Kansas

Lessons From Kansas


Indiana lawmakers made sure not to do one thing last Friday when they banned most abortions in their yee-haw state. They made sure not to let their citizens vote on it. It’s a lesson they learned from Kansas.

Indiana is the first state to create new limits on abortions after the Supreme Court overruled its predecessors and declared it’s not a constitutional right. This vote was just three days after voters in Kansas rejected a measure to strip abortion from the state constitution, and after a ten-year-old fled Ohio, where nearly all abortions are banned, to abort her rapist’s fetus in Indiana.

Republicans nationwide were eager to ban abortion after the SCOTUS ruling but Kansas has slowed their roll. State Republicans in Florida, West Virginia, South Carolina, Nebraska, and Iowa were talking a lot of shit until the conservative voters in Kansas spoke out. The question every conservative needs to ask who plans to enact a state ban on abortion is: Is your state more right-wing fucknut fundamentalist than Kansas? It’s a good question and someone’s actually studied it. More on that in a minute.

Indiana’s fucknut Governor Eric Holcomb signed the new ban into law faster than Josh Hawley could run from a MAGA riot he helped instigate (I’m gonna be using this one for a while). The signing was within minutes of its passage, which was from a special session he called just to ban abortion. They knew not to let their voters vote on it.

In Kansas, Republicans thought it was a safe bet their voters would ban it, but just in case, they put the measure on the primary ballot, NOT the general election ballot. Gee, why is that?
Fewer people vote in primaries than in general elections. But, Republicans, I’m sorry to say, are much more consistent than Democrats in voting in primaries and special elections. Republicans are also much more motivated by wedge culture war issues like abortion than are Democrats. But, Kansas found out that even conservatives didn’t want to totally ban abortion. And, when it finally comes down to banning abortions, Democrats turn out the vote among themselves and Independents. The GOP just learned that the hard way in Kansas. It was like that time Eddie Murphy found out the hard way his hooker was a dude.

Indiana Republican goon legislator John Young said, “I know the exceptions are not enough for some and too much for others, but it’s a good balance.” Really? It’s a good balance to take away a woman’s right to control her own body and health? If John Young had a uterus, I bet he’d have a totally different definition of a “good balance.”

A good balance would be to let Indiana’s voters vote on it. Give more women a say in how their bodies are regulated. Don’t just leave it up to goons like John Young Governor Holcomb.

Right-wing and Indiana cartoonist Gary Varvel did a cartoon of it snowing in Hell because it’s such an unlikely occurrence that yee-haw state Republicans would ban abortion. What. A. Shocker.

Protestors were at the state capital demanding their legislature allow them to vote on it. Todd Huston, the Republican Speaker of the House said, “We’ve talked about the fact that voters have an opportunity to vote, and if they’re displeased, they’ll have that opportunity both in November and in future years.” That sounds like a statement from a goon in a safe district. By his logic, Indiana shouldn’t ever have measures put on ballots, just candidates.

Jennifer Drobac, a law professor at Indiana University Bloomington said, “Law made in haste is often bad law. This highlights the fact that these guys are not anticipating how unworkable this legislation will be. This is going to impact thousands of people who get pregnant in Indiana alone.” But they didn’t anticipate how unworkable it is because they don’t care if it’s unworkable. If it forces children to have rapists’ babies, that’s workable for male Republicans. They’re not shooting rapists’ babies out of their pee-holes.

The most recent unworkable Republican law made in haste that comes to mind is the one in Florida where fascist Ron DeSantis and other fascist Floridians stripped away Disney’s special district, leaving a giant tax burden on voters in the state which they haven’t figured out how to repair yet. Their knuckles have to be raw after dragging them on the ground so quickly.

So, which states would ban abortion if it’s left up to voters? That’s a good question and Nate Cohn of The New York Times might have the closest thing we’ll get to an answer without every state holding elections on the fundamental rights of abortion.

According to the Times’ analysis, support for abortion rights is below 50 percent in ONLY seven states, and it’s close in each of those seven. In fact, it’s only within a point or two in Utah, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Even in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, it’s within four or five points. These are close or within the margins of error. It’s possible that if left up to voters, not one state in this nation would ban abortion.

Even in Florida, where Republicans are talking big shit about banning abortion, 57 percent of its voters favor abortion rights. Texas and West Virginia are both at 52 percent in favor of abortion rights. All other MAGA-voting red states are also above 50 percent. Ohio, which has banned abortion even in the case of rape and incest, is at 61 percent. And in Indiana, which just banned abortion without letting the voters have a say, the support for abortion rights is at 58 percent. Keep in mind, Kansas overwhelmingly approved of abortion as a state constitutional right by 59 percent.

Knowing that they’d have the exact same results as Kansas, Indiana Republicans chose not to their voters made the call on abortion rights. But don’t worry. The fundamentalist fucknut goons took care of it for you.

Republicans are on the wrong side of every issue, but especially abortion, they had to steal three Supreme Court seats to overturn Roe. They’re changing election laws in multiple states to make it difficult for minorities to vote, but even with that, they should allow voters to vote on abortion. These GOP legislators are too cowardly though.

What they should do is put it on November’s general election ballot. That would increase voter turnout which is the last thing fascist Republicans want. A proven fact is that when more people vote, Democrats win more seats. Republicans are morons but they know they can’t win on the issues. It’s why they create bullshit like Critical Race Theory and gay textbooks.

Republicans, if you really want to ban abortion in America, then let Americans vote on it.

Cowards.

Music note: I listened to Queens of the Stone Age’s “Rated R” album and some Joan Jett.

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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The Wizard of Oz is a brilliant movie, especially when you factor in the time it was made. From top to bottom, with the script, music, performances, costumes, and color, it’s nearly a perfect movie. And for cartoonists, it’s full of metaphors. Who hasn’t used flying monkeys in a cartoon? I usually stop at flying monkeys, but most other cartoonists mine the entire film for references in their work. The late great Dick Locher, who drew Dick Tracy and was an editorial cartoonist for the Chicago Tribune, once wrote a column about his love for using the Wizard of Oz in his cartoons. He had no shame in it, nor should he have. But, I have never really connected with using it in my cartoons, other than with the flying monkeys.

The flying monkeys are perfect for MAGA so I got a lot of use out of that metaphor. But I’ve never been able to connect to the rest of the movie. Honestly, for cartoons, it’s always bored me. So I struggled a bit with drawing this because I had a hard time getting into it. While I felt it was a good cartoon, I had doubts because of my anti-Wiz instincts. So I felt some relief when Laura, one of my proofreaders told me she liked it (without my having to fish for a compliment).

I told Laura about my doubts (I have them often), and she reassured me by saying, “Hey, who belongs in abortion commentary more than a teenage girl who spends a lot of time with men into cosplay? I’d say Dorothy has a stake in the issue.”

I told her that was going into the blog because it made me literally laugh out loud.

And Kansas seems to understand that Dorothy and all women in that state have a stake in the issue. Last night, Kansas voters resoundingly decided against removing the right to abortion from the state constitution.

It wasn’t a close victory either with the vote coming down to 59 percent in favor of keeping abortion as a right to 41 percent who opposed. This is a solid rejection of the United State Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that had protected abortion rights throughout the country. 

Republican lawmakers across the nation are in a frenzy to ban all abortions in yee-haw states, even when the life of the mother is in danger. Even in the case of rape and incest. Kansas is the first time it’s been given to voters instead of fundamentalist fucknut lawmakers. Kansas voters said no.

Here’s the thing, kids. Kansas is a yee-haw state. Donald Trump beat Joe Biden in Kansas in 2020, 56 percent to 41 percent. In that election, Kansas was 19 percent more Republican than the national average. Abortion got a higher percentage last night than Trump got in 2020.

How bad is it for this nation that Kansas is more liberal and reasonable than the Supreme Court?

Kansas is not pro-abortion. It’s not liberal about abortion. It’s not a liberal position to want abortion to remain legal, despite what Republicans tell you. Republicans are the ones who are extreme on this issue. Forcing a ten-year-old to have her rapist’s baby is the extreme position.

It’s safe to say that the majority of Kansas voters would allow restrictions on abortion, but they don’t want it banned outright. Today, abortion is legal in Kansas up to the 22nd week of pregnancy. Other Republican fucknut yee-haw states are trying to ban it outright. Who knew Kansas was more liberal than Ohio?

Republicans put this measure on the ballot believing they were on the right side of the issue. They thought Kansas voters would send a message to the nation on banning abortion. They were right. The right-wing conservative majority of Kansas said to keep abortion as a constitutional right. Oops.

In 2017, Gallup found that 70 percent of Republicans wanted abortion to remain legal. It said 56 percent wanted it legal in some circumstances while 14 percent said all. In 2018, an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found that 52 percent of Republicans did NOT want Roe v. Wade overturned. A study by the Pew Research Center published June 13, 2022, found that 61 percent of U.S. adults say abortion should be legal in all or most cases

Republicans learned something last night. They learned not to give the issues to voters again. While I’m sure all the yee-haw states would love to restrict the hell out of abortion, I bet the majority of voters in every state would vote to keep abortion legal. I bet the majority of voters in every state think it’s a really horrible position to force a child to give birth to her rapist’s baby. The fact is, the majority of this nation is pro-choice.

What kind of monster would force a child to give birth to her rapist’s baby? A fundamentalist fucknut Republican monster.

Pro-choice is not pro-abortion. Pro-choice people don’t love abortion.

Years ago when my little sister was a teenager, I asked if she was pro-life or pro-choice. She said she was pro-life as she thought abortion was wrong and she could never see herself getting one. So I said, “So, you believe abortion should be illegal.” And she said, “God, no. That option should be there, especially in the case of rape and incest. I just wouldn’t get one.” Then I had to give my little sister the horrible news that she was pro-choice. Now, she may have changed her mind since then since she’s gone full MAGA, but my point is, pro-choice is not pro-abortion.

The fact is, abortion should remain legal, even if you hate it.

Republicans can click their heels all they want but it won’t stop their anti-abortion position from always being the wrong position. Republicans know this too. You can bet they won’t put any more abortion questions on red state ballots again.

Music note: No, I did NOT listen to the Wizard of Oz soundtrack while drawing this. I listened to Weezer.

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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Can’t Find Kansas City


cjones02082020

I don’t know who has it harder, Trump supporters attempting to Trumpsplain his latest act of stupidity, the government agency tasked to argue that Missouri is Kansas, or future historians when they try to explain just how stupid our president (sic) truly was.

This morning, I went to a few conservative friends’ Facebook pages to see what the daily outrage was. It’s pole dancing and thrusting hips at the Super Bowl halftime show and Trump haters mocking him for congratulating the state of Kansas for the Kansas City Chiefs winning the Super Bowl. I’m surprised he didn’t congratulate the Chefs.

There is a Kansas City in Kansas, but that’s not the city the Chiefs represent. That city is in Missouri. After Trump’s tweet, it was deleted then reposted with “Missouri” replacing “Kansas.”

Last week, CNN caught heat after Rick Wilson, a Republican strategist, made fun of Trump and said he couldn’t find Ukraine on a map if you put a big U on it and a picture of a crane. The heat was for their disrespect and laughing at Trump supporters. But last night, Donald Trump proved Wilson correct. The man doesn’t know geography which can be added to the huge list of shit Trump doesn’t understand.

After becoming president, he learned Puerto Rico is an island and that islands are surrounded by water. He referred to the Governor of Puerto Rico as the President of Puerto Rico (Trump is the president (sic) of Puerto Rico). He told the Prime Minister of India, “it’s not as though you have China right on your border.” He claimed the border wall with Mexico was in Colorado. He thought Belgium was a city. He thought Paris was in Germany. He was shocked to discover Nepal and Bhutan were their own countries and not a part of India, pronounced them “nipple” and “button.” At least he didn’t call Bhutan “buttcrack.” He can’t pronounce “Tasmania.” He thinks there’s a country in Africa called “Nambia.” He thinks the Persian Gulf is called the “Arabian” Gulf. He blamed Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, nations that border the Baltic Sea, for being responsible for the war in the BALKANS (and his wife is from the Balkans). And don’t get me started on his confusion with England, the United Kingdom, and Great Britain.  He also thinks Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom.

You can be forgiven if you don’t understand everything in the above paragraph, but you’re not the president of the United States. And quite frankly, you should understand all the geography in the above paragraph.

Trump’s supporters’ response to his latest flub is to point out that Obama once said “57 states” when he meant 47. Republicans are too stupid to realize that even if Obama truly believed there are 57 states, it doesn’t defend Trump’s stupidity. If you and I both get zeros on a test, your stupidity does not make me smarter. Also, Trump sycophants have to go all the way back to 2008 to find something stupid Obama said. I only have to go to last night for something stupid from Trump, and today’s not over yet.

Here’s the painful truth: The president of the United States (sic), as former Secretary of State so eloquently put it, is a fucking moron. And while some people want to steer clear of making fun of Trump’s supporters, sycophants, and members of his cult. I won’t. You’re all fucking morons.

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