National Rifle Association

Terrorist Cartels

The Gulf Cartel abducted four United States citizens last Friday in Matamoros, Mexico in the state of Tamaulipas. Two were found alive and returned to the United States while the other two were murdered. One of the four was in Mexico for a medical procedure and the other three were along for support.

Matamoros is on the Rio Grande river across from Brownsville, Texas, and is a major industrial city with plants that assemble car parts for Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, BMW, and Mercedes Benz. It’s also the site of a major offshore drilling project. Matamoros holds two festivals every year, Charros Day and Sombrero Festival with its U.S. neighbor, Brownsville. Tamaulipas is also one of the six Mexican states the U.S. State Department advises citizens against visiting due to the threat of violence and kidnapping.

The four friends traveled from South Carolina and were attacked as soon as they crossed the border into Mexico. Their vehicle was fired upon and then each of them was placed into the back of a pickup truck and driven to an unknown location. They were later found abandoned inside a “wooden house.” An innocent Mexican bystander was shot and killed during the attack. Some Mexican investigators believe the four U.S. citizens were mistaken for Haitian drug dealers that were enemies of the Gulf Cartel. Other Mexican investigators disagree. We may find out the origin of COVID-19 before we find out the true details of this attack.

Note: I do not refer to U.S. citizens as “Americans” in stories like this because even though it’s widely accepted and used by the media, I find it arrogant because America covers every nation between Canada and Chile, thus Mexicans are just as much American as people born and raised in the United States. You can actually argue that they’re more American but we’ll save that for another day. And, yes. I know people in other nations throughout the Americas often refer to the United States as “America,” but I’m not.

The attack is horrible and we should confront the issue of drug cartels, but it shouldn’t be politicized by Republicans. And just like with the train derailment, they’re blaming Biden more than they’re blaming the perpetrators.

Do you know how I know Republicans are politicizing this? Because Republican Senator Roger Marshall said, “What happened in Mexico yesterday was a tragedy and a symptom of a larger problem stemming from the culture supported by our national leadership. The drug cartels have taken full advantage of the culture of lawlessness Joe Biden has created by leaving our southern border wide open, promoting cashless bail, defunding the police, turning his back on violent riots, and denying the fentanyl crisis is created by his policies”

There’s a lot of bullshit to unpack in the statement from the senator who’s only trying to increase his profile. There are people in Kansas who don’t know who Roger Marshall is.

But the borders are not open. If they were, nobody would have to sneak in. We wouldn’t be finding dead refugees in the back of smugglers’ trucks. There wouldn’t even be a human smuggling industry if the borders were open.

Joe Biden has not enacted cashless bail. That would be up to states and local municipalities.

The fentanyl crisis began long before Joe Biden became president.

The Gulf Cartel was in business long before Joe Biden became president. The Gulf Cartel was formed in the 1930s. Another fun fact is that the Gulf Cartel is based in Mexico, not the United States. Next thing you know, Republicans will blame him for Russia illegally invading Ukraine. Oh, wait.

I don’t recall Biden turning his back on violent riots. The only people I remember turning their backs on violent riots are Republicans, Marshall’s people. It’s Republicans who keep claiming the insurrection at the Capitol was just a peaceful tour group. Have you watched Tucker this week?

And finally, Joe Biden has come out strongly against defunding the police. During the State of the Union address last month, President Biden said, “We should all agree: The answer is not to defund the police. It’s to fund the police.”

Senator Roger Marshall is a liar.

They are using these arguments to designate cartels as terrorist organizations. There’s currently a bill in Congress titled the “Drug Cartel Terrorist Designation Act.”

Drug cartels are not nice. They’re the bad guys. This is not a defense of drug cartels but labeling them as terrorist organizations is a horrible and stupid idea. I’m not against this because I’m afraid of offending Mexico or drug cartels.

Jeffrey F. Addicott, of the St. Mary’s University School of Law, wrote way back in 2012, “If Mexican drug cartels are labeled by American officials as ‘terrorists,’ many would immediately assume that the correct rule of law that the United States might employ would be the law of war and not domestic or international criminal law. While this assumption is certainly not correct, confusion often consumes rational argument. This factor would put unnecessary strains on any bilateral relationships that America is building with Mexico.”

Addicott states that if Mexican drug cartels are to be designated as terrorist organizations, then that designation needs to come from Mexico.

Al Qaida is a terrorist organization. When they attacked us on our soil, we invaded Afghanistan. If we label Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations, does that mean we will invade Mexico? We’ve pushed Mexico around enough, proven by the fact that Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Oklahoma, Kansas, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming are all U.S. states.

Solving the Fentanyl crisis will take a lot more than just dropping bombs on Mexico. We need law, not war to solve this crisis. If the idea of designating drug cartels in Mexico as terrorists didn’t include partisan attacks on the president of the United States, maybe the idea would be worth listening to. It’s also hurt by the fact Marjorie Taylor Greene is a big fan of it.

Republican proposals should never be taken seriously when they’re based on lies. Unfortunately, all Republican proposals are based on lies.

But, if Republicans are so eager to designate violent fucks as terrorists, then they can start with those who attacked our Capitol, like the Proud Boys, Oathkeepers, the Three Percenters, MAGA, and other assorted white nationalist groups. They can designate Qanon as a terrorist organization for encouraging stupid morons to attack pizza parlors they think are being used to sex traffic babies (“the Sex Traffic Babies” would make a great punk band name.) They can designate Fox News as a terrorist organization since its top-rated show is also the most popular with white supremacists (Tucker). And finally, they can designate the National Rifle Association as a terrorist organization for promoting the widespread distribution of assault weapons.

Come to think of it, since they don’t want to do anything about white nationalist insurrections or school shootings, the Republican Party should be designated as a terrorist organization.

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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Looking Up

I called a goon a “goon” yesterday and it upset him.

I enjoy reading the comments my cartoons get at GoComics but I don’t always interact with the readers there. But sometimes I’ll see a comment that I feel needs addressing. Yesterday, one of the right-wingers suggested a topic that fit his narrative, like that’s what I’m here for. I don’t see these guys telling the Boks, Varvels, and Lesters to draw on gun control, equal rights, Black Lives Matter, or women’s rights. Maybe someone should suggest a cartoon about climate change to Ben Garrison.

But this reader suggested a draw a cartoon that would feed his narrative, something he obviously saw while watching Tucker. I replied that it’s funny he found that to be an important issue while totally ignoring the mass shooting on Monday night that occurred at Michigan State University which resulted in three deaths from the killer. I also told him that I don’t take suggestions from goons.

He was upset at being called a goon and that he was flagging my reply, and what happened at Michigan State was “just another mass shooting.” I let him know that referring to what happened at Michigan State as “just another mass shooting” is why he gets called a “goon.”

Goons don’t care about mass shootings. They’d rather we ignore them.

Since the shooting on Monday night, Lauren Boebert has tweeted about a toxic chemical spill (while not proposing heavier regulations or punishment for corporations who create these spills), attacks on Pete Buttigieg, that it is OK to flash your penis at teenage girls in bowling alleys, Joe Biden, and spy balloons, but nothing about the shooting.

Since the shooting on Monday night, Marjorie Taylor Greene has tweeted about the chemical spill (while not proposing heavier regulations or punishment for corporations who create these spills), Hunter Biden, her white coat, the likelihood of being hit in the face with a banjo in her district, Jesus, but nothing about the shooting.

Since the shooting on Monday night, Ted Cruz has tweeted about Buttigieg, the chemical spill (while not proposing heavier regulations or punishment for corporations who create these spills), the border, his love for shoegaze, and big tech censoring free speech, yet no tweets about the shooting.

Since the shooting on Monday night, Jim “Gym” Jordan has tweeted about the chemical spill (while not proposing heavier regulations or punishment for corporations who create these spills), the border, big tech censorship, how much he hates it when he gets a run in his pantyhose, and a ton of tweets about balloons, but none about the shooting.

Since the shooting on Monday night, Matt Gaetz has tweeted about the chemical spill (while not proposing heavier regulations or punishment for corporations who create these spills), Elon Musk, hating that we are sending aid to Ukraine, the difficulty in finding extra-small condoms, big tech censorship, but nothing about the shooting.

I believe I research my subjects more than most cartoonists do, and for this blog…but I did make up one tweet for each of those MAGAts mentioned. See if you can find them.

The film “Don’t Look Up” is a metaphor for how right-wingers, conservatives, MAGAts, and your run-of-the-mill pigfuckers ignore science, facts, and impending doom if it’s something they don’t want to hear. As a meteor hurtles toward Earth that’ll destroy all life on the planet, the Republican response is simply, don’t look up. It’s a great metaphor after the coronavirus pandemic.

When it comes to science, Republicans don’t want us to “look up.” But now, they do want us to look up and see all the UFOs invading our airspace, but whatever you do…don’t look down. If you look down, you might see all the bodies from mass shootings. Republicans would rather look up than see those bodies or find solutions for mass shootings beyond “thoughts and prayers.” It’s why people like Jim “Gym” Jordan keep asking about spy balloons.

The day after the shooting inside a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas that left 25 dead in 2017, I read a post from a MAGAt cartoonist proclaiming it’s why we need stricter immigration policies, or maybe just ban all immigration. The shooter wasn’t an immigrant. He was a white guy born and bred right here in the good ole U.S. of A. He was a Texan.

I also looked at the official NRA Twitter account. Did you know the NRA describes itself as a “civil rights” organization? I know! Get the fuck out of here. Since the shooting on Monday night, the NRA has tweeted about new guns for 2023, President Biden “coming for your guns,” more gun reviews, how not to blow your dick off while fucking an uzi, and the University of Tennessee’s rifle program, but nothing the shooting.

Don’t look up. Don’t look down. Just don’t look.

Music note: I listened to a few tunes by Lenny Kravitz but spent most of my time drawing and coloring this while watching CNN and Nikki Haley’s presidential announcement.

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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Bang Bang Baby

Police in Beech Grove, Indiana were called when a toddler was seen in the hallway of an apartment building with a gun. The cops were called by a neighbor who reported that the toddler came to her door and pointed the gun at her son, who quickly shut the door and told his mom, “Baby with a gun.”

The caller looked through the peephole and saw the kid with the weapon, saying, “He was just kind of holding it behind his back, and I thought…like that’s a real gun. I sell guns for a living, so I know what a gun looks like.”

The purported father of Baby Bang-Bang, Shane Osborn, told police there wasn’t a gun in the house. He also said he was feeling ill and taking a nap when the toddler went outside the apartment and that he wasn’t aware of what was going on. Reportedly, the toddler was left with its so-called father because its primary babysitter wasn’t feeling well either.

Even before we get to the gun, it’s extremely negligent to allow the toddler to go outside alone. It’s negligent to take a nap or be in any situation where you don’t know the location of the kid. I have a pet peeve about men who act like it’s a burden to watch their own kids. This guy is trying to claim it’s not his fault because he was sleeping and that he didn’t know there was a gun in the house. This pisses me off, like fathers who say they’re babysitting when left alone with their own kids. You don’t babysit your own kids. You parent your kids. It’s your job to take care of your children just as much as it’s the mother’s.

Back to the gun: The guy said there wasn’t a gun in the house but allowed the cops to search. They didn’t find a gun. but before the cops left, a neighbor showed them surveillance footage of the baby running around with the gun. They went back inside and one of the cops asked the child “where he put his ‘pew pew.” The kid pointed to a roll-top desk where they found the gun…which was fully loaded with 15 bullets in the magazine. Fortunately, there wasn’t a bullet in the chamber.

The “father” said the gun must belong to his cousin, who drops the gun off every now and then when he feels like he might want to shoot himself. My Beagle-Panty story is more believable than that (and that really happened).

Shane Osborn was arrested for neglect, which was aired on the Reelz TV show, “On Patrol: Live.” I didn’t know that was a thing.

Last week in Newport News, Virginia, a six-year-old elementary student took a handgun to school and intentionally shot his teacher. The teacher survived but is in critical condition. The gun was purchased legally by the kid’s mom, but she was negligent in its storage.

I haven’t heard if mom is facing any legal charges yet. This is Virginia where we have very blue cities but enough yee-haw fuckers and gun humpers to keep this state purple.

School officials actually received a tip that the kid had brought a gun to school, searched the kid’s backpack, and didn’t find the gun despite the fact it was in the backpack. Maybe they were Republicans and didn’t want to take the gun away from the six-year-old.

Democrats in Virginia’s General Assembly have crafted a bill that if passed (it won’t because we have a yee-haw governor) that would require anyone who owns a gun in a home where a minor is present to store the gun unloaded and in a locked container or cabinet, and to store all ammunition in a separate locked container.

Naturally, the gun nuts protest. Philip VanGunHumper Van Cleave, the president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League and Gun Fuckers, said, “wah.” He’s worried that a law requiring you to store your gun separately, and in a locked container if you have children won’t protect you “if the back door is kicked in” by bears or pirates.

Gun nuts love their guns more than love their kids. If that’s not true, then we would have stopped school shootings after Sandy Hook, but this nation decided it could live with children murdered in gun violencemore easily than it can live without our gun fetish. Republicans chose guns over kids.

What these gun parents should have said is that they gave the kids guns, the toddler, the six-year-year-old, so they can protect themselves from Antifa and Black Lives Matter. It worked before.

Kyle Rittenhouse wasn’t old enough to own the gun on his person when he drove from Illinois to Wisconsin to protect himself from Antifa and Black Lives Matter in Kenosha. This little fuck drove across state lines in order to protect himself, and shot three people, killing two.

Kyle had to cry and blubber on the stand but his defense worked, and he got off. Today, he’s a frequent guest at Mar-a-Lago and making a living doing photo-ops at yee-haw rallies and fucknut conventions. Meanwhile, two of the people he drove 90 miles to protect himself from are dead.

The gun hero thing is the same with the mustard-stain couple who ran outside barefoot with assault weapons after seeing black people walking on the sidewalk in front of their house in their gated St. Louis neighborhood. They got a speaking slot at Trump’s 2020 Republican National Convention out of that incident and are celebrated as conservative heroes for pointing guns at black people.

Here’s a fact that will make your right-wing uncle say, “but, but, but…” Guns are the number one cause of death for children ages 1-19 in the United States. Only in the USA though. In Canada, more kids are killed every year by moose stompings than by guns. We have a problem in this country…actually two.

The first problem is our gun fetish supported by the National Rifle Association and Republicans. The second problem is, how do we make the NRA and Republicans available for moose stompings?

Music note: I listened to Led Zeppelin.

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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Well Ain’t That America…

When I grew up, Chevrolet had an advertisement that America was “baseball, hotdogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet.” It was catchy and it worked. America is all of those things and much more…like racism, oppression, inequality, an economic system of the haves and have-nots…and mass shootings.

The gun massacre at Highland Park yesterday during a Fourth of July parade seems kinda horribly appropriate. The nation isn’t really that shocked. It’s also not surprising that the shooter is probably a Trumper who’s been spotted attending at least one Trump rally dressed as Where’s Waldo (which I’ve actually put in cartoons in the past. I’m buying a lottery ticket later today).

Yesterday, the National Rifle Association tweeted, “The only reason you’re celebrating Independence Day is because citizens were armed.” A short time later, they tweeted the same point again, “We are a country because of brave souls with guns who valued and fought for liberty and freedom,” accompanied by a gif of a head-turning bald eagle. America, goddammit.

If you failed history then you probably believe the “only” reason you’re celebrating Independence Day is because a bunch of farmers has flintlock muskets, but in reality, our independence from Great Britain, at least for the white colonists, is based on a lot of complicated factors. Since the NRA wants to focus on guns, let’s start there. It’s estimaged that 90 percent of American troops carried guns supplied by France and were entirely dependent upon that nation for gunpowder. We did NOT win the Revolutionary War solely on private gun ownership.

When the Second Amendent was written, bullets weren’t even invented yet, and neither had Ak-47s and AR-15s.

Another fun inconvenient fact is that the new gun law bill President Biden signed into law last week wouldn’t have done a damn thing to even slow Highland Park shooter down from purchasing his assault rifle, which according to reports, he purchased legally.

Hell, Kyle Rittenhouse purchased his gun illegally yet there was no prosecution of that. This nation has accepted assault weapons to the point that nobody, including the cops, questioned a 17-year-old kid stomping around playing Rambo in the streets of downtown Kenosha with an AR-15 late at night. Even after Kyle shot three people, the cops waved him by.

When white supremacist Dylann Roof was arrested after murdering nine people with a gun in a church in Charleston, South Carolina, the cops took him alive and to Burger King.

Yesterdays shooter was also taken alive. Remember, unarmed Jayland Walker was killed by eight cops after they fired at least 60 bullets into his body. Jayland was black. Ain’t that America?

Mass shootings in churches, public schools, movie theaters, concerts, and parades will keep being a part of America as long as Republicans and the NRA keep assault rifles available to the public.

America is under assault and we prioritized assault weapons over lives, including those of children, a long time ago. Pro-life my ass.

You can’t compare our gun culture to any other nation. Republicans and other assorted gun fetishists try, but they always leave out a crucial detail. Nobody has a gun culture like we do. Nobody worships death machines the way we do.

And ain’t that America? All the pink houses are bullet-ridden.

Music note: I listened to Hootie and The Blowfish’s album of covers today, which I had never listened to before. It’s not bad.

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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Constitutional Right to Overcompensate

Republicans who label themselves as “constitutionalists” really only cling to one of the 27 (ratified) constitutional amendments. Of course, that is the second, the right to bear arms.

The Second Amendment states: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Now, this was written at a time when the most capable rifle available could only fire three shots in a minute if the shooter was really good at re-loading. Today’s standard AR-15 can fire 45 shots in a minute.

In Federalist No. 46, an essay by Founding Father James Madison in 1788, he examines the relative strength of the state and federal governments under the proposed, at that time, United States Constitution (which came into effect the next year). Madison is considered the father of the United States Constitution as he was its main framer. He was also a slave owner and as president, added 23 million acres to the United States he stole from Native Americans.

In his essay, he speculated how a federal army could be kept in check by state militias, “a standing army … would be opposed [by] a militia.” He argued a state militia “would be able to repel the danger” of a federal army, “It may well be doubted, whether a militia thus circumstanced could ever be conquered by such a proportion of regular troops.” He contrasted the federal government of the United States to the European kingdoms, which he described as “afraid to trust the people with arms”, and assured that “the existence of subordinate governments … forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition”.

Madison wasn’t talking about individuals owning guns as much as he was talking about state militias. Not only are today’s gun humpers ignoring the “well regulated” wording, but also “being necessary to the security of a free state.”

The Constitution says “state,” not your bunker. Basically what it had in mind was the National Guard, which every state has, in addition to three territories and the District of Colombia. Your state’s National Guard is your “well-regulated militia.”

In 1876, the Supreme Court wrote, “The right to bear arms is not granted by the Constitution; neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence. The Second Amendment means no more than that it shall not be infringed by Congress, and has no other effect than to restrict the powers of the National Government.”

In 1939, the Supreme Court wrote that the Second Amendment did not protect weapon types not having a “reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated militia.” That means having 28 uzis in your Winnebago doesn’t have anything to do with your state’s National Guard.

After the passage of the National Firearms Act of 1934, the first gun control law in the United States, Karl Frederick, the president of the National Rifle Association, testified before Congress and said (you’re gonna love this, kids), “I have never believed in the general practice of carrying weapons. I seldom carry one. … I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses.” Ha. The “general promiscuous of toting guns.” He had no idea what we were in for.

Four years later, the NRA supported a federal law requiring licensing for gun manufacturers, importers, distributors, and anyone else in the business of selling guns. They supported additional licensing laws in 1968.

What the fuck happened?

In the 1970s, the NRA became a strictly partisan organization, aligned itself with the Republican Party, started purchasing politicians in bulk, and reformed itself into a gun-worshiping cult.

In order to become a gun-humping cult, they had to stop reading the Second Amendment as it’s written and start interpreting it in a manner that supported their evil goals.

Now, according to the NRA, the “right to bear arms” means fucknuts have the right to own any weapon in existence. “Well regulated” is omitted from all gun discussions and debates as the word “regulate” is in total opposition to their agenda, despite the fact they’re literally basing their entire argument on the sentence it’s in.

“Well-regulated” is really important to the Second Amendment. If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be in there. Yet, these gun fetishists ignore it entirely.

They don’t even comprehend “being necessary to the security of a free state.” You would have better luck reading the ingredients of your toothpaste to your dog.

The Second Amendment does NOT give a constitutional right to specific guns. The Supreme Court issued a ruling on that years ago before presidents and senators owned by the NRA put justices on the Supreme Court.

Anyone who can comprehend can read the Second Amendment and tell you it does NOT give you the right to own a weapon that can fire 45 rounds in a minute. It also doesn’t say anything about the right to own an assault rifle to overcompensate for your tiny Republican penis.

Music note: I listened to Kool and the Gang, the Dandy Warhols, Def Leppard, and Deep Blue Something while making today’s cartoon. Yeah, I was kinda all over the place.

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.

Watch me draw:

NRA Slimers

President Joe Biden announced last week new regulations for ghost guns. Naturally, the National Rifle Association and Republicans are upset. But first, what is a ghost gun?

These guns are referred to as “ghosts” as they don’t have serial numbers and can’t be traced or tracked. Why is that? It’s because they’re created from DIY kits, do it yourself. They’re also created from other gun parts and even 3-D printed. These kits are legal. And anyone can purchase a DIY gun kit.

You don’t need a background check to purchase one of these “buy build shoot” kits. You can be convicted of domestic violence or other violent offenses and still be able to purchase a kit to make a gun. You don’t even have to be 18. A child can steal his parent’s credit card and order a gun kit. They’re also pretty simple and there are probably YouTube videos out there with instructions on how to build your gun. Don’t forget to subscribe.

These things are not like pellet guns. They’re real bonafide guns. Earlier this year, a student in Maryland, allegedly, shot a classmate. In 2019 a student shot five other students at a high school Santa Clarita, California.

The new rules will make the kits be regulated like other guns. You will only be able to purchase them legally through a licensed manufacturer. You will have to pass a background check. These guns will have serial numbers. What market are these manufacturers aiming for since they haven’t given them serial numbers already?

Nearly everything you purchase has a serial number. The computer, tablet, or phone you’re reading this on has a serial number. My guitars all have serial numbers. Cars have serial numbers. The parts inside the cars have serial numbers. Why wouldn’t a product made with only one purpose, to kill people, not have a serial number? Mattresses come with warnings not to tear off a tag with a serial number but these guns don’t have them?

Model airplanes you can purchase in a kit and build yourself come with…wait for it…serial numbers. Ghost guns only exist for people who can’t legally buy guns.

Of course, the NRA doesn’t like this. They responded in a statement that said the Biden administration isn’t “truly sincere” on curbing violent crimes until criminals are put behind bars. The NRA isn’t sincere about curbing violent crimes when they’re opposing efforts to stop putting weapons into the hands of violent criminals. Again, ghost guns are made for criminals.

Andrew Arulanandam, an NRA spokesgoon, said, “An administration that’s truly sincere and resolute about curbing violent crime rates would do one thing: take violent criminals off the streets immediately. Yet, the Biden administration allows these criminals who kill and maim with callous and reckless abandon, again and again, to roam the streets of Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and other cities large and small across our country without fear of prosecution and punishment. Also, my balls still haven’t dropped. Thanks, a lot, Biden!”
I might have added that last part.

The goon added, “Americans know the lenient bail system and the revolving door justice system supported and perpetrated by the Biden administration and other leaders who support soft-on-criminal policies are the problem.”

These are two separate issues. Another separate issue is Russian money going into the NRA which then spends it on Republican political campaigns. We could multitask and regulate ghost guns while also charging NRA officials for violating campaign donation laws. I bet they’d appreciate that “lenient” bail system in then.

The goon also said about the president, “His gun control actions will undoubtedly hearten his wealthy gun control supporters.” The NRA took thousands of dollars from the Russian government while Russian spies were infiltrating its ranks. Russia has strict gun laws while Vladimir Putin loves helping the NRA put more guns on the street so people in this country will keep shooting each other. There are still questions about who financed an NRA “special projects” trip to Moscow.

House Republican goon Thomas Massie was also livid about the new regulations. He tweeted, “The Constitution does not authorize the federal government to prevent you from making your own firearm.” Yeah? It also doesn’t prohibit DIY guns from being regulated like other guns. The Biden administration is NOT banning making your own gun. See the trick in the goon’s statement?

Included with that tweet was, “This a fact that has been recognized for 200+ years. Also, Article 1, Section 1 (literally the first operative sentence in the Constitution) says Congress makes law, not POTUS!” But aren’t the laws regulating guns already made? Background checks are already law. These gun kits are guns. They should fall into the laws that already exist, you know…the ones made by Congress. By the way, there’s not an IQ test to be a member of Congress. Also, this goon didn’t tweet “Congress makes laws, not the president” about any of Donald Trump’s 220 executive orders.

Also, I don’t want to hear another MAGA goon cite the Constitution when they allowed a president (sic) to extort the president of Ukraine and incite a coup attempt.

You would think the NRA and Republicans would want these guns regulated. Instead of providing deflections and distractions with a bunch of whatabouts, they should be leading the charge to regulate guns. Regulating guns is not taking guns away. Why are they protecting a system that makes it easier for bad guys to get guns? Why are they supporting children buying guns?

The NRA and Republican position in support of unregulated ghost guns will do nothing but create more ghosts.

Music note: I listened to a bunch of REM and Pearl Jam while drawing today.

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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No Sleep ‘Til Gun Control

I love trains. I don’t have a love affair with them the way President Joe Biden does, who commuted on Amtrak daily when he was a Senator from Delaware, but I really like trains.

It’s easier to travel on a train than on a plane, and so much better than a bus. Airports are huge hassles while to get on a train, you just show the ticket guy your ticket. Actually, you get on the train first and then you show him your ticket. It’s so easy when I have a trip to Washington, DC as I don’t have to screw with traffic or parking. It’s the same with going to New York City. And the greatest thing about going to those cities on a train is that after you arrive, you get on another train to your destination. If you work it right, you leave your house, get on a train, and you’re dropped off a few blocks from your hotel (unless your hotel is in Georgetown). It’s easy.

Amtrak has moments where it’s a pain, like the time the air conditioning went out during summer on a trip home from North Carolina while I was trying to meet my CNN deadline in the cafe car, but it’s still a great way to travel. The trains I really love are subways. I still have NYC and DC train cards with a few bucks on them. I want to live in a city with a huge train system, but I can’t afford it.

Subways get a bad rap. A lot of people have told me they’ll never get on the New York subway because it’s not safe. I’ve had people in New York City tell me to never take the subway. I was at an Irish bar in midtown Manhattan and two brothers I was in a conversation with told me that whatever I do, to “never take the subway.” They were way too late with their advice. I’ve taken the New York subway all over Manhattan, through the Bronx, and into Brooklyn. I haven’t gone through Queens yet, but I will when I go see the Mets. But I’ve taken the subway through the Bronx at night and wasn’t afraid (there’s a train system on Staten Island but it’s not connected to the other four boroughs). And yeah, you see freaks talking very loudly to themselves and there are smelly people, but you also see women alone with their babies. I’ve seen groups of kids without adults on the Washington Metro. The Metro is pretty safe, and despite the recent increase in violence, the New York subway system is usually safe. My biggest hassle with subways is that they can be confusing.

Washington’s train system can be confusing but it’s a lot easier to figure out. The Metro has six lines, 91 stations, and 117 miles of routes. New York City’s subway has 36 lines, 472 stations, and 850 miles of track. You can get lost. I had a conversation with a different guy in that same Irish bar who was NYC born and raised, and he told me he got confused with the train system. But, there are now apps for that kind of stuff. I would look on my phone while in my hotel room to see when the next train was arriving at the station around the corner.

I used to get confused with the Metro until I traveled on the Subway. I don’t have any more problems understanding Washington’s Metro.

To me, it doesn’t make sense not to take the trains if you’re in a city that has them. Do I feel safe in the stations? I’ve drawn cartoons in NYC’s underground stations.

You may need to make adjustments as circumstances change, like during the COVID pandemic, but I refuse to allow lunatics to dictate how I live my life. I refuse to live in fear. I still rode in cars after being in car accidents, I still flew in planes after 9/11, and I’ll still ride in trains despite the shooting yesterday in Brooklyn.

A friend I grew up with will never go to Washington or New York City because he refuses to go anywhere without his guns. To me, that kind of fear is worse than living with the very small chance you’re going to be attacked on a train.

Giving everyone a gun is the NRA solution to gun violence. Didn’t a mass shooting on a military base disprove that solution? And in the few instances when a “good guy with a gun” showed up to a mass shooting, the good guy doesn’t actually save any lives. The “good guy with a gun” in Sutherland, Texas in 2017 showed up AFTER the shooter had already killed 26 people when the good guy started chasing him. The shooter was done shooting. And the good guy went on a car chase after the shooter instead of tending to the wounded bleeding to death. Arriving at the scene of a mass shooting is the sick fantasy of every gun fetishist. I think the main reason for them to carry a gun isn’t for their own personal safety, but more for the day when they get to shoot somebody.

Also, how can police tell the difference between the good guy with a gun and the bad guy?

There’s a better solution than the yee-haw cure and that is….let’s get rid of guns. It’ll be hard to shoot someone with a gun if there are no guns.

We don’t have to get rid of all guns but let’s get rid of the guns that make it easier to shoot a high number of people in a short period of time. The Second Amendment gives you the right to bear arms, but it doesn’t state you have the right to own machine guns, which is basically what these assault rifles are. If nothing else, let’s put more control, requirements, and regulations into owning these weapons that are made strictly for the purpose of killing human beings.

“Gun control” is like the word “liberal” for conservatives. No pun intended, but it’s a trigger word meaning bad, much in the same way conservatives now use “groomer,” “woke,” “cancel culture,” “book,” and “personal hygiene.”

While there are people in this nation afraid of getting on a train or traveling to a large city, there are people in other nations afraid to come to our nation because of our sick fetish for guns.

Gun fetishists are afraid gun control will disrupt their entitled white-privileged gun-humping lifestyle. But their guns are disrupting people’s lives while they’re just trying to get to work.

The gun fetishists, the so-called “constitutionalists,” want us to live in fear. They want us to be afraid of getting on a train or going to a donut shop. But like I said before, I refuse to allow lunatics to dictate how I live my life.

Music note: I listened to Pearl Jam while drawing this cartoon. And I bet you thought it would be the Beastie Boys.

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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Defund The NRA

cjones08092020

The National Rifle Association has been a very secretive organization for decades. They won’t publicize their funding or even how many members they have, but there is one thing we know about them. They’re evil incarnate.

For years, the lobbying group has controlled the Republican Party (also evil) and has succeeded in blocking even the lightest of gun regulations. As more and more Americans die from gun violence each year, including children from mass shootings at their schools, the NRA pushes for more guns in our society.

The NRA has advocated for semi-automatic weapons over the lives of children for years. The NRA has blood on its hands. The NRA labels every proposed gun regulation as an attack on the 2nd Amendment. The NRA has positioned itself as the 2nd Amendment. And for years, like every gun nut on the internet, the NRA ignores the part of the 2nd Amendment that mentions “regulated.”

The 2nd Amendment is the most sacred part of the Constitution to Republicans as they describe themselves as Constitutionalists and argue the Amendment shouldn’t be touched. But if they could, they’d take out the word “regulated.” Of course, the 2nd Amendment is the only amendment they’ve read.

Now, the state of New York is going to war with the National Rifle Association. New York isn’t just looking to put a hurting on the NRA. New York is out to obliterate the NRA.

New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a 168-page lawsuit with the state Supreme Court seeking to dissolve the NRA and claimed four of its top officials “funneled millions into their own pockets” and described the NRA as “a breeding ground for greed, abuse, and brazen illegality.”

The suit was followed by another by the Attorney General of Washington, D.C., who filed suit against the N.R.A. and its charitable foundation, alleging the NRA misused millions of dollars of the foundation’s funds. So the NRA has a charity…just like Donald Trump did.

It’s funny how Republicans chastised the Clinton Foundation for years as corrupt, without ever having proof. Today, the NRA is being sued for corruption and the Trump Foundation doesn’t exist anymore.

The NRA is countersuing New York, claiming its 1st Amendment rights are being attacked and the lawsuit is entirely political. Proving the 2nd Amendment is the only one they’ve read, there is nothing in the 1st that grants you the right to steal money.

The NRA was chartered as a non-profit in New York state 148 years ago though their headquarters are in Virginia outside the capital. The four top dogs in the NRA being sued are Wayne LaPierre, the longtime chief executive, John Frazer, the organization’s general counsel; Josh Powell, a former top lieutenant of LaPierre; and Wilson Phillips (not the 80’s group that sang “Hold on for one more day,” but that might be appropriate here), a former chief financial officer.

LaPierre is accused of raiding N.R.A. funds to bankroll an extravagant lifestyle, even after being paid millions in salary and benefits.

The suit says over six and a half years, a personal travel consultant for LaPierre was paid $13.5 million, largely on no-bid contracts. Private flights were chartered for LaPierre’s wife and his niece. He took frequent trips to the Bahamas on the N.R.A.’s dime, often decamping to a 108-foot yacht called “Illusions” (how appropriate) that was owned by an N.R.A. contractor and included a chef and four staterooms. He lavished gifts from Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman on his inner circle, and once put his niece up at a Four Seasons hotel for eight nights at a cost of more than $12,000.

The suit says the executives enriched themselves, their friends, families, and allies, and took improper actions that cost the organization $64 million over three years. The lawsuit seeks to ban the executives from EVER again serving on nonprofit boards in the state of New York. Hmm. Just like Donald Trump and his three oldest kids after using their fake charity in similar corrupt manners.

This is a civil suit and the state’s AG has referred it to the IRS. There may be a criminal referral in the future. They should probably keep their eyes on LaPierre who likes to visit the Bahamas a lot. We have an extradition treaty with that country, right? Psst. We do.

The NRA is evil. It’s so evil, Russia is a big advocate for it. Why would Russia, a nation with strict gun control laws, send spies to infiltrate the NRA? Because Russia knows the organization helps destabilize the United States. There are still investigations into whether the NRA was used by Russia to funnel money into Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Leading up to the 2016 election, the NRA was a Russian asset.

Donald Trump said about the investigation, “That’s a very terrible thing that just happened The N.R.A. should move to Texas and lead a very good and beautiful life.” The word “Beautiful” is one of Donald Trump’s big words which is included in nearly every Donald Trump statement but at least he didn’t pronounce Texas as “Thexas.” By the way, the NRA can’t move its organization while it’s under investigation.

In the past, the state Attorney General referred to the NRA as a “terrorist organization.” They do support easy access to gun by terrorists. In fact, they’ve lobbied to defend a terrorist’s rights to get guns.

LaPierre is also said to have secured for himself, without board approval, a post-employment contract worth more than $17 million. This guy has used the NRA to enrich himself, just like Donald Trump used his bogus charity to enrich himself. What will we learn next? That LaPierre used NRA funds to buy portraits of himself and Tim Tebow-signed football helmets?

The Attorney General’s office took down the Trump Foundation. It took down Trump University. Now, it’s gunning (pun intended) for the National Rifle Association.

Could we actually see the dissolving of two evil organizations in one year? This would be a much safer nation, to itself and the world, with the destruction of the NRA and the Trump administration.

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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NRA Decay

cjones05012019

For this cartoon, I wanted to reference several attacks against religious institutions. While it focuses on the past week, it’s a reference to Charleston, Pittsburgh, Texas, Christ Church, the synagogue shootings that happened Saturday, and the terrorists attack on the churches in Sri Lanka. Then I thought I might have a problem because guns weren’t involved in Sri Landa and there weren’t any church shootings over the past week…then I remembered this is America. Of course, there were church shootings over the past week.

And there were. Yesterday in Baltimore, there was a shooting at a cookout near a Baptist church that left seven wounded and one dead. Another shooting happened the Saturday before at a funeral service in a church in Frederick County, Maryland that left two wounded.

Not all of these are hate crimes, but several were targeting people for their religions. In Christ Church, New Zealand, the attacker was hoping his hit on mosques would provoke retribution from Islamic terrorists. He got his wish as the attack on churches in Sri Lanka that has left over 300 dead was reportedly in response to the Christ Church attack.

The attack on a synagogue in Pittsburgh was by a white nationalist who hated Jews and while not a fan of Donald Trump, repeated many of his wolf whistles about George Soros and globalism. The attack in Charleston, South Carolina on a black church was also by a white racist. At the shooting Saturday near San Diego, there are reports the shooter was screaming about “Jews ruining the world.”

The San Diego shooter reportedly left a document on 8chan full of racist slurs and white nationalist conspiracy theories. The author claimed to have been inspired by the Christ Church massacre, as well as the shooting in Pittsburgh and motivated by the same white nationalist cause. The Christ Church shooter had also left a manifesto on 8chan.

The National Rifle Association has done everything in its power to make it easy for lunatics to acquire guns. Each time there’s a shooting at a church or a school, it becomes another fundraising drive for them as they use the incidents to claim they and the 2nd Amendment are under attack. They also use it to drive up gun sales. When people die, the NRA cries for the guns that killed them. So, it’s good to see the NRA in serious trouble.

Russia, a nation with very strict gun laws, used the NRA to pour money into the 2016 presidential election. There has been mismanagement of the organization’s funding and they are fearing they’ll go broke. Their president, Oliver North, who once sold weapons to Iran, resigned yesterday after trying to force out chief executive Wayne LaPierre. The most distressing news for the NRA is that the state of New York has opened an investigation into the gun group’s tax-exempt status. While the organization keeps its membership numbers a secret, there are reports it’s dropping.

The NRA, which is basically an organ of the Republican Party, may be the biggest defender of the 2nd Amendment but they don’t own it. They warn that if they’re not around then the 2nd Amendment will soon follow. The problem with focusing on just one Amendment means you didn’t read the rest of the United States Constitution. We need to protect the entire document, not just one amendment. The Second will be fine. There is not a movement in this country to do away with it. Gun control does not mean outlawing guns.

I believe in the 2nd Amendment. I believe in the right to bear arms. But that right doesn’t mean children have to die in school and worshippers have to die at their services. We can have the 2nd Amendment and safe gun laws. When it comes to full-access to guns or the lives of children, the NRA will choose the guns.

I don’t think the NRA is going to die but if it does, I say good riddance. A bad day for the NRA would be a great day for the USA.

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 the video.

Send In The Fembot!!!

 

cjones12202018Austin Powers defeated the fembots by crossing his mojo with their mojo. Apparently, crossing mojos will make a fembot’s head explode. I don’t think the National Rifle Association has any mojo to cross, and their heads will be the ones doing the exploding.

I am always intrigued that the loudest screamers are hypocrites and projectors. Everything Donald Trump says about his enemies turns out to be true about him. Hillary’s administration would be plagued by endless investigations? Check. Pay-for-play? Check. Corrupt charity? Check. Incompetent associates? Check. Massive deficits? Check. Womanizing? Check. Stupid? Check. Selling out to Russia and other foreign interest? Check, check, checkity, check, check.

Russian gun rights activist Maria Butina pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of Russia, admitting that she worked for more than two years to forge relationships with conservative activists and leading Republicans in the United States. Conservatives and Republicans are always the loudest about their patriotism, and always questioning that of others.

One of Butina’s main targets was the NRA, a group she identified in a 2015 memo as an organization that “had influence over” the Republican Party. She wrote that her relationship with the NRA could be used as the groundwork for an unofficial channel of communication to the next presidential administration. Both, the NRA and the Trump administration were eager to be influenced by Russia.

She helped organize a delegation of top NRA leaders to visit Moscow and meet with top Russian officials. She attended their conventions as an honored guest. She used their NRA connections to get access to GOP presidential candidates, including Donald Trump. The NRA even let her ring their bell for top donors, literally.

What’s being questioned is; how much money, if any, did Russia filter through Butina to the NRA? Did any of that money end up in the Trump campaign? What did the NRA know of Russia’s efforts to influence U.S. policy? What did the NRA get in return? Why would Russia, where gun rights are extremely restricted, be so willing to promote gun ownership in America?

Was the NRA willing accomplices or where they just stupid enough to be tricked by a pretty smile and a head full of red hair?

Now Butina has pleaded guilty and has entered into a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. She’s flipping on somebody, but whom? Would prosecutors make a plea deal with her just for information on Alexander Torshin, a former Russian government official who helped direct her activities? There’s not much prosecutors can do to Torshin as he’s not in the country and barred from entering. Torshin is also a lifetime member of the NRA.

The NRA is extremely secretive about how many members they truly have and how much money they make. They have turned over documents related to Butina to the Senate Finance Committee, but they haven’t turned over requested financial records. Why not? What are they hiding?

The NRA’s political action committee and political nonprofit arm together shelled out $54.4 million on the 2016 presidential campaign, which was triple the amount they spent on the 2012 race. $30 million of that money went to efforts to help the Trump campaign. Did any of that money come from Russia? It’s illegal for foreign citizens to fund political efforts in the United States.

Donald Trump, who probably owns a Swedish-Made Penis Enlarger, and the NRA never had any mojo. If you’re looking for mojo, look toward federal prosecutors, because heads are about to explode. But, hey…the NRA usually likes things that explode.

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.