Bucha

State News Fake News

I quoted an everyday ordinary man-on-the-Moscow-streets in yesterday’s blog who refuses to believe Russia has committed war crimes in Bucha, and probably anywhere else. He said, “If this is not fake, my brain refuses to accept it.” Since he lives in Russia, the news he has access to probably won’t ever tell him it’s not fake. This is a person, like a Hannity viewer, who’d rather be obliviously happy and ignorant.

Russia has blocked hundreds of news and social media sites on the internet. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are blocked. Russia blocked Ukrainian news sites before the war and then crafted new legislation making it a crime to report any news the government deems fake, which is like having Kellyann Conway determine facts from “alternative” facts.

The government is also airing propaganda and lies on their state media news stations and online. Russian news consumers are being told the massacre in Bucha is staged, which is something Alex Jones would say about a school shooting. Russian state media is claiming the dead bodies are just actors, which is something Marjorie Taylor Greene would say about kids in a school shooting. Being able to find a location of an upcoming crisis to act in is a pretty amazing skill.

Chinese-owned TikTok has blocked 95 percent of posts by Russian users, citing the “fake news” law, but I guess for shits-and-giggles, it’s also blocked posts from  French President Emmanuel Macron and the United Nations. Fortunately, TikTok has not blocked my account yet so my 158 followers will not be deprived of my 30-second drawing videos set to music. You’re welcome, America.

If Russians want to discover the horrors their president is having inflicted upon the citizens of Ukraine, they have to resort to VPNs and the dark web. A VPN is a virtual private network that connects through a secondary remote server that has fewer security controls and restrictions. Usually, these are in other countries like Lithuania. A lot of people, like me 30 minutes ago, aren’t aware of VPNs, or tech-savvy enough to download and install one, or willing/able to pay for them. I know there are a lot of readers in the U.S. who refuse to pay for news and complain loudly about firewalls at The New York Times and the Washington Post. I can believe there are a lot of Russians who’ll refuse to pay extra to discover their president is murdering civilians in Bucha. I pay for four news outlets and for at least half of last week, they were all obsessed with the slappy Oscars.

The dark web is where Americans usually go to plan terrorist attacks and spread conspiracy theories about deep-state Democrats using pizza parlors to sex traffic babies. You see a lot of Pepe the Frog on the dark web but it’s a place where Russians will try to learn real news, but will probably only get into a debate over whether Chris Rock did or didn’t know Jada has alopecia.

Russians are good people. There are millions of them opposed to this war. But they’re not getting information about it because Vladimir Putin doesn’t want them to hear the truth…or to see the images of the horror he’s created.

They don’t see the wreckage of bombed hospitals and schools, or the charred skeletons left behind in Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Kherson, Zhytomyr, and Bucha. In Russia, you can only hear what Putin wants you to hear about the war…except you can’t say “war.” Since early March, it’s been illegal to call the war a “war,” or describe it as an “attack” or “invasion,” and doing so can get you 15 years in a Russian prison.

What Russians are being told by their state news is that Russia is defending them from Ukrainian Nazis.

We don’t have state TV in the west. The BBC and NPR are government-funded, but government has zero control over the content. In Russia, State media is controlled and edited by the state. Fox News, Newsmax, and One America News Network are not controlled by a right-wing government, but they have chosen to use our guaranteed freedom of the press to act like they are. We don’t have state TV. We have Trump TV.

While Russians don’t have a choice in being ignorant about the war or buried in bullshit propaganda, many in the west have chosen to be ignorant about the war and disseminate propaganda. If you’re on Truth Social, or when they finally let you in, search hashtags for “Putin,” “War,” “Russia,” “Ukraine,” or “Bucha.” Warning: You will probably need a shower afterward.

I actually talked to someone in Russia last week who told me she didn’t know what was happening in Ukraine but knew what she was being told is a lie. She asked me not to tell her because she was actually afraid of what she’d learn. Russians know they’re being lied to and it’s horrible to find out you’re governed by liars and war criminals. Sure, we have our own experience with that, but we don’t have to support the liars and war criminals.

I hope there are people in Russia who can see my cartoons. I also hope my cartoons do a better job of exposing them to reality and the truth than they’ve done convincing MAGAts on Truth Social and other platforms.

Music note: I listened to about half of Taylor Swift’s “Folklore” album while crosshatching and coloring today’s 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 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

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

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

Watch me draw:

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Bucha Trump

After Ukrainian forces retook the city of Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, hundreds of murdered civilians were discovered. The mayor says nearly 300 bodies have been found in mass graves and on the streets. Many bodies were found with hands tied behind backs. Russia says it’s all a hoax.

At the very least, to claim dead civilians are being discovered in areas they’re retreating from, Russia has to admit it’s retreating. Nope, that’s being gaslighted too.

But Russia is calling the massacre a hoax and claiming all the bodies, if they weren’t killed by Ukrainians, are actors playing dead. One problem with that is there is satellite imagery showing many of these bodies have been lying in the streets for weeks while Russia still controlled the city. Those actors are dedicated.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called Russian actions in Bucha “genocide.” Zelensky will speak to the United Nations about Bucha today but first, he had to address the Grammys, making the Grammys relevant for the first time in forever. President Biden said he was right when he called Putin a “war criminal.”

In Russia, the murders are being denied. A 52-year-old Moscow engineer said, “If this is not fake, my brain refuses to accept it,” which sounds like something a typical Fox News watcher would say.

A lot of American “brains” that have supported and defended Putin are not accepting it either, or at least they’re being silent about it.

Donald Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “genius” and “savvy” for his war strategy. What does he say now that there’s proof Russian soldiers are rounding up civilians, tying their hands behind their backs, and shooting them in their heads? He hasn’t said anything regarding that, but he has asked Putin to find him some dirt on Joe and Hunter Biden.

Trump and his goons are not good with facts. At his hate rally last weekend, a sitting member of Congress spoke and gave Donald Trump credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden, which happened under the orders of President Obama while Trump was firing Gary Busey on The Apprentice. Donald Trump did not correct the nice Congresswoman. By the way, Gary Busey is still on the loose.

Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011 and Trump didn’t take office (sic) until 2017. In case you’re a Republican, 11 comes before 17. Lisa McClain, the dumbass congresswoman, also claimed we didn’t have any wars during the Trump presidency (sic) but we have one now in Ukraine. First, we’re not fighting in Ukraine. Second, U.S. troops fought in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria during the Trump presidency. There was also military involvement in Yemen (where a U.S. service member was killed), Somalia, Libya, Thighland, and they’re still counting the bodies at Yo-Semite (seeing if you’re paying attention).

But Trump, who’s never silent, especially for seven hours and 38 minutes, has been silent about Putin’s genocide. He hasn’t even posted about Bucha on Truth Social, but to be fair, he hasn’t posted anything on Truth Social.

Tucker Carlson, who asked rhetorically why he should “hate” Putin and has said he’s “rooting” for Russia, has not criticized Putin’s war crimes but he has accused Ukraine of committing war crimes without any evidence.

Sputnik Boy usually spanks out 27 tweets a day in defense of Russia but his account was strangely silent over the Bucha massacre yesterday, but has since found his footing and has now posted a string of whatabout tweets on other massacres. Oddly enough, he made a post yesterday defending whatabout arguments.

There is a sickness and depravity to “root” and cheer on murderers. It’s worse than going to a slasher movie and cheering for Jason, Freddy, Michael Myers, Darth Sidious, or Jar-Jar. This is not a debate like who’s the real bully in the Karate Kid, Ralph Macchio or William Zabka. Putin is the bad guy. Putin is a war criminal. Putin is committing war crimes.

This war is not the fault of President Joe Biden, Volodymyr Zelensky, or NATO. Despite what you read on Gab or Truth Social, nobody “goaded” Putin to start a war. And even if someone did “goad” Putin, it would still be his fault. He’s an adult and not a baby being trolled on Facebook.

To excuse or remain silent over Vladimir Putin’s war crimes is the equivalent of defending Hitler over the Holocaust. Yes, this comparison is apt. Comparisons to Hitler are valid when mass graves are being found, not when your favorite goose-stepping blogger’s speech is protested at a university or when trans Potato Head is allowed to swim with girls.

Even the Republicans who defended Trump’s extortion of Ukraine’s president by withholding U.S. military aid, for defense against a possible Russian invasion, for dirt on the Bidens, are calling Putin a war criminal.

Just like we remember who supported Nazis, who supported the racists in the Civil Rights movement, who supported Apartheid, and who voted for Trump, we’ll never forget your support of Vladimir Putin’s genocide.

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

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

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

Watch me draw: