Free Press

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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State News Fake News

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Music note: I listened to about half of Taylor Swift’s “Folklore” album while crosshatching and coloring today’s cartoon.

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

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

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

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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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Stupid Son Of A…

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There may be a lot of douches over at Fox News, but there are only two Doocys (not to be confused with “deuce,” but it’s OK if you do confuse them). They have two Doocys but they can’t keep one Shephard Smith.

Yesterday, the president of the United States of America (in case you’re a Republican, the current president is Joe Biden), called a reporter a “stupid son of a bitch.” Yeah, he’s from Fox News so it’s probably true because, in addition to that fact, he’s also the son of Steve Doocy. And while we can make fun of it, laugh, and tweet about it, like I did yesterday (only to have a fucker from Fox News steal my joke), a president shouldn’t ever attack the press. But, we know it’s not the first time.

Presidents have been quarreling with the press and calling individual journalists vulgar names since there have been presidents and journalists. Journalists don’t exist to give politicians the coverage they want. They don’t go to press conferences only to ask questions a politician wants to answer. Donald Trump literally asked a reporter once, “Why can’t you ask a nice question?”.

CNN’s Jake Tapper defended Peter Doocy during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s show last night. Tapper said, “I don’t think any president should be calling any reporter a dumb son of a bitch.” Jake’s right, even if the reporter is a “dumb son of a bitch” asking a stupid question.

Sometimes a reporter has to ask a stupid question just to get a politician on record like, “Do you disavow all the Nazis and Klansmen who support you and are naming their babies after you?” With Donald Trump, the answer would probably be, “I don’t know anything about Nazis or Klansmen but I hear they love their country.” There’s also the background that he too named one of his racist babies “Donald.”

What Peter Doocy asked the president (the real one, not the president of Mar-a-Lago) yesterday during a press conference at the White House was if he thought “inflation is a political liability ahead of the midterms.” President Biden responded with, “”No, it’s a great asset. More inflation. What a stupid son of a bitch.” 

They’re calling it a “hot-mic moment,” but since the President (the guy who won the popular vote and electoral college), was standing at the same podium where he had just been speaking into microphones, I’m pretty sure he knew they were “hot.”

While this has received a lot of coverage on TV news, and all the outrage from the Right on social media, everyone seems to be overlooking the fact that it was indeed a stupid question that only a stupid son of a bitch would ask. This guy wants to know if a president thinks inflation is bad politically, and he’s a professional reporter hired to cover the White House? What’ll Doocy ask a politician next? Do you think all those dead hookers and cocaine found in the trunk of your car will be a political liability? Do you wish law enforcement authorities had not found all that child porn on your government-issued laptop? Do you now regret going to that 1997 Valentine’s Day party in blackface? Are you glad there’s a newly-released video of you dancing the “Boot Scootin’ Boogie?” Do you now regret the support you gave white nationalists in their attempt to overthrow the government? OK, maybe they’re not all stupid questions.

The president (the one who lives in the White House today) later called Doocy to apologize, which seemed to upset Sean Hannity. Presidents aren’t supposed to apologize for their insults…at least the fake one doesn’t.

Jake Tapper is right. Presidents shouldn’t be slinging out derogatory insults at reporters. He told Jimmy Kimmel, “Standards for decency don’t have to do with whether or not you like the people who are being treated poorly. It has to do with the standard.”

Tapper is also correct with his comment, “And yes I realize that Peter’s channel would never come to my defense like that, so it is what it is.” 

A journalist should do the right thing, no matter who the president is (Joe Biden) or if the reporter is a really bad one working for a “news” outlet with a far-right pro-racist agenda. Fox News doesn’t always get that.

While the douches, deuces, and Doocys over at Fox News are having fainting spells over this, they all sat back, chortled, chuckled, and snorted when the Trump administration tried to ban Jim Acosta from covering the White House.

But it was their own reporter whom Trump attacked and said she had “blood coming out of her wherever.” Now was that before or after Fox News had jumped on the Trump Train?

Donald Trump has insulted a lot of reporters. He’s called them stupid, lightweight, nasty (the females), terrible, wise guy, third-rate, and told one he wasn’t thinking. He asked April Ryan, a black female reporter, if she knew everyone in the Black Congressional Caucus. He told CBS’s Weijia Jiang to “go ask China.”

Most of all, let’s not forget his attacks on the media itself and his attempts to destroy its credibility. He famously calls the free press “fake news.” He’s called it “phony.” He’s called it “corrupt.” He called The New York Times the “Failing” New York Times. He calls The Washington Post “The Amazon Washington Post.” To Trump, the greatest sin a journalist can commit is to publish the truth about him.

Donald Trump also voiced support to get rid of the First Amendment, which has been carefully ignored by all the “constitutionalists” out there.

This isn’t to do a whatabout in defense of Joe Biden. And other Democratic presidents, such as Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, have also attacked the press and reporters. The point is, presidents should cherish and support the First Amendment and a free press. Without a free press, there is no democracy.

And even if Fox News is full of Stupid sons of bitches like the Doocys, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and Jeannine Pirro, they are still protected by the First Amendment.

I’m sure Joe Biden knows this. He is the real President of the United States of America after all.

Music Note: I jammed out to Adriano Celentano, L’ Italiano, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs 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.

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Murderer MBS

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One of my biggest problems with Donald Trump is that the leader of the free world is supposed to set an example for the rest of the world to follow and be a champion of freedom. That includes freedom of the press because even as a president may fight with journalist, he is still supposed to value the importance a free press brings to democracy. You can NOT have a free country without a free press. This is a fact.

Instead of championing freedom, Donald Trump attacked our democratic allies over the price of cheese, how much they contributed to NATO, questioned if we needed NATO, and insulted the leader of Denmark for not selling us Greenland. He sucked up to leaders who were strongmen and suppressors of freedom in Turkey, the Philippines, China, North Korea, and Russia. He took Russia’s president’s words over that of our intelligence agencies. He defended and pushed aside the murders committed by the regimes of Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammad bin Salman.

When confronted with the fact that Putin has had journalists murdered, Trump said, “So what. Do you think we’re so nice?” We don’t throw journalists off buildings in our nation. When asked about his buddy Kim Jong Un’s murder of Otto Warmbier, an American college student, Trump said, “He feels really bad about it.”

After Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, living in the United States and under the protection of our country, was murdered in the Saudi Arabian embassy in Turkey, Donald Trump defended the murderers. Khashoggi was lured to the embassy and then killed with a hacksaw, in that they chopped his body up into multiple pieces.

Make no mistake about it. One reason Saudi Arabia did this to a journalist and an American resident is because they knew if caught, that the President of the United States (sic) wouldn’t do anything about it.

U.S. intelligence said it was “highly unlikely that Saudi officials would have carried out an operation of this nature without the Crown Prince’s authorization.” But Trump made suggestions that Khashoggi was aligned with terrorists, as if he had it coming. He questioned U.S intelligence and said, “It could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event — maybe he did and maybe he didn’t! That being said, we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi. In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

That translates to: Our relationship is with Saudi Arabia, not with freedom and not with the truth. If Donald Trump could have chopped up journalists in our country, he would have.

President Joe Biden promised us we’d get the truth. He has delivered on that. When it comes to defending freedom in this manner, he has not. Yesterday, President Joe Biden became a disappointment.

I voted for Biden. And in doing so, I knew there would be issues where I would disagree with him. I knew there would be issues where I would have to draw a cartoon taking him to task, even if it upsets some of my readers…or all of them.

But, as I’ve said before, I am not like one of those MAGAt Trump-worshipping cartoonists. I am not in a cult to Joe Biden. I do not bow down before a golden statue of him like they’re literally doing at CPAC this weekend. I don’t worship Joe Biden and forget all the principles I used to claim I cared about. I am happy Joe Biden is president over Donald Trump, but I am not Joe Biden’s friend. I do not work for the Biden administration. Just because I champion many of the same issues you do, don’t make the mistake I am on your team.

My friend and fellow cartoonist Ted Rall made some bizarre post several weeks ago about how he’ll be the only liberal who will take Biden to task, which is just flat-out wrong. I can think of several cartoonists who will do that, and especially over something like this. Also Ted works for Sputnik, which is owned by Russia. Ted works for Vladimir Putin, so there’s that.

Like I said, I’m not like those MAGAt guys, where they will criticize a politician on an issue but ignore when their side does it. How many conservative cartoonists who ignored or defended Trump’s position with the murder of Khashoggi will now turn around and criticize Biden for it? All of them.

The Biden administration released the CIA report on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. And it reported what we already knew. The killing was approved by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is the de-facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, a monarchy and dictatorship.

The conclusion was based, the report said, on the crown prince’s absolute control of decision-making, the involvement in the operation of a top adviser and seven members of his personal protective detail, and his “support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad.”

In an opinion piece, The Washington Post, where Khashoggi was a contributing columnist while living as U.S. resident, calls bin Salman a murderer and that Biden should not give him a “pass.”

The Post points out that while we do need stability in the region, in the oil market, and a strong deterrent to Iran, we can’t allow bin Salman to just skip away from responsibility.

While MBS will not have a direct link to the White House through secret backchannels and apps that delete conversations (thanks, Jared), or photo-op visits in the Oval Office, he’s still going to have contact with top American diplomats. Just a few days ago, he had a phone call with our new Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin.

While Biden has stopped sales of arms for Saudi’s war with Yemen, which Trump refused to cease even after Congress told him to, Biden will continue to sell other arms to the kingdom for “defense.”

There will be no freeze of bin Salman’s personal assets in the United States. There will be no travel ban against him. There will be no expelling, even temporary, of the Saudi ambassador. There will be no calls for a new successor to the king of Saudi Arabia, which I should remind you, is not a democracy. Any sanctions against the nation will be minimal.

While MBS has opened up some freedoms in the nation, has released high-profile prisoners to appease Biden along with ending the blockade of Qatar, an American ally, his regime has still brutally oppressed freedom in that nation. In Saudi Arabia, you can be imprisoned for life for being gay…or receive the death sentence. How many other nations do we sell missiles to that murder people for being gay?

Saudi Arabia has the same policies on the press and LGBT as Iran.

While MBS may not chop up journalists under the protection of the United States in the immediate future, Biden’s actions doesn’t pressure them to stop murdering other journalists.

An American president should not only defend freedom in the United States. He should defend freedom worldwide. He should demand that Saudi Arabia cease all punishment of journalists. Last year, 50 journalists died throughout the world. Even our ally, Turkey, throws journalists in prison.

We have improved from having a president (sic) who called journalists the “enemy of the American people” and demanded we get rid of laws that protect a free press…you know, like the Constitution. But, just being better than Donald Trump isn’t good enough. We should demand better because we deserve better. Joe Biden was the answer to getting rid of Donald Trump. Now that we have done that, can we all move on?

When I criticized Andrew Cuomo, I did not put myself in that position. Andrew Cuomo put me there. In this case, Joe Biden has placed me in this position to go after his administration on this failed, anti-democratic, and anti-free press policy.

Trump’s position was, “Our relationship is with Saudi Arabia, not with freedom and not with the truth.” Biden’s is, “Our relationship is with Saudi Arabia, the truth, and maybe some of the freedom. Eh. Here and there.”

President Joe Biden, defend a free press. Don’t coddle the murderers of journalists.

Remember Jamal Khashoggi.

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Bigger Than Ukraine

cjones01302020

I don’t believe the press is infallible. They make mistakes. Usually, when I have an issue with a LEGITIMATE news outlet (something Trump cultists can’t differentiate from propaganda sites), it’s over how, what, and how much they cover a topic. I don’t really see actual news organizations lying. That said, I believe in a free press and my confidence in them is extremely high. I trust experienced reporters because I’m very familiar with the high standards to which they hold themselves.

So, when it’s between a version offered by a reporter for National Public Radio with nearly 30 years of journalism versus a version offered by any member of the Trump administration, or any Republican for that matter, I’m going with the journalist. There is a huge difference between a journalist and a politician lying. The journalist loses her job.

I truly believe Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would have difficulty finding his ass with both hands. The man is oblivious to facts and reality. Did he not think a journalist would be able to back up her story with notes? Does he not understand how email works? Did he really think it’d be believable that a world-traveled national correspondent for NPR who is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard and holds a master’s degree in European Studies from Cambridge University wouldn’t be able to find Ukraine on a map? Did he think she’d fail his little test because he tried it on Donald Trump during that entire Greenland fiasco?

Mike Pompeo agreed to do an interview with Mary Louise Kelly of NPR. She corresponded with his staff before the interview where they tried to limit her questions to Iran, but in emails between Kelly and Pompeo’s press aide, Katie Martin, Kelly made her intentions clear that she would question Pompeo on other subjects besides Iran. Martin wrote in one response, “Totally understand you want to ask other topics but just hoping . . . we can stick to that topic for a healthy portion of the interview.” That is NOT an agreement that questions on Ukraine won’t be asked or that anything is off the record.

Mike Pompeo got upset during the interview after being asked if he owed an apology to Marie Yovanovitch, the former ambassador to Ukraine that Trump ousted after Rudy Giuliani and associated goons conducted a smear campaign against that might have included stalking. He never did answer the question.

Pompeo berated her with profanity asking, “Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?” After Pompeo stormed out, an aide asked Kelly to follow her into Pompeo’s private living room at the State Department without a recorder. Then, Pompeo ordered an aide to produce an unmarked map (why do they have those?) and proceeded to challenge Kelly to find Ukraine. I for one would LOVE to challenge every Republican fucknut to find Ukraine on an unmarked map. Hell, I’d settle for them finding Ohio.

Pompeo issued a long statement saying, “NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly lied to me, twice. First, last month, in setting up our interview and, then again yesterday, in agreeing to have our post-interview conversation off the record. “It is shameful that this reporter chose to violate the basic rules of journalism and decency. This is another example of how unhinged the media has become in its quest to hurt President Trump and this Administration. It is no wonder that the American people distrust many in the media when they so consistently demonstrate their agenda and their absence of integrity.”

He summed up with, “It is worth noting that Bangladesh is NOT Ukraine.”

Trump later joined in by replying, “A very good question” to a tweet by conservative radio and Fox News host Mark Levin in which Levin asked, “Why does NPR still exist? We have thousands of radio stations in the U.S. Plus Satellite radio. Podcasts. Why are we paying for this big-government, Democrat Party propaganda operation.” Facts and reality have a liberal bias.

Personally, I find it very difficult to believe that not only couldn’t Kelly locate Ukraine on a map, but also landed on the wrong continent.

This is classic Trump bullying of a female and journalist. It’s what they do. They lie and then they snowflake out and get butthurt and cry after being busted in the lie. Pompeo’s statement only confirmed Kelly was telling the truth about his outrage. And it’s laughable for any member of the Trump administration, less enough one who refuses to apologize after Trump’s goons stalked one of his ambassadors, to question a journalist’s integrity.

Pompeo’s problem is that he works for the Trump administration. The only people who will believe him over Kelly are in the cult. We know who the liars are.

Anyone who believes Mike Pompeo over Mary Louise Kelly has their head up their ass.

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

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Enemy Of The Saudi People

cjones10142018

The United States is a beacon of freedom for the rest of the world. We present an example that encourages other nations to follow. Past presidents have been champions and ambassadors of American freedom. It’s what the world expects from us. Citizens in oppressed nations need to hear it from our leaders.

Our most important freedom is freedom of the press. That’s why it’s in the First Amendment, and not the Second. Journalism is the only profession explicitly protected by the United States Constitution. While supporters of Donald Trump rejoice in having a president who is a “Constitutionalist,” he says, “It’s frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write, and people should look into it.”

Trump calls the press “fake news” and the “enemy of the American people.” He’s targeted specific journalists from Katy Tur to Jim Acosta for bullying and harassment. Journalists have received death threats mimicking Trump’s language and even adding “MAGA” to their promises of violence. A major news network recently received a threat stating, “I swear allegiance to my leader, and he says you’re fake news, you’re the enemy. I must rid the country of you because you’re the enemy of the people.” One Trump supporter threatened to travel to the offices of The Boston Globe and commit a mass shooting. Apparently, Trump sycophants aren’t the only ones inspired by his free press hating rhetoric.

The government of Saudi Arabia is accused of killing a Saudi citizen, journalist for The Washington Post and resident of Virginia, Jamal Khashoggi. The Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is suspected of ordering the murder of Khashoggi. Mohammed and the Saudi government were not discouraged by the United States from murdering a journalist, even after U.S. intelligence intercepted the prince’s plans to lure Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia.

Last week, Khashoggi was lured into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey and he never left, at least not alive. The Turkish government has accused Saudi Arabia of murdering the journalist, flying his body out of the country, and that they even hacked him into several pieces.

Khashoggi was a prominent critic of the Saudi government, and many within it would probably describe him as an “enemy of the Saudi people” who wrote “fake news.” Why would the Crown Prince be discouraged by America from murdering a journalist when the president of the United States calls the press the enemy?

The Saudi’s may also believe there would be no repercussions from the Trump administration. Saudi Arabia was the first nation to receive a visit from a President Trump. They lavished praise on him, blasted his image on jumbotrons across Riyadh, and even treated him to a sword dance. Mohammed has become a close friend to Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, often engaging in private phone conversations that are not on any public record, and striking concern within the U.S. intelligence community. Mohammed has been quoted as saying Jared is “in his pocket.”

Mohammed initiated a crackdown against many in his nation perceived to be a threat to his power, which included arresting a Trump critic. Donald Trump praised the move.

If Saudi Arabia is responsible for the death of Khashoggi then the United States must implement sanctions against them, which would include individuals. How will Donald and Jared handle leveling punishment to their good buddy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman?

There are a lot of things Trump doesn’t understand. The Nuclear Triad, why we have troops in South Korea, words on paper, etc. I don’t expect him to understand why press freedom is important or that he bears responsibility when people threaten and attack journalists while screaming his catchphrases. Trump will never understand what it means to be presidential as he’s still operating as a con man.

The United States needs a leader who will stand up to those who threaten freedom, from Saudi Arabia to Vladimir Putin. Donald Trump needs to demand Saudi Arabia to explain what happened to Jamal Khashoggi. We need a leader who will put the nation and our values before himself.

We also need a leader who isn’t a coward.

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!!! 

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Enemy Of The People

cjones09052018

The FBI arrested a 68-year-old man in Encino, California Thursday for making repeated threats against The Boston Globe, which included the catchphrase “enemies of the American people.”

Where have we heard that phrase before? It’s one of Donald Trump’s favorites which he uses against news outlets that print information he considers critical of him, like facts.

The FBI said Robert Chain began threatening the Globe after the newspaper announced it was organizing a campaign for newspapers to respond collectively to Trump’s repeated attempts to demonize the media.

Chain also used the term “fake news” while threatening to kill employees of the newspaper by “shooting them in the head.” Making his threats over the phone, he also said, “You’re the enemy of the people, and we’re going to kill every f—ing one of you. Hey, why don’t you call the F, why don’t you call Mueller, maybe he can help you out, buddy.” The FBI found 20 guns when they arrested him.

Why, who could have inspired this lunatic to make these kinds of threats? Chain actually told the newspaper he was motivated to attack the media because of the way they covered Trump.

Last June, a man killed five at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland. The White House issued a statement decrying the violence, but it wasn’t long before Trump started repeating his catchphrases again, “fake news” and “enemy of the American people.”

Donald Trump does not care if people are hurt by his rhetoric, much like he doesn’t care if economies collapse, alliances are destroyed, businesses fail, careers are trashed or international trust in the United States is ruined because of his self-indulgent temper tantrums. The only thing Donald Trump cares about is Donald Trump. He is a horrible president who inspires horrible people to do horrible things.

Trump is warning that there will be violence if Republicans lose control of Congress in the midterm elections. But, are they really warnings or are they encouragements? He also warned in 2016 that there would be violence if he didn’t win the presidency.

By attacking the free press, Trump is attacking Democracy. He doesn’t care about this nation or Democratic institutions. He doesn’t care if people are killed or injured. Trump only wants to advance the agenda of being Trump. It’s all about ratings and rallies.

Ultimately, there will be violence inspired by Trump. The press is being threatened merely for doing their job, and doing it well. After the violence, they’ll continue to do their jobs and Trump will check his ratings.

Your support in the form of donations is appreciated. I am fully independent as I’m not employed by a newspaper or with a major syndicate (leaving one to be independent). It does take a lot of work to provide you with cartoons, columns, and videos almost every day (more than any other political cartoonist), and I don’t charge my clients much at all. If you can, please consider making a financial contribution to keep the fun flowing, or purchase a signed print for $40. Whether you can help support, can’t, or just choose not to, please continue to enjoy and keep reading my work. Thank you!!!

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

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Newspapers Strike Back

cjones08172018

This Thursday, over 70 newspapers (so far) will run coordinated editorials defending a free press from Donald Trump’s attacks that the media is the “enemy of the American people” and “fake news.” It’s being coordinated by The Boston Globe.

I probably have several newspaper clients participating in this, but one that’s definitely on board is the Sarasota News Leader. They asked me to do a cartoon on the subject they could run with their editorial this Thursday. It’s something I wouldn’t miss being a part of.

To me, an enemy of the American people and democracy is one who attacks a free press. A leader who believes an informed public is dangerous is not a leader for a free nation.

Your support in the form of donations is appreciated. I am fully independent as I’m not employed by a newspaper or with a major syndicate (leaving one to be independent). It does take a lot of work to provide you with cartoons, columns, and videos almost every day (more than any other political cartoonist), and I don’t charge my clients much at all. If you can, please consider making a financial contribution to keep the fun flowing, or purchase a signed print for $40. Whether you can help support, can’t, or just choose not to, please continue to enjoy and keep reading my work. Thank you!!!

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Freedom Undefended

cjones07082017

You know that oath the president takes upon assuming office? It’s when the incoming president swears to defend and protect the United States. Yeah, that one. Donald Trump mouthed the words at his inauguration but he’s not defending or protecting our nation.

Trump chose to start his second presidential trip to Europe in Poland, as they have a president who is from the far right, promotes nationalism, and is working to oppress freedom in his country.

During a press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda, the man who occupies the position that was formerly viewed as the leader of the free world, attacked his own nation.

While on foreign soil, Trump attacked American intelligence. He said Russia probably hacked our election, along with a lot of other people and other nations. In Trump’s mind, there was an international hootenanny attacking our Democratic process.

He attacked President Obama. Though he’s not sure Russia attacked our Democracy, he blamed Obama for not doing anything about it, which is a lie. Maybe he didn’t do enough, but he did act. In comparison to Trump, he’s done a lot more which starts with acknowledging Russia attacked our election.

Then, the guy who is supposed to promote American freedom to the rest of the world, attacked press freedom. He continued to describe the American media as “fake news.”

Trump only took two questions. The first was from The Daily Mail’s David Martosko, a guy who was once considered the front-runner for the administration’s communications director position. He used the friendly question from a friendly source to continue his war on CNN and the rest of the American press.

He declared that CNN has “been fake news for a long time. They’ve been covering me in a very, very dishonest way.” He called NBC “equally as bad, despite the fact that I made them a fortune with The Apprentice, but they forgot that.” How dare NBC disregard the fortune Trump made for them with his crappy reality show and allow their news division to actually do their job, which is asking questions and reporting the news.

Trump kept whining: “What we want to see in the United States is honest, beautiful, free but honest press. We want to see fair press. I think it’s a very important thing. We don’t want fake news. And by the way, not everybody is fake news. But we don’t want fake news.” Apparently, his safe place is not in Poland.

In Trump’s mind, those who are not fake is Fox News, the National Enquirer, and InfoWars. If delivering information that’s not true makes one fake, does that mean Donald Trump is a fake president?

The president should be defending and promoting what Reagan called America, the “shining city on the hill.”  Trump goes out and sells us as a shitty city on a hill.

Trump is destroying our nation’s image, credibility, and stature in the world. Never in our history have we had an American president put his ego above national interest to the extent Donald Trump has.

American presidents usually encourage their counterparts to support and allow freedom of the press in their nations. Instead, Trump is giving cover to oppressive leaders who seek to limit and control what their media does.

After whining that the press has been “dishonest” with him, he asked President Duda if he had this problem. Well, not as much as he used to.

After assuming office in 2015 as a member of the Law And Justice Party (scary name), Duda signed a law allowing the government to take political control of state media outlets, resulting in claims that the government is turning public news organizations into mouthpieces for the party.

Trump may be interested in turning American news outlets into his mouthpieces, well those that aren’t filling that role already, like Fox, Breitbart, InfoWars, and The Daily Mail’s David Martosko.

Last week, South Korean President Moon Jae-in told Trump in the Oval Office “I also suffer a bit from fake news, as you do.” They laughed and giggled together over their shared hatred of the press.

Today, Trump will be meeting with Vladimir Putin. Trump and Putin may bond over their shared loathing of people who ask questions and report facts. Except in Russia, Putin doesn’t make GIFS slamming the media or tweet vulgar insults at female talk show hosts. Putin has his critics silenced….permanently.

Trump has declared the press the “enemy of the American people” and has been waging war on the press since before he took office. He’s turning off the cameras and audio for White House Briefings. The State Department has stopped doing daily briefings. On top of all this, he’s finding like-minded souls in his party.

Maine Governor Paul LePage recently suggested that he makes up stories to “mislead the press.” LePage also said, “The sooner the print press goes away, the better society will be.”

People like Putin, Duda, Moon Jae-in, Paul LePage, and Donald Trump should keep this Thomas Jefferson quote in mind: “were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

That’s Jefferson’s view despite the fact that he couldn’t stand the press. He also said, “Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper.” Yet, he understood the importance of a free press and that’s you can’t have freedom of any kind without a free press.

What’s getting scary is that a lot of citizens share LePage’s view that society will be better off without the press. It’s amazing that people want to be ruled and willingly uninformed. Why would anyone be satisfied with receiving information only from the government?

Between a free press and Donald Trump, there’s only one of them that a free society can do without. Guess which one that is. I’ll give you a hint: It’s orange and white and read all over.

I want to thank everyone who has donated in the past. Your support helps me continue creating cartoons and columns with a little less stress in my life. Between competing syndicates with much larger resources, timid editors, and Trump supporters who attempt to intimidate the editors who do publish anything that criticizes their idol, it’s a challenge to make a career out of this. So your support (if you can) is appreciated. Want to help me continue to create cartoons and keep doing what I’m doing (pissing off conservatives)? Look to the right of this page and make a donation through PayPal. Every $50 donation will receive a signed print. All donations will receive my eternal gratitude.