Florida Governor Ron DeSantis finally announced his candidacy for the White House yesterday, after his state legislature removed the legal burden preventing current governors of that state from running. And DeSantis’ announcement was a total and complete disaster. The “failure to launch” is only part of it.
Every presidential candidate makes their announcement from a safe environment. Most announcements, whether the candidate is a Democrat or a Republican, are at rallies full of supporters. Hell, Donald Trump held his first one in the lobby of Trump Tower (where he paid people to pretend to support him) and his second in the ballroom of his Mara-a-Lago (which Fox News stopped airing live out of boredom, but told us to take Sean Hannity’s word for how awesome it was). I didn’t think it could get much friendlier than that until DeSantis did what he did yesterday.
DeSantis didn’t hold a rally or even make the announcement on a talk show (like Arnold Schwarzenneger did when he announced his campaign for governor of California). DeSantis held it on Twitter Spaces, which is a new platform for audio conversations. DeSantis was trying to get around traditional media as he hates most news outlets, although he did run to Fox News right after his Twitter Spaces event.
And, it was hosted by Twitter owner Elon Music and moderated by David Sacks, who most people don’t know. And, it took 20 minutes for the event to get rolling because the platform kept crashing. Elon claimed it was because of the amount of users logging on to witness the audio-only event, but the real blame falls on Elon for running a shitshow, and on DeSantis for not thinking this one through. How great of a campaign can DeSantis run if his first move was to follow Elon?
DeSantis was avoiding crowds because he has zero charm, charisma, and personality. he’s not good with humans which explains why he hung out with Elon. And he was avoiding real news outlets because he’s a coward. He fielded softball questions from goons like Republican congressman Thomas Massie, Chris Rufo, Dana Loesch, and Iowa radio host Steve Deace. It was a real slobberfest as DeSantis promised to bring his brand of Florida fascism to the rest of the nation.
Elon called the event “historic,” though it was really just a radio broadcast which has been done. Elon is going to claim he invented radio after this. And it was a platform, “Twitter Spaces,” that most people have never heard of before. They may as well have made the announcement on MySpace.
Elon is working to turn Twitter into a right-wing paradise. Many of my readers have told me that my posts no longer show up in their feeds, and my news feed is made up mostly of right-wing goons I don’t follow.
This was a stupid move for DeSantis because most Americans are NOT on Twitter. Only 42 percent of Americans aged 12-34 are on Twitter. And that’s Twitter, not Twitter Spaces. DeSantis isn’t going to win by only appealing to 12-34-year-olds. If DeSantis had made his announcement at a rally, or even just by zooming it from his broom closet, every news outlet would have run it live, at least for the first few minutes before viewers got bored.
This fiasco of a campaign announcement isn’t just great news for Donald Trump and other Republicans but for the entire nation. It’s an indication of just how bad of a campaign DeSantis is building. Sure, Bootsie has a lot of cash on hand but he doesn’t know how to spend it. Puddin’ Fingers might be able to build a statewide coalition, but it’s after he steps outside of Florida that everyone sees his pudding is vanilla and boring.
We probably don’t have to fear a Ron DeSantis presidency but we still have to fear Republican fascism. We still have to fear a Florida Man.
Creative note: The cartoonist I compete against the most is myself. When I do these types of cartoons, I try not to repeat Easter eggs from previous cartoons…but a few are still repeated. C’mon, if I did a cartoon like this without Pizza Rat, an angry mob would show up at my door with torches and pitchforks.
Music note: Something made me want to listen to the soundtrack to Little Shop of Horrors.
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 don’t know why, but I love NORAD’s Santa Tracker. I open it on Christmas eve and watch Santa and his reindeer fly around the planet. Maybe it’s because I’m a geography buff or I just love the imagination with it. I’m not even that much of a Christmas fan, but I like the Santa Tracker. I leave it open in a tab while doing other things. I’m a multitasker.
I do wish the Santa Tracker was online when my kid was little because then I could have used it to get him to go to bed. But then again, he could have used it against me too like pointing out that Santa was in New Zealand, so he could stay up for a few more hours.
This year, however, you may not be able to keep track of Santa by following NORAD’s Santa Tracker Twitter account because Elon has rules against doxxing. Although, Santa Claus is pretty generous, doesn’t share hate, and despite being all clad in red, he’s not a MAGAT, so maybe the rules won’t apply to doxxing his location. Elon seems to be making up new Twitter rules as he goes along.
Last week, he suspended an account for tracking his private jet, which is public information. Elon created this rule out of self-interest and didn’t tell anyone until he suspended the jet-tracking account. Later, he suspended the accounts of several journalists who had linked to the jet account or stories about the jet account. He suspended some just for mentioning it.
A few days ago, Elon suspended the account of a Washington Post reporter for doxxing the location of the creator of the account Libs of Tiktok, which is an anti-LGBTQ hate account. The funny thing though, the reporter did the doxxing last April by revealing the creator as Brooklyn real estate agent Chaya Raichik. Now when I post the link to this blog, I’ll be in violation of Elon’s Twitter rules but he probably won’t notice because I’m not a big deal.
Elon believes that tweeting hate on his platform anonymously is OK, but outing them is a terms-of-service violation.
The suspension of Taylor Lorenz’s account also came after she had tagged him in a tweet seeking a comment on a story, which he must not have liked.
Let’s hope Elon doesn’t suspend me or NORAD for Christmas. He’s currently looking for someone to replace him, but I don’t know if he can find someone who’s that much of an asshole.
Music note: Today’s tunes to toon to was by Jefferson Airplane.
Facebook Suspension Update: There are 23 days left in my Facebook suspension for typing the word “Taliban.” Here’s Quannah’s countdown clock.
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.
If you’re a billionaire with a private jet, then someone tracking your jet and posting it on Twitter is definitely a billionaire problem. Cry me a river.
And this is why people are booing you, Elon, you pasty-faced ghostly dough boy.
Elon went on stage at Dave Chappelle’s performance in San Francisco Sunday night and was booed… a lot. He later said it was a “first for me in real life.” I guess he’s just used to people booing him online.
But maybe Elon’s assistants tried to cover it up the way Mr. Burns’ assistant, Waylon Smithers, tried when his billionaire was booed. “They’re not booing you. They’re cheering. They’re saying ‘Boo-urns.'” Maybe, as James Corden suggested, they were saying, “Elon blue-oooooo,” excited over the opportunity to pay to use Twitter. Aren’t we all?
Elon claims he’s a “free speech absolutist,” but he’s not. He’s a hypocrite. He had a back-and-forth with Kanye West over his praise of Hitler but didn’t ban him until Ye posted a shirtless photo of Elon.
Elon said he wouldn’t ban @ElonJet, an account tracking his private jet. And then he turned around banned it, then unbanned it, then banned it again.
The account tracking his jet was posting public information, and Elon said he wouldn’t ban it. Then he did…and then he banned the personal account of the 20-year-old college student who was running the Jet account.
Elon explained later in a tweet, “Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation. This includes posting links to sites with real-time location info.”
Twitter’s private information and media policy was changed Wednesday, the same day the college student’s two accounts were suspended. The new policy states that the company prohibits “live location information, including information shared on Twitter directly or links to 3rd-party URL(s) of travel routes… regardless if this information is publicly available.”
That’s pretty specific, right? Elon is changing the rules of Twitter to suit Elon. But maybe the banning of Kanye after he posted the shirtless photo of Elon was actually a safety concern for the general public. I’m still having nightmares featuring Elon’s nipples.
And how is tracking his jet a safety concern, but inciting white nationalist terrorists to commit insurrection in a coup attempt not?
And then, within a minute of me posting today’s cartoon on Twitter, in which I tagged @ElonMusk, it vanished. But, not for everyone. I was able to see the one like it received before the vanishing, and I can see my tweet when I click on that user’s like, but I can’t see it on my timeline. I took a screen capture of it and asked my followers if they can see the original tweet. Some say yes and others are saying they can’t see it either. I’m sure some of those saying “yes” may be confused. But why can’t I see it? I’ve tried it on two devices and it’s not there. Am I shadowbanned from myself?
Social media is picking on me.
Facebook update: If you’re on Facebook and wondering why you’re not seeing posts from me, it’s because I’m banned again. This is another month-long ban and this morning, FB said I still have 29 days to go which is what it said yesterday. I’m banned because one of my FB readers found Waldo in last week’s CNN cartoon, and I congratulated her on finding “Taliban Waldo.” No, I don’t get it either. The notice I received was this. Yes, I appealed, but there still hasn’t been an answer.
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’ve seen several cartoons from right-wingers about the so-called Twitter Files, but none from the left, so I decided to take a stab at it.
The Twitter Files is Elon’s release of internal documents from head Twitter honchos over blocking “news” on its platform about Hunter Biden’s laptop in the weeks before the 2020 election. Independent journalist Matt Taibbi did the reporting on it and released screenshots of emails and files through a stream of tweets.
In October of 2020, The New York Post published a story that a computer repair man had Hunter’s laptop. He doesn’t know who dropped it off because he’s partially blind (I can’t make this shit up), but it was never picked up. He went through the laptop and supposedly found alarming information, so he gave it to the FBI who’s investigating Hunter for lobbying for a foreign nation without registering and for not paying taxes. He also gave a copy of the hard drive to Rudy Giuliani, who then shared it with a million MAGAt goons and The New York Post.
The New York Post published a story that Hunter has a laptop with alarming things on it, like photos of drug use, photos of Hunter naked, and emails that may prove corruption involving his father. At the time, none of this was authenticated to be Hunter’s laptop. Even the reporters who were assigned the story didn’t want their names on it. The story wasn’t fleshed out by The New York Post, so it wasn’t ready to be published yet. But, The Post is a Murdoch publication and the entire intention of publishing this wasn’t to provide news, but more to help Donald Trump win the 2020 election.
The Twitter Files show that the executives at Twitter agonized over what to do with this. Remember, this was stolen information provided by Rudy Giuliani. They had a responsiblity to check this. They decided to suspend the account of The New York Post, which was the wrong thing to do. Blocking the story is understandable since, at that point, nobody knew if it was a Russian scam or not. It has since turned out that it’s probably Hunter’s laptop although there is NOTHING on it that suggests either of the Bidens did anything illegal. No, you stupid MAGAts, and you too Ted Rall, there’s nothing.
There was also no evidence that Twitter was doing the bidding of the Biden campaign. The Biden campaign did ask Twitter to block the nude photos that were supposedly of Hunter, which is also understandable. The Trump campaign and White House also attempted to influence what Twitter allowed, and they were often successful. There was nothing in the Twitter Files that even suggest their actions were political or they were doing it to protect and help the Biden campaign.
Republicans are running with this and claiming it proves corruption between Democrats and “big tech.” Others say if the Post story and nude photos of Hunter Biden weren’t suppressed, then Trump would have won the election. Donald Trump is even using the Twitter Files to demand that he be reinstated to the presidency and that the Constitution be “terminated.”
Republicans ignore that it came from a stolen laptop and was provided by a MAGAt to Rudy Giuliani, and then given to the right-wing tabloid, The New York Post, and published in a story so full of holes that the reporters didn’t want their names on it.
One of the complaints from the right is that the mainstream media (the media that doesn’t make shit up) isn’t covering the release of the Twitter Files. That’s false as I’ve seen coverage of it on CNN, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. It doesn’t get more mainstream media than that.
Gary McCoy drew a cartoon complaining about the “left-wing” media’s “profound silence” over the release of the Twitter Files, but the media has covered it (see above)…just not to the liking of Gare Bear. McCoy posted on Facebook that the release proves “that the Democrats rigged the last election” and “Trump would be president today were it not for this scandal.” Gary’s also a moron and a former Never-Trump who got on the Trump Train after discovering just how racist Trump is. On another point: Why hasn’t The Week run a cartoon of mine over the past week, but they’re running this shit? C’mon, man. I think The Week is suppressing my free speech (see what I did there?).
Lisa Benson drew a cartoon claiming Twitter’s suppression of the files was “government meddling” and an attack on “free speech,” except Joe Biden wasn’t the government. He was a candidate at the time. Also, this isn’t a free speech issue since the Constitution, the same one Trump wants to terminate, doesn’t guarantee a constitutional right to tweet. Lisa, good cartoonists understand the issues they cover. So either you don’t understand what you’re covering, or you’re lying.
Mike Lester also claims it’s an attack on “free speech” with a metaphor about urinating on legs which is in some awesome artwork but….what? I scrolled through Lester’s Twitter to see if he had done something more recent since this was posted on December 2, but my god…that guy tweets racism and conspiracy theories as if he’s making up for Ben Garrison’s Twitter absence.
Al Goodwyn drew a cartoon accusing Twitter and Democrats of “inappropriate relations,” ignoring that the Twitter Files also showed that Twitter often relented to demands from the Trump White House (sic).
Henry Payne makes the same complaint as Lisa and accuses Twitter and Democrats of suppressing “free speech,” but again, motherfuckers…YOU DO NOT HAVE A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO TWEET GODAMMIT!!!
Branco also claims it’s government corruption, but he’s either lying (Biden wasn’t the government at the time) or he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Branco has a history of being a stupid ignorant liar, so it can be either.
I can’t wait to see what the other MAGAt cartoonists come up with on this because I actually enjoy fucknut MAGAt cartoons, but ironically. Since all the MAGAt cartoonists usually follow the same Fox News talking points, the rest should be in by tomorrow. C’mon, Steve Kelley. You’re eating dust here.
But from the cartoons I’ve seen so far from the gang of goons, I know that none of them actually read the Twitter Files, which is just fine because none of them can honestly tell you what’s on Hunter’s laptop that’s incriminating.
Updates:
Gary Varvel, who has never been concerned over what is and isn’t factual when making a claim, ignores that Republicans were also coordinating with Twitter. He also ignores that Fox News, the media, coordinated with the Trump campaign. He also ignores that NONE of this is actually illegal. What should not be ignored is that Gary Varvel is a right-wing MAGAt moron.
Gary Varvel drew another for Counterpoint accusing Democrats of stealing tweets about the laptop, and that doing so somehow “stole” the election. How is Twitter not allowing you to see Hunter’s penis stealing an election, but the Russian 2016 disinformation campaign not stealing it? C’mon, Counterpoint? Really? Sad.
Mike Beckom, whose opinions I hate to give any attention to because he’s not one to put a lot of thought into anything or able to understand complex stuff and who I guarantee didn’t read the Twitter Files, seems to be saying the media failed at making the laptop disappear. But I bet Beckom can’t tell you what’s on the laptop that’s so important for the media to want it to disappear…unless he loves dick pics.
Michael Ramirez totally works around saying anything hard, detailed, or specific in whining about Twitter and politics. Obviously, Michael is ignoring what’s in the Twitter files…or he didn’t read them.
Henry Payne drew another claiming Twitter “colluded” and equates Hunter’s laptop with the Access Hollywood tape. But, Henry Hanky baby, we know what’s on the Hollywood Access tape and it’s Trump bragging about assaulting women saying “grab them by the pussy.” You don’t know what’s on the laptop that’s incriminating except maybe some naked photos of Hunter, but Hunter wasn’t running for office. Also, if Twitter was “colluding,” they did it with both parties. Wait, did Henry not read the Twitter Files or listen to the Hollywood Access tape? Republicans do love their false equivalencies. Also, Henry, just how bad do you want to see Hunter’s wee-wee?
And Steve Kelley doesn’t even know which election he’s talking about.
Dick Wright, who is also a pastor and teaches that it’s a sin to lie, illustrates that he also doesn’t know what’s on Hunter laptop and that he did NOT read the Twitter Files.
Al Goodwyn’s first cartoon wasn’t enough to show that he didn’t know what he was talking about, so he made another. This time he claims the laptop is a “pretty big deal” and that Elon proved there was “election interference.” Al either didn’t read the Twitter Files or he’s lying.
Henry Payne is back with another and believes The New York Post’s story on Hunter Biden’s laptop is equal to The Washington Post’s reporting on Watergate. There are so many levels of stupid to this.
I think Chip Bok is saying the lapdog didn’t bark but the laptop did bark….maybe?
Music note: I listened to Foo Fighters and The Offspring.
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.
Yup, I know. I gave you an Elon/Twitter cartoon yesterday. But here’s the thing, kids…
I wrote this idea Friday and planned to draw it Saturday, but then Merrick Garland appointed a Special Counsel to investigate Trump, so this cartoon got pushed to Sunday. But then on Saturday night, Elon reinstated Trump to Twitter, so this got pushed to Monday.
However, it almost got pushed back to never because I really wanted to draw something on the shooting in Colorado Springs today…but three factors got in the way of that.
Factor number one: I felt I needed to give my clients something with a Thanksgiving theme. Being that this is Monday, this is probably the latest I can get it to them for this week.
Factor two: I traveled today and went through multiple airports and it has left me very tired, so it was easy to fall back on this.
Factor three: I don’t have the idea I want yet on the Colorado Springs thing.
So here I am in Mississippi where I just finished my Elon/Twitter/Thanksgiving cartoon and I’m $226 poorer for it.
Ya see, kids, you’re favorite goofball cartoonist is kinda stupid…or at least fails at paying attention to details on occasion. OK, a lot of occasions.
I booked this flight from Washington to Memphis months ago when Southwest threw a deal at me. Somehow, I managed to book my arrival and departure on the same day. I noticed this about a month ago and fixed which cost me a fee that wasn’t too bad. Then today, I arrived at the wrong airport. I thought I had booked it at Reagan but instead booked it at Dulles. But, Southwest had a flight leaving Reagan for Chicago at the exact same time as the one leaving Dulles for Chicago. So they were able to put me on that flight out of Reagan…for $226. I am not rich so I hated having to spend that, but I did it because nothing was going to keep me from being with my kid this week.
I know, I didn’t talk about this Elon/Twitter issue at all, but we did that yesterday. I need a nap.
Advice: Look closely at your ticket…or just don’t get old and have senior moments.
Creative note: As I mentioned, I wrote this Friday. Since then, I saw two other turkey twitter cartoons. One of them was drawn by my buddy Chris Britt who told me to draw mine anyway. Without seeing it first, he said it would be different because it’s me. Then we joked about tracing the Twitter logo because there are several cartoonists who do that…and we crack on them.
Music note: I listened to some Them Crooked Vultures.
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.
Donald Trump was removed and banned from Twitter for instigating a white nationalist terrorist attack designed to overturn a free and fair election and install him as an unelected dictator. Twitter removing him was the right move because he’s a national security threat and used the platform to attack our nation. People died because of Trump’s use of Twitter to start a riot. He told his supporters to come to Washington to stop the certification of an election, telling them it was “going to be wild.” Now, Elon Musk, the troll who bought Twitter, has reinstated Donald Trump.
Elon conducted a poll on Twitter asking if Trump should be reinstated. The poll itself was trolling. “Yes” won with 51.8 percent. Elon used this to justify lifting the ban on Trump. A little over 15 million Twitter users responded to the poll while there are over 450 million active Twitter accounts. There’s no telling how many of the 15 million were bots, and there were certainly a lot of users who didn’t want to feed Elon’s ego by participating in his stupid little poll. Elon claimed 134 million users saw the poll which is admitting the majority didn’t want to play with him. This is another fake win for Trump.
Trump claims he won’t return to Twitter, but we know he’s a liar. If Donald Trump actually stands by his commitment not to return to Twitter, it’ll only be because doing so will destroy the failing platform he created, Truth Social.
Elon claims reinstating Trump is free speech, but instigating a terrorist attack isn’t free speech. I think Elon knows this but he just doesn’t care about the damage he inflicts on this nation. He made it clear he wanted Republicans to win the midterms so he’s obviously reinstating Trump to help Trump retake the White House. Now, Elon has made Twitter a safe haven for terrorists.
With all the decisions Elon has made since he took the platform over, it almost seems like he wants to destroy Twitter. And it almost seems like he wants to destroy this nation.
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.
Twitter’s new owner, I mean founder (sorry, Elon), tweeted last night, “Widespread verification will democratize journalism & empower the voice of the people.”
It’s really amazing this guy was successful at ever selling anything with that sort of bullshit sales pitch. Elon is selling verifications on Twitter, the blue check. That means you’re verified and a real boy or some shit like that. Famous people, corporations, news outlets, and journalists have them (not all journalists, you bastards). Previously, you were awarded a blue check when Twitter deemed you worthy. Now, you will receive a blue check after you pay Twitter/Elon $8.00 and you will keep it by paying him $8.00 every month. That’s democracy? No, it’s a money-making scheme.
I’m not opposed to capitalism on paper, but don’t sell me some bullshit and tell me it’s a club sandwich (I had a club sandwich in Washington with red onions on it and I never even considered that before. It was delicious!). What Elon is selling here is something that used to be earned, not paid for.
I’ve seen political cartoonists boast about being a Pulitzer Prize nominee. Wow. A real Pulitzer Prize nominee. That’s impressive and looks good on bios and resumes. Did I already say “wow?” Being a Pulitzer Prize nominee must mean you’re a really good political cartoonist, you badass, you. But the thing is, anybody with $75 (it used to be $50) can be a Pulitzer Prize “nominee.” You can even nominate yourself. So, when you see a political cartoonist brag about being a nominee, don’t be impressed. It’s an amateur move like pathetically tagging ten celebrities with every cartoon you draw in a desperate effort to get one of them to retweet it despite the fact they don’t have anything to do with the subject in the cartoon. If you see someone brag about being a Pulitzer Prize FINALIST, then yeah. Be impressed. You can also be impressed if they’re Herblock Prize finalists.
But my point is, how “authentic” are you if you paid for it? I shouldn’t have to pay to be recognized as authentic. If I pay the $8.00 a month, that means I’m as authentic as Anderson Cooper in Elon’s eyes. I would rather earn it. Elon shouldn’t be charging for the blue checks. Twitter should stick to granting it to accounts that should have it. It serves the account and the Twitter audience.
A blue check would serve my readers because then they’d know the cartoons I tweet out are the official versions, and not from a goosestepping jackass tweeting out my cartoon after he manipulated the caption to support his bullshit propaganda. Yes, that happens. It happened to me recently on Reddit and despite my complaint, Reddit said it was “free speech” and in the “public domain” for that lying sack of shit motherfucker to impersonate me. But I’m not bitter.
But Elon doesn’t like being impersonated. He banned comedian Kathy Griffin for impersonating him claiming she violated a rule by not making it clear her account was a parody. Yeah, right. After buying Twitter, Elon tweeted “comedy is now legal on Twitter,” then he banned Sarah Silverman for changing her account name and bio pic to his and tweeted, “I am a freedom of speech absolutist and I eat doody for breakfast every day.”
Elon said accounts that impersonate will be permanently suspended without warning, which brings us back to Twitter Blue, which is supposed to be for public figures. Now for $8.00, it will be much easier to impersonate a public figure. If I change my name to Elon Musk, use his photo, and have a blue check that I paid $8.00 for, then why shouldn’t anyone believe I’m Elon Musk, other than the fact I don’t eat doody for breakfast every day?
Elon doesn’t care about democratizing journalism or the “voice of the people” any more than he cares about facts and free speech.
Elon tweeted yesterday, “Twitter needs to become by far the most accurate source of information about the world. That’s our mission.” I find that disingenuous from the guy who tweeted a conspiracy theory about Nancy Pelosi’s husband and her attacker.
You’re full of shit, Elon, but maybe that’s because you eat doody every day.
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.
Dan Snyder, the owner of the Washington Commanders, has sent out a vague signal that he may sell his NFL franchise. The announcement stated that Snyder has hired an investment bank to “consider potential transactions.” Washington fans do not like the owner of their team, but before they get too giddy over the announcement, they need to comprehend two of the words: “Potential” and “transaction.”
“Potential” isn’t definite. It means he might, maybe, possibly make a transaction. And “transaction” doesn’t mean he’ll sell the entire team. Maybe he wants to sell some of it and retain majority ownership. When he first bought the team 23 years ago, Snyder had partners who he’s since bought out. So, don’t be too excited. But, you can be optimistic.
You can be optimistic because there is open discussion among NFL owners of shit-canning Dan Snyder, voting him out. It’s tough to force an NFL owner to sell his team. It’s tough to get NFL owners to force another owner out. There have been some seriously shitty and embarrassing NFL owners in the past who were not chased out by the league. There have been owners who have been major headaches for the league that were never forced out. But right now, owners are openly discussing, and not just anonymously, about forcing Snyder out. Even the commissioner has spoken about it publicly. They want him out but they would prefer not to vote on it. It could be like Nixon, leaving after being told he’ll be impeached if he doesn’t.
Jim Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts, said “there’s merit to remove” Snyder for creating a toxic workdplace culture with a history of misogyny and sexism toward women. There have been accusations of sexual harrassment in the Commander’s management, including accusations againts Snyder.
If Snyder is looking for partners as he seeks financing a new stadium, it’s a tough sell to ask someone to spend millions, if not a billion or two dollars for a stake in a franchise where they don’t have any say. It’s kinda like those fake stocks the Packers sell to their fans every decade or so, making them “partners” and owning a piece of the team…though it’s not like they can vote on anything. What they get is a certificate saying they own a piece of the Packers. Maybe Snyder should do that and market it toward MAGAts since they’re stupid.
But maybe Snyder is feeling the pressure to sell. He’s running out of friends in the NFL who are not on his payroll, there’s an independent investigation ongoing financed by the league. There’s even a congressional investigation. And maybe he wants to leave on his own terms, before he’s forced out.
At 57, Snyder is young by NFL standards and would make a huge windfall if he sells out entirely. He bought the team for $800 million and today’s it’s valued at $5.6 billion, despite the 23 years of futility under Snyder. It’s one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world, not just in the NFL. This isn’t the Jacksonville Jaguars, kids.
But who would buy it? Probably not Elon since he just spent $45 billion, with a lot of it being his own money, on buying Twitter. I just used some creative license here to have some fun, though he probably reinstate the racist name Snyder swore he’d never abandon before he abandoned it. If a new owner changes the name again, can we go back to “Washington Football Team?” It’s so much better than “Commanders.” Elon would also want to sell badges to fans saying they’re “verified.”
Jeff Bozos’ name has been floated as a possible buyer since he has a home in Washington which probably doesn’t mean anything as he owns at least 13 others throughout the word. But he also owns the Washington Post and media companies have owned sports franchises before. The first two that come to my mind are the Chicago Tribune owning the Cubs and Ted Turner owning the Atlanta Braves. But Amazon now has rights to the NFL’s Thursday night games which is why you can only watch those on Prime. There would be a conflict with an owner owning rights to league games. Right? I think there would. I’m not a smart investor, but I wouldn’t sell Amazon to own the Washington Commanders.
A few other names have been mentioned as potential owners, including that of Jay-Z. He’s a billionaire and at least rich enough to be in an ownership group. Though it’s been said he’d rather purchase something in the NYC area. He’s in an empire state of mind.
It would be hard to replace Snyder with someone worse. So the best outcome would be any that doesn’t include Snyder.
Music note: I listened to more of The Beatles.
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.
If you tweet, then you know about the verification thing. In case you don’t know, it’s a blue check mark that means you’re authentic, important, and probably smell really nice. It’s given to individuals, corporations, charities, etc, etc. I don’t have one, but I did instruct a cartoonist, who doesn’t have any national awards, on how to submit an application for it…and they gave him one, but apparently, awards from the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization and the Society from Professional Journalists while working for CNN isn’t prominent enough. Maybe I should do what the other cartoonist does and steal my ideas, trace photos instead of drawing caricatures, and steal other people’s artwork that I sign my name on. But I’m not bitter.
Anyway, a lot of people want these badges. I do. Now, Elon Musk, the new scary-face owner of Twitter is floating the idea of charging for the blue check mark. I’ve seen different reports from $4 to $8 to $10 a month to have the blue badge. Yeah, fuck that. I mean, does paying for it make you prominent? What if there’s a goon out there who doctors my cartoons and impersonates me? Can he be “verified” as me if he pays for it?
Trevor Noah has a thought on the blue badge thingy. He reasoned that charging people for blue check marks goes against Musk’s mission of bringing free speech and equality to Twitter. Noah said, “Why are you charging people? It doesn’t make sense to offer it as ‘equality’ and then put a price on it.”
Noah pointed out that it’s more about making money than providing “freedom,” and came up with a great idea for Ghost Face Twitterer. “If you ask me, if Elon Musk wants to make money from Twitter, what he should do (is), don’t charge people for blue checkmarks. Charge white people to say the N-word. Twitter will be the most profitable company in history. Racists will be taking out loans.”
This would probably work because according to a report, the use of the N-word spiked 500 percent in the 12 hours after Elon took over Twitter.
Musk tweeted that there will be “no major content decisions or account reinstatements” until the convening of a new “moderation council.” He promised the council would have “widely diverse viewpoints” but offered no other information about who would be on it, how its members would be selected, what authority it would have, or whether its views would be binding on the company.
So far since Elon took over, the racists are running amuck, amuck, amuck, amuck, as Sarah Sanderson would say. I also get the idea that this “moderation council” with “diverse viewpoints” will be made from Elon sycophants. It’ll be like when Putin holds elections in Ukraine territories he invaded, or like when Donald Trump appoints a “qualified” judge.
Musk sent a letter to advertisers promising that Twitter will be “warm and welcoming to all.” I’m not sure how welcoming it is if you’re being called the N-word, but he’s definitely made it warm and welcoming to Nazis and Qanon goobs who spread conspiracy theories. Hell, Elon himself even tweeted one of the many conspiracy theories about Nancy Pelosi’s husband.
Republicans, liars, racists, and lunatics (I know. Redundant) celebrated Elon’s takeover and claimed it was a win for freedom. But let me explain something to the fucknuts who have trouble understanding stuff: The Constitution guarantees you a right to free speech. You have the freedom to shout and say the N-word. You have the freedom to be a Republican United States senator and say ancestors to slaves are criminals. You have the freedom to be a Los Angeles council member and describe son of one of your colleagues as a “Parece changuito” or “like a monkey.” You have the freedom be a former “president” and call Mitch McConnell’s wife of Asian descent, “Coco Chow.” You have the freedom to hang antisemitic signs on overpasses in Jacksonville. But the Constitution does NOT guarantee you a right to tweet.
Update: This cartoon has me suspended on Facebook for the next six days. Oddly enough, it’s still on my page. FB suspended me for posting it on one of the fan pages I help manage.
Creative note: I’m still in Washington and this cartoon was drawn in the same coffee shop where I drew yesterday’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.
Whenever I do a cartoon on Twitter, fuckers on Facebook comment telling me how they “don’t do Twitter,” and vice-versa when I do something on Facebook. Nitwits on Twitter reply and comment that they’re too good for Facebook and express hatred for Zuckerberg.
Stop it. I didn’t ask if you’re on Twitter or Facebook. And if you’re on one, then you’re not too good for the other. And, nobody asked. Get over yourself. Each platform is different. If one doesn’t appeal to you, that’s fine, but don’t act like you’re too good for it. The only platform we’re all too good for is Truth Social, and I’m even on that…for now.
Elon Musk and his cabbage-looking head has bought Twitter. I hate this. Before the sale was even confirmed, he started lopping off heads himself. Elon fired Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, and Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s head of legal policy. And now he’s on the hook to pay them over $204 million because they all had golden parachute packages. Wow, what a genius. But I’m sure Elon is going to try to convince us he invented Twitter.
Elon is such a genius that without any experience operating a social media platform, he fires everyone who does. Do you know what it’s like to operate a social media platform without any experience and when you’re a rancid dumbass? Check out Truth Social.
Conservatives, who confuse rallying terrorists and conspiracy theories with free speech, celebrated. Ben Shapiro tweeted a gif of popping champagne. Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted something about “freedom” and “winning.” Many are expecting Elon to lift the bans on Milo Yiannopoulos, Alex Jones, and Donald Trump. For his part, Trump truthed advice to Elon on how to run a social media platform and claimed Truth Social is a “phenomena,” whatever the hell that is. Trump also said Elon needs to get rid of all the fake accounts, which is funny because a huge percentage of Trump’s followers when he was on Twitter, were Russian bots.
A lot of Twitter users are claiming they will leave after Elon takes over. Well, he’s taken over. It’s here. I never promised to leave and I’m not…unless he bans me for the cabbage head comment. If I was going to leave something in trouble and going in a direction I hate, I would have moved to France in 2016. Besides, it took me over a decade to build a following of 14,300 people. I’m not throwing that away. I’m a fighter. I will fight for Twitter.
Why will I fight for Twitter? Because until at least now, it’s been the very best social media platform. Yes, this is true. They’ve been the most responsible for eradicating hate, conspiracy theories, and threats. Sure, they’re not perfect but I can tell you from personal experience, they’re much better at understanding what is and isn’t satire and what’s a violation of their terms of service. Twitter has never removed a cartoon of mine. I’ve had multiple cartoons removed by Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok. I really hope Elon doesn’t totally destroy what has been a pretty good thing up to this point.
It’s just unfortunate that now, the owner of Twitter is a guy who believes instigating white nationalist terrorists is free speech.
Creative Note: Since today is one of my CNN days (Thursdays and Fridays. Leave me alone on those days), I wanted to make this cartoon quick since I have a lot of work ahead of me. But once again, things got out of control and Easter egg after Easter egg kept landing in the cartoon. Also, it took a lot of time to draw all those jumpers.
Music note: I listened to Heart 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 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.
claytoonz 