Texas

Ken Paxton

Happy Memorial Day. Sorry, I did not draw a Memorial Day cartoon this year. Most of my clients also subscribe to other cartoon services that’ll give them teary Memorial Day cartoons and the ones that only subscribe to me don’t want ’em. I prefer to draw cartoons with teeth.

And Hell, I should not even be drawing a cartoon today. I should be having a cold one and eating ribs with potato salad or something like that. But, no. Not only did I draw a cartoon for you today, I drew one that took hours with lots of lettering and Easter eggs. And since I wrote about Ken Paxton Friday, you’re not going to get a long blog from me today. But, I will post the  20 articles of impeachment against the Texas Attorney General.

Here ya go:

  1. Paxton ignored his official duty to protect charities when he directed his office to interfere in the Mitte Foundation charity’s lawsuit against Nate Paul, a political donor to Paxton.
  2. Paxton abused his official power to issue written legal opinions when he directed his office to write an opinion to prevent Paul’s properties from being sold in foreclosure, and also had his office reverse their legal conclusions, in an attempt to benefit Paul. To cover up his direction, Paxton arranged for a Senate committee chairperson to seek the above opinion.
  3. Paxton abused his official power by directing his office to violate the law regarding two public information requests, one of which concerned Department of Public Safety records for a criminal investigation of Paul.
  4. Paxton abused his official power to improperly obtain private information in an attempt to release it for Paul’s benefit.
  5. Paxton abused his official power by hiring a special prosecutor, Brandon Cammack, to investigate a “baseless complaint” made by Paul; Cammack would issue over 30 grand jury subpoenas to benefit Paul.
  6. Paxton ignored his official duty by improperly firing whistleblowers in his office who had in “good faith” alleged to authorities that Paxton had broken the law; Paxton also privately and publicly tried to tarnish the whistleblowers’ reputations and harm their chances of future employment.
  7. Paxton wrongly used public resources by having his office conduct a “sham investigation” into the whistleblowers’ allegations, and having his office create a report “containing false or misleading statements in Paxton’s defense”.
  8. Paxton abused his official power in his attempt to settle the whistleblowers’ lawsuit, which “delayed the discovery of facts and testimony at trial, to Paxton’s advantage”, preventing voters from gaining knowledge regarding Paxton.
  9. Paxton accepted a bribe by Paul’s employment of a woman “with whom Paxton was having an extramarital affair”, and in return Paxton used his office to help Paul.
  10. Paxton accepted a bribe by having Paul (a real estate developer) renovate Paxton’s home, and in return Paxton used his office to help Paul.
  11. Paxton obstructed justice by delaying his trial for federal securities fraud after being indicted in 2015, preventing voters from gaining knowledge regarding Paxton.
  12. Paxton obstructed justice by benefiting from a lawsuit filed by his political donor, Jeff Blackard, that caused problems in paying the prosecutors working on Paxton’s securities fraud case, delaying the trial and discovery of evidence, preventing voters from gaining knowledge regarding Paxton.
  13. Paxton made false statements to the State Securities Board regarding his illegal failure to register with them.
  14. Paxton did not accurately reveal his financial interests to the Texas Ethics Commission, violating law.
  15. Paxton made or directed for multiple false or misleading statements to be published in his office’s report responding to the whistleblower allegations.
  16. Paxton conspired or tried to conspire with other people for the actions detailed in the articles of impeachment.
  17. Paxton abused his official power by having his office act to benefit him or other people.
  18. Paxton ignored his duty and violated the Texas Constitution, his oaths of office, statutes and public policy for the actions detailed in the articles of impeachment.
  19. Paxton was unfit for holding office for the actions detailed in the articles of impeachment.
  20. Paxton abused or neglected his official power to prevent lawful governance and obstruct justice, bringing his office into “scandal and disrepute” for the actions detailed in the articles of impeachment.

Music note: I listened to Taylor Swift’s Folklore album.

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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Immigrant Gun Control

After a mass shooter killed five people last week in Cleveland, Texas, Republicans were quick to point out that the shooter might be an undocumented migrant. Texas Governor Greg Abbott went so far as to call all five victims “illegal immigrants,” and continued with his political stunt of deporting migrants to Chicago a few days later.

The solution that would have stopped this one mass shooting, if you listen to Republicans, is closing our border with Mexico. But there are two problems with that logic. One, the border isn’t open. Two, what would have stopped the other nearly 200 mass shootings that have occurred in the United States this year? Howling about the border wouldn’t have stopped any of those.

There was another mass shooting in Texas on Saturday. This time, at least eight were killed with seven others injured at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, a community north of Dallas. The gunman was stopped by a policeman who was on duty at the mall which will add to the Republican chorus about how we need more good guys with guns rather than an assault weapons ban. The problem with that logic is that the gunman was able to kill at least eight people with his assault weapon before the good guy got to him.

If we had an assault weapons ban, maybe eight people wouldn’t have died in another American mass shooting on Saturday.

Another uncomfortable fact for Republicans is that our gun crisis is more of a threat to this nation than illegal immigration. The number one cause of death for children in the United States of America is guns, not open borders.

Creative note: I started to draw this cartoon on the train home today and even tweeted a pic of it, but I threw it away when I got home and started over.

Music note: I listened to Alice Cooper.

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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Thoughts and Prayers and Deportations

The thing about most Republicans is that they’re vile, despicable, horrible, and deplorable creatures whose first thought when something terrible happens is to say something terrible. But what sort of compassion would you expect from someone who uses the most vulnerable people in our society as political props?

Francisco Oropesa murdered five of his neighbors in Cleveland, Texas last week with an AK-47 after one of them asked him to stop firing shots in his yard because their baby was trying to sleep. Oropesa is currently a fugitive.

In a statement released Sunday night, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced a $50,000 reward for information that would lead to capturing the fugitive, who Abbott said was “in the country illegally and killed five illegal immigrants.”

What Abbott did that’s horrible, this time, was focus on the legal status of the victims. He didn’t even have confirmation on their legal status and it appears that at least one is a legal resident. But ya know what? None of that matters.

Other Republicans are blaming “open borders” and our immigration system for the murder while ignoring how easy it was for someone who was probably in the country illegally to obtain an assault rifle.

Nobody should be murdered or be a victim of another mass shooting, whether they’re a citizen, an immigrant, or even in the nation illegally.

When the Uvalde shooting happened, Abbott initially praised the police, who waited outside while children were being murdered. He later blamed others for the information he had received. After calling murder victims “illegal immigrants,” Abbott again blamed others for the information he had received. Greg Abbott isn’t big on taking responsibility except for deporting refugees to blue cities like Chicago for political stunts.

But even if Abbott had confirmation that each of these victims was in the country illegally, he still shouldn’t have used the term “illegal immigrant.” His back peddling over using the term doesn’t grasp that. Even the legal status of the gunman isn’t important right now. What is important is catching the killer and then doing something so that people like him don’t acquire assault weapons.

Abbott was condemned widely for his insensitive comments.

Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said in a statement, “There is no limit to the depravity of Greg Abbott and his Texas Republican cronies. To use a mass shooting, in which five innocent souls were slaughtered execution-style – including an 8-year-old – to fearmonger and lie about migrants and the victims’ immigration status … this type of sick behavior is truly beyond the pale.”

Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter was a victim of the 2018 Parkland, Florida, school shooting, didn’t hold back and tweeted to Abbott, “you are a low life asshole. This shooting has nothing to do with immigration status and much to do with your policies. On behalf of those like my daughter who are victims of gun violence, FUCK YOU!!!”

The term “illegal immigrant” should never be used in any situation. It implies guilt before a verdict, dehumanizes and scapegoats people, is racist, and being in the nation is a civil offense, not a criminal one. It’s mostly used as a political term to rile up white people.

One of the victims was a child. San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said, “My heart is with this 8-year-old little boy. I don’t care if he was here legally. I don’t care if he was here illegally. He was in my county. Five people died in my county, and that is where my heart is — in my county, protecting my people to the best of our ability.”

Governor Greg Abbott should have said something like that, but honestly…he’s not capable. Not only can’t he express genuine sympathy without being vile, but he’s not even capable of hiring someone to do it for him. You would think that one person on his staff would have said before the statement was released, “Hey, maybe we don’t use the racist term today.”

But how genuine can your sympathy really be toward individuals that if you had the chance beforehand, you would have just deported to Chicago as a political stunt to own the libs and play to your racist yee-haw base? I’m with Fred Guttenberg. Fuck you, Abbott.

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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Hold My Trans Beer

Right after Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender actress, activist, and social media influencer (that means I don’t know who she is because I’m old) posted a video on Instagram announcing a partnership with Bud Light, Kid Rock went on a tangent, shot a bunch of beer cans, then went on his “No Snowflakes tour.” Yes, I see the irony, thank you. Kid Rock does not.

Kid, who’s 52 and used to sing about being a pimp “smacking all the hos,” posted a video on Twitter of him shooting the trans cans while wearing a backward MAGA cap. Backward is quite appropriate. In the video, he says, “Let me say something to all of you and be as clear and concise as possible.” He then shoots several cans with his boomstick, and finishes his statement, “Fuck Bud Light. Fuck Anheuser Busch.”

Maybe Kid Rock isn’t really upset but was actually just trying to find an old photo of himself drinking a Bud Light with a drag queen, because if you can’t find an old photo of yourself drinking Bud Light with a drag queen, a sure way to find it would be to post a video of yourself shooting at Bud Light cans because you’re upset over the company partnering with a transperson and voilà, someone will find and tweet that old photo of you enjoying a Bud Light with a drag queen.

By the way, here’s an old photo of Kid Rock drinking a Bud Light with a drag queen. Someone has a lot of explaining to do but we haven’t heard it yet from Wanda the Drag Queen, who had lousy taste in company and alcoholic beverages in 2003.

Today in Florida, a drag queen might have a difficult time enjoying a Bud Light or any alcoholic beverage where she’s performing as Ron DeSantis has made it a mission to personally revoke liquor licenses from establishments that host drag shows where children are allowed. Personally, I have a much greater issue with children being allowed in bars than I do with them seeing drag shows.

DeSantis is a bigger bigot than Kid Rock and I say this because Rob Ritchie (Kid Rock) may be faking it for his audience (this is a guy who panders to the point of drinking a Bud Light while wearing a Coors hat) where as Puddin’ Fingers is the real deal. DeSantis has banned the word “gay” in public schools, has banned gender-affirming care, has gone on rants and tirades about men in women’s sports, and is scared of drag queens. His lead is being followed in every red state in the country. Even in blue states, Republicans are trying to push through homophobic and transphobic legislation. Even if it fails, it solidifies their bigotry to their base almost as well as shooting trans beer cans.

I don’t see why homophobic fucknuts like Kid Rock and Travis Tritt (yeah, he’s upset too) are angry over Bud Light being associated with a transgender person. It’s not like they’re bailing on their sponsorships in the NBA, NFL, and oh my God, even NASCAR. How much more redneck do you get than sponsoring NASCAR? Yeah, sure. NASCAR won’t let you fly the hater flag or allow nooses at the track anymore, but it’s still a Bubba sport. Even the only black guy is named “Bubba.” Heck, Bud Light is still the beer mentioned in Billy Currington’s “Pretty Good at Drinking Beer” which if you’ve ever heard once, is now stuck in your head until next Tuesday.

Despite its country music and Talladega street cred, Bud Light is scared, Brendan Whitworth, the chief executive of Anheuser-Busch, issued an apology that we think is probably about the sponsorship with Mulvaney.

He tweeted a statement saying, “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.” That was a pissy apology in order to keep selling watered-down pissy beer.

Nobody should have to apologize for being tolerant. Nobody should cower and cave into the bigoted likes of Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, Travis Tritt, or Kid Rock. You don’t end hate by caving in and enabling it. Dividing people by being inclusive is like when Facebook (and all the others) accuses me of hate when I criticize Nazis (they do that).

And to all my right-wing homophobic colleagues who’ve been drawing on this issue over the past two weeks, if you’ve drawn more than one cartoon on this, then it’s time for you to come out of the closest.

Music note: I listened to Beck.

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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Standing Your Racist Ground

Usually, when a governor issues a pardon, it’s because new information came to light like testimony was withheld or DNA evidence was discovered, but not because Tucker Carlson said so.

In Texas, racist Governor Greg Abbott said he is going to pardon a man convicted of killing a Black Lives Matter protester. He said this the day AFTER the murderer was convicted. In fact, sentencing hasn’t been passed down yet. It’s not like Abbott has spent a lot of time reviewing the case, but he did watch Tucker.

Daniel Perry is a sergeant in the U.S. Army and he was stationed at Fort Hood. He was working as an Uber driver in Austin on July 25, 2020, when he came across a Black Lives Matter protest in the wake of the cop killing of George Floyd. He was legally armed with a revolver when he encountered Garrett Foster, who was legally armed with an AK-47. Foster apparently approached Perry’s car and Perry shot him repeatedly. Witnesses said Perry was driving dangerously close to protesters and that Foster didn’t raise his gun toward Perry.

Before Perry murdered Foster, Perry posted on social media that he might “kill a few people on my way to work.”

Perry’s lawyers argued that he was “standing his ground” and was in fear for his life. The jury didn’t buy it. They unanimously convicted him. The day after the conviction, Abbott tweeted, “I am working as swiftly as Texas law allows regarding the pardon of Sgt. Perry.” Coincidentally, I’m sure, Abbott’s tweet came the day after Tucker Carlson did a segment on his show that’s the most popular with white nationalists (for example, Greg Abbott watches) demanding a pardon for Perry.

Abbott has NOT explained why he believes Perry should be pardoned other than saying, “Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive District Attorney.”

It’s weird he says the conviction was gained by a “progressive” district attorney because the DA is the one enacting law and order, sending a murderer to prison while it’s Abbott who wants to pardon a murderer and undermine the legal system. And yes, we can call Perry a “murderer” because a jury said so.

Republicans, you guys have gotta stop claiming you’re the party of “law and order” after defending insurrectionists, white nationalist terrorists, classified document stealers, election stealers, porn star hush-money payers, and murderers.

Texas has one of the strongest “stand your ground” laws in the nation while having one of the weakest legal systems. And if you’re in Texas, this is why you can’t have faith in your legal or political system. A jury’s verdict can be wiped out not just by the governor because it helps him politically appeal to his right-wing racist, but a jury conviction can be annulled by Tucker Carlson who we all know is a racist who knowingly lies to his racist viewers. The governor is undermining a jury’s verdict.

In Texas, the governor just can’t say “You’re pardoned” and then you’re pardoned. It has to go through a process. First, the Board of Pardons and Paroles has to make a recommendation on a case. And in Texas, the governor can request/demand the board to make a recommendation. Every member of this board was appointed by Greg Abbott. Somewhere, probably Moscow, Vladimir Putin is jealous. Abbott said, “I have made that request and instructed the Board to expedite its review. I look forward to approving the Board’s pardon recommendation as soon as it hits my desk.” He’s pretty confident they’re going to recommend a pardon.

I wonder how the Board will conduct its review of the case? Maybe solely by watching that episode of Tucker.

This is not justice. This is not law and order. This is bullshit. I’m sorry…this is racist bullshit.

Florida’s racist governor Ron DeSantis signed a law in 2021 making it legal to run over protesters. You know what kind of protesters I’m talking about. It’s another “stand your ground” law, which Florida already has and which George Zimmerman and his lawyers used to justify his shooting and killing of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012. Zimmerman, who was armed and outweighed Trayvon by over 160 pounds, feared for his life after getting out of his vehicle and instigating a conflict with Trayvon, who was armed with a package of Skittles.

Wisconsin doesn’t have a “stand your ground” law, but they will allow you to protect yourself, which they allowed 17-year-old AK-47-owning Kyle Rittenhouse to do when he shot three people, killing two. Rittenhouse protected himself by driving 90 miles away from his home to skulk through a Black Lives Matter protest with his assault rifle. On Saturday, Kyle tweeted that he was “praying” for Abbott to pardon Perry. These racist murderers gotta stick together.

Zimmerman now makes an income by selling his “paintings” of Confederate flags. He initially sold other “paintings” that turned out to be copies of other people’s artwork and photos (hey, tracing cartoonists. Don’t be a George Zimmerman). Kyle is working on a video game called “Turkey Shoot” where a cartoon Kyle shoots turkeys that represent the media. That’s nice.

I wonder what murderabilia Perry is going to merchandise after his pardon? Maybe Perry, Rittenhouse, and Zimmerman can go on tour together, sign copied artwork, and call themselves the “Three Racist Amigos.” I think “Three Stooges” has already been copyrighted.

Back to Greg Abbott, he’s not even letting the appeal process play out. Hell, the sentencing hasn’t even been handed down yet. He’s doing what Trump did with pardons and that’s using them for political purposes. Trump also pardoned racists like immigrant-hating Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Trump even teased the pardon at a rally in Arizona. Here, Abbott is tweeting it. Also like Trump, Abbott is abusing the powers of his office. Fortunately in Abbot, he’s in Texas where they let racist goons do that.

Also in Texas, they now let white racists murder Black Lives Matter protesters.

Creative note: I’m not suspended on Facebook yet for posting this cartoon, but I made a prediction it would happen. Maybe Facebook wants to prove me wrong and won’t suspend me. I’m not gonna hold my breath. One of my proofers also wanted me to reconsider this cartoon. She really didn’t like it and I respect that. I also know that most of my clients won’t run this. Maybe one or two of the crazy ones will.

But ya know what? I believe in this cartoon and I’m…standing my ground.

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

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

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

Watch me draw:

Happy Birthday, Jesus

Another thing I find revolting about Republicans is that they spend the entire year being as vile as humanly possible, and then on Christmas and Easter, they’re all about Jesus.

I scrolled through Twitter yesterday and saw posts from the most despicable, like Lauren Boebert, Ted Cruz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Matt Gaetz praising Jesus and celebrating Christmas, after spending an entire year lying their gaslighting balls off and wishing evil shit on people.

But none of those goons have the power to be as evil as Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, or Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Each of these men was or is presently in an executive position where he can order government agencies to hurt people. And they do it for their own political fortunes.

Trump made it a policy to separate families and put children in cages. DeSantis went out of his way to deport refugees, not from the state he’s actually governor of, but from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard. Trust me, Ron…Texas has enough assholes that it doesn’t need your efforts, case in point…Greg Abbott. Abbott started the Republican trend of shipping migrants and refugees to sanctuary cities, but what he did over the past weekend might be the evilest thing he’s done so far.

On Christmas day, Greg Abbott tweeted a photo of himself and his beautiful family saying “From our family to yours, Merry Christmas.” He also tweeted, “May the hopeful promise of our Savior’s birth bring comfort & joy to you & your family.” He and his family looked warm and cozy in that photo.

But a few hours before that tweet, buses from Texas with 130 refugees, many dressed in only T-shirts, were dropped off in front of the vice president’s residence in Washington, D.C. in sub-zero conditions without any advance notice.

I’m not a Jesus expert and I don’t claim to be a Christian so I can’t tell you what Jesus would do, but he wouldn’t do this.

Officials in New York City received an advance warning these refugees were coming, and that might be why they were re-routed to D.C. Republicans have to make these stunts as cruel as possible.

White House spokesperson Abdullah Hasan accused Abbott of having “abandoned children on the side of the road in below-freezing temperatures” on Christmas Eve without coordinating with any federal or local authorities. You can’t claim this is to help people when you don’t give any advance notification. You also can’t claim it’s to help them when you kick them out of the bus in these temperatures and then abandon them.

There are fair points to the arguments that border states carry an unfair burden in dealing with immigration, and they do deserve more support from the federal government, but this isn’t a solution. There are other ways to make that point than being cruel to the most vulnerable…but maybe the point is to be cruel. Republicans love that shit. Abbott won re-election last month with nearly 55 percent of the vote from Texans. The majority of Texans are all about yee-hawing this sort of cruelty.

Responding to Abbott’s Christmas day tweet, Jon B. Wolfsthal, a senior adviser at Global Zero and ex-adviser to then-Vice President Biden, tweeted: “Did you tweet this before or after you shipped 130 migrants to DC with no extra clothes on the coldest night of the year—which also happened to be Christmas?”

Photojournalist Paul Gillespie replied to Abbott’s Christmas post, tweeting, “Dude, really? You just sent three bus loads of would be Mary and Joseph’s from TX to NY on 9 degree Christmas eve. You all got to stop playing the Christian card. You go against everything he preached. At least the inn keeper let them stay in the manger.”

One user on Twitter posted, “There’s nothing Christian or loving about stunts like this, Greg. In fact, it’s more like Herod than anything else in the Christmas story. I feel sick.”

Amy Fischer, an organizer with The Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network, said, “It really does show the cruelty behind Governor Abbott and his insistence on continuing to bus people here without care about people arriving late at night on Christmas Eve when the weather is so cold. People are getting off the buses, they don’t have coats, they don’t have clothes for this kind of weather, and they’re freezing.”

Living in the Washington area, I can assure you it was freezing and painfully cold on Christmas Eve. The temps weren’t just in the teens and below, it was windy. I walked to a party Friday night and the conditions were physically painful.

Greg Abbott and other Republicans are trying to make a point about immigration, but the only point they’re making is that they’re assholes. And that may be the point they’re really trying to prove because their base loves it. But I bet Jesus doesn’t.

You can’t convince people you’re a Christian or love the messages of Jesus when you’re hurting the most vulnerable for a political stunt.

1 John 3:17 says, “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” God’s love doesn’t abide in the hearts of Republicans, but they do like to tweet photos pretending it does.

And you don’t own the libs by being an asshole.

Facebook Suspension Update: There are 17 days left in my Facebook suspension for typing the word “Taliban.” Here’s Quannah’s countdown clock.

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

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

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

Watch me draw:

Texas Cowards

A few years ago I was at a wedding here in Virginia, and the bride’s mom had flown in for it from Texas. After the vows were exchanged and everyone was dancing and eating cake, the bride’s mom was talking about Texas. Everything that came out of her mouth was about how Texas was the greatest place in the world. Texas is great for this. Texas is amazing for that. Texas, Texas, Texas. It was kinda insulting to everyone who lived in Virginia to be told how much better it is in Texas. She had a real lady boner for the place. Some of the stuff she claimed about Texas wasn’t true, like how the state could secede anytime it wanted and it’d probably be better off, but I didn’t challenge her because the bride is a really good friend of mine. It’s not her fault her mom was lying her lady Texas balls off about Texas.

But I don’t EVER want to hear anyone talk about how great Texas is ever again. Ever. For starters, look what they did to tacos. Then you have the lax environmental and safety regulations. Texans think it’s great to have fewer regulations, and it does attract more corporations to move to the state, but then you get shit factories exploding that kill 15 people. That’s nothing to brag about.

Texas is also the easiest place to buy a gun, and when a shooter kills 19 elementary students, two teachers, and his grandmother, the cowardly politicians talk about regulating the doors. Texas politicians like Governor Greg Abbott are too cowardly to even bring up the subject of making it harder to purchase an assault rifle in Texas.

And then you have fuckers like Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who’s been a cowardly sniveling MAGAt goon for a long time.

A process server attempted to serve Ken Paxton with a subpoena at his home this week. Lawyers in an abortion lawsuit had been attempting to serve it to him through his lawyers, but there were questions over whether his lawyers could accept it. Then, they tried to send it to his office but there were doubts about that too. So, a process server tried to deliver it straight to Paxton himself, at his home. Paxton was alerted that the process server was coming. What’d Paxton do? He hid. He hid behind his wife. It gets worse.

Ernesto Martin Herrera, the process server, knocked on Paxton’s door and saw the AG through the window coming to the door, and then turning around. Paxton’s wife, State Senator Angela Paxton, came to the door instead and said Ken was on the phone. So the process server attempted to wait it out. About an hour later, he saw Ken Paxton leaving his garage. When the server shouted his name, Paxton ran back inside the house.

A few minutes after that, Angela Paxton came out, opened the rear driver-side door of a truck in the driveway, got in the driver’s seat and started the truck. Herrera said, “A few minutes later I saw Mr. Paxton RAN (sic) from the door inside the garage towards the rear door behind the driver side.” Herrera added that Paxton ignored his calls that he was there to serve the attorney general legal documents. Herrera said he left the subpoena on the ground beside the truck but the couple drove off without taking it.

Paxton said that Herrera “was neither honest nor upfront about his intentions” and referenced the fact that many Texans own guns. “Given that this suspicious and erratic man charged me on my private property, he is lucky this situation did not escalate further or necessitate force.” So, Paxton threatened the scary Hispanic man. Nice.

But this doesn’t add up. Paxton knew a process server was coming. Why was he afraid of that? If it was so scary, then why did he have his wife answer the door? Why did he send his wife out first to start the truck for him to run out of the house and hop into while it was running?

If the situation was so dire, why didn’t Paxton call the police? Could there possibly be a bigger cowardly lying goon in Texas than Ken Paxton? Yes, there is. But we’ll get to him in a minute.

Paxton has a lot of legal troubles. He’s the subject of an FBI criminal probe into allegations of bribery, and in 2015, he was indicted and arrested on felony securities fraud charges, for which he has yet to go to trial. The Texas state bar has also brought a lawsuit against Paxton for misleading the U.S. Supreme Court in his suit seeking to challenge Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. Remember when Paxton, the Attorney General for Texas, tried to sue Pennsylvania to stop them from certifying President Biden’s victory in that state?

Paxton is up for reelection and despite being a coward, Texas voters will probably return him to office like they did with that other Texas coward, Ted Cruz. I told you we were getting to him.

Ted Cruz came out against Donald Trump in 2015. He called Trump a “sniveling lying coward” after Trump insulted his wife’s looks and accused his father of killing JFK. Today, Ted Cruz is a huge Trump sycophant.

When Texas was undergoing a deep freeze, Ted fled the state for warm and sunny Cancun. He immediately fled back to Texas after being called out, making sure to be seen wearing a face mask with the state flag on it as he disembarked from the plane. He soon manufactured a photo-op of him putting cases of water into car trunks. Ted later lied about his reasons for going to Cancun and blamed his two daughters. He tried to make himself into a father-of-the-year candidate by taking his poor daughters to Cancun after they asked for what he claimed was a class field trip, which it wasn’t.

There’s also the irony that Ted Cruz is opposed to immigrants coming to this nation to seek asylum when that’s exactly how his father got here, and the irony that he doesn’t want people seeking refuge in the United States from Mexico while he sought refuge in Mexico. There’s also the irony that he himself wasn’t born in the USA while he’s trying to keep other Hispanics from coming to the USA. What a sniveling lying two-face sanctimonious cheese-face coward.

And Texans keep supporting these goons.

Texans used to be represented by strong Texans from Sam Houson to Lyndon Johnson to Ann Richards. Now, they settle for Greg Abbott, Ken Paxton, and Ted Cruz. I assure you, Ken Paxton and Ted Cruz would have ran from getting their asses kicked by Ann Richards.

I was born in Texas, which makes me more Texan than Paxton (born in North Dakota) and Cruz (born in Canada) combined, and I would never hide behind women and children when in danger, like when someone wants to hand you a sheet of paper.

Texans can do better than Greg Abbott, Ken Paxton, and Ted Cruz…or can they? Texans, I don’t want to hear you talk about how great, strong, bad-ass, or independent Texas is ever again until you stop allowing cowards to represent you.

They say everything is bigger in Texas, and it’s true. No state has bigger cowards.

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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Coyote Ugly

Texas Governor Greg Abbott is busing migrants to New York City and Washington, D.C. These migrants entered the United States through the Texas border with Mexico. Greg Abbott is blaming President Joe Biden for “open borders” despite the fact that until recently, Biden’s border policy was the same as Donald Trump’s.

Abbott has sent over 9,000 migrants to New York City and Washington, DC since “Operation Lone Star” began. He said in an August 19 press release, “Busing migrants out of Texas is a way to provide much-needed relief to our overwhelmed border communities.”

And that press release was the only warning the sanctuary cities received, proving this isn’t about humanitarian relief or providing relief to Texas’ border communities. This is a political stunt for Abbott and he’s using human beings running for their lives as political props. While the migrants will certainly do better under NYC Mayor Eric Adams than under Greg Abbott, the use of refugees as pawns should be cited as a human rights violation.

Imagine you wanted to build your reputation through a political stunt, such as kicking puppies and stealing candy from babies. Who in the world would you be trying to appeal to with those horrible actions? Assholes. You’d be seeking the love and approval of assholes. This is exactly what Abbott is doing. He’s appealing to goons. How do you get assholes to like you? By becoming an asshole.

This is just how low the Republican Party has devolved. Republicans love this stunt by Abbott. It has several things they hate. Abbott blames Biden, so there’s one box checked. He’s getting rid of brown immigrants which checks another box. And, he’s sending them to liberal cities in the north. Check, checkity, checkity, check. The only way he could make a stronger appeal to the asshole demographic would be to bus woke vegetarian school teachers along with the cast of “A League of Their Own,” the TV series (it’s full of lesbians).

Another huge sign this is a stunt is the name, “Operation Lone Star,” which was chosen because “Operation Check out my Big Texas Penis” might have been slightly over the top and I believe “Operation Yee-Haw” has been used by now.

Another sign this is more of an asshole move than one of humanitarian relief is the fact Abbot didn’t give NYC or DC any warnings. Of course, not letting the liberal cities know thousands of migrants were coming until they arrived is another way to appeal to the asshole base. It’s really owning the libs, at the expense of migrants of course.

Sure, we all have a good time springing our kids on their grandparents now and then, especially after giving the toddlers Red Bulls, but you wouldn’t leave them there if grandma was going to eat them (my grandparents were worse. They made me watch Lawrence Welk). Here, Texas does not care about these migrants. They’re pawns to own the libs.

New York City and Washington, D.C. aren’t mad at the arrival of migrants because of who they are. They’re annoyed at the burden Texas is throwing on them. NYC and DC are already diverse places and they’ll be fine. Most of these migrants are amazing people, the kind of people you want in your neighborhood. Our diversity is our nation’s greatest strength which is something Republicans don’t understand.

But it’s still a dick move. Probably because Greg Abbott, like most Republican governors, is a dick.

Music note: I listened to The Eagles of Death Metal while drawing today’s cartoon.

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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Open Border

There are a lot of fallacies that persist in this country, mostly due to Republican messaging. Republicans love spreading lies like Critical Race Theory is being taught, liberals are groomers, there’s something on Hunter Biden’s laptop, election fraud stole the election from Trump, the January 6 attack on the Capitol building was a protest, Tucker Carlson’s testicles have dropped, and there’s nothing dangerous about giving the nuclear code to a 300-pound orange toddler who has ketchup tantrums. But let’s focus on two that deal with immigration, and we’re not even going to talk about the lie that George Soros is paying for migrant caravans.

The first one is that immigration is the greatest threat facing this nation. It is not the greatest threat. It’s not even close. The greatest threats facing this nation are hate, division, false information, climate change, war on women and minorities, Ted Cruz, Rudy Giuliani farting on you, and Donald Trump trying to destroy democracy and install himself as an orange fascist dictator. I would rather see the combined populations of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua pour over our border uninhibited than to see Donald Trump and Republicans destroy our Constitution and system where we electing our leaders instead of installing them by lynching the vice-president and pooping on walls in Congress.

The second one is that we have open borders. We do not have open borders despite Republicans like Texas Governor Greg Abbott constantly claiming we do. Fun fact: Republicans are racist liars.

Earlier this week, 53 immigrants were found dead in an abandoned tractor-trailer near San Antonio, Texas. These immigrants are victims of human smugglers, coyotes. Greg Abbott immediately blamed President Biden and his “open-border policy” for the deaths. Except, we don’t have open borders. We do not have any policies that open our borders. Hell, we even check out the Canadiens before we let them in. We learned our lesson with Nickelback.

We don’t have an open border policy. We have the direct opposite as a policy.

Fun fact: Just this week, the Supreme Court ruled in President Biden’s favor stating he can eliminate Title 42, a policy left by Donald Trump that prevented immigrants with asylum claims from entering the country. President Biden tried to end it last May but a federal judge, a Trump appointee in Louisiana, stopped him.

So, how do we have open borders while we literally have a policy that forces immigrants to stay in Mexico until a later time when we determine they can enter and request asylum? If the borders are open, then why are people being smuggled in the back in tractor-trailers? If our borders were open, then people would simply walk through them and not die horrible deaths by being abandoned in the back of a tractor-trailer in the sweltering June Texas heat.

Another detail to note is that these immigrants were smuggled in a tractor-trailer which means they traveled on a road that obviously went through a border checkpoint. That means Donald Trump’s racist border wall would not have prevented these humans from being smuggled. The wall wouldn’t have even been a factor. Donald Trump’s racist border wall is about as effective against trucks as it is against tunnels, submarines, and ladders.

Fun fact: The majority of drugs, guns, money, weapons, and humans who enter this nation illegally do so through checkpoints.

Last April, Abbott ordered state police to inspect every commercial vehicle entering Texas through a port of entry, saying the painful step was needed because the Biden administration was not doing its job to secure the border. This program lasted about three weeks because it was a stupid-ass Republican idea and it was costing Texas businesses billions. But it was Abbott’s Texas border through which these immigrants were smuggled.

But again, Title 42 is supposed to prevent people from entering our nation. But just like in the past, it’s Trump’s immigration policies that have forced people to risk their lives to enter the United States. Over 830 immigrants died trying to enter the United States during four horrifying years of Donald Trump’s immigration policies. Migrant children died in the custody of Trump’s ICE agency. Every immigrant who died trying to enter the nation to this point of Biden’s term should be credited to Donald Trump. Now, we can add 53 more.

Personally, I think Melania’s “I really don’t care, do you” jacket was borrowed from Trump’s immigration goon, Stephen Miller.

Funny thing about Title 42 is that it was created on the flimsy excuse it would prevent migrants from bringing COVID into our country. What’s funny about that is the same administration worried about migrants carrying COVID downplayed the seriousness of COVID to the point that it killed over 400,000 on Trump’s watch. Donald Trump told us it was going to magically disappear. Donald Trump called it a hoax before he caught it. Donald Trump politicized the hell out of COVID and pushed crackpot remedies, like Clorox enemas. Donald Trump made Dr. Anthony Fauci a bad guy for his efforts to combat COVID. Donald Trump and Republicans pushed against vaccine mandates, social distancing, wearing face masks, and closing businesses. The Trump regime went to extraordinary measures to play down COVID and make anyone working to eradicate it the enemy.

The Trump administration didn’t want vaccine mandates, Americans wearing masks, no businesses to close, and no social distancing because COVID was harmless…except when carried by a brown immigrant.

What’s a greater danger to this nation than people entering this nation illegally? Donald Trump and Republicans. MAGA is a national security risk.

I think we should stick every Republican claiming we have an open border to spend a few hours locked inside a tractor-trailer in Texas during July.

Music note: I listened to Queen for this one.

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

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

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

Watch me draw:

Abnormal Texas

I hope someday Texas evolves beyond the Republican Party because the diversity in that state grows on a daily basis while the GOP keeps regressing. And as far-right and as out of touch as national Republicans are, Texas Republicans are even worse. And I hope Texas outgrows the GOP before the GOP makes it illegal for nonwhites to vote, which they’re working on.

Texas Republicans are the Texas Taliban. Just like the Taliban, they want to control women, condemn homosexuality, and govern by religious dogma. Don’t believe me? Check out the new state party platform the Texas fucknuts devised over the weekend.

Texas Republicans had their convention over the weekend in Houston. Texas Republicans are so far right that they booed Texas Republicans. They booed their Senator, John Cornyn, for working with Democrats on gun legislation (that doesn’t even touch guns) and they booed Texas Republican congressman Dan Crenshaw.

Alex Stein is a conservative comedian which means he’s not funny. Case in point: He thinks calling a guy who lost an eye while fighting in a war who he perceives as being a RINO (Republican in name only) “Eyepatch McCain.” Maybe Stein isn’t that creative as he’s just repeating a nickname Tucker Carlson came up with, but Stein was there. Support our troops, eh, Republicans?

This is why conservatives make lousy comedians. They’re not funny and they don’t even understand they’re supposed to write their own material. C’mon, they’re not conservative political cartoonists.

There was a scuffle between Crenshaw’s security tean and Stein and his goons. Crenshaw later tweeted, “This is what happens when angry little boys like @alexstein99 don’t grow up and can’t get girlfriends…” Damn. Crenshaw is funnier than the conservative comedian. I expect conservative comedian Stein to retort with, “Oh yeah? Well…you’re the one who can’t get a girlfriend. High five!”

But back to this platform. You’re going to love it never at all.

Among the proposals for the platform is that President Biden was NOT legitimately elected. Yes, they want to make their fucked-up conspiracy theories an official part of their platform. I’m shocked they’re not inserting shit into their platform about Hugo Chavez, Italian satellites, and bamboo ballots. Did I just give them some ideas?

They didn’t allow Log Cabin Republicans to have a booth at the convention as their platform is now declaring homosexuality an “abnormal lifestyle choice” while it’s not “abnormal” or a “choice.” The only thing I can see abnormal about gay Republicans is that they’re gay Republicans. Why the fuck do they want to be in a party that hates them? I don’t understand this the same way I don’t understand why any blacks would vote Republican.

I used to say the same thing about Republicans who claim to be patriots yet support a fascist movement until I realized they’re lying about the patriot part.

Other goodies in the new platform oppose efforts to classify carbon dioxide as a pollutant, repeal the 16th Amendment (which established the income tax), and bring prayer back into public schools, courthouses, and public buildings.

The platform supports abolishing abortion and recognizing life begins at fertilization before anything has entered the womb. It gets crazier. They want to mandate that Texas students “learn about the humanity of the preborn child,” in part by forcing students to listen to ultrasounds of gestating fetuses. That’s some real Taliban shit there.

The platform is also calling for ending the 1965 Voting Rights Act which Republicans nationally are doing anyway but calling it “voting integrity” in order not to say the racist quiet part out loud. In Texas, they say the racist quiet part out loud.

You can say this is just a bunch of crazy right-wing oppressive Texans who don’t represent any national movement, but I’ll retort with a “n’yuh-uh.” National Republicans are NOT condemning or speaking out against this platform. They’re going to sit back and see how well it goes over.

When Texas banned abortions and legalized posses to round up abortion doctors and anyone driving a woman to get an abortion, other Republican states started to follow their lead. Mississippi, Missouri, Florida, Oklahoma, Afghanistan, etc… They’re all following these goons.

And after the Supreme Court allows them to ban abortion, other states are going to ban abortion. What’s going to happen after the Supreme Court allows them to put prayer back in school, ignore pollution, repeal all taxes, ban gays, and finally, make it illegal for nonwhites to vote? Other yee-haw states will follow.

Republicans are racist. They have racist policies. They’re backward with women and gay rights. And they’re a bunch of religious zealots. This Texas Republican platform is the mood for the national Republican Party. It’s not that Texas Republicans are abnormal. All Republicans are abnormal.

Texas is just saying all the hateful and regressive parts out loud.

Music Note: I listened to a 90s alt mix while drawing today.

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

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

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

Watch me draw: