Fake News

No-News News

We have talked about this a lot here but it’s worth repeating. Fox News is NOT news.

Every news outlet gets it wrong from time to time, but they’re not lying. When someone claims an outlet such as CNN or The New York Times lies, they’re never specific. It’s an “I know you are but what am I?”. When CNN and The Times gets something wrong, they issue corrections.

But Fox News doesn’t just get shit wrong and push right-wing talking points. They don’t just overhype fake scandals. They don’t just manufacture outrage to raise their viewers’ blood pressure with their ratings. They don’t just push racism and provide a platform for goons like Kash Patel and Rudy Giuliani to mouth crap all over their airwaves. They don’t just market their platform to sell advertising for shitty pillows. Fox News knowingly lies to its viewers.

And now, further proof they’re not a legitimate news outlet comes with the news that the head of Fox News, Rupert Murdoch himself, gave Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, a preview of ads from the Joe Biden campaign before they were public. If an employee from a legitimate network had given a preview of campaign ads to a rival candidate, that person would be fired.

The Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit has revealed text messages and emails from Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham, as well as between executives, including Murdoch that reveal they all knew Trump’s claims of the 2020 election being stolen were not just false, but totally absurd lies being spread by lunatics. They knew the claims were false but continued to give the lies a platform. I discussed this last week.

Naturally, Fox News has not reported this. Why not? Because they’re not a real news outlet. This also comes at the same time that Speaker Kevin McCarthy has given thousands of hours of footage from the Jan. 6 white nationalist MAGA attack on the Capitol to Tucker Carlson. Did McCarthy not hear that Tucker knowingly lies? Maybe McCarthy doesn’t know this because he only watches Fox News.

A few years ago, Tucker kept spreading conspiracy theories about the murder of Democratic Party campaign worker Seth Rich. When the network was threatened with lawsuits, they told Tucker to stop. Tucker stopped but he never issued a correction or apology. Tucker is NOT a journalist. Fox News did issue a retraction but never apologized. They reached a seven-figure settlement with the Rich family. Tucker just kept on being lying Tucker and went on to help get Fox News into another lawsuit, this time one for $1.6 billion.

Take all this into account with Republican arguments and efforts to make it easier to sue media outlets for lying. Donald Trump once tweeted that news outlets shouldn’t be allowed to publish whatever they want. Usually, the main issue they have with the press isn’t that the press lies, but that the press tells the truth.

Now, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wants to kill laws that protect free speech and the freedom of the press. He said, “The idea that they would create narratives that are contrary to discovering facts, I don’t know that was the standard. Now it seems you pursue the narrative, you’re trying to advance the narrative and trying to get the clicks, and the fact-checking and contrary facts have just fallen by the wayside.” Ron DeSantis described Fox News in that statement, which is the only network he allows to interview him. This is where Tucker works, who called for the firing of one of that network’s fact-checkers.

But it’s the right who are always lying. Let’s use a right-wing MAGA cartoonist as an example of lies and hypocrisies.

Look at these two cartoons from Eric Allie. Today, Eric claims the press lied about the lab-leak theory, Jim Crow 2.0, Hunter’s laptop, Russian collusion, Don’t say gay, the Steele Dossier, and natural immunity. Except the media didn’t lie about any of those. But in a cartoon from last December, Eric claims the Democrats and the media “colluded” with big tech to suppress the free press. This is not true. It’s a lie.

The right claims they’re against lies when they’re liars. What they complain about are not lies. There was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Voter suppression is a real thing and it’s being enacted by Republicans who are changing voting laws based on lies there was massive voter fraud in the 2020 election. “Don’t say gay” is a nickname, but it’s pretty much what the Florida bill is about. The Steele Dossier was never presented as fact, very little of it has been debunked, and the press never presented it as fact since it was produced by political campaigns. I don’t recall the press lying about natural immunity. The lab leak theory has low confidence. And there’s nothing incriminating about anyone or anything on Hunter Biden’s laptop.

Republicans have difficulty with comprehension and they should not be the ones deciding what’s true and what are lies. But to make it easy for you, if a Republican says it, it’s a lie.

The last wall between democracy and fascism is a free press which is why fascist goons like Ron DeSantis and all other Republicans are trying to destroy it. And in trying to destroy the free press, they’re trying to destroy the Constitution, which Donald Trump has already called for terminating.

The next time someone in the media is interviewing a Republican about suing media outlets for making stuff up, they should ask if those lawsuits should apply to Fox News. The only problem with this is, Republicans only allow themselves to be interviewed by Fox News.

Update on my current Facebook suspension: As you’re probably aware, I earned ANOTHER 30-day suspension on Facebook yesterday. It was for the cartoon of Dilbert in a KKK hood. My friend Lalo Alcaraz did something similar in support of me and called his “Klanbert.” I love that. Anyways, I got banned for hitting racists again, Facebook upheld the ban and denied my appeal, and then around 1 a.m., my page came back up.

My page was disabled and I couldn’t even log into Facebook. Each time I went to it, I just got a message that I was suspended. I couldn’t even use Messenger which was new because I was able to use it during my two previous 30-day bans. So when I went to Facebook and it came up, I thought it was another case of its inconsistency until a window popped up telling me I was back. They didn’t admit they got it wrong, just that they were “concerned.”

Anyway, subscribe here so you don’t have to wonder for 30 days where I am next time I get another suspension. OK? Subscribing is free. It’s on the right of the page. Look. See it? That’s it. Now click it. It won’t hurt. Thank you.

Music note: I listened to Edwyn Collins and Drivin’ and Cryin’.

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

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

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

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Fake News Genius

A lot of Russian propaganda outlets are being shut down in the west by western governments and private corporations. Russia state-owned outlets that have been operating freely in Europe and the United States, RT and Sputnik, have taken a huge hit and are being blocked.

While the west is blocking Russia’s fake news outlets, much of it as part of sanctions, Russia has created a new “fake news” law while also blocking western news in Russia.

Russia is already cracking down on protests against its illegal invasion of Ukraine and Putin’s war crimes and is now blocking independent news outlets that would inform its citizenry of events in the war the state doesn’t want them to know.

Last Thursday, the Duma (Russia’s legislative body) made it a crime to publish “fake news” or misinformation about Russia’s war in Ukraine. It will be Russian government authorities who determine what’s fake. Vladimir Putin signed it into law on Friday. Immediately, Russian and international news organizations either withdrew their reporters from the country, changed how they did their work or shut down completely.

Bloomberg announced it was suspending its work in the country. Editor-in-chief John Micklethwait said the law “seems designed to turn any independent reporter into a criminal purely by association” and “makes it impossible to continue any semblance of normal journalism inside the country.”

The public service broadcasters of Canada, Germany, and Italy each suspended their operations inside Russia.

The BBC announced it was suspending its work in Russia but that “BBC News in Russian will still be produced from outside the country.” The director-general of the BBC said, “The safety of our staff is paramount and we are not prepared to expose them to the risk of criminal prosecution simply for doing their jobs.”

Radio Free Europe is also suspending its operations inside Russia while also initiating bankruptcy proceedings against its Russian unit because of millions of dollars in unpaid “fines” against the broadcaster for refusing to obey a Russian law that would “cripple its editorial content.”

ABC News and CBS News are both ceasing their broadcast from inside Russia. The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times both declined to say how they will proceed in the fascist state. The Washington Post, however, plans to keep reporting from inside Russia and is taking the unusual step of removing bylines and datelines from its stories in order to protect its journalists.

Independent Russian outlets are faring worse.  Novaya Gazeta, an independent Russian newspaper that survived the murder of six of its journalists, and whose editor recently won a Nobel Peace Prize, said it will no longer report on Russia’s military actions but will continue to report on sanctions and persecutions of dissidents.

More than 150 Russian journalists have fled the nation in recent days. The Kremlin has blocked Facebook, Twitter, and a host of international news sites. This blog will probably be blocked in Russia as well. In fact, this site hasn’t received a click from Russia in over a month.

Here in the United States, In addition to Donald Trump villainizing journalists, the greatest threat to journalists are the corporations that employ journalists. The caretakers of a free press have become the morticians.

Conservatives have chosen to back Ukraine against Russia, but they’ve also been opponents of a free press here in the United States. While calling Putin a fascist, they ignore that getting rid of a free press is how you get fascism.

Even the term “fake news” is dangerous to a free press as we’re getting to the point that people can’t tell the difference between news and propaganda. News that you don’t like is not “fake news.” There are no alternative facts. There are just facts. There is no “fake news” as any news that’s fake is NOT news. People are getting their “information” from memes and don’t think twice or research a claim before resharing. People share memes, not because they’re true, but because they want the meme’s claims to be true.

And then you have News Max, One American News Network, Fox News, and all the Tuckers, Hannitys, Gutfelds, Ingrahams, and shit there are too many to list.

Newspapers are now a dying industry being gobbled up by corporations that gut the papers in their chains, liquidate all its assets, lay off most of its staff, sell the paper again where the new owner repeats the actions of the last owner. All Gatehouse/Gannett newspapers run the exact same editorial page along with other content. It’s now common for a daily newspaper’s A section to only contain six pages. Lee Enterprises, Gatehouse/Gannett, McClatchy (in bankruptcy proceedings where I’m listed as someone they owe money to but who will never receive it), and Berkshire Hathaway all care more about the stock market than they care about journalism. They don’t care about local journalism or serving a community. And they don’t care about the people who gather the news. Since I was laid off from The Free Lance-Star in 2012, the paper has had four owners. FOUR!

In Russia, the government is the greatest danger to a free press. Here, we destroy it on our own.

I can go on and on about how I’ve been affected personally and in business, but I’m gonna save that for another day. But I’ll just say, it’s extremely frustrating when editors and news outlets just decide they’re not going to pay you anymore.

I feel like I got thrown off a building when COVID started and I’m still falling.

Music Note: I was in a very garage rock mood while coloring today and I listened to the Hives and the Vines.

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

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

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

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One America Haters

Cjones10112021

According to a report by Reuters, which is an actual news source, AT&T helped create the far-right NON-news source One America News (OAN). Reuters’ report has been confirmed by CNN another legitimate news source. Why is this significant? Because AT&T owns CNN.

Full disclosure time: I work for CNN. I am a freelancer who provides one cartoon each week for the CNN Opinion newsletter. But I’m still a small fish in the grand scheme of things and I’m probably more on AT&T’s radar as a customer than I am as a freelance employee. Ya’ see, my wireless service is through AT&T. My iPhone was purchased at AT&T. My iPad was also purchased at AT&T. I am making payments to AT&T each month for my wireless service, iPhone, and iPad. Fun fact: This cartoon poking fun at AT&T was drawn on an iPad purchased from AT&T. Also, this cartoon making fun of Facebook has already been posted on Facebook. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Anyway…CNN has covered this story as they should. They cover criticism of competing networks and other news outlets all the time. As fair and responsible journalists, they are required to cover it. Check out this clip of Don Lemon and Oliver Darcy. Lemon and Darcy are not the only CNN people to tackle this subject. Don Lemon said what airs from OAN is as “corrosive as anything that comes from Facebook.”

One America News is NOT a news source. It’s a conspiracy network, but AT&T, which owns Time Warner, probably views it as just another revenue stream to put on TV like Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodean (I don’t know who owns those but they’re on AT&T platforms). Now, with OAN, we have the Yee-Haw Network.

Robert Herring, who is the founder and chief executive of OAN, has testified that the inspiration to launch his network in 2013 came from AT&T executives.

AT&T-owns television platforms, including satellite broadcaster DirecTV. AT&T is the largest communications company on the planet. They’re bigger than Oprah. According to Herring in a 2019 deposition, “They (AT&T) told us they wanted a conservative network. They only had one, which was Fox News, and they had seven others on the other (liberals) side. When they said that, I jumped to it and built one.” Now, according to a 2020 sworn testimony by an OAN accountant, AT&T accounts for 90 percent of OAN’s revenue.

Herring has testified he was offered $250 million for OAN in 2019. Without the DirecTV deal, the accountant said under oath, the network’s value “would be zero.”

Take one moment to let this sink in: If it wasn’t for the owners of CNN, how much would Fox News be worth? Fox News is on those same platforms.

AT&T may be looking to break CNN off from Time Warner and sell it to pay off debts, which makes you wonder if AT&T views CNN, one of the nation’s best news outlets, the same way they view OAN, one of America’s most notorious bullshit outlets. Corporations may only see dollar signs.

While AT&T can claim responsibility for facts and journalism being provided to the world from the USA’s best news network, they’re also responsible for helping push lies and conspiracy theories about the Big Lie Trump won the election and spreading conspiracy theories about the coronavirus.

AT&T defended itself saying it’s not a revenue stream for OAN and they initially refused to carry the network on DirecTV, but did cave after OAN sued them. AT&T says they don’t control any programming and any decisions to continue carrying OAN will be up to DirecTV, which has been spun off into its own separate company….with 70 percent still owned by AT&T (somebody does research. Cough. Cough).

NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement issued on Wednesday, “We are outraged to learn that AT&T has been funneling tens of millions of dollars into OAN since the network’s inception. As a result, AT&T has caused irreparable damage to our democracy. The press should inform the American public with facts, not far-right propaganda and conspiracy theories.”

AT&T may not be the press, but they are caretakers of journalism and a media giant. There should be corporate responsibility. Hell, I get mad at news outlets for publishing far-right conspiracy MAGAt cartoons, and the syndicates that distribute them. For syndicates like Cagle Cartoon and my former agency, Creators Syndicate, there’s no accepted responsibility for poisoning our nation with toxic bullshit. While all sides should be presented equally, there should be a line that stops at conspiracy theories. It’s bad enough news outlets have to quote Donald Trump.

I’m sure executives at AT&T aren’t writing copy for OAN, which is a network for people who find Tucker Carlson too woke. But, according to these reports, there wouldn’t be an OAN to poison our nation if it wasn’t for the efforts and enthusiasm of executives at AT&T.

And if AT&T gets mad at me for this, Hey, AT&T guys….I’m just an insignificant small fry. Nobody cares about me. Nobody reads this blog. Look at Don Lemon! Yeah, that guy was doing all sorts of smack-talking about you, and he was doing it in front of millions of viewers. Did you hear him say “corrosive”? You should go deal with him and ignore what’s going on over here. Tomorrow, I might go back to making jokes about Nickelback. I’m crazy. Nobody listens to me. Also, have I told you how much I love the iPad you sold me? It’s really wonderful and the iPhone, don’t get me started. I love the way my iPad rides on my iPhone’s hotspot when I leave my home…and did I mention I bought Airpods too? See? I’m not that bad. Right? Hello?

Another fun fact: It’s time for me to draw this week’s cartoon for CNN. Pray for me.

Creative note: I was going to put AT&T’s spokesperson, Lilly, in this cartoon. She’s to AT&T what Flo is to that insurance company and the gecko is to that other insurance company (see how well advertising works?). But, I didn’t know if Lilly was known well enough and I kinda have a crush on her. So, she escaped my wrath unscathed this time. Lilly, call me.

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 FIVE 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 9103, Fredericksburg, VA 22403.

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Trump V. Fauci

cjones07182020

Donald Trump and his White House full of goons and shitweasels are very fond of engaging in smear campaigns. Every politician engages in opposition research on their political opponents, but it’s different with Trump. For Trump, it’s about dehumanizing and bullying to destroy the credibility of their political opponents. Sometimes it works beyond his base. For example, during the 2016 presidential election, the majority of voters found Hillary Clinton less honest than Donald Trump. There is nobody on this planet less honest than Donald Trump.

Trump’s latest opposition talking points, attacks, and bullying is even stranger than usual as it’s not against a political opponent, but on someone who is on his team. Donald Trump is trying to tear down Dr. Anthony Fauci, a scientist who has worked for six presidents from both parties. A doctor who is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Honor. A man who is polled as being the most trusted individual in the nation.

Donald Trump’s problems with Dr. Fauci are facts and the fact he can’t fire him. He can fire Fauci but he’ll pay a hard price for it politically. But maybe, like he did with commuting the prison sentence of his personal henchman, Roger Stone, Trump will disregard wisdom and shitcan the scientist. The other problem, facts, is one Donald Trump has struggled with his entire life. Ask the Central Park 5, any of the New Jersey Muslims celebrating he saw on TV celebrating 9/11, or anyone who was on his Obama-Birth-Certificate-Fact-Finding mission.

Republican opposition to science didn’t start with Trump. They’ve used bullshit to deny the existence of Climate Change and never really understood how reproduction works. Rush Limbaugh thinks if a woman takes birth control pills daily, it means she’s having lots of sex because she’s a major slut. But with Trump, science is even harder. He thinks windmills cause cancer. He wonders if we can nuke hurricanes. He’s an anti-vaxxer. He thinks exercise depletes our life energy. The orange motherfucker took his shades off and stared directly at an eclipse.  But it’s the scientist who the White House is trying to discredit as someone who gets facts wrong when it comes to science.

Over the weekend, Donald Trump’s top advisers (goons) released a list to various media sources of statements he had made early in the coronavirus outbreak that they said was inaccurate. The interesting part of this is that the list was distributed anonymously. As in, nobody wanted their names on it. Funny thing, the administration has screamed in the past about anonymous sources coming from the White House. Of course, when spokesBarbie Kayleigh McEnany was asked about this, she failed to address it.

When the coronavirus first appeared, scientists, including Fauci, made statements that later turned out to be wrong. At first, it was believed we didn’t need masks or change our way of life. It was believed asymptomatic people didn’t spread the virus. But the thing is, as we learned otherwise on those aspects, people like Dr. Fauci changed their message, addressed where they were wrong, and implemented new strategies. Dr. Fauci has never told you wrong information in direct contrast to known facts. Guess who has done that. I’ll give you a hint. He’s an orange piece of lying garbage who would throw your grandmother into a trash compactor for an extra scoop of ice cream.

Dr. Fauci and other scientists changed their warnings and advice as new information was gathered. I’m sure information will continue to change as we still require knowledge about catching the virus twice and there are still debates over herd immunity. We don’t know everything yet. But Donald Trump has continued to lie and defy science over what is known.

It’s like when Republicans use the whatabout when they say, “But Obama promised if we liked our doctors, we could keep our doctors.” What they leave out is that after it was proven wrong, Obama stopped saying it. Donald Trump states a lie, it’s proven to be a lie, then Donald Trump doubles-down and continues to spread the lie.

Donald Trump lied about the direction of a hurricane after the fact, then ordered a government agency to repeat his lie.

While the White House is distributing a list of what Dr. Fauci got wrong, they’re not distributing one where Trump wasn’t just wrong, but when he lied about the virus.

There is not a list from the White House that included Trump stating, “Anyone who needs a test, gets a test.” They’re not reminding us that the virus would disappear in warm weather, or that testing creates cases, or that a vaccine is very near, or after 15 cases it would start going down, or the real gem of shooting UV light and household cleaning products into bodies. Where’s that list, White House goons?

This administration and president (sic) is so anti-science, that despite staring directly at evidence Republican states reopened too early, they’re still screaming for schools to reopen without offering any plans to do so safely. They’re even lying that children don’t spread the coronavirus. Their lies kill people.

This president (sic) is so anti-science, he’s not quoting Dr. Fauci. He’s quoting Chuck Woolery. This reality TV host of a president is getting his science from a game show host. This is the new normal. Everyone gets the coronavirus home version.

Donald Trump has ruined the lives of career professionals in the past for his petty ego and selfish personal agenda. Just ask James Comey, Andrew McCabe, or Alexander Vindman. Now, he’s trying to do it to Dr. Anthony Fauci, a man who was helping this nation fight the AIDS crisis while Donald Trump was grifting contractors, stealing from children’s charities, and making predictions on how large his daughter’s breasts would grow. Anyone who is helping Donald Trump to ruin these careers, like SpokesBarbie, should be shamed, ostracized, and never hired or even invited to a cocktail party for their rest of their lives.

Former acting Chief-of-Staff Mick Mulvaney wrote a column expressing outrage at our inability to test. What did Mulvaney expect after spending so much time in service of a lying piece of selfish stupid crap like Donald Trump? The only reason Mulvaney is speaking out now is because it’s affecting his family. But before this, Mulvaney helped enable this horror shitshow by working on Donald Trump’s agenda of hatred and stupidity. Surprise! It didn’t work out.

Who could have guessed that a moronic reality TV show host who doesn’t know anything and is too stupid to listen to people who do would make such a bad president?

If you’re a Trump supporter, go ahead and keep listening to Donald Trump, who in turn listens to fucknut shitweasels like Chuck Woolery. I’ll be listening to Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Tip Jar: This pandemic is hitting everyone, including your favorite goofy cartoonist. I have lost clients and I’m afraid I might lose more. The PayPal button has always been included here for those who can and want to voluntarily support what I do. I understand this time is hard on everyone. If you can’t, don’t contribute. Take care of yourself and your family first.

But, all and any help is greatly appreciated and it helps keep me going. Think of me like a street performer busking out tunes on a corner (I won’t play “Wonderwall.” I promise). If you like the tune, or in this case, toon, throw a buck into the tip jar. It’ll help me play another song, draw another toon, write another blog, make another video, and post another snarky post on social media. It’ll help keep me alive. You can also order a signed print for $40. And if you don’t like the PayPal option, you can snail mail it to my P.O. Box. 

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

New Book: Tales From the Trumpster Fire

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Liberal Hack Journalists

cjones01252020

Last week, temporary Arizona Senator Martha McSally screamed at CNN congressional correspondent Raju Manu, calling him a “liberal hack.”

Later, McSally went on Fox News to talk about her harrowing experience of being asked a dangerous question by a liberal hack reporter. The Fox News hosts she chose to talk to about hacks in the media were Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity. Nobody detected the irony and hypocrisy.

While screaming over it, Hannity said about CNN, “They’re not a news channel. They’re state-run, radical, leftist, socialist TV.” Again, no irony detected. A person has to be smart to catch that.

McSally said to Sean, “I actually thought they understood that they were liberal, that they were a part of kind of helping with the Democrat agenda.” Hello? Irony? Is this thing on?

Now, McSally, the unelected Senator, is campaigning on it. She has an ad on her site asking for at least five bucks. Even the Trump campaign is using it.

In decrying the way she was assaulted by Manu Raju, she said to Hannity, “I was a fighter pilot. This was a choice I made. I did not crumble under their pressure. I have flown A-10s in combat.”

It’s a good thing too that she has that experience in combat so she won’t crumble under the pressure of being asked….”should the Senate consider new evidence as part of the impeachment trial?” Oh my God! How is she still standing? The strength of this woman to continue to carry on despite the brutal beatdown of being asked a question about her job! What will they ask next? The time? How’s the weather? Do you bleach above your upper lip?

Hold your children close tonight and keep Republicans like Martha McSally in your thoughts and prayers because if I know the liberal hack media like I think I do, they’ll ask questions again. Oh, the humanity!!!

Support the cartoonist.

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

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

New Book: Tales From The Trumpster Fire

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Did You NAZI The News?

cjones10292019

Donald Trump demands complete and total loyalty. He believes any attacks on him are attacks on America because he’s America. He doesn’t want independent thought in the Republican Party, deeming those who criticize him as “Never Trumpers” and “human scum.” It’s as if not being a member of his cult takes away the critic’s credibility. The truth is, there are still people who respect the office and hate to see a racist, narcissistic, sexist, sophomoric, dumbass destroy it and all our cherished institutions.

In demanding loyalty, Donald Trump believes the press should only report favorably about him. Recently, he’s taken issue with Fox News. After the network reported a fact, Trump tweeted, “There’s something going on at Fox News.” He totally lost his shit when Fox published a poll showing a majority of American voters think he should be impeached. Trump lashed out in another tweet, saying, “Whoever their pollster is, they suck.” He complained that Fox is much different than it used to be in the “good old days.” I’m assuming the “good old days” when it was run by sexual harassers and assaulters. At least he still has Hannity, Tucker, Jeanine, and the morning gaggle of buttpoodles, Fox & Friends.

Trump really hates legitimate news outlets. He banned CNN’s Jim Acosta from the White House until a court ruled he can’t ban reporters. He’s labeled that network as “fake news,” along with several others. He’s screamed at and bullied reporters, especially if they’re black and female. He refers to The Washington Post as the “Amazon Washington Post,” and has sought to punish Amazon by having federal agencies not grant government contracts to the company. He calls his hometown paper The “failing” New York Times. He’s accused journalists and publications of “treason,” and he’s talked about taking away the First Amendment which protects a free press.

Now, Trump has ordered the White House to cancel its subscriptions to the Times and the Post because of their factual reporting. He ordered other government agencies to follow suit and terminate their subscriptions as well.

Jonathan Karl, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association said, “Pretending to ignore the work of a free press won’t make the news go away or stop reporters from informing the public and holding those in power accountable.”

John Kennedy got fed up with the coverage by The New York Herald Tribune and ordered that it not be delivered to the White House. A Republican congressman said, “It might be well to remind President Kennedy that on Jan. 20, 1961, he was inaugurated as president, not coronated as king.” It was revealed years later that while the subscription was canceled, Kennedy had “bootleg” copies brought to the White House until he eventually restored the subscription.

Retired four-star general Barry McCaffrey compared Trump to Mussolini and said, “The White House Trump statement telling the entire Federal Government to terminate subscriptions to the NYT and Wash Post is a watershed moment in national history. No room for HUMOROUS media coverage. This is deadly serious. This is Mussolini.”

I’m fine with Trump not reading real news. In case you’re a Republican, there is no such thing as “fake news.” If it’s fake, then it’s not news. Donald Trump, upon insisting on only reading lies and conspiracy theories, is a fake president.

But it’s in his best interest to read the Times and the Post, as they’re the two best newspapers in the country. If he doesn’t read them, how will he know how the impeachment process is really going? How will he know when he’s been impeached?

Trump’s move is further proof that we need a strong, independent, free press exposing the truth now more than ever. It was a newspaper, The Washington Post, that took down President Richard Nixon.

The Washington Post’s motto is, “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” But one can argue, it’s been dark at the White House for a while now. It takes a stupid president to choose to remain ignorant.

Support the cartoonist.

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

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

Watch me draw.

Shep Ditches Shemps

cjones10162019

It doesn’t take a lot to receive Twitter attacks from the current president (sic) of the United States if you’re a journalist on a national news network, but it’s significant if that news personality is on Fox News, a.k.a., Trump TV.

This may come as a shock to you but there are journalists at Fox News. Of course, they’re outnumbered by those who slant the news for a conservative audience and outright conspiracy theorists, but they’re there. Shep Smith is one of them.

Smith has made it a practice, not just to report actual facts on his 3:00 PM show, but to debunk the lies of Donald Trump, a.k.a., Liar-in-Chief. Smith wasn’t just debunking Trump. He was counteracting misleading information and lies from the show’s morning and evening pro-Trump talk shows, a.k.a., fucknuts.

Trump often attacked Smith and once tweeted the greatest insult of all, at least from his perspective. He tweeted, “Watching Fake News CNN is better than watching Shepard Smith, the lowest rated show on @FoxNews.” Oh my.

But Smith wasn’t just attacked by Trump for reporting facts and debunking lies. His colleagues at Fox News such as Sean Hannity (who boasts about not being a journalist despite being on a so-called news network), Tucker Carlson, and Jeanine Pirro, a.k.a., Trump’s butt poodles, would often go after him on the air. Earlier this month, Smith publicly clashed with Tucker when he failed to defend their colleague, Andrew Napolitano, after a guest called him a “fool.”

It’s not that Shep Smith was a liberal in a conservative wasteland. It’s that he was a journalist at an outlet, one he joined in 1996, that catered to an audience demanding propaganda over news. Fox News doesn’t lead the viewers as much as its viewers lead it. Yes, Fox is the number one news channel if you consider it news. And, it’s tough to retain credibility when in the evening, your colleagues are speaking at Trump rallies or personally helping Donald Trump with debate prep.

So it came as a surprise, even to his colleagues, when Smith abruptly announced his resignation on the air at the end of his show (and leaving a $15 million a year salary). Neil Cavuto said he was “stunned” and Brett Baier was “shocked.”

Former Fox correspondent, who now works for CNN, Conor Powell, said, “Fox News isn’t just losing Shepard. He surrounded himself by a team of really good producers and reporters who forced correspondents to do more than talking point reporting.” Powell said his fear is Smith leaving means the “Hannity and Tucker narrative will face no internal resistance.”

I understand to an extent where Smith is coming from. I once freelanced for a news outlet that allowed a columnist to repeat Trump’s lies and conspiracy theories. If Trump said it, the columnist took it as fact, such as “caravan invasions,” “millions of illegal voters,” and “crisis actors.” When he wasn’t engaging in lies and conspiracy theories, he was sloppy and honestly, stupid, such as the time he referred to a gospel choir in the United Kingdom as “African-American.” My problem wasn’t in disagreeing with his “work,” but that the outlet allowed it or worse yet, believed it. Even opinions need to be based on facts. Opinion news is still journalism. While his work didn’t influence mine, the outlet’s lack of interest in journalism ethics and standards was an embarrassment to be associated with. The editor once asked me to steal an idea from a meme. A MEME! I quit.

Announcing his resignation, Smith said, “Even in our currently polarized nation, it’s my hope that the facts will win the day. That the truth will always matter, that journalism and journalists will thrive.”

I expect journalism to thrive, but not at Fox News, a.k.a., Faux News.

Support the cartoonist.

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

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

Watch me draw.

Goofy Science

cjones09162019

Fake news is not news and fake science is not science. And now, a future administration will have to repair the credibility of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration along with other scientific agencies within the government.

Science used to be non-partisan. But over the last few years, Republicans have made climate change a political issue. Somewhere along the way, facts became liberal. But even previous Republican administrations, while often quarreling with government scientists, did not blatantly try to change scientific fact, like the location of a hurricane.

Donald Trump doesn’t care about facts and he doesn’t put any priority into science. He’s a man who believes climate change is a hoax created by China. He once lied about the rain and claimed it stopped raining when he started a speech when it didn’t. He claimed the noise from windmills cause cancer.

The NOAA hasn’t had a confirmed leader since the Obama administration. On Friday, the NOAA, which oversees the National Weather Service, took the very unusual steps of issuing a statement criticizing one of their own meteorologists for contradicting Donald Trump and issuing an accurate weather report.

The NOAA isn’t backing up Trump to advance hard science, but only to coddle his ego and narcissism. Last week, Donald Trump doctored a weather map with a Sharpie after being criticized for warning Alabama about being impacted by Hurricane Dorian when that state wasn’t in its path. Trump has spent over a week defending a wrong tweet. Most people would say “oops” and move on with their lives. Trump, being a narcissist, can’t admit a little mistake. But now, this little mistake is destroying the credibility of the government’s science agencies.

First, the agency warned its scientists not issue any statements correcting or contradicting Donald Trump. After their bureau in Alabama did just that and Trump lost his shit, the NOAA backed up Trump with an official statement despite provable facts.

This isn’t the first time the Trump administration has ordered its agencies and government employees to contradict facts.

Shortly after lying about having the largest crowd size of any inauguration in U.S. history, Trump ordered the National Park Service to hunt for photographs that would support his claim. They didn’t find any.

Donald Trump created a commission to prove his claim about voter fraud. After the commission failed and disbanded, a member claimed its creation was rooted in Trump’s rage at losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton.

When Trump claimed Middle Easterners were part of the migrant caravans headed to the border, he tried to get government agencies to support his lie. They failed.

Trump ordered agencies to create an impression that there would be a middle-class tax cut before the midterm elections (even though Congress wasn’t in session), which he had lied about. The tax cuts never happened.

The White House press office issued a doctored video to make CNN reporter Jim Acosta appear physically abusive to a White House aide.

After Trump created a bogus story about migrant women being blindfolded and gagged by drug traffickers, a top border official went on an internal hunt for information to make the story true. He failed.

The Department of Homeland Security released a slick presentation to support Trump’s lie that 4,000 known terrorists were prevented from crossing the border with Mexico.

Donald Trump is inflicting damage to this nation that will take years to repair. Our allies can’t trust us. A new report came out this morning that the CIA snuck a spy out of Moscow out of fear Trump would disclose him to Vladimir Putin. The Justice Department has become a lackey for Trump’s crimes. The entire Republican Party in Congress has become a cult. The State Department has to explain why we can trust promises from Kim Jong Un and the Taliban. The Defense Department has to publicly support losing funding to Trump’s racist, useless border wall. The military has to justify spending money at Trump’s resorts. The White House sends out lackeys to tell us the free press is an enemy to the United States. Now, the government’s science agencies have to sell us debunked science.

The only good thing is that we still have eyes, ears, and logic on our side. Unfortunately for Trump cultists, they’ve been told not to believe what they see and hear and they’re complying.

Maybe you and I can argue over the differences between Pluto and Goofy, but we should all know the difference between being rained on and pissed on.

Support the cartoonist.

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

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

Watch me draw.

Don’t Mess Around With Jim

cjones07182019

Donald Trump, who only hires the “best people,” just lost his ninth cabinet member. Trump has had more turnover in his cabinet in the first two and a half years of his presidency than any of his five immediate predecessors did in their entire first terms.

News flash! Donald Trump does NOT hire the best people. He hires cronies, freaks, sycophants, goons, bums, right-wing zealots, white nationalists, fucknuts, shitweasels, and members of his family, which I know is redundant. Another reason he goes through so many people (other than wearing them out from Trump fuckery) is that he doesn’t vet properly. This is a guy who hired a wife beater for his staff. This is a guy who hired Omarosa, Steve Bannon, and Stephen Baby Goebbels Miller.

Trump’s labor secretary has been under fire ever since federal prosecutors in New York brought new charges of sex trafficking against Jeffery Epstein last week, who had received a sweetheart prosecution deal from Acosta years ago.

Acosta gave an extremely long press conference to defend his handling of the Epstein case. According to inside sources, Trump pushed Acosta to explain himself to the press and the American people. Acosta believed the performance helped save his job and word is Trump was very pleased with it as well…until he watched TV.

Acosta abruptly resigned Friday morning, citing his presence as a distraction for Trump and the “great” economy they claim they created. Trump claims it was Acosta’s idea to resign, but after watching critical coverage of the press conference, he began questioning whether he should keep the guy. Trump is that guy who asks if his pants make his ass look fat when it’s his fat ass making his ass look fat.

The impression is Trump affiliates with pedophiles, rapists, and creepers. You know, contemporaries.

Acosta is a distraction for Trump, but not one that hurts the image they want to present on the economy (the image is, Obama created that economy plus, he never hired wife beaters or endorsed pedophiles for elected office). Acosta’s presence is a reminder that Trump has ties to Epstein also…and he too has multiple accusations from women, two accusing him of rape. Donald Trump doesn’t care about justice, law and order, or the treatment of women. He’s more concerned with how it reflects on him, especially going into an election.

Trump has been looking to get an Acosta out of his life, but one who’s been a larger pain in his side than Alex…and who actually does his job. Donald Trump hates CNN’s Jim Acosta, who covers the White House.

Trump has personally attacked Jim Acosta for asking reasonable questions. He charged that he’s “a rude, terrible person,” “fake news” and that CNN should be ashamed for employing him. Trump even tried to “lift” his White House pass because he doesn’t like his questions.

When Trump and White House spokesgoon Sarah Huckabee Sanders attempted to ban Acosta from the White House, other news outlets, including Fox News, came to the reporter’s defense. A federal judge, who was appointed by Trump, ordered Acosta’s pass to be restored.

Acosta has a new book recounting his time covering the Trump White House, titled, The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America. Trump and his sycophants have made this a dangerous time to tell the truth, and that’s exactly how they want it.

In the book, Acosta describes a Trump supporter at a rally being surprised that he recited the pledge of allegiance and sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.” He was surprised because Trump has convinced his deplorables that the press is the “enemy of the American people.” It is a dangerous time to tell the truth in America.

Personally, I’m glad the right Acosta has quit his job. This nation doesn’t need Alexander, but it needs Jim to continue to hold Trump and his goon squad accountable.

And, if Jim Acosta ever does stop covering the White House, I’m sure Trump will hold a party. But, it won’t be nearly as big as the party we’re gonna have when he leaves the White House.

Be Complicit

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

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

Watch Me Draw.

Fox Smear

cjones06142019

Despite telling over 10,000 of them, there is truth in every one of Donald Trump’s lies.

When Trump says that Russia didn’t meddle in the 2016 election, that means they helped elect him. When he says he’s exonerated, that means he’s guilty as hell. When he says he’s not a racist, that means he’s a Nazi-defending, Klan-loving racist. When he says there were no golden showers with Russian hookers in Moscow, that means someone had to burn a mattress.

Trump says he’s not worried about former vice-president Joe Biden and that he’s hoping to face him in the general election. That means Trump is terrified of Biden. Maybe not the same fear of being stuck in an elevator with Maxine Waters or of finding a vegetable on his plate, but he’s having nightmares of running against the man he’s dubbed “Sleepy Joe.”

Trump says Biden is “obsessed” with him, while he’s saying “Biden, Biden, Biden” nonstop. There’s a reason he’s afraid and obsessed with Biden and that’s because new polling shows Biden will tromp all over Trump in the 2020 campaign if he’s the Democratic nominee. A new Quinnipiac University survey has Biden leading Trump nationally by 13 points. The same poll also has him losing to Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, and Pete Buttigieg.

The same poll finds him trailing Biden by double digits in Pennsylvania and Michigan, states where Russian troll farms were the most help in electing Trump. He’s even trailing Biden in Texas. Texas!

After being briefed on a 17-state poll conducted by his campaign pollster, Tony Fabrizio, Trump ordered his aides to lie about the poll. This is par for the course for Trump aides as they also have to say he knows the moon is not a part of Mars and that he looks good in a tux.

But lying for Trump extends far beyond those on his payroll and Russian trolls. Fox News has begun a smear campaign to take down Biden.

On Monday after John Dean testified before Congress showing similarities between the corruption of Trump with Richard Nixon, Trump attacked the former White House lawyer for Nixon by stating he was an analyst for CNN, which is not “Trump-oriented.” Let’s try to overlook the talking about himself in the third person aspect and focus on the lies in his statement. CNN is Trump oriented. Turn it on right now and you’ll see they’re reporting on Trump. But, that’s now what he meant by saying they’re not “Trump-oriented.” What he really meant was that they’re not in his corner helping him. In that regard, no news outlet is supposed to be “Trump oriented.” This isn’t China where they have state-operated news outlets. News services are supposed to be independent. Fox News, however, operates as Trump TV.

During 2016, Fox News speculated on the health of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Sean Hannity spent an entire week where he and guests analyzed out of context photos and videos of Clinton to claim she was battling chronic illness, maladies, seizures, and critical neurological conditions. I bet you didn’t know anyone on Fox could say “neurological.” The National Enquirer ran a front-page headline stating Clinton only had six months to live. Two years later, she’s still alive and in a lot better health than the National Enquirer.

Now, the Fox heads are imitating the smear campaign of 2016 for Biden. Hannity has echoed Trump’s insult for Biden, “Sleepy Joe,” which shows he’s lacking in originality and totally in Trump’s cult. Hannity barked during one broadcast, “Joe Biden’s tired. He does not have the energy for this. He’s not up to the challenge. They’re already hiding him like they hid Hillary. They don’t want him out there.” Keep in mind, Hannity supports Trump, who’s afraid of stairs, hides from all media except Fox News, and has his doctor lie about his obesity (if you’re a Republican, “obese” means fat).

Lisa Kennedy, another irresponsible Fox head had her own attacks for Biden. She suggested the Biden campaign should keep him “off the main stage” because he says “stupid things and he slurs.” Who says stupid things and slurs? She also invoked a right-wing conspiracy theory about Clinton’s overcoat, where she was wearing it during the summer to hide something, by stating, “We haven’t seen Joe a lot, maybe he has health issues, is always wearing an overcoat.” Personally, I think Biden should visit Comet Pizza wearing an overcoat just to freak out the Foxophiles.

The American Medical Association considers it unethical for physicians to speculate on public officials’ health without having personally examined them. To be fair, Sean Hannity and Lisa Kennedy, while not being physicians, have both personally stuck their heads up Trump’s ass.

In the news business, it’s considered unethical to spread baseless rumors about public figures, like when MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough speculates on Trump having dementia. To be fair, Scarborough used to have his head up Trump’s ass too. But, Fox News is not in the news business. They’re in the propaganda business where the business is speculation and lies. Sean Hannity is very proud to state that he’s NOT a journalist. I too am very proud to state that Sean Hannity is not a journalist.

These people swiftboated John Kerry. They told you Obama was born in Kenya, was on an apology tour, and supported Islamic terrorists. They’re still carrying the lie that Hillary Clinton sold uranium to Russians. Now, they’re telling us Joe Biden is “sleepy” and not in good health. They’re making hay out of Biden’s age, ignoring the fact he’s only three years older than Trump. They’re both old. Deal with it.

We are going to be overwhelmed with the lies from the right-wing, Trump cultists, Fox News, and Russian troll farms because it’s early. There are 510 days until election day.

That gives you every right to start feeling sick.

Be Complicit

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

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

Watch Me Draw.