was Warren inflicting the most damage. If Bloomberg wasn’t a billionaire funding his own campaign, his campaign would be over. Bloomy didn’t just have to answer for his racist “stop and frisk” policy he enacted as mayor of New York City, but also for sexist comments he’s made at his business and for multiple non-disclosure agreements with female staffers.

Another great example of Bloomberg being unprepared was his defense of the NDAs as being for the protection of the women’s privacy. And as Warren pointed out, one of his defenses was that he’s been nice to some women. He also wasn’t prepared for Warren’s challenge to release all women from his company’s NDAs. Warren continued that challenge after the debate.

Elizabeth Warren used to teach contract law at Harvard. She crafted a release form for those who have signed NDAs with Bloomberg and his company and challenged him to sign it. She said, “”All that Mayor Bloomberg has to do is download it. I’ll text it. Sign it and then the women or men will be free to speak and tell their own stories.”

Yesterday, Bloomberg offered to release three women from their NDAs and free them to tell their sides of the story. Are these NDAs over harassment or discrimination at his company? Were they drawn up over the behavior of managers at his company or Bloomberg himself? At the debate, Bloomberg said, “None of them have accused me of doing anything, other than maybe they didn’t like a joke.”

That’s not good enough for Warren. She said, “Mike Bloomberg and his company should issue a blanket waiver so anyone who wants to come forward can come forward, with or without Bloomberg’s prior permission.” She’s right. Even the three releases he’s offered require the women to contact his company. Do those releases require other forms to sign? Do they need to sign an NDA to be released from their NDAs?

Bloomberg needs to “man-up” and offer a blanket waiver that doesn’t require those who have signed NDAs to contact or go through his company. Warren pointed out that we don’t know how many women have signed NDAs at his company. What do you want to bet it’s more than three?

At one of his racist fucknut rallies, Donald Trump said Bloomberg spent $500 million to be embarrassed by “Pocahontas.” Trump may want to pay more attention because what Warren is doing to Bloomberg is just practice for what she’ll do to him. I for one would love to see how she would respond to his racist slur while sharing a debate stage.

Michael Bloomberg’s presidential campaign is a loser and I don’t think he’s rich enough to make Democrats forget his debate performance. He’s not rich enough to convince Democrats that we need to replace an arrogant, sexist billionaire with another arrogant, sexist billionaire.

Instead of participating in the Las Vegas debate, Bloomy should have hit the casinos. Versus his presidential campaign, he would have lost a lot less money on the slots.

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You can help me continue to create cartoons, blogs, and videos by making a contribution. All support, large and small, is greatly appreciated. You can also support me by purchasing a signed print (8 1/2×11) for $40, or a signed poster (18×24) for $100 by clicking the PayPal button (just include a note if you’re purchasing a print). If you want to support but don’t want to use PayPal, you can send a contribution through the mail (address is on the contact page. Again, include a note for a print). I don’t plan on going anywhere and your support will help guarantee that. Whether you support, can’t. or just choose not to, please know that I am truly thankful that you visit my site and read my work.

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Feel The Endorsements

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Hillary Clinton doesn’t have to do anything newsworthy for Republicans to obsess over her. They haven’t stopped talking about her on a daily basis since 2016. Donald Trump’s not over her and continues to tweet and talk about her at his hate rallies. Last week, I saw at least three cartoons by Republican political cartoonists, and that was before news about the investigation into her server came out. But after her comments on a podcast hosted by former Obama adviser David Plouffe, even Democrats are going a bit bonkers.

On the podcast, Clinton said Russians may be using a current Democratic presidential candidate to swing the 2020 election to Donald Trump, much like they used Jill Stein in 2016. She didn’t name the candidate she referred to as a female, but everyone knows she’s talking about Hawaii representative Tulsi Gabbard.

Clinton said, “I’m not making any predictions, but I think they’ve got their eye on somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate.” Gabbard responded by calling Clinton “the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long.” In the process, she failed to deny it.

While a lot of Democrats are defending Tulsi, calling Clinton’s attacks unfair on a veteran and sexist, many believe Clinton’s comments are important and provide a warning for the nation. I do too.

The New York Times published an article last week titled, What, Exactly, is Tulsi Gabbard up to? In the article, they point out how she’s co-opted the Republican conspiracy theory that the Democratic Party is “rigging” the primary with help from the media, and how she’s become a star of alt-right internet stars, white nationalists, and Russian bots.

Gabbard has received praise from Steve Bannon, white nationalist Richard Spencer, Trump-loving televangelist Franklin Graham, Libertarian Ron Paul, and far-right conspiracy theoriest Mike Cervonich.

She’s become popular on 4chan where right-wing trolls and anti-semites call her “mommy,” and The Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi website that endorsed Donald Trump, takes credit for her qualifying for the first two Democratic debates. The Kremlin-backed Russian news outlet RT can’t stop talking about her. Additionally, there appears to be a Russian-bot campaign promoting her on Twitter.

While she hasn’t actually rejected any of that support, she finally snagged one endorsement that she felt she did have to denounce. That was the endorsement of former Grand Wizard David Duke. Gabbard said, “I have strongly denounced David Duke’s hateful views and his so-called ‘support’ multiple times in the past, and reject his support,” and tweeted, “U didn’t know I’m Polynesian/Cauc? Dad couldn’t use ‘whites only’ water fountain. No thanks. Ur white nationalism is pure evil.” Nevertheless, Duke changed his Twitter page banner to a picture of Gabbard with text reading, “Tulsi Gabbard for President. Finally a candidate who will actually put America First rather than Israel First!” Whether she likes it or not, Tulsi has been coopted like the Confederate flag.

Tulsi’s first media appearance in attacking Clinton didn’t help kill the impression that she’s fishing for far-right, conspiracy-loving, right-wing support, as it was Tucker Carlson’s show on Fox News.

Donald Trump also attacked Clinton, but mostly for her claims that Jill Stein is a Russian asset. Trump, the Russian asset, defended Stein from being a Russian asset and encouraged a third-party candidacy.

Only an idiot can’t see what David Duke, Donald Trump, Tucker, 4-chan, RT, The Daily Stormer, and Russian bots are doing. While Gabbard has rejected a third-party candidacy, if she were to run, it would probably give Donald Trump four more years.

Personally, I think when Nazis start supporting you, you should go home.

Support the cartoonist.

You can help me continue to create cartoons, blogs, and videos by making a contribution. All support, large and small, is greatly appreciated. You can also support me by purchasing a signed print (8 1/2×11) for $40, or a signed poster (18×24) for $100 by clicking the PayPal button (just include a note if you’re purchasing a print). If you want to support but don’t want to use PayPal, you can send a contribution through the mail (address is on the contact page. Again, include a note for a print). I don’t plan on going anywhere and your support will help guarantee that. Whether you support, can’t. or just choose not to, please know that I am truly thankful that you visit my site and read my work.

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

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Voting From The Hoosegow

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During CNN’s town hall on Monday night, Bernie Sanders said prisoners should be allowed to vote. The response from most people, even fellow Democrats, seems to be, “Uh, do what now?”

Sanders was asked the question by a member of the audience, and he replied, “I think the right to vote is inherent to our democracy — yes, even for terrible people — because once you start chipping away … you’re running down a slippery slope. I do believe that even if they are in jail paying their price to society, that should not take away their inherent American right to participate in our democracy.”

To be clear, Sanders said this includes people like rapists, murderers, pedophiles, and terrorists, such as the Boston Marathon Bomber. Republicans replied to this with, “Thank you, Bernie. And it’s even gift wrapped.” Within minutes, the Republican National Committee sent out an email harping on Sander’s hoosegow vote policy.

Fellow candidates Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren said the issue deserves a “conversation.” Mayor Pete Buttigieg was explicit in his opposition to it.

Voting rights is a huge issue in this country. For years, Republicans have been disenfranchising minority voters. They have engaged in gerrymandering, voter suppression, removing black voters from voting rolls in Georgia, creating new hoops to leap through for Native-American voters in North Dakota, and even voter intimidation in many cases. Even the Russians worked to discourage minority voters in their pro-Trump campaign in 2016.

The Trump administration is now pushing to remove undocumented immigrants from the census in order for blue states to lose congressional seats. That’s not a voting issue as much as it’s an effort for minorities to lose representation and give more to conservative voters. Republicans already believe white people deserve more representation than black voters. Don’t believe me? Go talk to one about the electoral college. They believe acres should have more representation than Democrats.

There are movements in several states to restore voting rights for felons after they are released from prison. Virginia and Florida have already passed laws restoring those rights (and Florida Republicans are trying to find a way to take them away again, despite the voters restoring those rights). Those rights should be restored as released prisoners are returning to society. They have a right to participate.

We should do more than have a “conversation” about how the American judicial system comes down harsher on black males, who make up around six percent of the U.S. population yet 37% of U.S. prisons. Serious reforms are needed. We can start by decriminalizing many drug offenses and making marijuana legal nationally. It’s stupid that it’s still illegal on the federal level. We could also stop calling the cops every time we see a black guy outside, walking down the street, cutting his grass, grilling, or just breathing.

As for those still in prison, Sander says we “should not take away their inherent American right to participate in our democracy.” No, we shouldn’t. But for most of those in prison, they took away their own right to participate in our democracy.

I accept that I’m more of a bleeding-heart liberal than the rest of the population. But even I don’t think it’s a rational idea to allow votes from prisons. Trump likes to call Sanders “Crazy Bernie.” With this proposal, that childish nickname will be echoed by people who aren’t just Trump sycophants. I don’t believe Bernie Sanders is crazy and I support a lot of his positions, but the jail voting idea is crazy.

Donald Trump belongs in prison more than he belongs in the White House. But if Democrats nominate Bernie in 2020, Trump will be back in the people’s house eating Big Macs instead of the big house eating nutraloaf.

When Trump is finally in prison, I’d like to think his influence and infection on our electoral process has ceased, and that will include him not voting. The lack of voting shouldn’t bother him too much since he never bothered to vote that much until he ran for president. His stupid kids didn’t even know how to register for the right primary and now one of them is a presidential adviser with a security clearance.

Let’s release more people from prison and restore their right to vote, and let’s put Trump in prison and take away his.

Be Complicit

What kind of person would want to be part of something that disparages, slanders, and disrespects Dear Leader and his sycophantic followers? Hopefully, you. 
Making a contribution supports my work and keeps the cartoons, columns, and videos coming. My income is from newspapers that subscribe to my work and small contributors. George Soros hasn’t sent me a million dollar check in weeks. Making a contribution of any amount, or buying a print for $40.00, makes you part of this specific resistance, and a member of Team Claytoonz (we’re still working on the name). You are complicit, an accomplice, and in cahoots (and whatever gangster terms we can think of) with this political satire pointing out that the stupid emperor has no clothes. Contributions can be made through PayPal, checks, and wads of cash exchanged in back alleys.
Whether you can help support, can’t, or just choose not to, please continue to enjoy and keep reading my work. Thank you!!! 

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

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Bernie Rides Again

cjones02252019

Bernie’s back! Yesterday, the Independent Senator from Vermont announced his candidacy for the 2020 presidential election. Sanders will ride his brand of democratic socialism for a second time through the Democratic primaries. Bernie was the only alternative for Democrats in 2016. This time, the back of the unicorn is a lot more crowded.

Before we address the campaign of Bernie Sanders, let’s go through the other Democratic candidates, in order on the unicorn. We’re only going to cover those who have announced so far. So, no Biden or Beto analysis.

Kamala Harris may have had the most impressive announcement, up to this point. She raised $1.5 million in her first 24 hours. The Senator from California is a former prosecutor and state attorney general. If she makes it through the primaries to her home state, she could win the nomination. She’s expected to do very well in the early primary state of South Carolina where black women are an important voting bloc in the Democratic primary. Harris has rejected democratic socialism and identifies as a capitalist. Republicans have attempted to make something out of her dating former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and for admitting she smoked marijuana while in college. In the era of Trump, good luck with that. Harris has been very impressive and tough while questioning Trump nominees and cabinet members from her positions on the Intelligence and Judiciary Committees. She scares Republicans. Being charismatic, tough, intelligent, and a black female, she will give Donald Trump nightmares. I don’t think he has a nickname for her yet. If she doesn’t win the nomination, she would make the perfect veep candidate with her skill at grilling people. It may be enough to make Trump drop Mike Pence from his ticket. She would eat either of them alive in a debate.

Pete Buttigieg is the mayor of South Bend, Indiana. He’s 37 and the first openly gay candidate for the Democratic nomination. Being gay and from Indiana, the only person he’s scaring so far is Mike Pence. His hopes are very thin, but I thought the same thing about Sanders’ 2016 campaign. One candidate is going to surge, at least for a moment and grab everyone’s attention. Could it be Buttigieg? I don’t think so, but he’ll probably increase his national profile from this campaign. If he does gain any sort of traction, expect Republicans to twist his last name into the nickname “Bootygay.”

I had high hope for Cory Booker back when he was mayor of Trenton, New Jersey. The man exhibited charisma and intelligence. He’s also been impressive on the Judiciary Committee, along with Harris questioning Trump’s appointees, like Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. He was the first Senator to ever testify against a fellow Senator’s appointment to the cabinet, opposing Jeff Sessions to lead the Justice Department. Booker has not caught fire yet and it doesn’t seem like he will. He’s a vegetarian and if you watch Fox News, they’re warning us he’ll ban meat. But, if you watch Fox News then you’re probably not the type of person to read this blog. If he doesn’t win the nomination, he’ll be on the eventual nominee’s short list for his or her running mate, just like he was in 2016. People like Cory Booker.

Elizabeth Warren also scares Trump. She’s smart, female and she loves to troll him. Much has been made about her ancestry, but will voters care much about something so insignificant from her past while focusing on the future? Trump, as you know, has given her the racist nickname “Pocahontas.” With both being from New England, Warren will challenge Sanders for the New Hampshire primary. She might catch fire…or she may have missed her opportunity in 2016, much like Chris Christie when he skipped 2012, ate a bridge, then ran in 2016 only to lose to a dumbass like Trump.

Julian Castro is the former mayor of San Antonio and HUD Secretary in the Obama administration. At 44, he’s young and will also raise his national profile by running. He was on Hillary Clinton’s short list for the veep spot in 2016. After dropping out of this race, he’ll be on the short list again. He’s Hispanic and from a large electoral state like Texas. If nothing else, he brings gravitas on the border issue.

Kirsten Gillibrand is the Junior Senator from New York. Unlike the last senator from New York, she won’t win the nomination. Being that the Democrats already have New York, and there are more exciting choices among the women in the party, she probably won’t be on the short list. And because the Democrats have New York, she can land in a Democratic president’s cabinet. Republicans have made some noise over her asking, while in South Carolina, if she needed to use a knife and fork to eat fried chicken or use her fingers. But then again, Trump is from New York City and has been seen eating slices of pizza with a knife and fork instead of the New Yorker way of folding and cramming.

John Delaney was the first candidate to announce and nobody knows why he ever bothered. He’s a former Congressman from Maryland. He’s a middle-aged bald white guy. This is probably the first time you’ve ever heard of him unless you live in his district…and then, yeah probably still the first time.

Tulsi Gabbard….No, No, No, No. Just no. Gabbard, a congresswoman from Hawaii, is young at 37, Hindu, a veteran of the war in Iraq, and part Samoan. So what’s wrong with her? She voted with Republicans for extreme vetting of Syrian and Iraqi refugees. She was against civil unions (voted against them while in the state legislature in liberal Hawaii), and gay marriage, but now supports them. The big problem with this is…she was an advocate for gay conversion therapy. For me, she may as well have worn blackface. Gay conversion therapy is abusive. I’m glad she’s against it now, but I don’t want a president who once supported it…and we probably already have that. Her campaign is already in disarray so she may not even make it to the first debate. I think her entire campaign missed her announcement. She was the first congresswoman to endorse Bernie in 2016. She does have a future in the party, but not as president.

Amy Klobuchar, the senator from Minnesota, might have the best temperament to be president, especially one who has to repair all the damage inflicted by Trump. She is not the best candidate. She’s considered a moderate Democrat and was impressive announcing her candidacy in the midst of a snowstorm. Donald Trump is afraid of rain. It’s hard to find any Republicans bashing her much because they all like her. Her Republican colleagues in the Senate only have praise for her. There has been criticism that she’s tough on her staff, which leads one to ask…That’s all you got on her? Tough on her staff? Have you seen Trump and his staff? Please.

There are two other Democrats running you’ve never heard of them so I didn’t bother giving them seats on the unicorn. But for all intents and purposes, they are Marianne Williamson and Andrew Yang. See? You never heard of them. Do you wanna know who they are? It doesn’t matter.

This brings us to back to Bernie Sanders. I underestimated him in 2016. While Hillary had her “Scooby Van,” I drew Bernie in a van down by the river, and USA Today ran the cartoon. So, that paper was surprised too when Bernie took off. While I don’t expect him to recoup the momentum he gained in 2016, he did raise $4 million within 12 hours of his announcement yesterday. At this point, it’s up to $6 million. His average donation is $27, which makes his campaign very grassroots.

Do you want to troll a liberal chatroom? Bring up Bernie. A lot of liberals love him. A lot hate him. Many go for his Democratic Socialism and his frank style of speaking. They find him honest, but an intelligent honestly, not one of those stupid honest guys like Trump. Democrats who oppose him point out that he’s not even a Democrat and some blame him for Clinton’s defeat to Trump. Bernie supporters blame Clinton for cheating in the primaries.

Two things. Clinton didn’t steal anything from Sanders in the primary. He lost. Get over it. Bernie did not hurt Clinton in the general election. Many of his supporters did. Bernie has every right to run. Let him run. He will bring a great debate on topics that need to be discussed. he will also turn 80 in his first term if he wins, so keep that in mind. Yes, age should be a factor.

It’s not just Bernie who’s older. His campaign is older. He has a base but does that carry over into the primaries? His crowd sizes didn’t. With his fundraising ability, Bernie will be in the campaign until the bitter end. Start your squabbling now.

One thing all these candidates have in common; they’re all better than Trump.

Be Complicit

What kind of person would want to be part of something that disparages, slanders, and disrespects Dear Leader and his sycophantic followers? Hopefully, you. 
Making a contribution supports my work and keeps the cartoons, columns, and videos coming. My income is from newspapers that subscribe to my work and small contributors. George Soros hasn’t sent me a million dollar check in weeks. Making a contribution of any amount, or buying a print for $40.00, makes you part of this specific resistance, and a member of Team Claytoonz (we’re still working on the name). You are complicit, an accomplice, and in cahoots (and whatever gangster terms we can think of) with this political satire pointing out that the stupid emperor has no clothes. Contributions can be made through PayPal, checks, and wads of cash exchanged in back alleys.
Whether you can help support, can’t, or just choose not to, please continue to enjoy and keep reading my work. Thank you!!! 

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

Watch the video.

Democratic Socialism

cjones07292018

I’m not entirely on board with the entire platform of democratic socialism. While I do believe corporations should be subjected to tighter regulations, and profit-sharing by all with their employees would be ideal, I’m not down with government forcing them to share ownership.

But, I do believe every American should have access to affordable healthcare, childcare, and employment. I strongly believe this nation can afford to provide a free education to every American citizen if we make it a higher priority than say, having ten aircraft carriers. The system of privatized prisons and commercializing incarceration should be abolished, and they can take ICE with it. I believe every child in this nation should have three meals a day, no matter which economic class their parents belong to.

A lot of people who try to scare the voters with democratic socialism are either dishonest or lying about it. Typically, when sounding the warning bells of socialism, they point toward Venezuela, or even more outlandish, North Korea.

Democratic Socialism is not about taking everything away from everyone and making it all government-owned. It’s not about not having material possessions. It’s not a John Lennon song. It’s also not about a system where elections are rigged, opposition is oppressed, or where the next leader is chosen from the present leader’s offspring.

When, you think of democratic socialism you should think about Europe. Those are not authoritarian or totalitarian states (The authoritarian candidate here is Donald Trump). Five of the top ten happiest nations in the world (according to the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network) is in Scandinavia (Finland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden).

I saw a political cartoon last week by a conservative mentioning Venezuela and North Korea while warning that nations providing free healthcare and education are places where you can’t find sandwiches and toilet paper. This is why I love conservative cartoons. They’re inadvertently humorous. It is Hoagiefest at Wawa though, so maybe we should all chip in and send a sub to the Swedes.

Conservatives are not the only ones freaking out about socialism. After Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez upset the 4th ranking House Democrat running on a socialist platform, Dems are afraid what works in the Bronx won’t work in Kansas. They’re right. It won’t work in Kansas, but that’s why candidates need to run on issues that cater to their districts. A voter in Kansas is probably more concerned over the price of wheat than he is about gay marriage. But, running on the economy and jobs works everywhere.

Ocasio-Cortez is a lock to win her general election, so she’s spending her time campaigning with Bernie Sanders for other Democratic candidates. And, yes. Their tour went to Kansas. James Thompson, a centrist Democrat running for Congress in Kansas, said she might as well come out because they’re going to call him a socialist anyway.

I have never wanted every seat on the Supreme Court to be filled by liberals. I don’t want total domination of Congress by one party. I hate districts that are so lopsided, that the opposing party doesn’t even bother fielding a candidate. I want two strong parties.

Right now, there is really only one party to hold a debate in. The Republican Party has turned into the party of Trump, and nobody can tell you what their positions are because they fluctuate on a daily basis. Some people want this nation to get beyond the two-party system, but right now, we barely have one. I don’t mind if there are two wings in the Democratic Party. Debate is a good thing.

Thompson is right. Democrats were called socialists when moderate Bill Clinton won the presidency. They shouldn’t panic when only two of their elected members proudly wear the label. They should take Thompson’s attitude toward the accusation.

He said, “They can just shut their pie hole.” That’s a good message for anyone who doesn’t understand democratic socialism. And, that insult works in the Bronx and Kansas.

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