The Israeli Supreme Court has 15 judges who are all appointed by the president after being nominated by the Judicial Selection Committee. The extreme Right in Israel, which includes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wants to change that.
Netanyahu has proposed to “overhaul” the courts which would enable the Knesset (Israel’s Congress) to override Supreme Court decisions, diminish the ability of the court to conduct judicial review of legislation and of administrative action, prohibit the court from ruling on the constitutionality of basic laws, and change the makeup of the Judicial Selection Committee so that politicians could influence the makeup of the court. By the way, Netanyahu is facing multiple corruption charges that could make their way to the Supreme Court.
Until recently, the Supreme Court of Israel was the only government body that had a majority approval rating from both Jews and Arabs in Israel. Not so much anymore. Conservative extremists have a solid majority in the Knesset, which would totally control the nation if they control the courts. The proposed changes to the court system have rocked Israel and protests have taken over the nation.
Israelis have been protesting against these changes and on Monday, protesters surrounded the Knesset as it was preparing to vote on the “overhaul. Protesters have blocked highways and Israel’s largest trade union, Histadrut, called a national strike for Monday. That prompted shutdowns in schools, hospitals, and government buildings. It even shut down Israeli embassies including the one in Washington, D.C.
And then, Netanyahu put the plan on hold.
This shit hit the fan on Sunday when Netanyahu fired his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, who is the only government minister who publicly opposed the judicial overhaul. The rest of the Israeli government ministers, much like Republicans in this country, are cowards. Roads were blocked by protesters immediately with bonfires being set throughout the nation.
Netanyahu plans to hold more “discussions” before holding the vote in April. Note, he has not canceled the fascist plan at all.
In Florida, Governor Ron DeFascist is firing elected prosecutors he disagrees with. He’s banning specific topics from education and has even created a board to control Disney’s content. There are bills in Florida, Missouri, Indiana, and Pennsylvania to remove “woke” prosecutors that the legislatures (Republicans) don’t like.” A bill just passed the Georgia House that will create a commission to discipline and remove wayward prosecutors, like the one in Atlanta currently investigating Donald Trump’s election interference in 2020 (“find me 11,780 votes”).
This is fascism. This is democracy dying. Protesters shut down their nation in Israel to save democracy. So far, I haven’t heard of any protests shutting down the governments in Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Indiana, and Pennsylvania to save democracy. But we did have huge protests that turned into riots on January 6, 2021, designed to murder democracy. Americans need to save America. We need to save the United States from Republicans.
When Donald Trump said there will be “death and destruction” if he’s prosecuted, he wasn’t kidding. Donald Trump and Republicans will be the death and destruction of our democracy.
It was reported today that President Biden will not invite Netanyahu to the White House in the near future. Good.
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.
I still think the most important issue in this election is saving democracy. I try not to be a one-issue voter as I am concerned about inflation, high gas prices, crime, the economy, the budget, climate change, human and civil rights, etc, etc. But will any of that matter when we lose the power to choose our leaders?
What happens when legislators choose legislators? What happens when elected officials choose their voters? What happens when only one party chooses judges? The Republican Party has made it clear they don’t believe in democracy. They don’t believe in the will of the people. They have made it clear they don’t care about elections. They don’t care about the Constitution. These people are not patriots.
The Republican Party has changed voting laws so they can basically appoint themselves to “elected” offices.
We need to vote like the life of our democracy depends on it…because it does.
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.
The issues that are of most concern to voters heading into the midterms elections this November are the cost of living, jobs, economy, immigration, crime, and climate change. But, we have a new number one issue and that is…threats to democracy. Good.
Threats to our democracy should be the number one concern for voters. Usually, I’m afraid voters don’t understand what threatens our nation and they prove me right by freaking out over immigration or Critical Race Theory. It’s very encouraging that they at least understand there are threats to our democracy. I just hope they understand where the threats are coming from and who’s doing the threatening.
The economy is improving. We’re still adding more jobs. Inflation and gas prices are coming down. Still, President Biden’s approval ratings are still very low despite the fact he’s doing a good job. But, the enthusiasm gap has closed within two points between Democratic and Republican voters. I just hope enthusiasm is high for independent voters, and they don’t allow themselves to be bamboozled again by bullshit issues like Critical Race Theory.
Last year, Independent voters in Virginia showed they have a short attention span and within the span of a year, forgot that Republicans tried to destroy our democracy and voted for a lying Republican fucknut for governor, Glenn Youngkin. Now, he’s spying on teachers, working to cut the state’s education budget, and is ready to sign some abortion bans. He probably keeps a picture of Ron DeSantis on his nightstand.
Republicans will point at this latest poll and claim they’re the ones trying to save democracy, but that’s as much bullshit as their phrase “election integrity.”
Here’s the thing, kids: The only people taking away rights are Republicans. Who’s banning abortion?
Down in Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis is trying to outlaw “wokeness,” despite it being his favorite word. Ron DeSantis is working to turn Florida into a fascist state as he’s banning speech and firing elected prosecutors. State laws says the local government has to pick up the tab after the state removed Disney’s special governing district, but DeSantis is going to ignore the law and send Disney the bill anyway. DeSantis has decided he’s the law in Florida. Now, he wants to be president.
If DeSantis becomes president, we’ll finally have our answer to the question, who can be a bigger fascist, DeSantis or Donald Trump?
Donald Trump stole government documents, many of them classified. He’s arguing he has privilege over these government documents and nobody else can see them, including the real president, Joe Biden. This is an attempt at fascism. Trump is acting like he’s still president. Mussolini also thought he was still the rightful leader of Italy after he was deposed (before his people did to him what Trump’s people wanted to do to Mike Pence).
This follows the insurrection on January 6, 2021. Republicans will tell you it wasn’t an insurrection, but it was a full-fledged coup attempt to make the loser of a free and fair democratic election a fascist dictator.
Donald Trump and Republicans have spent the past several years telling us democracy doesn’t work and we can’t trust elections. So, let’s not vote for Republicans.
Fortunately, as Donald Trump is screaming that the nation is upset his home was searched by the FBI because he stole shit, nearly 60 percent of Americans want the investigations (plural) into Trump to continue. Americans are not upset. Goons are upset. Goons who wanted to overthrow our government are upset. Trump stole government documents. These documents did not belong to him. Why did he want them? What were his plans for them? He tried to overturn an election. He refused a peaceful transfer of power. He still hasn’t conceded and still claims he won. He also points out he’s the Republican frontrunner, and this is true.
The fact Trump is the GOP frontrunner is proof Republicans are the greatest threat to American democracy. Because they can’t win fairly, they’re changing laws in multiple states making it harder for minorities to vote. If Republicans succeed in placing Donald Trump back into the White House or even elect DeSantis, I believe our democracy is over.
Even Republican attempts to make laws telling public schools what they can and can’t teach, wiping out history books and literature, are fascist moves. It’s propaganda and re-education.
American voters understand threats to democracy are the number one issue facing this nation. I hope voters see it’s Republicans, who are trying to keep millions of them from voting, who are the threats.
Music note: I listened to Kaiser Chiefs. I’m still going through their catalog. They’re amazing.
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.
One funny thing about Republicans and MAGAts is that they think they’re the good guys. But then again, Nazis thought they were the good guys too.
Donald Trump’s acceptance speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention included the line, “only I can fix it.” Every candidate campaigns on the message he or she is the best person for the job, but Donald Trump was saying a line drafted for fascists. It was the kind of thing Saddam Hussein would have said. And what exactly was Donald Trump promising to fix? What “greatness” was “make America great again” referring to?
I didn’t underestimate Donald Trump as much as I underestimated Republicans. I never believed they’d nominate and follow an imbecilic racist used car salesman with a reality TV show, less enough a fascist. I never thought they’d not only trade in their party to become a cult but also their country. And I never thought Republicans would support overturning an election and an attack on our nation. I mean, these are the “support our troops” fuckers. These are the guys who used to worship Reagan and praise him for ending the Cold War against the Soviet Union. These are the people who told us for decades Russia was the bad guy and our enemy. These were the biggest yakkers about liberty and freedom.
That’s the thing about nationalism. It starts with a pledge, then attempts to outlaw flag desecration, and then efforts to make a national language. After that comes the killing of a press and laws banning insults to an orange gropenfuhrer.
So now when I start to dismiss the possibility of a second American civil war, I have to stop and remember all those other stupid things I initially disregarded.
The people who would start a civil war will claim they’re trying to destroy the nation to save it. That’s what they said when they elected a mango fascist in 2016. They claimed they were saving democracy when they tried to overturn an election and attempt an American coup. They said they were saving our democracy by installing a fascist dictator. They claim they’re saving democracy by limiting who can vote. Half of Congress doesn’t want to investigate a coup attempt on this nation. It can’t happen here? It’s happening.
“No one wants to believe that their beloved democracy is in decline, or headed toward war. But, if you were an analyst in a foreign country looking at events in America — the same way you’d look at events in Ukraine or the Ivory Coast or Venezuela — you would go down a checklist, assessing each of the conditions that make civil war likely. And what you would find is that the United States, a democracy founded more than two centuries ago, has entered very dangerous territory.”
That’s from Barbara F. Walter, a political scientist at the University of California at San Diego. She just published a book titled “How Civil Wars Start.”
Walter serves on a CIA advisory panel called the Political Instability Task Force that monitors countries around the world and predicts which of them are most at risk of deteriorating into violence. This book is her own study and not that of the CIA. Guess who’s on that list.
Walter writes, “We are closer to civil war than any of us would like to believe.”
The United States has already gone through what the CIA identifies as the first two phases of insurgency. The “pre-insurgency,” “the incipient conflict,” and the one we haven’t got to yet, “open insurgency.” But many believe the third phase, “open insurgency,” already began on January 6 with the attack on the United States Capitol by Donald Trump’s white nationalist terrorists.
Walter writes that the United States is no longer technically a democracy but an “anocracy.” That means it’s between a democratic state and an autocracy. Armed violence and sudden changes of leadership are common in anocracies. A lot of lies, bullshit, conspiracy theories, and “fake news” is used to manipulate people in anocracies. Who else is an anocracy? Russia is one that will make Republicans say, “well, alright then. Cool.” But other anocratic nations compared to the United States may not excite them as much. They include Somalia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Cambodia, Burma, Thailand, and Ukraine. Trump would call several of these “shithole” countries.
I grew up with the idealism that America was the greatest country on the planet. We’re better than everyone else. We were taught there was no possibility of a civil war in this nation even though we already had one.
We’re not the worst, but the United States is not the best nation in the world either. You can chuck all that rah-rah “Murica!” cheerleader bullshit out the window. Sure, love your country, but don’t be blind. Our nation is led by a bunch of fundamentalist religious zealots. At this very moment, the majority of people in this nation have a dying tree inside their homes to celebrate their “savior’s” birthday, on a day that’s not really his birthday. Sixty percent of Americans believe a guy named Noah built an ark after being directed to do so by God, put two of each species on it, and then the entire Earth was flooded for 44 days.
Hell, Norwegian cruise lines can’t even return to port with all the passengers it departed with, and they can’t blame it on “eaten by lions.”
In 2020, the Democracy Index (compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit) gave the United States a score of 7.92. But the freeist nation in the world didn’t have the best score. Who scored better than we did?
Nations scoring higher than the United States on the Democracy Index include Canada, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Chile, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and Taiwan. But, we do win the most Olympic medals as long as ice isn’t involved.
The prediction of another civil war in the United States isn’t that it’ll be like the first one, a line dividing the nation with organized armies on both sides. No, it’s predicted to look more like Iraq’s insurgency. The opposition to American democracy will look less like the Confederacy and more like ISIS. And we may not even notice when it begins as it’ll probably just look like a daily mass shooting.
An Economist/YouGov poll conducted last week found that nine percent of Republicans believe it’s “very likely” Donald Trump will be reinstated to the presidency…before the end of the year. In case you don’t own a calendar, that’s less than two weeks from now after Jesus’ birthday Maybe it’ll happen on Jesus’ birthday. Trump does need a new running mate.
Nine percent of the GOP says it’s “somewhat likely” that Trump will be reinstated before Baby New Year gets here. Another 15 say they’re “not sure.” What’s crazier is that ten percent of Democrats think it’s “very likely” Trump will be reinstated within the next two weeks. Jesus! Not you, Jesus.
You may think these are not high numbers, but in believing U.S. democracy is going to die, I think they’re very high. And with half of Congress trying to cover up the Trump administration’s coup attempt, I at least believe democracy will suffer another attack and the insurrection will find support within our government…and within the media.
Eighty-two percent of Fox News viewers believe Trump won the election and it was stolen from him. Hell, 97 percent of One American News Network viewers believe the same thing, but to be fair, 97 percent of OANN viewers isn’t a lot of people. That probably means more Fox News viewers believe in The Big Lie than in Jesus. Jesus! Sorry again, Jesus.
An insurrection? A civil war? It can’t happen here, right? Donald Trump is claiming he can be “reinstated,” and as he learned last January, all an insurrection needs is a little push.
American democracy? Only Trump can “fix” it.
Also, if my comments on Jesus, his birthday, the ark, the tree, etc, don’t piss off as many people as my Mike Nesmith cartoon did, then that means more people believe in the Monkees than in Jesus.
Music note: I listened to the Beach Boys while drawing 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 18 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.
Protests erupted in Cuba Sunday, spurred by the economic crisis left from the pandemic, shortages in basic goods, and clampdowns on civil liberties. Cuban protesters are demanding that President Miguel Diaz-Canel step down. Cubans are demanding to live in a democracy. Meanwhile, Democrats in Texas are also demanding to live in a democracy.
Cubans want democracy to come to their island nation. Democrats in Texas are also on an island. Democrats are fighting to keep Republicans from stealing our democracy.
Democracy is in danger in the United States.
The Donald Trump presidency was an attempt to establish fascism in the United States. Even while he was in the White House, Donald Trump claimed he deserved a third term because Democrats “spied on him.” He downplayed elections and told us they would be fraudulent before they even happened. He and his supporters created the Big Lie he won the election and it was stolen from him. Finally, they tried to overturn the election. These people who call themselves “Constitutionalists” attempted to stop the Constitutionally-mandated certification of the election with a bloody coup to install Donald Trump as a dictator. White nationalist MAGA terrorist fucknuts attacked the Capitol because democracy worked and it didn’t give them what they wanted. Donald Trump is currently trying to make a martyr out of the terrorist Capitol Police shot and killed while she was trying to break into an area to attack members of Congress.
Ashli Babbitt was an anti-American terrorist.
And now, the GOP response to a democratically-held election that’s been judged as the most successful of all time, is to decrease democracy.
Republicans are trying to make it harder to vote based on the Big Lie there was rampant voter fraud in 2021, which is bizarre to claim since a lot of Republicans won races in that election too. Republicans are trying to make it harder for black people to vote.
When Republicans defend these voter-suppression laws, they only talk about voter IDs and they leave out all the other restrictions like limiting voting hours, days to vote, limiting mail-in voting, and even making it illegal to hand a voter a bottle of water. While being crazy in love with voter IDs, Republicans do NOT want a system of federal voter IDs.
What happens when you demand that every dark-skinned voter have an ID in order to vote…and then they fuck everything up by actually getting IDs?
State Republicans aren’t just trying to make it harder for minorities to vote. They’re also giving Republican-controlled legislatures more power over election results. They’re taking control away from local election boards in cities and counties, and giving it to Republicans. So let’s say in 2028, Kamala Harris beats Ivanka Trump in a specific voting district that wins her that state. With these laws, a Republican legislature might say, oh there’s fraud in that district so let’s just go ahead and give it to Nepotism Barbie. As Donald Trump screamed while committing election fraud in Georgia, “Find me the votes.” In the future, Republicans will “find” the votes.
In Arizona right now, they’re still recounting despite the fact it won’t overturn that state’s results. Who’s doing the counting? Republicans who are part of a fucknut company full of Trump supporters. While Republicans are screaming there shouldn’t be a “partisan” investigation into the January 6 terrorist attack, they’re fine with there being partisan recounts. Partisanship is bad, partisanship is good, partisanship is bad…make up your fucking minds, fucknuts. The ballots in Maricopa County have already been recounted…twice before. This current partisan recount has been going on for over three months which means they keep getting the same results. Joe Biden won. Trump lost. Three months!
Another big lie is that Republicans care about democracy. They do not. They care about the cult. Democracy did not give them the fascist dictator they wanted so the response is to get rid of democracy. One way to do this, when not storming a capitol building, is to hire a partisan investigation firm with no actual experience counting ballots to spend three months counting ballots. To be fair, they are Republicans for whom counting may be difficult. I would trust a count from Sesame Street’s The Count (and a one, ah-ah-ah) more than I’d trust a count from a Republican (duh-duh-duh).
Texas Democrats have fled Texas to stop Republicans from killing democracy. The state legislature needs a quorum to conduct state business. If the Democrats are not there, Republicans don’t have a quorum and they can’t vote to kill democracy. Governor Greg Abbott, who also wants to use state money to finish Trump’s racist border wall instead of rebuilding Texas’ energy infrastructure, is threatening to arrest the Democrats when they return…which is a sure fire way to convince them to return.
Democrats, don’t forget what happened to Alexei Nevalny.
Texas Democrats are also hoping to appeal to Congress to pass a voting rights measure to kill the democracy-killing efforts in Texas. Republicans in Congress are using the filibuster to prevent Democrats there from passing anything, like saving democracy. If you’re a Republican and you’re upset that Texas Democrats ran out of the state to prevent Republicans from having a quorum, think of it like a filibuster.
Democrats are trying to save democracy while Republicans are the bad guys trying to kill it. Republicans are horrible, vile, disgusting, racist, ugly, nasty, despicable, knuckle-dragging democracy-hating cult-worshipping fascist troglodytes…and they smell too. Ew.
Cuba, here’s a piece of advice: If you get democracy, keep Republicans away from it. They ruin everything. Will Cuba have more democratic freedom in the future than Texas? Probably, as long as they prevent those Trump MAGAt goons from conducting three-month recounts. Ah-ah-ah.
Creative note: I normally hate cartoons like this. You know, where one thing is mistaken for another. You can usually see the punchline coming from a mile away. But, I gave into it this time because I really liked correlating democracy in Cuba and Texas.
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 ZERO copies of my book in stock, which usually go for $45.00 each, signed. Another order will be placed soon. You may pre-order if you want. 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.
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 two 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.
I know. I know. Donald Trump weighs more than 243 pounds, but I’m going with what his doctor claims.
When I came up with this idea (while trying to get one on another subject, as usual), my first thought was on how much to list his weight. I do my research so I looked up the last lie that came from his physical and it’s listed at 243. We all know that’s a lie. If you have eyes, you know that’s a lie.
Political cartoons do make fun of people’s appearances but that should never be the point (even though I made an entire cartoon recently on Kelly Loeffler’s extremely long neck). But the rules on making fun of someone’s weight can change depending upon their character. Like, if they’re just generally a rotten human being, you can make fun of their weight. If they made fun of other people’s weight, for example, calling a woman a “fat pig,” you can make fun of their weight. And, if they make their weight an issue, you can make fun of their weight. Also, if they choose to look like an orange clown with a bleached ferret on their head, you can make fun of them.
Donald Trump’s weight and health became another part of the chaos and insanity he brought to this nation. When his doctor comes out and says Donald Trump can live up to 200 years, you can go after them. Even his last physical became a major news item because they didn’t just lie about the results, they lied about taking the physical.
Donald Trump unexpectedly went to the hospital in 2019 and no one knows why. The White House claimed he was taking his physical on different dates, like they were chopping it up. One day, he steps on a scale. The next day, they stick a finger in his ass. No, they don’t do it like that. They do it all at once. Have you ever had a physical? If so, then you know the entire unpleasant experience is all at once. And for Donald Trump’s doctor, really unpleasant for him.
The subject of Donald Trump’s weight, his lying about it, and other people lying about it (how does he get people to do that?), is just one more bonus of dropping Donald Trump. There’s a lot of crazy stupid shit we’re getting rid of while also having a lot to clean up too.
And yeah, 243 can’t be accurate and I know I’ll be getting shit about it all day. The cartoon is dated for the first day of the year (in case you’re a Republican, that’s January 1), so I’ll be getting additional shit then on GoComics. I already posted this cartoon on Facebook, and I swear I’m not exaggerating but within a minute, someone gave me shit about the 243. By now, there are about 20 comments about the 243 not being right. It has turned into a guessing game. 285? 340? 400? There should be a national contest for it. If you guess the correct weight, you get the coronavirus vaccine.
Anyway, it doesn’t matter how much orange blubber there is, on January 20, it’s gone.
Buh-bye, blubber.
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 an order of 20 copies of my book (12 are left to purchase) on the way, which I’m selling for $45.00 each, signed. The books won’t arrive until after the new year, but orders are being taken and they’ll be shipped as soon as I receive them. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.
Update on book: They’re here but…I forgot to order envelopes. Shit. Envelopes are on the way. I’m sorry and I shouldn’t have assumed I had enough on hand. I swear that about 30 book envelopes disappeared out of my apartment.
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.
A lot of American Venezuelans voted for Donald Trump because they don’t want America to become like Venezuela, you know…where the leader refused to step down and recognize a fair election.
Sorry for the short blog. I woke to a surprise assignment today.
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.
Many years ago the most disturbing thing that disturbed me about the nation of Turkey was the squat toilet which is, or was, common there. Basically, it’s a hole in the floor that you flush. But instead of sitting while you poop, you squat over it.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has just squatted over his entire nation and didn’t even have the courtesy to flush.
To understand the drama playing out in Turkey we need to refer to Star Wars, Episode III. Everything in life can be explained through either Star Wars or an episode of Seinfeld. It’s true, but the closest analogy I can think of from Seinfeld to describe Erdogan is the Soup Nazi. No democracy for you!
In Episode III of Star Wars, Revenge Of The Sith, Chancellor Palpatine uses a war to increase his power, abolish his term limits, and eventually forces his opposition to attempt a coup, which he then uses as his reasoning to kill democracy and install an empire and declares himself emperor. Twenty years later in Episode IV, A New Hope, he abolishes the senate and tells them to take a hike. It was Jar Jar in Episode II who got the whole tyrant ball rolling by proposing executive powers for the chancellor, but we’ll bitch about that annoying Gungan another time.
Turkey is embroiled in an armed conflict with Kurds, the Syrian Civil war, and experienced a failed attempt at a military coup last July that many are skeptical over. Erdogan has used the coup to increase his power and imprison many of his critics. 40,000 people were detained after the coup, including 10,000 soldiers. Without giving specific reasons, 2,745 judges were also detained. 15,000 educators were suspended and the licenses of 21,000 teachers working at private institutions were revoked. Over 100,000 people have been purged. Erdogan blamed the coup on his opposition, the Gulen Movement, and labeled them a terrorist organization (which Palpatine did to the Jedi) and their leader now lives in exile in Pennsylvania which is the equivalent of Dagobah and Tatooine as there’s nothing to do in any of those places.
Erdogan also used the coup for an emergency referendum held last Sunday that would increase his power and effectively eliminate democracy in Turkey. The eighteen amendments to the Turkish constitution passed on a 51-48% vote.
The proponents for the measures were able to use government resources and funding to stage rallies and support for a yes vote. Critics were suppressed including press coverage, with many being assaulted. International election monitors claim there were a lot of illegal votes, maybe millions.
With the changes the president becomes the head of state and government. It abolishes the prime minister and increases members of parliament, who now need an absolute majority (301 out of 600) to override a presidential veto, or give him what he wants. The president now has the power to appoint and sack ministers and the vice president. The president no longer has to terminate his party membership (which was a requirement). The president has expanded powers to appoint judges and prosecutors. Perhaps the most significant detail out of this is that Term limits for the presidency will be reset and, if Erdogan wins elections in 2019 and 2024, he could be in power until 2029.
Erdogan said anyone who voted no is a terrorist and that international election monitors need to “know their place.” He plans to use his new powers to reinstate the death penalty which will also prevent Turkey from joining the European Union.
If Erdogan has a majority in Parliament, and he does, he can do whatever he wants. He has effectively become a dictator and democracy has died in Turkey. Donald Trump called Erdogan to offer his congratulations.
Of course I’m really bothered by the prosecution of journalists which includes cartoonists Bahadir Baruter and Ozer Aydogan, who both were recently convicted and will serve nearly a year in prison for doing what I do, making fun of the president. While both cartoonists declared their innocence, I’m guilty as hell of those charges. Ask my clients. In addition to those charges, Baruter faces further prosecution for insulting the prosecutor, who I’ve been told by reliable sources is a dick.
We can add the Turkish Referendum to the list of recent scary and freakish election results such as Brexit and Donald Trump. France is next in line. There’s a rise in the West of those who want to elect tyrants, decrease Democracy and silence criticism.
People like Trump and Erdogan try to silence and delegitimize their critics and tell them to be quiet. I’m not good at being quiet and I hope you’re not either.
We have a responsibility to be very noisy right now.
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I was talking to a guy last week who told me if George W. Bush was in charge we’d be taking care of Russia and the Ukraine situation and have troops in Hong Kong fighting China. George W. Bush couldn’t even stop the tragedy of Guns And Roses album Chinese Democracy less enough deal with Hong Kong’s Chinese Democracy.
A week or so ago cartoonist were drawing kilts covering the Scotland independence vote. This week they’re drawing dragons. I didn’t think the world needed another.
claytoonz 