RBG

Ruth And Betty

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It was a struggle for me a few weeks ago when I did a cartoon honoring Betty White after her death. I was happy with the cartoon I did create and it did really well with my clients and on social media, which is rare. A couple days later, I thought of this idea and did one of those I-should-have-had-a-V8 slaps to my head. This was more my style. But, I decided to save it for Betty’s 100th birthday. My plan was to do the cartoon a day or two before her birthday so my newspaper clients could run it on her birthday. And then I forgot.

Over the weekend, I drew cartoons on Boris Johnson, Prince Andrew, Glenn Youngkin, and on Trump’s racists (which got me slapped by TikTok and YouTube. Racists have feelings, you know). I totally spaced out on Betty’s birthday. I usually tell Alexa to remind me of something upcoming, but I whiffed on this one. Alexa already has about 50 reminders for me and sometimes I don’t enunciate well and then six months later, I can’t understand what Alexa is reminding me to do. What the hell is “upload to goats?”

When Betty died, there was a lot of focus on her not making it to her 100th birthday, which was only weeks away. There was even a TV special planned for the event. Apparently, Death doesn’t care much for Neilsen ratings. But living to 99 is still an accomplishment, especially considering Betty White had good health for most of her life which is probably something required to live to be 99. I think the real injustice is that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg didn’t survive long enough for her replacement to be someone who shares her values, and before Republicans and Donald Trump would be able to put a cult-dwelling lunatic in her seat.

And you know what? Ruth Bader Ginsburg did survive long enough for her replacement to be someone more like her. I mean, she lived long enough if you were going to go by the Mitch McConnell rule for SCOTUS nominees. It was just too bad Mitch McConnell didn’t go by the Mitch McConnell rule for SCOTUS nominees.

Obama had ten months left in office when Justice Antonin Scalia died but McConnell said they couldn’t replace a justice in an election year as the people need to decide at the ballot box in the upcoming November election of 2016. Except, the people did decide when they elected President Obama to serve four years in 2012. McConnell refused to allow Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, a hearing. After Trump came into office with the aid of Vladimir Putin meddling in our election, McConnell gave the nomination to the orange toddler.

Four years later, in 2020, when Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, it was two months before the election. This time, McConnell rushed through the nomination of Amy Coney Barret, a right-wing religious zealot. His argument was that the people had spoken by giving the Senate the Republicans. But, going on Mitch’s previous argument, the people should have been allowed to have their say in the upcoming November 2020 presidential election, where they selected Joe Biden. Also, his argument about the people choosing a GOP senate is bunk too as most American voters voted for Democratic candidates for the United States Senate.

For the slow kids (Republicans), the U.S. Senate isn’t decided by population. It’s decided by states. It doesn’t matter if your state only has 500,000 people or 40 million, it gets two senators. Wyoming’s population is so small that they only have one representative in the House (which is decided by population). But Wyoming also gets two senators, the exact number California has, where the population is represented by 54 House representatives. If that doesn’t seem fair, it’s because it isn’t. Why should you have more representation than I do?

My point is, Mitch McConnell is a sonofabitch and you can’t trust him on anything. He lies. He doesn’t have principles. If he ever puts a line in the sand, the line moves. If the Golden Girls was still on TV when Betty White died, Mitch McConnell would have stolen that seat and had given it to Ann Coulter.

People like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema need to be aware of this. These two are so dedicated to the filibuster that they refuse to bend for voting rights. How in the hell is the filibuster more sacred than voting rights? But if the GOP retakes the Senate, Mitch McConnell isn’t going to care that two Democrats saved the Filibuster when their party had control. He doesn’t feel a need to honor the principles and ethics of others. He doesn’t care if people point out that he totally lacks principles and is a lying thieving hypocrite. He chuckles when people call him “Cocaine Mitch”. He laughed when asked if he’d replace a Supreme Court justice if an opening came up in the last year of a Trump presidency (sic). I remember this because it made my skin crawl.

The really bad thing is, while Sinema may be a newbie, kinda stupid, and not aware of this, Joe Manchin is fully aware of this. He’s been around long enough. He knows better. He knows you can’t trust Mitch McConnell or any of the Republicans. Unless he has amnesia, he doesn’t have an excuse.

I like Betty White. She was a great person. But when she died, I wasn’t sad because she was 99. I was much sadder and truly mourned when Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. When RBG died, we lost a lot more.

Music Note: The music I listen to while drawing usually doesn’t have anything to do with the cartoon’s subject matter. It’s usually something to put me in a zone for shading, crosshatching, and coloring. For today’s cartoon, I listened to the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, which has nothing to do with Betty White or Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

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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.

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Watch me draw: There will not be any new YouTube videos for at least the next two weeks. I’m on suspension…again.

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Republican Hypocrites

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“The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”

That was Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2016 after the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia left a vacancy. If you were unsure if McConnell was full of shit then, today’s actions by him and his GOP colleagues confirms it.

The Republican argument in having a new position is that now, the president (sic) and Senate are of the same party. But, that doesn’t change the fact there is an election in 43 days. That doesn’t change the fact we can have a new president and even a new Senate in January.

The fact of the matter is, Mitch McConnell, Donald Trump, and the Republican Party don’t care about being hypocrites. They never had integrity or a sense of fairness. The only reason they bark out some stupid bullshit about the president (sic) and Senate being the same party now, something they didn’t stipulate in 2016, is because they need some bullshit. I mean, they can’t just come out and say it’s a power grab and they don’t care. They can’t admit they’re hypocrites.

If they had to, they’d create some new crap like there’s a exception for a president with a bad combover.

McConnell was on Sean Hannity’s show fairly recently where Hannity praised Trump for being so much better than President Obama at nominating judges. McConnell actually corrected him and said Obama was good at nominating, but that he, McConnell, was good at blocking them. Then McConnell let out a sick giggle.

Republicans don’t care about decency, fairness, or integrity. They definitely don’t care about the Constitution. And hey, when it’s all said and done, the court may not matter if we’re in a fascist system.

But, they’re rushing to fill this seat because the argument they clung to in 2016 may be true this year. Donald Trump may be rejected by the American people again, but this time, tossed out of office. The United States Senate may be in Democratic control. The fact the Republicans are forcing this vote on a new justice, before the election or the end of the year, is because it’s a power grab. It’s because they’re afraid the people will have a say.

In fact, a new poll shows that 62 percent of Americans want the confirmation to wait. Maybe America feels kinda weird about an impeached president making lifetime appointments to the highest court in the nation.

When McConnell made the statement about Americans having a say in their next Supreme Court Justice, he said, “THEIR” Supreme Court Justice. He was momentarily correct in that the seat belongs to us, not to the Republican or Democratic Party. They’re playing politics with our lives for the next forty years. In a few months, their politics may mean an end to legal abortion. It may mean an end to healthcare coverage for millions of Americans.

I can change my positions too. I was against adding new seats to the court. Now, I’m for it. If the Republicans are going to steal seats from Democrats and refuse to play by their own rules, and a stupid, racist president who is a tool of Russia can’t nominate anyone who can garner 60 votes, then let’s do some power grabbing of our own. Increase the number of seats and while we’re at it, let’s make Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico states. That’ll give Democrats four more Senate seats.

What’s good for the goose is good for the hypocritical gander.

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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Notorious

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In 2016, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said, “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”

McConnell was talking about the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. There were nine months to go before the next election, but damned if he was going to do his constitutional duty and vote on the the president’s SCOTUS nominee. He didn’t even give Merrick Garland, the nominee, a hearing.

Now, with the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and with a mere 45 days until the next election, McConnell is determined to hold a vote for Donald Trump’s nominee.

The American people did have a voice in Scalia’s replacement as they elected President Obama for eight full years, not seven years and one month. In fact, President Obama won the popular vote both times. When McConnell stole that nomination from President Obama, he gave it to a man the majority of the nation rejected.

Now, McConnell’s argument to vote on RBG’s replacement is that the American public elected Trump and his agenda (like they did for Obama…but they didn’t actually for Trump), and then they not only kept Republicans in charge of the Senate in 2018, they also increased their majority.

The thing is though, the American people wanted Democrats to control the Senate. Democratic senate candidates received 12 million more votes than Republican senate candidates. Unfortunately, we allot two senators per state. That means 40 million Californians only have two U.S. senators, while 40 million other Americans (from 22 states) have 44 senators. Fair? No, which brings us back to McConnell, that lying, sleazy, squirmy, wormy Moscow sonofabitch.

McConnell doesn’t care if he’s a hypocrite. He doesn’t care that he fails to meet his own requirement as the American people rejected Trump in 2016 and 2018. They’ll reject him again in 2020. In the past four years, two justices were placed on the court the majority of the nation didn’t want.

McConnell says the American people should have a voice in the next selection. Then do it. Use your voice. Shout that worm down.

I am a hard core radical when it comes to Trump’s court nominees. Since Donald Trump wasn’t elected and was aided by a foreign nation…and helped during this election, which he asked for because he’s a criminal…then I believe every single one of his nominees should be tossed, impeached, removed, sent home, cut off, no pensions, unemployable, set adrift on a raft to find an island somewhere…just get out of here. Hey, it’s not like I’m suggesting we set them on fire.

God speed, RBG. She served her nation well and in a historic fashion. Just like the stellar Thurgood Marshall was replaced with a wingnut like Clarence Thomas, who didn’t deserve to stand in Marshall’s shadow less enough take his seat, I’m certain Donald Trump and McConnell will replace RBG with a fucknut of their one who pales in comparison.

Can the GOP replace RBG before the election? Doubtful. But they can do it before Joe Biden is sworn in.

When Republicans stole the nomination from President Obama, they dared us to hold them to their word. Now, they’re all like, “word?”.

Republicans like McConnell and Trump don’t care about being hypocrites. They don’t care about being honest. They don’t care about the Constitution. But know this: We never have to believe anything they ever say ever again. Not that we weren’t already doing that.

If you’re down and depressed over this, I can’t make you feel better; I am distraught, too. The shitweasels are having their way over the will of the rest of the nation.

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

Watch me draw.

Stressing RBG

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Writer Morgan Jerkins recently wrote for The Washington Post that obsessing over the health of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is bad for democracy, bad for her, and bad for us. I totally agree with that, but what is also bad for us is the presidency of one Donald J. Trump.

After having a Supreme Court seat stolen from a Democratic president and given to a racist nincompoop installed by a hostile foreign power, then watching Senate Republicans change the vote requirements for confirming two staunch conservatives, liberals, moderates, and anyone else who cares about the direction of this nation has every right to worry about the Notorious RBG. As understandable as it is, it’s also morbid.

It’s not just morbid that Republicans and Trump sycophants are wishing for her demise, it’s morbid that our hope for her health is less about her and more about the bench. It’s like you’re picking up ice cream on the way home, and your family hopes you’re not in an accident because they really want ice cream.

It will be truly damaging for our nation if Trump gets a third SCOTUS pick when he rightfully never should have gotten one. But, liberals need to take the court as seriously as Republicans. Republicans are always obsessing about the court and hoping to overturn Roe v. Wade in the future. Democrats are complacent because they have the law in place they want, ignoring that there is a real possibility it can be taken away. Republicans are much better at turning out the vote over the Supreme Court. Liberals need to catch up.

RBG has received much attention lately. There has been a recent documentary, a movie of her life starring Felicity Jones, and even her workout routine has been documented. Ginsburg has survived both colorectal and pancreatic cancers. This month, she missed her first oral argument in 25 years while recovering from surgery for lung cancer.

While she is 85 and we worry about her health, she can probably climb more stairs than 72-year-old Donald Trump.

I try not to be as morbid about RBG, and I hope she outlives the Trump presidency/disaster and has a long and healthy retirement. But honestly, I’m the people in my cartoon. My heart jumps into my throat every time some news anchor starts a report on her. They need to start their reports with, “She is just fine so don’t panic. Today Ruth Bader Ginsburg, blah blah blah.” Stop giving me micro heart attacks, media.

I’ve had this cartoon idea for a couple months because that’s how long the news has been freaking me out over RBG (I have a large file of cartoon ideas, most of which I’ll never draw). So, if you stumble upon a wish, a shooting star, a lucky penny, a well, wishbones, a genie in a bottle, don’t be selfish. Wish for the health of RBG.

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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Abortion Ruling Wipeout

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Ever watch that game show Wipeout where contestants have to go through humiliating and extremely difficult physical obstacle courses to win the prize? The players are always getting knocked down, punched in the face, and knocked into a great big muddy pool. It’s a really cool show to watch if you’re drinking in a bar and the bartender won’t change the channel. Nobody watches that kinda stuff at home, or anything on that TruTV channel.

I drew a cartoon similar to this a few years ago that’s somewhere deep in my archives. There was an obstacle in front of an abortion clinic and I believe there were rattlesnakes and barbwire among the hazards.

Ever since the Supreme Court ruled abortion constitutional in 1973 Republicans have been trying to find ways to circumvent a woman’s right to choose, especially in red states.

Some of the obstacles they’ve constructed have been no public funding, no coverage of insurance, state-mandated counseling, licensed physicians, waiting periods, and making a girl call mom and dad.

Texas got real creative. They created a law requiring doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and clinics to meet the standards of ambulatory surgical centers. These laws were closing clinics thus making fewer of them in the state and forcing women to driver farther from home, sometimes to another state, to get an abortion. Republicans claim these laws are for women’s health. Republicans being concerned about women’s health is laughable.

States can not enact laws creating undue burdens on women seeking abortions. That’s exactly what the Supreme Court, even with a vacancy the
Republican Senate refuses to fill, ruled Texas guilty of doing. Several other states have also made ridiculous laws on abortion and we can expect many of those to be struck down soon.

Republicans love to create obstacle courses for abortion, minorities registering to vote, immigration, getting on welfare, poor kids eating lunch, etc. The only issue it seems they want a clear path toward is buying a gun.

I think there should be Wipeout obstacle courses for Republicans before they can enact ridiculous laws. If nothing else it would be amusing to see them land in the mud. Wallowing in the mud is where they are the most comfortable.

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