Walgreens just lost a multimillion-dollar contract with the state of California after the chain announced it would no longer distribute mifepristone in 21 states.
Mifepristone is an abortion pill. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, several states banned abortions. Now, 21 attorneys general have threatened to sue Walgreens and other pharmacies if they carry abortion pills. Instead of fighting for women’s rights over their own bodies, Walgreens caved in faster than Kevin McCarthy to right-wing Qanon conspiracy theorists.
Governor Gavin Newsome said, “California will not stand by as corporations cave to extremists and cut off critical access to reproductive care and freedom.” He tweeted, “California won’t be doing business with Walgreens or any company that cowers to the extremists and puts women’s lives at risk.”
The governor directed the California Department of General Services to notify Walgreens that it would withdraw a planned renewal of the contract that was supposed to take effect on May 1. California had paid Walgreens $54 million over the life of the contract, which allowed it to get specialty prescription drugs that were mostly used by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
California has the fourth-largest economy in the world. This is going to hurt Walgreens.
The FDA has approved mifepristone and Texas is challenging that in court, trying to remove it beyond its jurisdiction in states that allow it. Texas also tried to invalidate Pennsylvania’s electoral vote. Texas is that neighbor who lets their dog shit in your yard.
Abortion is healthcare. Mifepristone does have other uses but what’s going on here is that Republicans are exercising their religious zealotry over a woman’s body, they’re trying to dictate a woman’s healthcare. The 21 states, just like the Supreme Court, are basing their opinions, not on science, but on religious zealotry. This mess is an extension of the Trump disaster.
I hope we see other states stand with Governor Newsome and California. Every blue state should join California in standing up for women’s rights and stand against Republican fascism.
Creative note: I made a second version of this cartoon because I’ve been in this business long enough to know that most newspapers would never publish the word “boner.” But, I know some of my alt-weeklies will.
Music Note: I listened to REM.
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.
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.
I don’t have a policy against drawing two cartoons in a row on the same subject, but I discourage myself from it. Does it sound like I talk to myself? I do. Right, me? Yes, he does that. It’s annoying. But even if I did have a policy against drawing on the same subject two times in a row, I’d break it at times when I felt it was necessary…and I think drawing a cartoon on Tucker Carlson today is necessary, even though I drew on him yesterday.
The reason it’s necessary is that the Dominion Lawsuit against Fox News has provided even more revelations about the network.
The last batch of internal texts and emails from the goons at Fox News revealed that the hosts and executives didn’t believe the election lies. They didn’t believe Trump won. They didn’t believe Biden stole the election from Trump. They didn’t believe in the accusations of massive voter fraud. They didn’t believe there was an abundance of dead people voting. They didn’t believe undocumented immigrants were voting. They didn’t believe Italian satellites had changed ballots. They didn’t believe bamboo ballots lost the election for Trump. They didn’t believe George Soros was manipulating the Dominion voting system. They didn’t believe the deceased Hugo Chavez was a part of the Dominion voting system. They didn’t believe none of that shit but they gave all of it airtime. In fact, Fox News is still casting doubt on the election.
We learned from those texts that Tucker tried to get a fact-checker fired. We learned that Fox News was afraid of reporting facts out of fear of pissing off Donald Trump and their audience. We learned that Fox News was afraid that reporting facts would make their stock as worthless as stock in Truth Social.
We always knew Fox News lied, but now we have proof that even Fox News doesn’t believe its own bullshit. So why does Fox News knowingly report lies? Because they’re not news and they don’t have principles. Despite this, Tucker was handed January 6 footage by Speaker Kevin McCarthy which Tuckums has now used to lie about the white nationalist terrorist attack, saying it was peaceful and not an insurrection. Showing a photo of the Qanon Shaman strolling through the Capitol building instead of taking a dump in the hallways doesn’t mean he’s a peaceful guy any more than Hitler being a dog person doesn’t mean he didn’t murder six million Jews.
It’s true Hitler was a dog person which means a dog would rather go to Hitler when he calls than to Donald Trump.
But, people who watch Fox News don’t get nuance and context. The people who were screaming at me yesterday are totally unaware that Tucker knowingly lies to them because they don’t watch the real news. They only watch Fox. But even Fox didn’t report on Tucker’s phony exposé of the Jan. 6 footage. Seriously, after Tucker signed off on Monday night, not one host on Fox News mentioned the Jan. 6 footage.
The question I now have for Fox News viewers is: How are you going to buy Tucker’s bullshit when Tucker doesn’t actually believe in MAGA? I already know the answer and that is: They’ll ignore it.
Tucker has spent the last six years being a Trump sycophant, an asskisser, a toadie, a lackey, an apple polisher, a bootlicker, a ball licker, a fawner, a groveler, and an all-around cultist. As it turns out, Tucker drank the orange Kool-Aid but he didn’t swallow.
The new revelations reveal that Tucker, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham wanted to flex their muscles to enact change at the network, and not for the better. “I think the three of us have enormous power,” Ingraham wrote in a group text, adding that they have “more power than we know or exercise.” She continued, “we should think about how together we can force a change.” Hanitty told her to “keep thinking” and Tucker texted that “the first thing” they needed to do is “exactly what we want to do,” which is what you would expect a prep-school baby with a lifetime of white privilege to say. Tucker also said, “We are all officially working for an organization that hates us.”
It’s funny that they were outraged at their own network for reporting the news. Fox News was becoming a bit too honest for their brand of propaganda.
Tucker and Peter Doocy mocked Fox News’ journalists on the so-called “straight news” side of the network in a text exchange. Hannity: News destroyed us. Doocy: Every day. Hannity: You don’t piss off the base. Doocy: They don’t care. They are JOURNALISTS. Hannity: By the way, ever notice your name is like a “deuce,” you know…taking a crap? Doocy: What are you talking about? Can you give me an example? Hannity: Yes. Those MAGAt white nationalists who committed an insurrection on January 6 sure did drop a lot of doocies on the floor of the Capitol. Doocy: Oh, yeah. Well, just make sure that if Kevin McCarthy ever becomes Speaker and gives you hours of security footage showing MAGAts dropping doocies on the floor of the Capitol, you don’t show that part. Hannity: Of course not. If part of the deal for McCarthy to ever become Speaker is for him to give me hours of security footage of the Jan. 6 white nationalist MAGA terrorist attack, I’m gonna manipulate it like it’s a Veritas video of an abortion clinic.
After Fox News called Arizona for Biden on election night, the head of the company, Rupert Murdoch emailed a friend, “I hate our Decision Desk people! And pollsters! Some of the same people I think. Just for the hell of it still praying for Az to prove them wrong!” Spoiler: Arizona did NOT prove them wrong.
We also learned that when Murdoch was asked why he divulged confidential campaign ad information to Jared Kushner, he said, “I was trying to help Mr. Kushner. He’s a friend of mine.” That might have been illegal.
We also learned that Maria Bartiromo refused to call Biden President-elect. After the election had been called for Biden on the Saturday after the election, officially making him the president-elect, she texted Steve Bannon, “I want to see massive fraud exposed … I told my team we are not allowed to say pres elect at [all]. Not in scripts or in banners on air. Until this moves through the courts.”
But the juiciest (not the doociest) bit of the new revelations is that Tucker hates Trump. He doesn’t just hate Trump, he passionately hates Trump.
In November of 2020 after the election, Tucker texted to someone that Trump’s decision to snub Joe Biden’s inauguration was “so destructive,” adding that Trump’s post-election behavior was “disgusting” and that he was “trying to look away” like it was a Cheerios commercial with an interracial family.
Two days before the January 6 white nationalist MAGA terrorist attack, Tucker texted, “We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait.”
Tucker also texted about the Trump presidency (sic), “That’s the last four years. We’re all pretending we’ve got a lot to show for it, because admitting what a disaster it’s been is too tough to digest. But come on. There isn’t really an upside to Trump.”
And then Tucker wrote, “I hate him passionately.”
Tucker doesn’t just hate Donald Trump, he hates him “passionately,” which means he really really really hates him.
Tucker hates Trump more than he hates non-gender-specific Potato Heads.
Tucker hates Trump more than he hates sexy Green M&M losing her white go-go boots.
Tucker hates Trump more than he hates Sexy Green M&M’s white go-go boots being worn by Ron DeSantis.
Tucker hates Trump more than he hates a black president putting mustard on a cheeseburger/
Tucker hates Trump more than he hates black history.
Tucker hates Trump more than he hates having to share an elevator with a black guy.
Tucker hates Trump more than he hates democracy.
Tucker hates Trump more than he hates criticism of white supremacy.
Tucker hates Trump more than he hates Ukraine.
Tucker hates Trump more than he hates Putin haters.
Tucker hates Trump more than he hates an empty jar of mayonnaise.
Tucker hates Trump more than he hates getting a toy he already has from the McDonald’s kid’s meals.
Tucker hates Trump more than he hates real news.
Tucker hates Trump more than he hates having a black female vice president.
Tucker hates Trump more than he hates that his name rhymes with Fucker.
Tucker hates Trump more than he hates it when he confuses his blue M&Ms for Viagra.
Tucker hates Trump more than he hates Jon Stewart.
Tucker hates Trump more than he hates that cartoonists are still drawing him with a red bowtie.
But the one thing Tucker hates more than Donald Trump is us knowing Tucker hates Trump and that he’s been a phony all this time. Tucker has been an ass-kisser for something he doesn’t even believe in.
The good news for Tucker since his viewers only watch Fox News is they’ll never know how “passionately” he hates Trump.
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.
Today’s Comic Strip of the Day features a cartoon by Mike Beckom, who is a gaslighting MAGAt lacking critical thinking skills. His cartoon is a response to the revelation that Fox News knowingly lied to their viewers and presented The Big Lie that Trump won the 2020 election, it was stolen from him, and there was massive election fraud. The cartoon uses the tired cliché of the pot calling the kettle black, with the pots being MSNBC and CNN and the kettle being poor widdle innocent Fox News. The author of the blog, Mike Peterson, posted the cartoon in order to shoot it down, writing, “Nobody has produced any emails in which MSNBC or CNN declare, as Fox did, their intention of lying in order to preserve their ratings and stock prices.”
It’s a shame there can’t be fact-checks on the publication of every right-wing political cartoon.
I’ve seen Beckom’s argument posted by other righties, that CNN and MSNBC do the same thing Fox News does, knowingly lie to their viewers…except there’s no actual proof of it. The reason there’s no proof of it is that legitimate news outlets don’t knowingly lie to their viewers. The thing that bothers me with this is what bothers me with all conservatives in that they don’t base their opinions on facts, but then again…if you’re only watching Fox News, you won’t know the facts.
If you only watch Fox News then you are probably not at all aware that the Dominion lawsuit produced emails and texts between executives and hosts at Fox News revealing that they knew they were lying…and did so in order not to lose their viewers and to keep their stock prices up. There is not a text message in public of a host at CNN or MSNBC demanding that a fact-checker be fired, but there’s one of Tucker Carlson doing it.
So the same people who don’t know that Tucker Carlson knowingly lies to them probably watched him air footage last night gained from Speaker Kevin McCarthy of the Jan. 6 white nationalist insurrection, and calling it a “peaceful gathering.”
Tucker said, “The footage does not show an insurrection or a riot in progress. Instead, it shows police escorting people through the building.” This is cherry-picking. Tucker said the rioters were ” peaceful sightseers,” not “insurrectionists.”
This is why everyone was against Kevin McCarthy giving the unseen footage to Tucker because he would use it to create a lying narrative. I watched the attack live on January 6, 2020, and what I saw was an insurrection and riot committed by a bunch of white nationalist MAGAts. What I saw was a coup.
When McCarthy was struggling to become Speaker, losing vote after vote, Tucker said on his show, after the third loss, “First, release the January 6 files. Not some of the January 6 files and video… all of it… so that the rest of us can finally know what actually happened on January 6, 2021.” Tucker receiving this footage was part of the deal McCarthy made to become Speaker…that and giving Matt Gaetz foot massages every Tuesday.
McCarthy was fine with giving this footage to a liar who’d use it to harm the country. McCarthy doesn’t care how much damage this does to the nation, just so long as he has political power.
Now in Florida, where most bullshit happens, the legislature is about to begin its next session, and among the many dozens of bills to make DeSantis state emperor is one mandating that public schools and universities only teach the “right” history. You know, no black history. No history that can make a white kid feel guilty about the actions of white people in the past.
The party that wants to legislate how history from decades and centuries ago is taught is led by Tucker, who reconstructs recent history. These people can’t even get the history from last week right, and they want to mandate how the history of slavery and the civil rights era are taught.
If you want to learn history, don’t go to school in Florida… and don’t watch Fox News.
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.
The only bright spot for Will Smith from Chris Rock’s Netflix special, Selective Outrage, is that he knows at least one person watched “Emancipation”.
I pulled up Netflix Saturday night without any idea of what I was going to watch, which is a typical Saturday night for me now that I’m old and single. The first thing to pop up was Chris Rock’s live special, “Selective Outrage.” If I heard about this special coming up beforehand, I forgot. Since I didn’t have anything specific in mind to watch (more Community, IT Crowd, The Good Place?), I decided to check out Rock’s special which was coming live from Baltimore. I pulled it up during the pre-show.
The comedians during the pre-show were praising Rock and talking about how he was on fire and bringing his A-game, which to me was like when Trump announced his campaign for the 2024 presidential election, and Sean Hannity and fellow goons were talking about how he was on fire and unstoppable, even though they weren’t actually listening to the speech.
Did Chris Rock bring his A-game? Now take it from a white guy but one who watches a lot of standups and has seen several of Rock’s previous specials, but no. He was not on fire and he didn’t bring his A-game…until the last ten minutes.
Don’t get me wrong. It was good, not great. But everybody’s talking about the last ten minutes.
Rock joked about getting his own daughter kicked out of school, dating women in their 40s and 50s, Meghan Markle’s shock that the royal family is racist, and how black people will look behind a baby’s ears to see what shade of black they’ll be when they’re older.
The ear thing was news to me, but again, I’m white. White people don’t have to look behind a baby’s ears to see what shade of white they’ll be because we know that baby’s gonna be white and won’t be judged by the tone of its whiteness. I was aware of black people being treated differently based on their skin tone, as those with darker skin will deal with more racism, but the ear-check was an education for me.
Another education for me was Lululemon which I had never heard of, but I know about yoga pants. My friends and I have long conversations about yoga pants, and we don’t wear yoga pants.
Some of his observations were funny and honest like if Beyonce wasn’t famous and worked at Burger King, she could still land a millionaire like Jay-Z because of how beautiful she is. But if Jay-Z wasn’t rich and famous, he’d never land a woman like Beyonce (which Jay-Z would probably agree with). And then Rock said, “Last thing I need is another mad rapper,” which was a reference to being slapped by Will Smith at the Oscars a year ago. It was a running joke as he said it again after a Snoop Dog joke.
I was OK with Rock joking that parents should be allowed to kill their children until they’re four because it’s a joke and I had a four-year-old (they’re tiny terrorists), but I didn’t like him saying that every abortion is killing a baby because it feeds into the anti-science fundamentalist zealotry talking point used by Republicans who are banning abortions. But he was right when he said to women, “If you have to pay for your own abortion, you should have an abortion.”
And then he got to the slap.
Rock has said little over the past year regarding the slap. He’s referenced it here and there in his standups that weren’t big specials on a streaming network. But he’s mostly stayed silent. He’s been applauded for being mature and dignified over the entire thing. Not anymore. On Saturday night, Rock slapped back and I don’t think Will Smith will ever recover.
Rock said he loved Will Smith and used to cheer for him but now, he said, “I watch ‘Emancipation’ just to see him get whooped.”
I don’t really care about celebrity feuds or take sides. I’m still on the fence about Van Halen versus David Lee Roth. I honestly don’t know for sure where this one stems from. From what I understand, Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith had an affair. Rock’s theory is that Smith took his anger about the affair out on him. Rock said, “She hurt him way more than he hurt me.”
If you remember, and you should, Rock hosted last year’s Oscars and told a joke about Jada’s baldness which made Will Smith walk onto the stage and slap Chris Rock. Rock said the slap still hurts and that he has “Summertime” ringing in his ears a year later. I got that joke because “Summertime” came out when I was still young and listening to new music.
Rock said there are four ways people can get attention in our culture: Showing your ass, being infamous, being excellent, or playing the victim. Rock said he’s not a victim and you won’t see him on Oprah or Gayle (which is something else I had to look up. Gayle King, right?). But, Rock did play the victim somewhat by claiming Smith took his frustrations out on him after so many other people had called him a “bitch.” But if you want to find a room full of victims, go to CPAC.
CPAC, which was also in Maryland over the weekend, but not Baltimore, is the annual convention of racist Republican assholes so quite naturally, its keynote speaker was Donald Trump. Former Trump fixer Michael Cohen said the room for Trump’s speech was only at 40 percent capacity, and this entire convention was a Trump event. Cohen is a professional liar but a reporter for Vanity Fair who’s been covering CPAC for the past decade said he’s “never seen it more dead.”
Trump read a boring speech off a teleprompter for over 90 minutes in which he tapped into old grievances and told the white crowd exactly what they want to hear, that they’re the victims. He told them, “I am your retribution.”
Retribution for what? Losing an election? Failing at a coup? Liberals making you fat? No, that was McDonalds.
Trump, who plays the victim card daily, told the white audience that they’re victims, which is what they want to hear. White conservatives claim they’re the most persecuted group in world history never mind that throughout most of history, white people were the persecutors. Colonization was started by white people and going back to Rock’s jokes about Meghan Markle when it comes to racism, the royal family is the Sugarhill Gang, the “O.G. of racism.”
“Selective Outrage” could be the slogan for the Trump 2024 presidential campaign.
I’ll give Chris Rock’s special a B while Trump’s deserves an F. At least Rock brought new material. Trump, who told over 30 lies during his speech, played his greatest hits. We’ll keep hearing those “hits” of grievances and lies over the next two years. What we probably won’t be seeing is a lot of new Will Smith movies.
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.
I drew this Friday before I had the idea for my last cartoon on DeSantis that also featured Trump and Mickey. That cartoon was on the Florida bill that would require bloggers to register with the state if they write about elected officials. This cartoon is more about Trump versus DeSantis for the Republican nomination.
There were two Republican conventions over the weekend that featured dueling speeches and messages from Trump and DeSantis. Trump spoke and lied at CPAC while DeSantis spoke at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. But there was another speech (of sorts) over the weekend that I found contrasted with what Trump said that I found more interesting, and you’ll see that in the cartoon I’ll post later 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.
Some people may not get this cartoon, maybe even some who understand the issue. I hate to explain cartoons and I don’t write these blogs to explain my cartoons. If my cartoons don’t stand on their own, then they shouldn’t require help. But, I’m gonna blog about the issue anyway.
For the past three years, the theory that the coronavirus leaked out of a Wuhan laboratory, whether intentionally or accidentally, was mostly regarded as a conspiracy theory. Last week, FBI Director Christopher Wray (a Trump appointee) said the bureau believes Covid-19 “most likely” originated in a “Chinese government-controlled lab”. The Department of Energy has made the same assessment but with “low confidence.”
The theory that covid-19 leaked from a lab is popular with Republicans. Trump ordered an investigation, not into the cause of covid, but just to focus on the lab leak theory. It’s the belief that the virus leaked from a laboratory in the central Chinese city of Wuhan where the virus was first recorded and is 40 miles from the wet market where the first cluster of the virus emerged. The reason Republicans love the lab leak theory so much is that it allows them to pile on China and add to their outrage over TikTok and spy balloons.
China is not to be trusted with information and they haven’t been open with the investigations and studies of the virus. But I don’t believe China would inflict the world with a deadly virus intentionally. Honestly, we will never know for certain the origins of the virus, whether it came from a lab or occurred naturally and transferred from animals to humans (and Republicans).
The thing is, the leak theory is plausible but it doesn’t have a lot of support in the scientific community. The Department of Energy’s Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence and the FBI are two of 18 government agencies that make up the intelligence community, which are under the umbrella of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. They are the only two that’s grabbed onto the lab leak theory.
No new scientific evidence has been presented to support the lab leak theory. Is it plausible? Yes. Even Dr. Anthony Fauci says it’s plausible and should be investigated. But Republicans are using these reports as if they’re uncontested facts. Don’t listen to Republicans.
Remember, most Republicans don’t believe in climate change and believe life begins as soon as the pants are unzipped. Many believe in gay conversion therapy. One of the goons Ron DeSantis just appointed to a board that will try to direct Disney’s content believes people have been turned gay by chemicals in tap water. Republicans have used election lies to suppress voting rights which makes me believe they’ll use this information about covid to suppress something else. Republicans in Congress are already planning investigations into this. Expect more subpoenas for Dr. Anthony Fauci.
All the comments I’ve heard from Republicans about this leak have omitted the phrase, “low confidence.” Quite frankly, I have low confidence in Republicans.
Creative note: I drew most of this Thursday night, wanting to get a jump on Friday so I could spend most of the day on my CNN stuff. But come Friday morning, I thought of something else and did that. I really wasn’t sure about this cartoon but went ahead and finished it today. I wasn’t sure people would get it and sure enough, the very first comment it got on Twitter was, “Heh?”. Shit. Also, I don’t think any other liberal cartoonists have touched this subject.
Music note: I listened to The Beach 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.
This isn’t really happening, is it? Florida isn’t really going to force bloggers to register with the state if they criticize state officials, is it?
It is if fascist-loving Republican state senator Jason Brodeur has his way.
Hey, Republicans, if you want people to stop accusing you of being fascists then maybe quit the fascism. Hmm? And make no mistake about it, this is fascism at its very core. Did you know that bloggers in Russia with over 3,000 readers must register with the state? That way it’s easier for them to find you when it’s time to throw you off a building.
This bill is titled “Information Dissemination,” which is bizarre coming from the party of election lies. The legislation states, “If a blogger posts to a blog about an elected state officer and receives, or will receive, compensation for that post, the blogger must register with the appropriate office within five days of the post.” The bill defines “elected state officer” as “the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, a Cabinet officer, or any member of the Legislature.” Florida’s cabinet officers are elected and included the Attorney General, Chief Financial Officer, and Commissioner of Agriculture.
Failing to register your blog on state officials would result in a fine of $25 per day, capped at $2,500.
The bill also states the bloggers’ reports to the state “must include” the “individual or entity that compensated the blogger for the blog post, and “the amount of compensation received from the individual or entity.”
The state wants to know who’s saying bad things about officials and who’s paying for it. I guess that way, state officials can track down the financial benefactor and put the squeeze on them, if not the writer himself. Sometimes trying to pressure a blogger doesn’t work because I hear some of them can be crazy and out of fucks to give.
Several people contribute to this blog each month. They can vary from $1.00 to $15. There are not a lot of them but I appreciate each and everyone one of them for believing in my work so much that they want to contribute to it. They contribute to keeping it going. Now, imagine if I had to give the state a list of everyone who contributes. I would refuse, even if it became law.
The bill defines a blog as “a website or webpage that hosts any blogger and is frequently updated with opinion, commentary, or business content,” but it says the “term does not include the website of a newspaper or other similar publication.”
I think WordPress, which hosts this blog and millions of others, needs to hire some lobbyists and lawyers to challenge this shit.
Ron DeSantis’ spokesgoon said the governor was reviewing the bill and, “As usual, the governor will consider the merits of a bill in final form if and when it passes the legislature.” That was the wrong response if the governor loves freedom and democracy. Instead of saying he was considering the merits of some fascist legislation, he should have said, “This legislation, if passed, will go straight from the legislature and straight into the governor’s trash can.” Not this governor.
Who believes the governor who has punished Disney for disagreeing with him will veto this bill? Who believes the governor who outlawed the word “gay” from classrooms will veto this bill? Who believes the governor outlawing black history being taught will veto this bill? Who believes the governor firing elected officials will veto this bill? Who believes the governor trying to take over a state college in order for it to give a “conservative” education will veto this bill? Who believes the governor who just created a board of homophobic religious zealots to oversee Disney’s content will veto this bill? Who believes the governor who proclaimed that Florida is “where woke goes to die” will veto this bill?
I don’t think Ron DeSantis will veto this bill.
You would also think this is useless legislation since it violates the Constitution, but considering all the goons Trump and Mitch McConnell have stacked in the courts, who says it can’t get survive court challenges?
Brodeur needs more than a civics lesson. He said, “Paid bloggers are lobbyists who write instead of talk. They both are professional electioneers. If lobbyists have to register and report, why shouldn’t paid bloggers? Because in many cases, bloggers are journalists. A lobbyist has to file as a lot of their legislative efforts aren’t public. A blogger’s work is public. My cartoons and blogs are public and I rarely if ever talk to government officials. I don’t take government officials out to lunch or on fact-finding trips. I don’t play golf with congressmen. And what if a blogger isn’t paid?
Blogging is also speech. Freedom of speech is a constitutional guarantee. If I don’t register with the state, then I can’t say something about a specific topic? Republicans call themselves constitutionalists but it seems none of them have read the Constitution.
I haven’t read that this bill, if passed, would apply to bloggers outside of Florida. Maybe its author doesn’t understand he can’t legislate beyond his state’s borders. But I have half a mind to move to Florida just to challenge this bullshit bogus fascist legislation. But even without being in Florida, I need to care about this because Florida is still a part of the United States. Also, DeSantis is planning to run for president and I’m sure if elected, he’ll push his fascism nationwide.
Not in my America. When you go after bloggers and freedom of speech, you’re coming after me. You wanna fight? You got one. And if you think the mouse was tough, you haven’t tangled with a political cartoonist yet.
Frustrating blog note: I’m writing this at McDonald’s in Central Park. No, not the famous Central Park in Manhattan but the stupidly named Central Park in Fredericksburg which is not a park but a collection of strip malls with a neon design inspired by Las Vegas’ sunset strip. I’m not shitting you.
I came to Central Park to pick up my new eyeglasses. There were supposed to be two but apparently, I only bought one pair even though the salesman talked me into making sure the lenses for both frames were progressive, me handing him two frames, and us going back and forth about the lenses for both pairs. What really stumped me is that I paid the same price for this one pair that I paid for two last year. But OK, I bought one pair with a better set of lenses even though I wasn’t aware of that at the moment and they couldn’t compare to my last order because, for some reason, I have two accounts at America’s Best. Whatever. I have one pair now.
After picking up my ONE pair of eyeglasses, I walked over to Wegmans and got some rice and noodles from the buffet. I checked the notifications on my phone and realized I couldn’t read them because my eyes have not adjusted to my brand new ONE pair of eyeglasses at America’s Best, or they fucked them up. I had donated all my old pairs of eyeglasses to America’s Best to give to charity, but I decided to go back and retrieve the one I wore into the store. I did that, took a long walk to Starbucks to discover the lobby is closed, then walked back into the wind to write the blog at McDonald’s where I also ordered a mocha….and learned after paying that the mocha machine is done.
I also missed the bus to get down here so I had to order a Lyft. Quite frankly, the only thing that worked right today was the Lyft, the rice, and the noodles. Also, Madonna’s “borderline” is playing right now. “I feel I’m going to lose my mind.”
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.
Republicans aren’t worried about our nation being attacked by Russia through our elections. They’re not worried about white nationalist terrorists who try to overturn an election and install a fascist Oompa Loompa as a dictator. They’re not worried about school shootings of which there have been at least seven of this year (96 mass shootings in total over the past two months). What they are afraid of are drag queens.
Over the past several months, Republicans have been on a warpath for drag queens. What did drag queens do? Did they engage in an information campaign to elect a racist lying pussy-grabbing grifting moron to the presidency? No, Russia did that. Did they commit an insurrection by attacking Congress and try to install the losing candidate? No, white nationalist MAGAts did that. Did they spend months lying and feeding mistrust in our democratic elections to the entire nation, saying that Trump won when he lost? No, Fox News did that. Did they steal classified documents and store them in the basement of a country club then obstruct justice and lie to the National Archives and Justice Department about it? No, Donald Trump did that. Did drag queens inflict this nation with Nickelback, Bryan Adams, Justin Beiber, and Avril Lavigne? No, Canada did that. Did a drag queen pad his resume and lie about everything on it in order to win an election to Congress? Well, yeah…one of them did that. But everything else, they’re innocent of.
Hell, they’re not even responsible for other plagues on this nation such as the Kars-4-Kids commercial or that other one that sings “I have a structured settlement but I need cash now.” The only phone number I have memorized is 877 cash now.
The truth is, drag queens haven’t hurt anyone but if you listen to Republicans, they’re an incarnate evil. Several states are attempting to pass laws limiting drag shows and Tennessee is about to become the first.
“Thinking about the children,” the yee-haw fuckers that Tennessee calls Republican state legislators passed a bill that nearly bans drag shows. Passed along party lines and referring to drag shows as “adult cabaret performances,” Republicans have basically banned drag shows on public property and made it a crime to perform in drag before a child.
State Senator Jack Johnson, whose name means masturbating a penis, said, “I am carrying the legislation to protect children from being exposed to sexually explicit drag shows that are inappropriate for minor audiences. It is similar to laws that prohibit children from going to a strip club.” But not all drag shows are sexually explicit. They’re usually exaggerated and silly, which Governor Bill Lee, who’s promised to sign the bill, should know…since he once dressed in…wait for it, yeah you see it coming…here it is…drag.
Back when he was in college, Governor Lee dressed in drag. A spokesgoon for Ms. Lee, I mean, Mr. Lee, said drag shows are “obscene sexualized entertainment” while what the governor was doing is “lighthearted school traditions.”
Hypocrisy is a Republican tradition.
But if drag shows are sexual and obscene and Republican college students in wings and dresses are lighthearted, then what was it when Rudy Giuliani dressed in drag so Donald Trump could hit on him?
There are at least 14 yee-haw states looking to restrict or outright ban drag shows. In addition to Tennessee, there are legislative efforts being made in the red states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Florida, Texas, West Virginia, Nebraska, Idaho, Utah, Arkansas, Arizona, Afghanistan, Montana, and South Carolina. Guess how many fucknut red states are pushing legislation to protect schools from mass shootings?
If Republicans really care about children being exposed to inappropriate sexualized explicitness stuff, then they should outlaw children being taken to Hooters. Hooters is to strip clubs what Maxim Magazine is to Playboy, but with chicken wings. I took my son to Hooters on his 18th birthday because it’s my job as his father to embarrass him as much as possible, but you don’t take young kids to Hooters…except people do. They have a kids menu. On that menu are chicken tenders, sliders, buffalo shrimp, and boneless chicken wings. Now, there’s the outrage.
Forget drag shows. Tennessee Republicans should ban boneless chicken wings because they’re NOT chicken wings. That’s dishonest advertising. While they’re at it, they should ban burrito bowls and taco bowls because they’re not burritos or tacos. They’re bowls. I’m still mixed on whether or not hot dogs are sandwiches.
Republicans are also outraged about Drag Queen story hour, which isn’t that widespread but it’s not sexual or obscene at all, unless you think a guy in a dress is obscene. The biggest threat to Republicans from Drag Queen Story Hour is that it teaches kids to be tolerant and not to grow up and become homophobic Republican assholes.
Republicans behind the legislative efforts to ban drag shows say they’re not banning anything, but that’s a lie too. It’s a First Amendment violation. Let’s say you are a guy and you want to wear a dress. You’re gay or even a performer, you just choose to wear a dress. These states are outlawing that. They are telling you what you can and can’t wear in public. Wait for the first public protest against this bill in Tennessee where all the protesters are dudes in dresses. They won’t be performing but they will be breaking state laws.
Here’s how they should protest: Perform a public drag show and when the cops show up, tell them you’re female. Make them look. But maybe Tennessee will create a penis patrol unit (haha, unit) of the state police.
I believe in freedom. I believe in America. And if a man wants to wear a dress, I believe he shouldn’t be persecuted for it, whether by hate groups or the government (often the same thing). Every man should be free to wear a dress. Every man should be free to accessorize. Every man should be free to work it…just like Tennessee Governor Bill Lee.
Fun fact: I’ll be in Tennessee for a few days in a couple of weeks. I plan to wear pants.
Music note: I listened to Queen and honestly, that’s just a coincidence.
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.
After Disney opposed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ Don’t-Say-Gay law, he and the GOP-majority state legislature took away Disney’s self-governing status. He claimed that he was removing “unjustified privileges,” but it wasn’t something he had an issue with until Disney had the audacity to criticize him. What DeSantis did was seek revenge.
In this special zone, Disney was covering the bill for government services, like water, roads, and other infrastructure maintenance, but by taking away the corporation’s special status, which it had for decades, he placed that tax burden on the residents. They took away the self-governing status before solving the problem of passing the buck to taxpayers. Instead of providing an answer to this at the time, Republicans just said “trust us.” Being that they’re Republicans, you can’t trust them.
Now, DeSantis has signed a bill that gives him control over the district. At a self-flagellation ceremony, DeSantis praised himself saying, “The corporate kingdom finally comes to an end. There’s a new sheriff in town, and accountability will be the order of the day.” This is odd, not just because of the chest-thumping but because Republicans are usually all about corporations. Listen to what Republicans are saying about the train derailment in East Palestine and you won’t hear one of them say “Norfolk Southern.”
The bill gives DeSantis the privilege of creating a five-person state board to oversee municipal services, such as fire protection, sewage, and road maintenance, where Disney World operates. This is an extremely horrifying development. I’ll tell you why.
Typically, government boards are bipartisan and appointments come from more than one source. For example, the Post Office Board of Governors has 11 members with nine being appointed by the president. But, they have staggered terms so different presidents have appointed the nine members. The Federal Election Commission has an equal number of members from the Democratic and Republican Parties. Most government boards, where the members are not elected but appointed, have input from more than one source. It’s rare to find boards that consist of members of just one party. Maybe they have them in places like Utah, but most are bipartisan or at least not appointed by just one person, which would give that one person monarchial powers. This new bullshit board DeSantis has created does just that. Remember, Ron DeSantis has fired elected officials.
Every member of this new board that will govern the infrastructure in the Disney zone was appointed by Ron DeSantis and only Ron DeSantis. Now before you start thinking he only appointed people who contribute to his campaigns, kiss his ass, and right-wing yee-yaw fuckers who he can easily control, let me assure you right now…yeah, that’s exactly what he did. He appointed nothing but goons.
The board includes Michael Sasso, president of the Federalist Society’s Orlando chapter, Bridget Ziegler, a staunch goose-stepping school board member who’s also the wife of the chairman of the Florida Republican Party, Ron Peri, a religious zealot in charge of the Christian ministry The Gathering USA, and two other right-wing lawyers.
The board has the power to raise revenue which they say will all come from Disney, but DeSantis fully intends to use this board and its revenue-raising power to influence Disney’s content.
Say Disney needs some improvement to the infrastructure around the park but the funding has to be approved by the board, but the board says no unless they put pants on Donald Duck. Shit like that.
DeSantis said, “When you lose your way, you’ve got to have people that are going to tell you the truth. So we hope they can get back on. But I think all of these board members very much would like to see the type of entertainment that all families can appreciate.” Who’s truth? DeSantis’ “truth?”
Do you really want a collection of DeSantis-appointed goons to decide what’s family entertainment? What if this board cancels Black Panther because it might make a white kid feel bad? What if they outlaw black mermaids? What if they try to punish Disney (spoiler alert) for including a gay character in The Eternals? Or go after them for the gay antelopes in Zootopia, or LeFou in Beauty and the Beast, or Ethan in Strange World? What if the board stops Disney from firing the white nationalist actress in The Mandalorian? What if the board of zealots says Toy Story can’t have a character named “Woody” because we all know what a woody is?
And in case you don’t know, a woody is what Ron DeSantis has for fascism.
Creative note: I can think of several cartoonists who wouldn’t have even tried to draw Rafiki. They would have traced him.
Also, one of my proofers told me to make the “e” in “DeSantis” uppercase, but tiny like his penis.
Music note: I listened to Third Eye blind.
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.
claytoonz 