Sexual Assault

Southern Baptist Coverup

I spent a good portion of my youth being terrorized by Southern Baptists. For me, being terrorized by Baptists was being preached to by Baptists. It wasn’t a weekly thing, but anytime I was forced to go to church was a very miserable experience for me. And there was an entire year when I was forced to go to a Southern Baptist private school. I hated going to a private school so much that one day I asked to use the restroom, left the school, and didn’t come back for three days.

I was a class clown who specialized in making fun of other people. Cruel at times, yes but I learned how to punch up and I even did it with cartoons. It got me in trouble in public school so you can imagine how well my attitude went over in a private Southern Baptist school. I did not have a good time in private school and I worked to make sure the church people didn’t enjoy having me around either. I don’t do well with authority.

Other than just hating mandatory conformity, I was a skeptic. Even as a little kid I smelled bullshit in religion. And no, I was never sexually abused or assaulted but I do recall pastors making girls feel creepy. In addition to my female friends telling me about it, I could see it, even as a kid. Even though it wasn’t happening to me, I didn’t like it.

I still don’t like it. Everything I’m reading today about Southern Baptists reminds me of why I didn’t like them back in the day. They’re hypocrites. What the fuck are they preaching when they allow sex abuse to continue and cover it up?

For over two decades, the Southern Baptist Convention stonewalled investigations and denigrated survivors of sex abuse by their clergy in order to protect their reputation.

A report was issued Sunday saying survivors, and other concerned Southern Baptists, repeatedly shared allegations with the Executive Committee, “only to be met, time and time again, with resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility from some within the EC.”

The seven-month investigation was conducted by Guidepost Solutions, an independent firm contracted by the Executive Committee after delegates to last year’s national meeting pressed for a probe by outsiders. Basically, they were forced to have an investigation conducted…and no. You can’t investigate yourself.

The report states, “Our investigation revealed that, for many years, a few senior EC leaders, along with outside counsel, largely controlled the EC’s response to these reports of abuse … and were singularly focused on avoiding liability for the SBC.”

“In service of this goal, survivors and others who reported abuse were ignored, disbelieved, or met with the constant refrain that the SBC could take no action due to its policy regarding church autonomy – even if it meant that convicted molesters continued in ministry with no notice or warning to their current church or congregation.”

What would Jesus do? Probably not that.

We also learn from the report that the Executive Committee maintained a list of Baptist ministers accused of abuse, but there is no indication anyone “took any action to ensure that the accused ministers were no longer in positions of power at SBC churches.”

The survivors of Southern Baptist sex abuse have been calling for there to be a database for years but only for the Executive Committee to deny them while keeping one in secret. Just like Baptists do, they wanted to keep track of everyone while not doing anything about it.

SBC President Ed Litton said he is “grieved to my core” for the victims and thanked God for their work propelling the SBC to this moment. What? You’re thanking God for forcing you to stop covering up sex abuse?

He said, “I pray Southern Baptists will begin preparing today to take deliberate action to address these failures and chart a new course when we meet together in Anaheim,” where they’ll be holding their next convention in the coming weeks. Yeah, I don’t have a lot of faith (pun totally intended) that the people who covered it up and the people who did the abuse will “address those failures” and “chart a new course.”

What I didn’t hear the president of the Southern Baptists call for was jail time for the abusers. I didn’t hear him call for financial penalties for them or the church. All they’re going to do about it is pray. Yay.

The report and church leaders have made suggestions for improvement and it’s a lot of blah blah blah. It’s a bunch of bullshit that’ll lead to nothing. I have a better suggestion and that is…stop.

Stop. Stop being a thing, Southern Baptists. Disband. Destroy yourself from within. Burn that motherfucker down and burn it to the ground. Just stop, Southern Baptists. Go away. Enough of your condescension and telling the rest of us how to live our lives while you’re covering up sex abuse. Enough with your mega-churches and TV preachers with private jets and mansions. Enough with you telling us how to vote while you don’t pay taxes. Enough of you preaching family values to us while you campaign for the orange shitgibbon pussy grabber. Enough of your empty thoughts and prayers. Go away, and while you’re at it, take the pedophile Catholics with you.

Just saying, you never hear this shit happening with the Church of Satan.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

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Deshaun Watson

Cleveland Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam wrote, “We spent a tremendous amount of time exploring and investigating the opportunity to trade for Deshaun Watson. We are confident in Deshaun and excited about moving forward with him as our quarterback.”

If they actually investigated Watson, they would have found there are at least 22 accusations of sexual abuse against the guy but just one incident of protesting racism by kneeling during the national anthem. Protesting racism can really ruin a guy’s NFL career but sexual abuse, yeah, not so much.

Donald Trump attacked Colin Kaepernick and black NFL players for protesting social injustice and racism by saying if he was an NFL owner (something the NFL wisely said hell to the no to), he would have screamed, “Fire that son of a bitch.” Though if Trump was ever actually an owner of an NFL team and had to fire a “son of a bitch,” he would have had someone else do it. Since the owners of all 32 teams in the NFL are spineless billionaire white cowards, most of whom probably voted for spineless billionaire white coward Trump, not one team would give Kap a real tryout, so don’t even mention hiring the guy. I can’t fathom the idea that every one of the 91 quarterbacks in the NFL is better than Colin Kaepernick.

Fortunately for DeShaun Watson, Donald Trump never scared the NFL by saying “fire that son of a bitch” to players who commit sexual assault. I will bet you a ton of Brett Favre penis-phone pics it never crossed Donald Trump’s mind.

A Texas grand jury declined to bring criminal charges against Deshaun Watson from the accusations of 22 accusers. When a grand jury ignores 22 accusers, it means a prosecutor didn’t want to bring charges. Also, this was in Texas which many believe despite being one of the 50 United States, is actually a third-world country.

Watson’s accusers claim his sexual harassment and abuse occurred during massage sessions. Watson and his lawyers admit he had sex with some of the accusers, but that it was all consensual and whatever happened was “mutually desired.”

Watson was so tainted by the accusations that his own team, the Houston Texans, declined to play him for the entire 2021 season. The Browns said they weren’t interested in Watson and they had a first-round QB in Baker Mayfield, but then turned around and traded three number one draft picks, and then some, to bring in the Texan QB, then signed him to the largest guaranteed contract in NFL history. That is $80 million more than the previous record for fully guaranteed money at signing. Now, Watson has $230 million to settle those 22 civil lawsuits.

The NFL has a history of not caring about sexual assault and is now accused of cultivating a rape culture. There are currently 15 women accusing Washington Commanders (I’m still not used to that name) employees and owner Dan Snyder of sexual harassment and verbal abuse. Patriots owner Robert Kraft was accused of soliciting sex during a Florida massage, but cops dropped that investigation because, you know, Florida. The NFL bans players who are convicted of sexual assault, but they’re pretty much free to play until a conviction comes in. Not sure exactly how they would handle an owner convicted of being a gropey billionaire (The “Gropey Billionaires” would make a great punk rock band name).

The NFL is still investigating Watson, but Cleveland did not trade three number one draft picks and sign the guy to $230 million guaranteed if they believed he won’t play. The NFL has much more tolerance for sexual harassment than it does for protesting against racism. Hell, the NFL has more tolerance for running a dogfighting business than it does for anti-racism protesters.

Deshaun Watson has escaped accountability. Sure, he’s innocent until proven guilty, but can 22 accusers be lying? The only people who used to believe that are Donald Trump and MAGAts. All those women are lying, and in the case of mall food court aficionado Roy Moore, he said he didn’t do it.

Perhaps the only justice being served here is that Deshaun Watson now has to play for the Cleveland Browns. At the least, they’re an organization terrible at judging character.

Music Note: I must have been in the mood to rock with women while drawing today because I listened to Alanis Morisette, the Cranberries, Garbage, and even a couple of tunes by Olivia Newton-John.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

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Peng Shuai

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Peng Shuai is a Chinese professional tennis player. In 2014, she became the first Chinese tennis player to receive a number-one ranked doubles player by the World Tennis Association. In 2011, she was ranked 11 for singles play. As a doubles player, she’s won Wimbledon and the French Open. She got as far as the semi-finals as a singles player at the US Open. And now, she has accused the Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexually assaulting her. Then, she disappeared.

China is an oppressive capitalist communist government that’s controlled by one man. Shuai posted the allegation on Weibo, a Chinese microblogging platform. Within minutes, the post had disappeared.

Beijing is hosting the Winter Olympics this year. In case you’re a Republican, Beijing is in China. They are now deflecting and suppressing all information over this to avoid a scandal before the Olympics. China is telling the world there’s nothing to see here, which works in China but not the world…except those who have corporate deals in China.

When western media asked about Peng’s whereabouts, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said, “I have not heard of the issue you raised. This is not a diplomatic question”. When a different spokesperson was asked at another press conference, he said the reporter should contact the “relevant department.” The editor of a government-owned and controlled tabloid, the Global Times, wrote, “As a person who is familiar with the Chinese system, I don’t believe Peng Shuai has received retaliation and repression speculated by foreign media for the thing people talked about”.

When CNN reported on the issue last night, its broadcast in China went to a test screen.

The chief executive of the WTA, Steve Simon, called upon the Chinese government to come clean and stop the censorship on the subject. The Chinese Tennis Association said Peng Shuai was just fine and everyone should take their word for it.

Fellow tennis players, Novak Djokovic, Billie Jean King, Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal have all expressed support for Peng Shuai and called for an end to censorship in China.

The Chinese state-run media released an email they claim was written by Peng Shuai stating she was at home, wasn’t missing, and her allegations were all lies. The government then released photos of her with her cat, stuffed animals, and attending a charity event. She was smiling in each photo. The Global Times editor posted on social media, “”Can any girl fake such sunny smile under pressure? Those who suspect Peng Shuai is under duress, how dark they must be inside. There must be many, many forced political performances in their countries.” In this country, only Republicans afraid of upsetting Donald Trump.

The Chinese government had Peng Shuai talk to the International Olympic Committee in a video call where she said she was “safe and well.” The IOC bought it.

The thing is, while the WTA, the ATP, and a bunch of tennis players continue to call this out, the IOC doesn’t want to upset China as it’s big money for them. Sponsors of the upcoming Olympics, as well as other sports leagues, don’t want to upset this communist revenue source. Sponsors of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Airbnb, Bridgestone, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Visa, and many more, have all refused comment on the Peng Shuai situation. They know China would be willing to cut them off just like they cut of CNN and the Houston Rockers.

When Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted in support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong in 2019, China shut off the airing of all Rockets games in that nation. The NBA went groveling to China, apologized, and had Morey apologize. China was able to bully an American on American soil.

And it was in America where the sexual assault of hundreds of gymnasts was covered up. The sexual assaults committed by Larry Nassar were covered up by USA Gymnastics, the US Olympic Committee, Michigan State, and even the FBI.

While China protected one man after an accusation by one female, the United States protected one man after accusations from 368 gymnasts. When China goes to cover up a sexual assault by one man, the United States said, “Me too.”

The #MeToo movement is trying to gain some traction in China, while it’s not 100 percent successful in the United States. The Chinese government is refusing to investigate Peng Shuai’s allegations just like the FBI took those from Simone Biles and others and shoved them in a desk drawer and closed it.

We are a much more open country than China. We have press freedom. We have more than one political party…for now. We have free elections…for now. But we know that if government agencies and other institutions can get away with suppressing sexual assault accusations, and oppressing women, they’ll do it.

We need to call for an end to China’s oppression…and that of the United States.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

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Good Bye, Groper

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I’m not upset about Andrew Cuomo resigning as governor of New York. That’s the problem. I want accountability. If you’re a liberal, you want accountability. If you’re a Republican, you do not.

Cuomo resigned today. Who called him out? Democrats. Who pressured him to resign? Democrats. Who was going to kick his ass to the curb? Democrats. You may say, “Well, he did have eleven accusers so Democrats didn’t really have a choice. Bullshit. Democrats investigated it. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has more than double of sexual assault accusations than Cuomo has and he’s the favorite for the party’s nomination in 2024. Hell, half the fucknuts in his party thinks he’s returning to the White House in three days.

Donald Trump has been accused of groping to raping to everything in between. He is even on tape admitting and bragging about it. There is a video of him dancing with Jeffrey Epstein in a room full of very young ladies. He’s on tape ogling a minor and boasting that he’ll be dating her as soon as she’s legal. He’s even hit on his own daughter, said the one thing they have in common is they both like sex, and that he’d be dating her if she wasn’t his daughter. Donald Trump has even defended other Republicans accused of rape.

Cuomo is not the first of their own that Democrats have chased out. They pressured Al Franken to resign from the Senate for pretending to grope a woman. He didn’t even touch her. At this point, a Democrat will be ousted for winking while Republicans can still be rapists. Isn’t it bad enough they support terrorists?

Democrats now have to be altar boys and Girl Scouts. But if you’re a Republican, a member of the Family Values Party, you can be a sexual assaulter, harasser, predator, rapist, crotch sniffer, leg humper and drag your butt on the carpet and still get away with it.

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 9103, Fredericksburg, VA 22403. 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: here are SIX 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 9103, Fredericksburg, VA 22403.

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Governor Duct Tape

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As a former gigging musician, I can truly appreciate the importance of duct tape. A guitar player will have guitar strings, pedals, straps, cables, picks, set lists, and other assorted musician goodies in his gig bag, but one of the more important essentials is duct tape. What’s the specific use of duct tape at a show for a rock band? There isn’t one but you never know what’s going to come up. Mostly though, you use it to tape cables to the floor so people don’t trip over them, including band members. I once did a show without a stage (did a LOT of those) and we were placed in front of the bathroom. People were walking between me and the bass player while we were playing. Duct tape was very important that night.

The company Johnson & Johnson invented duct tape for the military to use during World War II. They needed something waterproof to keep moisture out of ammunition cases. Duct tape literally helped us beat fascism. Too bad it was never used to strap down fascist Trump. But maybe we can use it on other gropey elected officials…even those who are not fascists and are actually pretty good at their jobs. Hey, it worked on an unruly airline passenger.

Things have been intense in the air lately. A lot of people flying have been really upset over airline mask mandates and causing a scene. They’ve even been getting violent with flight attendants. In fact, airlines are now offering martial arts classes to their flight attendants. And people know about the mask mandates before they get on the planes.

Last year, I had to wear a mask on a flight from Washington to Houston to Memphis, and then back from Memphis to Chicago to Washington. Last June, I had to wear a face mask on a train all the way from Fredericksburg to New York City and back. While in the city, I had to wear it each time I got on the subway and even in the stations. Wearing a face mask all that time sucked, but it’s not really a big deal. It didn’t make me take swings at people or scream like an overgrown crybaby.

The Federal Aviation Administration reported 3,271 cases of unruly behavior by passengers in the first half of 2021, including 2,475 instances where passengers refused to comply with the federal face mask mandate. Surprised? No, we are not. We know MAGAts are entitled assholes.

Some airlines have suspended selling alcohol on flights. One flight attendant had two of her teeth knocked out by a passenger.

On a Frontier Airlines flight from Philadelphia to Miami last Saturday, flight attendants had to literally strap a passenger to his seat with duct tape. Going from Philly to Miami, they should have known this wasn’t going to end well. Philadelphia is a city that booed Santa Claus and Miami….well, Miami is in Florida.

Maxwell (why does that make me think about a silver hammer?) Wilkinson Berry, a seriously entitled 22-year old, was caught on video screaming about how entitled he is. He was screaming that his grandfather is an attorney and hollered, “My parents are worth more than fucking two million goddamn dollars!” Not just any dollars…but “goddamn” dollars. Those are the more serious dollars only given to entitled families, like MWB’s family (I’m assuming his trust-fund baby friends call him “MWB”).

So anyway, this spoiled asshole got his stupid ass duct taped to his seat and his fellow passengers started started cheering and laughing at him.

Before he got duct taped, Barry took a swing at a flight attendant. He also groped a couple and grabbed some boobs. At one point, he took his shirt off so everyone could see his entitled pecs. The video of him being an entitled asshole has been viewed on Twitter nearly ten million times….I’m sorry…nearly ten million goddamn times. Barry is so entitled, instead of apologizing, he tweeted his outrage at being “dehumanized” on the flight and on Twitter.

The entitled asshole tweeted, “This will forever be the most dehumanizing experience in my entire life. Many people laughed and ridiculed me as I was mistreated by staff of a PROFESSIONAL airline. Just to make matters worth this has gone “viral” on the internet and will never disappear. My life will never be…”

I think he was still drinking while he sent that tweet. So, everybody stop making fun of Baby Barry. He’s getting upset.

Barry has been charged with three misdemeanor counts of battery, but maybe he truly is entitled because the flight crew has been suspended with pay pending an investigation. How dare they strap a rich white boy to his seat with duct tape…even though he was throwing punches and groping. That is some serious white privilege. Next time, strap his ass to one of the wings.

Another investigation of an entitled rich person says New York governor Andrew Cuomo is a Gropey McCroperson. Cuomo’s defense was, “I’m a gropey person. I grope everybody, women, men, children, white people, black people, Asians, puppies…I’ll grope you right now. C’mere….don’t you run from me.”

New York is a Democratic state and the Democratic Party may impeach their Democratic governor. The findings of the investigation were announced by the state’s Democratic attorney general. The nation’s Democratic president has called for Cuomo to resign. While Democrats will remove a fellow Democrat for sexual assault, Republicans would say of their own, “He says he didn’t do it.”

Charlotte Bennett, a former state employee and one of Cuomo’s victims, said, “It wasn’t an apology and he didn’t take accountability for his actions. He blamed me and said that I simply misinterpreted what he had said.” Yeah…I hate when people misinterpret when I grab them by the ass.

The state assembly session starts next month (in case you’re a Republican, that’s September), but Bennet says that’s not soon enough and they need to remove Cuomo now. I don’t live in New York so I’m not totally aware of how their system works, but in most states, a legislature can’t call itself into a special session. Only a governor can do that. And in case you weren’t paying attention (Republicans), the governor of New York is Andrew Cuomo. Good luck removing him before September.

The investigation concluded he had sexually harassed at least 11 women and violated state and federal law in the process. The speaker of the state assembly said Cuomo “has lost the confidence of the Assembly Democratic majority and that he can no longer remain in office.”

Part of Cuomo’s defense was showing multiple photos of him touching the faces of many people, with one of them being the president of the United States (the actual president, Republicans). When asked about this touchy-feely incident, President Biden said, “Look, I’m not going to flyspeck this. I am sure there were some embraces that were totally innocent, but apparently the attorney general decided there were things that weren’t.” Biden is old. What the hell is “flyspeck?” When asked about the president’s comments, Cuomo said, “I’ll grope that flyspeck.”

White House Spokesperson Jen Psaki said, “I don’t know that anyone could have watched this morning and not found the allegations to be abhorrent. I know I certainly did.” When asked about Psaki’s comments, Cuomo said, “Mmmmmmm.”

I’ve always liked Cuomo. I appreciated how straightforward and direct he was during the pandemic. He was the best source of information at the time about the virus while the president (sic…and the former fake one) of the United States was playing it down, telling us to use malaria medication and to shoot disinfectant up our asses. I always thought Cuomo was on the right side politically and would be a future president. Not anymore. He needs to resign…and if you can’t remove him from office until September…

…maybe strap him down with duct tape.

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 9103, Fredericksburg, VA 22403. 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 ZERO copies of my book in stock, which usually go for $45.00 each, signed. Another order will be placed soon. You may pre-order if you want. 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 9103, Fredericksburg, VA 22403.

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FBI Complicity

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People, stupid ones…mostly stupid men, always ask why women don’t report sexual abuse more often. The reason they don’t isn’t because they fear they won’t be believed. The reason is because they probably won’t be believed. Let’s take the case of Larry Nassar.

Larry Nassar was a doctor for U.S.A. Gymnastics and a professor at Michigan State University. Under the guise of medical treatment, Nassar abused his patients. He has admitted to only ten when the number may be as high as 332. More than 150 federal and state lawsuits have since been filed against Nassar, Michigan State University, the US Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics, and the Twistars Gymnastics Club.

Rachael Denhollander, a lawyer and former gymnast, was the first to publicly accuse Nassar of sexual assault. She assumed Nassar was abusing other women because he had worked with the national team for four years before abusing her, and she knew how abusers worked. She said, “When I came forward, I fully expected multiple levels of botched investigations and cover-ups because that’s what survivors are up against.” She was right.

There is a new report by the Justice Department’s Inspector General that says for a year after being alerted to Nassar’s abuse, the FBI ignored it.

Denhollander said, “This is what survivors are up against. And they constantly get asked the question, ‘Why don’t survivors report?’ This is why.”

The report, citing civil court documents, said 70 or more young athletes had been sexually abused by Nassar between July 2015, when U.S.A. Gymnastics first reported allegations against Nassar to the FBI’s Indianapolis field office, and August 2016, when the Michigan State University Police Department received a separate complaint. One of the victims during the time the FBI sat on the report was eight years old. This makes the Federal Bureau of Investigations complicit with Nassar’s sexual assaults.

Nassar is sitting in prison after combined sentences of over 140 years. He shouldn’t be the only one sitting in prison on this case.

Did you know it’s a crime to lie to the FBI? But maybe it’s not a crime for the FBI to lie to the FBI.

The IG report says officials in the Indianapolis field office failed to respond to the allegations “with the utmost seriousness and urgency that they deserved and required” and the investigation did not proceed until after a September 2016 report by The Indianapolis Star detailed Nassar’s abuse. So, what was going on for a year? Why did the FBI only start taking it seriously after the public was informed? If a newspaper had never investigated the accusations of sexual assault at USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University, would the FBI had ever investigated it?

W. Jay Abbott, the special agent in charge of the Indianapolis field office, was inquiring about job openings at…wait for it…the U.S. Olympic Committee, even while questioning them about the case, he was asking about jobs with the Olympic organization. He even applied for one. USA Gymnastics was complicit and covering up the sexual assaults, and the guy in charge of the investigation was asking them for a job.

When asked about this by his superiors, Abbott lied. He also lied repeatedly to the Inspector General when asked about the investigation.

Nassar spoke with the president and chief executive of USA Gymnastics about potential job opportunities with U.S.O.C, even as the two discussed the allegations against Nassar. Abbott later applied for a job at the U.S.O.C., but twice lied to the inspector general about seeking that job.

Since he lied and violated FBI policy by applying for jobs with people he was questioning during an investigation, surely Abbott was charged, right? Wrong. Once again, men are protecting men who were protecting men.

Abbott’s lawyer issued a statement saying, “Mr. Abbott thanks the law enforcement officers and prosecutors who brought Larry Nassar to justice. Mr. Abbott hopes the courageous victims of Nassar’s horrible crime find peace.” What bullshit. If Abbott hadn’t been busted covering up the assaults and sitting on the investigation, then Nassar would never have been prosecuted. Nobody would have found any peace. Abbott thanking law enforcement and prosecutors for sending Nassar to prison is like Dr. Frankenstein thanking the pitchfork and torch-wielding angry villagers for killing his monster. It’d be like Donald Trump thanking human rights activists for reuniting families he separated at the border.

W. Jay Abbott is complicit with the rape of women and girls by Larry Nassar. While he was sitting on a case and asking about jobs so he could take them while receiving his FBI pension, Nassar was continuing to rape and assault, possibly over 100 girls and women, including an eight-year-old. Abbott should be charged and have his pension stripped from him. Maybe that will help the victims find the peace Abbott is hoping for them. Abbott couldn’t be more complicit if was physically holding the women down while Nassar sexually assaulted them.

The FBI sat on the Nassar case and they’re doing it again by refusing to charge and prosecute Abbott. There will be a Senate investigation over this and one of the questions will be, “Why isn’t anyone at the FBI being prosecuted for this?”

The reason there’s a need for the #MeToo movement, “We Believe You,” and the Pussyhat Project is because so many people refuse to even listen to victims, less enough to believe them. And it’s because of men like Jay Abbott in powerful positions protecting rapists like Lawrence Nassar in powerful positions that women don’t report assaults more often.

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 9103, Fredericksburg, VA 22403. 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 ZERO copies of my book in stock, which usually go for $45.00 each, signed. Another order will be placed soon. You may pre-order if you want. 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 9103, Fredericksburg, VA 22403.

Watch me draw:

#YoTambien Movimiento

crsta02082019

This cartoon was first published February 8, 2019, in The Costa Rica Star.

Former two-time Costa Rica president and Nobel Prize winner, Oscar Arias was accused of sexual assault, then accused again, and again, and again, etc. So far, nine women have accused him of charges ranging from harassment, to assault, to rape. Time Magazine has even done a feature on the story.

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.

Partisan Groping

cjones02142019

As if it wasn’t bad enough for Virginia and the state Democrats with two of the top three elected officials revealed to have worn “blackface” in the past, the other one of the three has been accused of sexual assault and now rape.

Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax was a rock star until a few days ago. On the day it was revealed by a right-wing website that Governor Ralph Northam had worn blackface while in medical school, Democrats were looking at Fairfax as though he was their savior. He’s young, talented, and would be the state’s second black governor after Douglas Wilder. If Fairfax took over Northam’s governorship, he’d be able to succeed himself in a state that only allows one term for governors. Democrats were tweeting and hashtagging “ImWithJustinFairfax.”

And then it all went away, thanks to the same website that exposed the blackface governor. Fairfax has been accused of sexual assault. The accusation is that he forced a woman to perform oral sex on him during the 2004 Democratic Convention in Boston. Fairfax claimed there was no corroboration to the story and that The Washington Post had even refused to publish it due to lack of support. Then, a second woman came forward and accused Fairfax of raping her when they both attended Duke University in 2000.

The second woman does have corroboration, and as it turns out, so does the first.

Republicans are jumping all over this, not so much as a call for justice and for what is right, but more as a partisan tool. They’re calling on Democrats to accept the women’s stories since in the past, Democrats have done the same for Republicans’ accusers (and there’s a lot of those). I had one conservative nitwit attack me last week on social media, accusing me of being a racist for not supporting Fairfax’s first accuser, ignoring the fact I wasn’t disregarding her allegations and that the alleged victim and perpetrator are both black.

Here’s the thing though; Democrats are buying these allegations. state and national Democrats are calling for Fairfax to resign. Even Fairfax has called for an investigation, which is something Brett Kavanaugh refused to do. Republicans only called for an investigation after they were pressured by just one of their colleagues, and only gave the FBI a week to work with…and even then, all but one Senate Republican voted to give a lifetime appointment to Kavanaugh, even the Senator who requested the investigation.

When multiple women accused Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore of pedophilia, he stayed on the ballot. Most Republicans continued to defend him. Donald Trump defended him with, “well he said he didn’t do it.” Roy Moore barely lost the election. Al Franken resigned from the Senate for pretending to grope a woman. PRETENDING!

The two women who have accused Fairfax are credible. They definitely should be heard and the charges should be investigated. I don’t think they’re lying. I also don’t believe that each of the 22 women who have accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct, ranging from assault, to harassment, to rape, are lying either.

If you believe two women accusing a Democrat, then wouldn’t you have to believe 22 who are accusing a Republican? How about believing the 22 after the Republican admits it?

Maybe Donald Trump’s “grab them by the pussy” and “they let you do it when you’re famous” was just locker room talk. We’re all familiar with how adolescent boys boast about their sex lives, and we all know the president of the United States is an adolescent. He’s also boasted about barging in on teenage girls undressing who were competing in his pedo beauty pageants. He likes them young. You haven’t heard him talk about his daughter’s body since she turned 37.

With Trump’s own admission and there being accusers, it’s hard to say that each of the 22 women are lying. One of them is an ex wife.

Justin Fairfax needs to resign. I believe the two women. Democrats are right in calling for his resignation. If you’re a Republican, you have no right to call for his resignation unless you’re also calling for Trump’s. You’re not doing that though, so shut up.

The #MeToo movement is not partisan. You’re not really getting it if you believe all Democratic accusers but say it’s OK when a Republican does it.

Frank

I get a lot of compliments on the blog. Some people tell me they like them better than the cartoons, which isn’t what I’m going for, but OK. While this production receives praise, a lot of credit should go to Frank.

Frank, who is based in California, has been proofing the columns for a couple of years, I think. I lose track of time. It takes a lot of work to help make me look good. Frank starts each column by receiving a notficiation in email, AFTER it’s been published. Then, he uses a couple of different programs (maybe more) to weed through it. He sends the suggestions on changes to me, some I make and others I ignore. The process takes a lot of time and Frank puts a lot of focus and professionalism into the work. If he ran an errand before the blog was published, he’d email and tell me he’d be away for a while. He’s really good at changing my “weres” into “was” and “who is” into “whose.” Frank never tried to rewrite the columns or inject his own personal bias into the changes. He never made a demand.

Frank did all of this on a volunteer basis. He started by pointing out corrections in the comments and would tell me to delete the comment after I saw it, then offered to email if he saw anything. Eventually, he offered to go through each and every blog as they were published. It all came about naturally and it wasn’t awkward at all or imposing (there was an editor in the past, where it was very imposing and kinda got stalkery). Frank was very generous to do this and a total breath of fresh air. I was very comfortable working with him.

I knew Frank wouldn’t do it forever because at some point he’d have to get tired of it, or eventually realize he has better things to do with his time than clean up after a sloppy cartoonist in Virginia. He is an older gentleman and retired. Frank decided that yesterday was as good of a time as any to call it quits, and has retired from being my copy editor. I totally understand and I can’t blame him. He has totally earned a break from this goofiness. Since Frank did this on a volunteer basis, I wanted him to leave when he made that decision. I never wanted this to be a burden for him, though at times I am sure it was.

Frank has become a friend over the past couple of years. We share jokes and recommened movies on Amazon Prime. He’s been very supportive and encouraging to what I do. On most days, I don’t even reply to his emails about changes. I just make the changes. He hasn’t received enough credit and appreciation for everything he’s given to me…and to you.

I’m very grateful and fortunate to have had Frank’s services and friendship for as long as I did. Thank you, Frank. I wish you the best of luck and happiness in all your endeavors. I hope you enjoy life. I’m sure you will be in touch. Try not to grimace too much in the future as you read the blog.

That last part was for Frank and you, dear reader.

Thank you, Frank, for catching all the goobs.

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.

The #SoWhat Movement

cjones09222018

It really shouldn’t surprise anyone that Republicans are defending Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s Supreme Court nominee who is accused of sexual assault and attempted rape. They’ve already defended Nazis.

Donald Trump says “Judge Kavanaugh is one of the finest people he’s ever known,” but Trump has known people like Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, Stephen Miller, Roy Cohn, Rodrigo Duterte, Recep Erdogan, Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un.

Kavanaugh is accused of sexually assaulting and trying to rape Christine Blasey Ford, a research psychologist in Northern California, at a social gather in the 1980s when they were both teenagers. She claims Kavanaugh was holding her down and trying to get her clothes off, covering her mouth, so she couldn’t scream, while one of his friends watched. Kavanaugh claims he didn’t do it, and then claimed he wasn’t even at the party. Ford says she was afraid Kavanaugh would inadvertently kill her.

The friend that Ford says witnessed the incident claims it didn’t happen, but he’s also written a book titled, “Wasted: Tales of a GenX Drunk.” Kavanaugh’s witness is a guy who has boasted about binge drinking until he blacked out.

One of Kavanaugh’s defenses is a list produced by Republicans of 65 women, who knew the nominee during high school, who say Kavanaugh never sexually assaulted them. Seriously. There are a few weird things about this list. One is, it was revealed shortly after Senator Dianne Feinstein revealed the letter detailing the accusation against him. While Feinstein has been criticized for holding back on the letter, there’s speculation that Republicans were also aware of the accusation and had the list ready just in case.

Another problem with the letter is how did Kavanaugh even know 65 women during his high schooldays since he went to an all-boys Catholic school? Granted, I wasn’t the most popular kid in high school, but it was public and I didn’t know 65 girls. In fact, I still don’t know 65 women. Out of those 65 women vouching for the judge, only two will actually go on the record and publicly defend him.

Also, while it’s good there are 65 girls he didn’t assault, even Jeffrey Dahmer could have produced a list of people he’s known that he didn’t eat.

When asked Monday if he may withdraw Kavanaugh’s nomination, Trump said, “what a ridiculous question.” He also said he hasn’t spoken to Kavanaugh since the accusations came out, despite the nominee spending nine hours at the White House Monday (maybe it was for the famous meatloaf). But, we don’t know what will come from the hearings next week. Kavanaugh may come off so poorly that they have no choice but to pull his nomination. Seeing that Trump has wilted on “always deny, deny, deny” and says he’s OK with waiting for the confirmation, and he’s known to throw people under the bus quickly, it may not be a “ridiculous” question.

Republicans, who believed all the accusations against Harvey Weinstein and wanted Al Franken tossed from the Senate for pretending to grope a woman, don’t believe Kavanaugh’s accuser. Senator Orrin Hatch, who is on the Judiciary Committee, says the woman is mistaken and may be “all mixed up.” Hatch was also on the committee in 1991 for Clarence Thomas’ nomination to the Supreme Court, where he defended him against sexually harassing Anita Hill, called her a liar, and later said she owed Thomas an apology.

Republicans also argue that if it did happen, then it was so long ago and while he was a teenager, so it shouldn’t be important now. Would you want to hire a guy suspected of being a rapist while he was in high school thirty years ago? Would you want him setting legal policy? Would you want to give him a lifetime appointment?

Just like in 1991, Republicans are not going to come out of the hearing smelling like roses. Their questioning of Ford next week will likely contribute to the women vote and the blue wave coming in November.

The one thing we definitely will not receive from next week’s hearings is proof. Each of us will believe one or the other. Do I believe her at this point? I do. She’s passed a polygraph, had mentioned it years ago before Kavanaugh was nominated for the Supreme Court, and it wouldn’t make sense for an intelligent person to subject herself to the lifetime of bullying and harassment she’s about to be the beneficiary of from Republicans. Who in the right minds would look at what they did to Anita Hill and say, “I want some of that?”

And, since Brett Kavanaugh is already on the record as a liar, I don’t believe him.

Your support in the form of donations is appreciated. I am fully independent as I’m not employed by a newspaper or with a major syndicate (leaving one to be independent). It does take a lot of work to provide you with cartoons, columns, and videos almost every day (more than any other political cartoonist), and I don’t charge my clients much at all. If you can, please consider making a financial contribution to keep the fun flowing, or purchase a signed print for $40. 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.

Trump’s Twelve A Day

cjones12142017

The New York Times published an article about Trump’s “battle for self-preservation.” It includes some details on his diet of Big Macs, KFC, diet Cokes, and cable TV news.

Most doctors, but probably not Trump’s, will tell you that this is not a recommended diet for an old geezer. The article says Trump watches eight hours of TV a day. Even eight minutes of Fox And Friends is hazardous to one’s health. It’s his consumption of Diet Coke that will make a person go “whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?,” or at least make you pronounce United States as “United Thates.”

Full disclaimer: I probably watch more cable news than Trump, and like the prez, it can rile me up too. In my defense, I watch actual news and not that propaganda state-run propaganda shit Fox passes off as news. I consume too much caffeine too but I’m not in Trump’s league. Maybe three tall cups of coffee and two Cokes a day. I do try to drink two or three bottles of water a day, which I know isn’t enough.

But, twelve sodas? Twelve must be a frequent number for Trump because that’s the same number of women who publicly accused him of sexual assault. The number is much higher if we include those who won’t reveal their names.

Some of Trump’s accusers held a press conference yesterday trying to return the focus back to his transgressions. In this climate where members of the House and Senate have to resign for far less, we should look back on the horrible stuff Trump actually boasted about doing.

While Alabama’s reputation is taking a hit for the possibility of sending an accused pedophile, birther, racist, homophobe, Islamophobe, and law-breaking Roy Moore to the Senate, maybe we should cut them some slack. After all, 62 million Americans (fewer than Clinton voters) sent all of that to the Oval Office.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders and other Trump defenders will point out that voters, less than half, voted for Trump after his accusers came forward. That’s a good point but it doesn’t change the fact the man has assaulted women on multiple occasions. Just because you’re OK with someone being a creep doesn’t change the fact they’re a creep. Trump is on tape boasting about assaulting women and venturing into the dressing rooms for his pageant contestants.

Voters didn’t just overlook or ignore his history of sexual assault. They ignored his racism, his xenophobia, his narcissism, his sexism, his failed businesses, and his all-around ignorance of everything it takes to perform as president. And, since Trump wants to continue litigating the election then let’s continue to flashback to his sexual assaults.

If you don’t want to look that far back, then just look at this very morning. Trump actually sexually harassed a female member of the United States Senator on Twitter this morning.

Trump tweeted, “Lightweight Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a total flunky for Chuck Schumer and someone who would come to my office “begging” for campaign contributions not so long ago (and would do anything for them), is now in the ring fighting against Trump. Very disloyal to Bill & Crooked-USED!”

Apparently, decency is expected of everyone except for the President and maybe the next Senator from Alabama.

Creative notes: You may not have noticed, but I’ve included a can of Diet Coke on Trump’s desk in a few recent cartoons. One reader even scolded me for picking on Diet Coke. Hey, it’s not my fault Trump drinks a LOT of Diet Coke.

Kinda like I was the first cartoonist in the nation to give Trump a very long tie (I’m sticking with that claim), I totally expect other cartoonists to start adding Diet Coke now. Hey, schmoes. I didn’t need The New York Times to point it out. I like heckling my colleagues.

I want to thank everyone who has donated in the past. Your support helps me continue creating cartoons and columns with a little less stress in my life. Between competing syndicates with much larger resources, timid editors, and Trump supporters who attempt to intimidate the editors who do publish anything that criticizes their idol, it’s a challenge to make a career out of this. So your support (if you can) is appreciated. Want to help me continue to create cartoons and keep doing what I’m doing (pissing off conservatives)? Look to the right of this page and make a donation through PayPal. Every $40 donation will receive a signed print (please specify which print you want or I won’t mail one). All donations will receive my eternal gratitude.