Putin

Slingers

cjones08012019

The Senate Intelligence Committee issued a new report yesterday that Russia probably targeted the election systems in all 50 states in 2016, the federal government didn’t adequately warn the states, and the threat persists heading into the 2020 presidential, Senate, and Congressional campaigns.

The report states they started the meddling as early as 2014 and continued into 2017. U.S. officials believe the Russians probably scanned systems in every state, such as election-related web pages, voter ID information, election system software, and election service companies. Two years ago, the Department of Homeland Security disclosed that the Russian government, including their military, had hackers target 21 states during the 2016 campaign.

During Robert Mueller’s congressional testimony this week, he described how Russia’s meddling was not a “hoax,” that the Trump campaign welcomed their interference, and that Russia was “doing it as we sit here.” Republicans on the Congressional Judiciary and Intelligence committees scoffed and downplayed Russias interference and favoritism toward Donald Trump. Republicans and Trump are more concerned about “liberal” paper straws than Russians attacking us.

The Russians are doing it now “as we sit here” and they’re doing it to help reelect Donald Trump. Trump has spent his entire presidency kowtowing to Russia and Vladimir Putin. He invited Russians into the Oval Office where he gave them classified information that was obtained by a U.S. ally. He has refused to call out or blame Putin for the interference, which is an attack on our country which he took an oath to protect. He stood next to Putin in Helsinki and took his word over that of our National Intelligence. However, he did declare that our national security has been threatened by Canadian cheese.

On the same day the report was issued, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked two election security measures that would help keep our elections free and fair. McConnell argued that the bills would give Democrats a “political benefit.” He’s right in that free and fair elections, without Russian meddling, will help the Democratic Party because more Americans vote Democratic than Republican.

A House bill passed that requires the use of paper ballots and included funding for the Election Assistance Commission. It passed in the House with only one Republican vote. McConnell argued that it was partisan. Since when did protecting the United States of America, protecting our elections, and loyalty to our nation over Russia become partisan?

McConnell and Republicans have put more than party over country. They’ve put worship of a cult leader over their country, over our country.

Another bill blocked by McConnell would have made it a requirement for candidates, campaign officials, and their family members to notify the FBI of assistance offered by a foreign government. This sounds like a no-brainer but it would obviously handicap the Trump campaign as Trump has stated recently that he’d welcome foreign assistance in the next election. He didn’t even send it in code. He flat out said it.

We need leaders in the House, Senate, and White House who will protect the nation they swore to defend. We need leaders who don’t go swinging with Putin.

Creative note: I hate to explain this but if you don’t know what Sling TV is, then maybe this cartoon doesn’t work for you. It’s basically another internet service that offers premium cable channels and it can be used on smart TVs. There are commercials where people invited by a creepy couple for “slinging” confuse the term with “swinging.” Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally, married in real life, play the creepy couple shouting at neighbors, “You wanna sling tonight?” “Hey, Bruce, bring your mom.” I think they’re hilarious.

Support the cartoonist

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

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

Watch me draw.

Boris Baby

cjones07302019

Boris Johnson is the new prime minister of the United Kingdom and not the “United Kingston” as Ivanka Trump tweeted. The Princess of Nepotism underscores just how much we have in common with our greatest ally, and that is stupid, narcissistic, racist leadership that may destroy our countries.

And the two leaders, Trump and Johnson, have a lot in common. They were both born in New York City and wear bleached dead wombats on their heads. They’re both liars, Boris lost a newspaper job for plagiarism and even lied about Brexit which helped lead to its passing. Trump lied about Brexit too, claiming he stood in Scotland the day before Brexit predicting it would pass, but the fact is, he was in Scotland the day AFTER Brexit passed, predicting it would cause the collapse of the European Union, something he and Vladimir Putin would rejoice over.

As The Guardian compares them, “Both are loudmouthed man-children, with a history of adultery and other scandals, whose professional success is a combination of immense privilege, unscrupulous opportunism, and relentless self-promotion, all happily promoted by a complicit environment.”

Both are bigots. Just last week, Trump told black women to “Go back to where you came from.” In the past, Boris has referred to Africans as “pickaninnies” with “watermelon smiles,” to writing in a column for The Daily Telegraph that Muslim women wearing burqas look like “mailboxes,” “bank robbers” and “letter bombers.” He’s referred to gay men as “tank-topped bumboys” and female Labor MPs as “hot totties.”

Another thing they have in common is that they were both put into office by a minority of the population. Boris actually has a smaller mandate than Trump, who won roughly 46% of the popular vote, coming in behind Hillary Clinton by nearly three million votes. Boris was chosen by the membership of the Conservative party, which accounts for roughly 0.2% of the British population. Boris’ electorate is actually older and whiter than Trump’s. Both men will refuse to be leaders of their entire nations and will cater to just their base, which is racist white people.

Trump ran for president promising to build a wall on the southern border and Mexico would pay for it. Boris lied with a xenophobic strategy as well during the Brexit campaign, claiming Turkey would join the European Union and become a back door for Syrian refugees to enter the UK. Then, he promised to build a wall on the French border and make Syria pay for it (I made that part up).

Both men are prone to attack the physical appearances of others despite the way they look. Trump insulted then-presidential candidate Carly Fiorina’s face, called Rosie O’Donnell “fat” and “ugly,” and even called a winner of his Miss Universe pageant “Miss Piggy,” despite the fact he looks like a rancid muppet. Boris once said that Vladimir Putin looked like Dobby, the house elf from Harry Potter.

It’s interesting that within another similarity, you find that one difference. Neither man would be in the top office of their respective nations today without an assist from Putin, yet Johnson will criticize Putin while Trump only lavishes worship and praise on the Russian strongman.

When Putin said, “The liberal idea had outlived its purpose,” and “the liberal idea has become obsolete.” Boris said history would prove Putin wrong. Trump, being unable to comprehend that Putin was attacking western democracies and not his Democratic Party rivals and liberals in California, rejoiced in Putin’s statement and added that Putin “congratulated” him as “every other leader of every other country” had done.

OK, that’s another difference. Boris can read and comprehend.

Before the Brexit vote, the Russian government was interfering by promoting false information on social media with Twitter bots and Russian troll farms in a similar manner in which they meddled in the U.S. presidential election in favor of Donald Trump. Cambridge Analytica aided both campaigns and may have coordinated with Russia to spread their propaganda.

If there was no Russian meddling, Trump wouldn’t be in the White House and Boris wouldn’t be moving into 10 Downing Street today. Right now, Putin must be happy despite looking a lot like Dobby.

These two babies belong to Putin but its the rest of us who will have to clean up their mess.

Support the cartoonist

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

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

Watch me draw.

Wink Wink Nudge Nudge Hint Hint

cjones07032019

Donald Trump loves him some dictators and fascists. In fact, the highlights for him during this week’s G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan have been his dalliances with strongmen.

The U.S. government doesn’t want to sell any F-35 stealth jets to Turkey because that nation recently purchased a Russian missile system. The U.S. is concerned that using American jets with the Russian missile system will allow Moscow to gain intelligence on our aircraft. Turkey’s tyrant, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he believes Trump won’t block the sale of  the jets because of their “warm relationship.” Trump seemed to agree and said he was “looking at different solutions.” That solution will be Russia getting its hands on our stealth technology. But at least there’s a warm relationship.

Trump decided to hold off on additional tariffs with China because he loves its president for life. He also said he’d allow U.S. companies to continue to sell equipment to Huawei, overruling the U.S. Commerce Department which had banned those sales to the Chinese company. The U.S. has been in a global campaign to block Huawei from 5G communication networks, calling the company a security threat. As we all know, Trump doesn’t concern himself with U.S. security. He is a security threat.

Trump is a guy who endangers national security by ignoring his own security experts when they tell him to swap to a new phone so China can’t hack him. Trump claims he knows more about technology than anyone, yet he can’t operate an umbrella.

After sitting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who’s been accused of masterminding the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Trump declared that no one has “pointed fingers” at the Crown Prince. That was a lie as U.S. intelligence has accused the Saudi royal of being involved in the murder. Trump believes the prince is innocent because when he asked him about the murder, he made a frowny face. Grr, murder bad. Sell us more U.S. weapon technology and we’ll continue to rent Trump Hotel rooms and buy Trump Tower apartments.

Before heading off to South Korea, Trump tweeted at North Korea’s dictator, Kim Jong Un that he’ll be at the DMZ later if he’d like to hook up. Since Kim is the only person in North Korea with internet, he may have seen the tweet, which was like saying you’ll be in a local hotel room in his neighborhood for two hours if he’d like to swing by for a nightcap.

Trump’s best groveling and selling out of the United States was saved for Russian president Vladimir Putin. While sitting next to Putin, Trump was asked by the press if he talked to the Russian about election meddling. Jokingly, Trump leaned over to Vladimir and said, “Oh, don’t meddle in our election,” and the dictator and the wannabe dictator shared a laugh. Trump repeated the betrayal of the U.S. in Osaka that he did in Helsinki when he said, “Putin denies it.” Whether it’s a Russian attacking our democratic process or an Alabama Republican stalking teenage girls at the mall, they’re innocent in Trump’s eyes if they simply deny it.

On the one-year anniversary of the shooting at the Capital Gazette newspaper in Maryland that left five dead, Trump joked with Putin about “fake news.” Trump told Putin to “get rid of them” as he asked if he also had “fake news.” Putin does “get rid of them,” fake or not.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 42 journalists have been killed in Russia since Putin came to power in 1999. Of those 42 journalists, 26 have been murdered (the rest accidentally walked off the roofs of buildings or ate something that didn’t agree with them). But Donald Trump, the President of the United States of America and the defender of freedom, was able to joke about “fake news” with a man who has journalists murdered.

The security of the United States, our democratic process, and our guaranteed freedoms, like the right to free speech, does not concern Donald Trump any more than it concerns his supporters. The people who scream loudest about American freedom are the first in line to convert us to a dictatorship.

Trump basically winked at Putin when he said, “don’t meddle in our election.” When all this is said and done, I hope our justice system doesn’t put Trump in prison…WINK, WINK. NUDGE, NUDGE. HINT, HINT.

Did I say that out loud?

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.

Putin Summary

cjones04142019

I’m a cartoonist which means I don’t do math well, but I do know two plus two equals four. Here’s another equation that’s not difficult to decipher: When Donald Trump goes from “release the Mueller Report” to “don’t release it,” and his toady Attorney General William Barr won’t confirm if the White House has seen it yet, that means Trump has seen it. At the very least, someone has read the parts to him that aren’t flattering.

The Trump team is celebrating that the Mueller Report, according to Barr’s four-page memo, clears Trump of committing crimes when it comes to collusion with Russia. What they’re overlooking are the parts where Trump and his campaign was sleazy, corrupt, unethical, and disloyal to their nation. But, yay. No collusion.

Barr is still holding back from giving the report to Congress two weeks after it was turned in to the Justice Department by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Keep in mind, the Starr Report was handed over in two days. Barr is now “promising” to give it to Congress next week with heaps of redactions. If you get off on looking at sentences full of black boxes, this report is for you.

Donald Trump has falsely claimed the report exonerates him, which means his lying, stupid, simplistic, idiotic, kook-aid drinking, cultish, sycophantic followers are claiming he’s exonerated. Even Barr’s memo states the report does not totally exonerate him.

Trump doesn’t just deny his campaign colluded with Russia. He has denied many times in the past that Russia even meddled in the campaign, despite the fact every American intelligence agency had made that determination and his own campaign manager, son, and son-in-law were dancing with Russians in Trump Tower. Another person who loves to continue the lie is Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Tuesday, at the International Arctic Forum in St. Petersburg, Putin said the investigation was “complete nonsense” that had been invented by President Trump’s political enemies for “an internal audience.”

Putin also said, “It was clear for us from the start that it would end like this. A mountain gave birth to a mouse.” If Putin is correct and actually knows what he’s talking about regarding the report, that means he’s seen it too. I don’t know if unplanned Russian mountain sex produces rodents, but if anything, the entire situation is full of rats.

Neither Putin or Trump gets the irony of shouting “no collusion” while also echoing each other with the term “witch hunt,” which Putin used Tuesday while attacking the investigation.

While Barr is doing Trump’s bidding, he’s also doing Putin’s. While testifying to Congress on Tuesday, the same day Putin was talking about Mueller and polar bears (he was), Barr said, “The Office of the Inspector General has a pending investigation of the FISA process in the Russia investigation.” Yes. Trump’s handpicked Attorney General is investigating the investigation. He’s following in the footsteps of Congressional Trump poodles Lindsey Graham, Jim Jordan, and Devin Nunes and politicizing the Justice Department to go after…wait for it…Trump’s enemies. This is something Trump has been screaming for since he came into office…and promised to do as a candidate.

Our government is now going after people for investigating suspected Russian spies. The Trump administration and the Republican Party are more interested in defending and protecting Russian spies than our Democratic process. Protecting Vladimir Putin is more important than protecting Americans.

I have a spoiler for you about this investigation into malfeasance in the FISA requests and the investigation into Trump. They’re not going to find any criminal conduct. Even the Nunes Memo stated that investigators did not break the law in acquiring FISA warrants (EXONERATED!). But, the lesson here is if law enforcement agents do their jobs of protecting our nation against a corrupt president, then they will be punished for it. We’ve already seen numerous people fired for investigating Trump.

The Mueller Report says Trump didn’t break the law with collusion with Russia. It didn’t say Trump was clear on obstruction. Then, Robert Mueller turned the report in to Trump’s man who’s working with him to obstruct justice.

Vladimir Putin, who helped steal an American election and install the world’s biggest Cheeto shitgibbon dumbass into the presidency, is laughing his Vodka drinking, critic killing, Russian off ass.

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.

He Said He Didn’t Do It

CNN03032019

While still in Vietnam, Donald Trump said Kim Jong Un told him he felt bad about the death of Otto Warmbier, the American college student the North Koreans imprisoned in good health and returned to the U.S. in a coma. Kim also told Trump he wasn’t aware of the Warmbier situation until after he was returned home. Trump said he believed him. He said North Korea is a big country and Kim couldn’t be aware of everything.

The North Koreans used Warmbier for propaganda. They aired videos of him crying and asking to go home. North Korea has one TV station. Their media is government operated and is not a free press. When Otto Warmbier was used as propaganda, how could Kim Jong Un not only be aware of it but also not be the one approving the tactic?

For Donald Trump, if a friend claims innocence, or says “he didn’t do it,” then we need to believe them. He made that claim for Robert Kraft, Roy Moore, Brett Kavanaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Roger Ailes, and himself. He doesn’t do it only for those conservatives accused of sexual abuse. He does it for dictators. He said he believed Vladimir Putin’s denial over that of American intelligence that he meddled in the 2016 presidential election. He said he believed Muhammad Bin Salman’s denial of being involved in the murder of a Washington Post journalist that happened INSIDE their embassy in Turkey. Now, he says he believes Kim Jong Un.

Take note, that Trump also claimed he wasn’t aware of paying off porn stars, which has now become public that he was aware. When someone gives an unbelievable denial, Donald Trump should be an expert at recognizing lies in denials.

Also, during the summit in Hanoi, the Trump administration attempted to remove the press from an event, and not at the request of the North Koreans. We’re supposed to school them on freedom and democracy, not have them school us on propaganda.

It’s not just sickening that Trump, an American president, does this, but that so many Americans support his behavior. Do you?

Nerdy details and a bunch of roughs: After I drew a cartoon for CNN last week, I was hoping for the chance to do it again. I didn’t know it’d come the very next week. This time, I was contacted by the regular editor in charge of their Sunday opinion newsletter, Provoke & Persuade (before the first paragraph in the story, there’s a link to sign up for their weekly email. Do it). I got a little bit more than 24 hours this time too. We talked on the phone Wednesday evening and on Thursday, I sent her eight ideas. Yeah, eight.

As I do with every editor the first time I work with them on an assignment, I explain that my roughs are very rough. My editor, Pat said she liked all of them, but unlike Trump…I’m not entirely sure I can believe her. Maybe she was just being nice. I didn’t like all of them.

After I delivered the cartoon Friday afternoon, she asked me to remove one little detail before she ran it by their standards and practices department. I joked on Twitter that this was my first time to deal with a cable network’s standards and practices, but I have had to deal with it at newspapers. But with newspapers, it’s usually not a department and it’s just one editor who likes to say no a lot. In this case, after we removed the one detail, the department didn’t give us any trouble. Quite frankly, I was shocked in the first week that they didn’t ask me to draw Trump differently, like change his hair, ties, or lips.

Here are all the roughs and you can leave a comment on your favorite.

CNNrough7

This wasn’t my favorite cartoon but I do think it was the best choice for CNN. The Otto Warmbier story was getting bigger at the time it was selected and has only grown since. When they selected this cartoon, they didn’t know I was going to throw in a lot of details for each individual. I also replaced Bill O’Reilly with Putin. There were a lot of candidates. I did tell Pat that I was replacing O’Reilly with Putin, as I felt most people have probably forgotten the O’Reilly thing by now.

CNNrough4

I honestly thought they’d pick this one. Since they didn’t, I drew it for my syndication on Thursday night. You’ve already seen this finished cartoon. You may notice that as I draw many rough ideas, that the quality decreases with each cartoon. I get tired, OK?

CNNrough5

I really liked this one but I didn’t expect them to take it. I didn’t think it was the way to go for the top issue of the week. I felt the summit would take precedence. I don’t know if I’ll draw an official cartoon of this idea as I’ve already covered the subject. I like the simplicity in the drawing.

CNNrough6

I like this one a lot but I’m not sure it works. Maybe I like it because it’s a crowd scene. You know how I loves me some crowd scenes. If working for CNN becomes a regular thing, I need to work in one of my famous crowd scenes for them at some point.

CNNrough8

I like this one while also not being that crazy about it. I felt it was too obvious but I wanted to give it a shot with CNN because maybe they’d prefer something kinda obvious. But, they didn’t. I was fine with not doing this cartoon. Also, it didn’t really address the Warmbier situation as well as the one they chose. I did a cartoon similar to this before the first Trump/Kim summit.

CNNrough9

I didn’t like this one at all. Again, I was giving them something obvious, but I knew another cartoonist would draw this cartoon. I was right. I’ve seen it since I drew this rough. I’d say this was a lazy idea if I hadn’t drawn so many that day. The only excuse I have for this cliche is the change up of Kim asking for the shirt.

CNNrough10

I liked this one. I almost did it for my clients on Thursday night. I like that it shows Trump is not the great negotiator he claims he is. I did something similar with Trump’s head on Pelosi’s wall after the shutdown negotiations, but I was fine with tweaking the idea for a different outlet.

CNNrough11

I thought this was my last idea when I came up with it. I liked it when I thought of it and halfway through drawing it, I started to hate it. When Pat told me she liked all the ideas, I replied, “Even the Rodman one?” I’m so glad she didn’t pick this one. Why do I send editors ideas I don’t like? Scott Stantis (I think it was him), the cartoonist for The Chicago Tribune once told me he’d give an editor several pathetic, crappy, horrid ideas, and one really good one…to make him pick the good one. But, that tactic often burns the cartoonist as an editor is likely to choose one of the horrid, crappy ideas. I have been in the position before of trying to convince an editor that he doesn’t want to use something I thought up.

CNNrough12

After Pat chose her cartoon, I thought of this one. I didn’t intend to show it to her since she had made her choice. But, we were still emailing and I told her, “I actually came up with one more and it’s on the Mark Meadows race thing.” She asked to see it. I think she went from “oooh, I wanna see it” to “ew.” But at the end of the day, it was my very favorite. I waited another day to draw it as I wanted to tackle the summit first for my clients, but on Friday night I drew this one.

So that’s inside of the head of this cartoonist for one day. Now you may need a shower. Thank you for tolerating and patronizing my weirdness.

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.

Burn Your Notes

cjones01192019

According to the dictionary, a cult is a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object and a misplaced or excessive admiration for a particular person or thing. It’s a cult of personality surrounding a leader. It’s less about policy and more about adoration. It’s also less about facts and members of a cult will deny reality, truth, and perceive any criticism of their leader as an attack. North Korea is an entire nation in a cult. In the United States, Trump defenders are now sycophants, and they are in denial of reality. Trump defenders are a cult.

A conservative cartooning colleague of mine posted on social media today, that it’s hard to be friends with liberals when they think you’re a racist or a member of a cult. My answer to him is, if you’re supporting Trump then you might be a racist, you’re definitely in a cult, and I don’t want to be your friend. No friend request has been sent. He can get over himself.

You have to surrender objectivity to support Trump and claim that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and the newly reported FBI inquiry into whether Trump is acting to advance Russia’s interests and is a national security risk are all attacks by a “deep state.”

The fault for an investigation into Trump belongs to Trump. While sycophants ignore Trump’s actions that advance Russia’s interest, our justice system can not.

You can’t ignore that Trump called for Russia to hack into his opponent’s email.

You can’t ignore that Russians met with the Trump campaign in Trump Tower, their campaign headquarters. You can’t ignore that Trump issued a denial that was a lie about Russian adoptions. We initially thought the president wrote the denial for his son, Donald Trump Jr, but now we learn that Vladimir Putin may be the author. Hours before the denial was issued, Trump sat down with Putin, with only Russia’s interpreter present, and talked about, wait for it, Russian adoptions.

You can’t ignore that Trump has worked aggressively to dismantle NATO, which delights Russia. You can’t ignore that there are new reports that Trump discussed pulling the U.S. out of NATO, telling officials that he doesn’t see the point of the organization.

You can’t ignore that Trump thought Russia cooperating with our FBI to investigate Russian meddling into our election was a “generous offer,” and not more obstruction.

You can’t ignore that Trump spent over a year denying Russia meddled into our election and believed Putin’s denial over his own intelligence agencies. You can’t ignore that Trump refused to call out Putin at their Helsinki summit, or at any point in his presidency.

You can’t ignore that Trump said he fired Comey to get rid of the Russia investigation, and bragged about it to Russians in the Oval Office, with only the Russian media present.

You can’t ignore that when Trump met with Putin in Helsinki, no American aides were present, which is highly unusual for an American president. It’s unusual as in; no president has ever done that.

Now, we have something else we can’t ignore. After Trump’s visit with Putin in Hamburg at the 2017 G20, Trump tried to conceal his talks with Putin from even the senior-most members of his administration, and even reportedly seized the interpreter’s notes after one of his meetings. The second time he met with Putin in Hamburg was unscheduled without any Americans present, which is where he claims they talked about Russian adoptions.

This brings us back to other huge facts we can’t ignore. Trump offered Putin a free penthouse suite in his Trump Tower project, which never came to fruition (and by keeping it hidden, gave Putin leverage on him). Trump’s largest lender is Deutsche Bank, which many believe is financed by Russia. And finally, Russia meddled in the election to elect Donald Trump.

While talking to one of his favorite sycophants on Trump TV, er, Fox News, Trump said being asked if he was working for Russia is the most insulting question ever, without answering the question. He later did answer with an angry denial. But he also denied knowing about paying off porn stars and a host of other things in the past that later turned out to be true.

Trump is a liar and a traitor. He has worked actively to advance the interests of Russia and Vladimir Putin. The only thing we’re not entirely sure of is if he’s a useful idiot or a willful idiot.

If you still support Donald Trump and defend him, I have to ask what kind of idiot are you?

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.

Putin Talking Points

cjones01092019

Did you know the reason the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979 was because of terrorism? Did you know the Soviet Union had the right to invade them? Did you know it led to the Soviet Union being called “Russia” today? Yeah, me neither.

First, a quick little history lesson.

Afghanistan was a puppet government of the Soviet Union. When an insurgency popped up, initially backed by Pakistan and Iran, the Soviet Union invaded to protect their puppet state. Their justification was the Brezhnev Doctrine, which was a policy they used to justify their “right” to intervene in the affairs of communist countries. This was a big deal during the Cold War and the Soviets had argued this policy when intervening in uprisings in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, retroactively. Russians are real big about revisionism, which we’ll get to in a minute.

Leonid Brezhnev was the head of the Soviet Union and he sent Soviet forces into his southern neighbor where they fought for ten years trying to protect communism. By the end of the war, the Soviets lost nearly 15,000 soldiers and their Afghan allies lost around 18,000. It’s estimated they had killed between 75,000 to 90,000 of the Mujahideen, the forces trying to restore Afghanistan back to an Islamist state.

Between 562,000 to two million civilians were killed with around three million wounded. There were about five million refugees and two million displaced.

The United States, along with the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, West Germany, Pakistan, and China, were aiding the Mujahideen (which included the likes of Osama bin Laden). Go rent Charlie Wilson’s War.

President Jimmy Carter’s administration opposed the Soviet invasion and even boycotted participating in the Moscow Olympics over it. President Ronald Reagan continued Carter’s policy of support against the Soviet Union. These were two presidents, Democratic and Republican who knew that the Russians were not our friend.

Earlier this week while engaging in an incoherent rant at a cabinet meeting, Donald Trump, the current president of the United States, said, “The reason Russia was in Afghanistan was because terrorists were going into Russia. They were right to be there. The problem is, it was a tough fight. And literally, they went bankrupt; they went into being called Russia again, as opposed to the Soviet Union. You know, a lot of these places you’re reading about now are no longer part of Russia because of Afghanistan.”

His rambling kinda reminded me of my college history professor, who was also insane. He once went on a rant about how great Montreal was until draft dodging American hippies went up there and pooped on the sidewalks. The subject we were on was not Vietnam or Canadian history. Fortunately, it wasn’t on the test.

I don’t know if my college professor was accurate at any part of his rant, or if he was off his meds like our president, but everything Donald Trump said was bullshit.

The war was not about terrorism, they did not have the right to be there, and Afghanistan is just one of many factors leading to the collapse of the Soviet Union. But where did Donald Trump get this idea about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan? I was a kid and I remember all of this, so surely an old orange racist fart like Donald Trump would remember it. Right? Since there has never been any sort of revisionist campaign in this nation about the Soviet’s invasion, how could Trump come up with such a cockamamie description? Putin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has much control over Trump, has initiated a propaganda campaign describing the war exactly as Donald Trump did. So, did Trump get this description from his master? Probably, but when? Did Putin feed it into his head during their private off-the-record chat in Helsinki? Probably.

Once again, Trump is doing Putin’s bidding. He’s advocating for Russian propaganda and even that nation’s pride. He’s arguing they had the right to invade their neighbor, undermining American policy and patriotism of Presidents Carter and Reagan.

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page, a friend to Trump’s policies and owned by Rupert Murdoch, called Trump’s history lesson “reprehensible.”

They wrote, “We cannot recall a more absurd misstatement of history by an American President.”

I can’t recall a more absurd human to occupy the office of the American presidency. I also can’t recall one more stupid, racist, traitorous, despicable, stupid, sexists, and appeasing to Russia.

Did I mention “stupid” more than once? I’m fine with that.

Trump is Putin’s puppet, and he appeases him again and again. He’s defended Russia’s attack on our democracy and now he’s advocating for Putin’s propaganda. I think Trump’s comments is further justification for his impeachment. I hope Mueller is taking notes.

Trump and Putin are trying to rewrite history. I assure you, history won’t be kind to them. Instead of rewriting history, I’d rather see Trump become history.

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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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.

Mueller Christmas

cjones12042018

Last night, CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin told Anderson Cooper, “Today’s the first day I actually thought Donald Trump might not finish his term in office.”

There has been a lot of speculation from people who dislike Trump that he wouldn’t finish his first term. You heard that before the inauguration. But, knowing just how difficult it is to remove an elected president, most legal analysts were skeptical. We’ve impeached two presidents and neither was removed from office.

Toobin laid out “preposterous” positions that Trump and his supporters now have to weave. They have to believe Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen negotiated a deal with Russia for six months without telling Trump, that Trump and Roger Stone never discussed WikiLeaks, and that Don Jr. never talked to his father about the Trump Tower meeting with Kremlin-linked Russians offering dirt on Hillary Clinton.

The same people who will believe each of those positions also believed Trump when he said he wasn’t aware of any payoffs to porn stars before a tape recorded by Cohen revealed Trump was in the discussions on paying off porn stars.

Cohen has reached a plea deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and what he’s revealing is enough to make the leader of a nation want to run and hide in South America. Argentina has history with hiding Nazis with Russian troubles.

Cohen is revealing that he lied to Congress to protect Trump and be consistent with his message. He now says Trump directed his initial financial crimes.

We learned that Trump’s liaison Felix Sater invited Cohen to attend an economic forum with Vladimir Putin’s Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov to negotiate building a Trump Tower in Moscow during the 2016 presidential campaign. Cohen now refutes Trump’s often-repeated claim that he had nothing to do with Russia as he sought the White House. Shortly after Cohen’s court appearance, federal agents raided the office of Trump’s tax lawyer.

Perhaps juiciest of all is a report from Buzzfeed that Trump tried to bribe Putin by offering to gift him the $50 million penthouse in the proposed Trump Tower. It is not normal for a presidential candidate to conduct business deals with a hostile government. It’s even more bizarre for a candidate to attempt to bribe a foreign leader. Where is the president’s loyalty if he’s in a urine-soaked bed with Vladimir Putin?

We have learned that denial to Trump means innocence and facts don’t matter. In regards to meddling in our election, he defended Putin by citing his denial. He defended Roy Moore over accusations of pedophilia by pointing at his denial. He’s defended Mohammad Bin Salman over murdering a journalist by using his denial. When Trump attacked Democrats who sexually harassed women, Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended the hypocrisy by championing Trump’s denial.

Trump spent the last two years denying he had any business relationship with Russia. On Thursday, he said the man who was his personal attorney, fixer, and vice president of his company was a liar, which is what he also called him before he produced the Stormy recordings. Trump went on to say he didn’t have any business dealings with Russia, but it wouldn’t have been illegal if he did. This morning, he’s admitting he did but it’s “cool.”

It’s not cool. We know Trump’s denials are always empty, and they turn into lies. Trump lied for over two years about having business with Russia. He lied every time he shouted and tweeted “no collusion.”

I’m not totally convinced that Trump won’t finish his term, but I do wish him a very Mueller Christmas.

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.

Deflect With Philandering

cjones07242018

We’ve heard this before. Many pundits have described the past week as the worst of the Trump presidency. Granted, it was particularly craptacular, but it has some stiff competition for the worst designation.

There was the week Trump praised Nazis. Who can forget “shithole countries?” What about feuding with a Gold Star widow? And, in case you have to be reminded, there are still baby jails. But, publicly kissing the ass of a Russian authoritarian who helped you win your election and taking his word over your own government’s intelligence agencies does leave a putrid funk. Add on top of it, Trump’s backtracking on if Russia meddled in our election, and the additional backtrack of saying Russia isn’t targeting us anymore. The only way it could get worse is if Trump invited Putin to the White House…aw, crap. At least his Director of National Intelligence didn’t have to find out about the WH invite on live television…never mind.

Maybe the heaviest confirmation that this was the worst week of the Trump administration, so far, is that they’re trying to change the subject to Trump’s canoodling with Playmates and porn stars and his repeated lies about it.

On Friday, it was leaked to the press that Trump’s former lawyer/fixer, Michael Cohen, had taped a phone call with then-candidate Trump two months before the election about paying a former Playmate for her silence about their supposed affair.

The FBI had seized the tape (and there may be others) during a raid on Cohen’s office. The Justice Department is investigating Cohen’s payments to multiple women before the election as possible campaign finance violations. Trump has stated in the past that the accusations of his philandering are “fake news.” But as we all have come to know so well, Donald Trump lies about everything.

Donald Trump has never issued any sort of statement, whether in an interview, tweet, press conference, answering questions on the White House lawn, or calling Fox and Friends while sitting on the toilet without lying.

The question about this leak is; who did it? The people who have the tape are the FBI, the prosecutors, Cohen’s lawyers and Trump’s. Trump complains about leaks while his White House is constantly leaking. The main suspects for the leak are on the Trump Team. Perhaps they believe talking about porn stars and playmates is a reprieve from the talk of Trump’s treasonous behavior. Maybe they’d rather his supporters carry the image of him being spanked by Stormy Daniels (the porn star who reminds Trump of his daughter) over being spanked by Vladimir Putin. Either way, they both have something on him (as well as the Playmate).

Is this tape dangerous legally? Possibly. Is it dangerous politically? Hell no. Polls this week show that Trump supporters, who wrongly claim Obama carried out an apology tour, love the way Trump is handling Russia, or how Putin is handling him. Trump once said he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and he wouldn’t lose their support. He could also sell out to a hostile foreign government and pork a porn star on that same street without any repercussions from his base.

During the Clinton era, Republicans said we can’t trust a man who is disloyal to his wife. They used it again last week against FBI agent Peter Strzok (oh, the hypocrisy). But, is reminding us about Trump’s disloyalty, to his wife and nation, the way to go?

Trump is loyal only to Trump. It’s probably on Michael Cohen’s tape, and it’s definitely on the Helsinki tape.

Watch me draw.

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