Ukraine

Underdogs

The University of Virginia has always been good to me. The Center for Politics at UVA has had me speak and take part in seminars and while doing so, they’ve put me in nice hotels, a great bed and breakfast, have fed me in swanky restaurants, and even once gave me football tickets. Yeah, it was UVA vs Duke, but still…it was nice. I was on a panel at UVA just a few months ago. They have one of the most beautiful campuses in the nation when Trump-supporting tiki-torch Nazis aren’t invading it. So, even though I’m an SEC guy, I feel that I have to root for UVA in at least one sport. I root for them in basketball. Go, Cavaliers!

Virginia’s basketball program has been great since the hiring of coach Tony Bennett in 2009. He inherited the worst UVA team since the 1960s and turned it into a program that’s won two ACC tournaments (remember Duke and North Carolina are in the same conference), won or shared 6 ACC regular season titles, has four 30-win seasons, and won the national championship in 2019. Unfortunately, this great basketball powerhouse that runs with the likes of Duke and UNC also has epic losses of historic proportions.

Teams that are first seeds in the NCAA tournament don’t lose to teams ranked 16…until Virginia did it. In 2018, number-one seed Virginia lost to the 16-ranked University of Maryland at Baltimore County, the Retrievers. They won the national championship the next year and have had ups and downs since.

This year, I actually made a bracket and picked fourth-seed UVA to win the national championship. Once again, UVA gave us another epic loss, falling to 13-ranked Furman. Furman? Where the hell is Furman? It’s in Greenville, South Carolina. You gotta watch out for those Paladins? What the hell is a Paladin? Anyway, my bracket went bust on day one. The sun hadn’t even gone down yet and my bracket was toast.

Anyway, don’t take underdogs lightly. So far in this year’s NCAA tournaments, we’ve seen #1 Perdue fall to #16 Fairleigh Dickson, #2 Arizona fall to #15 Princeton, and in the woman’s tournament, we’ve seen #1 Stanford fall to #8 Ole Miss, and #1 Indiana fall to #9 Miami.

We’re also seeing Russia fall to underdog Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin expected to crush Ukraine within weeks, capture its president Volodymir Zelenskyy, absorb the entire nation as a Russian state, and stroll through the streets of Kyiv for photo-ops. Now, he’s begging for military supplies from China, Iran, and possibly North Korea. Putin is getting his ass kicked by this underdog.

It’s like Putin is a basketball coach but he doesn’t know the sport, with the only games he’s ever watched being those by the Harlem Globetrotters, who are as much of a real basketball team as they are real sleuths when they help out Scooby-Doo.

Putin probably has the means to keep fighting this illegal invasion, even if he has to use hardware from Iran, private armies, other assorted mercenaries, and recruits from prison, but he’ll never win as long as Ukraine has the support of the west. The west needs to give Ukraine everything it asks for because if it falls to Putin, so will other nations in the future. Putin will go west.

This is NOT what Florida Governor has called it, a “territorial dispute.” This is an illegal invasion of a sovereign democratic nation by a war criminal. And even though there are a lot of Republicans who are not rooting for them, I saw we cheer on and support the underdogs.

Except for the Paladins. Yeah, screw those guys.

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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Cakes For War Crimes

One of my proofreaders isn’t entirely comfortable with this cartoon. While she’s not a fan of Bush, Cheney, and the war in Iraq, she disagreed with calling them war criminals and comparing them with Putin. She has a valid point and I always appreciate her input. I don’t just send my cartoons to her for her exceptional spelling skills.

But I am not uncomfortable with calling Bush and Cheney war criminals. Are they on par with Putin? No. Bush and Cheney did not intentionally target apartment buildings, playgrounds, schools, etc. But they did do what Vladimir Putin did and that was violate another nation’s sovereignty and conduct an illegal invasion based on a lie.

Putin says he invaded Ukraine to liberate that nation from Nazis. That is a lie. Bush and Cheney justified their invasion, and hoodwinked other nations to form an international coalition all based on the lie that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. That bad thing is, there are more Nazis in Ukraine than there were WMDs in Iraq at the time of the invasion in 2003 as in, there was zero WMDs in Iraq.

Even if there were WMDs in Iraq, the invasion still wasn’t justified because Saddam Hussien never used those WMDs after Desert Storm, the conflict to oust him from Kuwait in 1991. Yes, Saddam dropped bombs on Kurds after that conflict but he didn’t use what’s described as weapons of mass destruction (he had done it before 1991 and in the war against Iran in the late 1980s).

Other than Kuwait over a decade earlier, Saddam Hussein never attacked the nations who were a part of the coalition. Never. He never attacked the United Kingdom. He never dropped a bomb on Mongolia. He never pushed Poland. He never slapped Spain. He never hit Iceland, Macedonia, Japan, South Korea, Nicaragua, Slovakia, etc. He never even tickled Tonga.

In addition to the lie that Saddam possessed WMDs, which was a violation of the sanctions placed against Iraq, the lie was pushed that Iraq had a nuclear weapons program (you know, one of those secret things Israel has). On top of that, the Bush administration allowed the belief to run rampant that Saddam Hussein played a part in 9/11, which was committed by al Qaida, NOT Iraq.

During one interview with Vice President Dick Cheney when it was pointed out that many Americans believed Iraq was responsible for 9/11, instead of correcting those many Americans, Cheney simply said, “I can see why they would believe that.” While the Bush administration never explicitly blamed Iraq for 9/11, they used it to justify the invasion of Iraq. According to some reports, the planning of invading Iraq started on September 11, 2001.

They also sent Secretary of State Colin Powell, the only guy with any credibility in the administration at that point (which was lost after this stunt), to stand in the United Nations and show photos of trucks and buildings with the claim, “there’s bad stuff in there.” And it worked. Everybody believed there was bad stuff in there.

The Bush administration also received notice from U.S. and British intelligence that all the information it was using to justify the invasion, like Iraq trying to buy 500 tons of yellow cake from Niger, was not reliable. Quite frankly, I think the Bush administration just liked the sound of “Niger.”

For all their trouble of invading a nation on a lie and with half-ass intelligence, the United States spent over $3 trillion on the war while giving billionaires tax cuts. Nearly 5,000 coalition troops died in the conflict with nearly 32,000 casualties. The Iraqi civilian death toll is between 275,306 and 306,000. It also destabilized the entire region and gave birth to the Islamic State, which Republicans tried to blame President Obama for. That’s like Lauren Boebert claiming President Biden shut down businesses because of the Coronavirus pandemic while Trump was president (sic). Yes, she really did that.

But a lot of Americans made money on the war. The Pentagon awarded over $30 billion in no-bid contracts to U.S. companies throughout the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Haliburton, a company whose CEO was Dick Cheney before he became Bush’s veep, was awarded a $7 billion contract. Halliburton is still being given contracts for work in Iraq today.

A president who was installed in office by a court stacked by his daddy’s cronies after losing the popular vote started a war against a nation that never attacked us based on lies which was used to profit his own cronies. Are Bush and Cheney war criminals? Fucking A they are.

No, I’m not trying to take heat off Vladimir Putin. He’s a war criminal too and there should be a warrant out for his arrest. I’m just saying that he’s not the only 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.

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Support Balloons

Here’s your cartoon for this week’s CNN Opinion newsletter. Please sign up to get these in your inbox every Sunday

When China sends a spy balloon to fly over the United States (and other nations), it lies. When Russia knocks down a U.S. drone in international air space over the Black Sea, it lies.

I hadn’t gotten to draw the spy balloon in a few weeks.

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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Putin On The Fit

I dedicate this cartoon to all my conservative political cartooning colleagues who are upset over President Biden’s surprise visit to Ukraine last week. And before you start to think that I enjoy beating up on MAGAt cartoonists, let me assure you, I do.

I’m not going to link to any of their cartoons today because I don’t feel like doing the work of looking them up and I have an eye appointment. But, I saw cartoons from Steve Kelley and Dana Summers where both whined about Biden giving money to Ukraine during his visit and not giving any to East Palestine. Republicans hate social welfare and many in Congress will vote against disaster relief when the disaster isn’t in their state. But here, they’re advocating for corporate welfare because the mess in East Palestine is an expense that should be covered by the corporation that caused it.

I saw a cartoon by Gary McCoy where he claimed there were “fake air raid sirens” during Biden’s visit to Kyiv. What the hell is a “fake air raid siren?” Wouldn’t that be someone doing the sound with their mouth? What’s that noise, is it an air raid siren? No, that’s just Gary being a whiny little hypocritical Putin-loving beyotch again. In the same cartoon, Gary blamed President Biden for Putin’s threats to use nuclear weapons. It’s like blaming somebody for waking up the baby. Of course, you don’t blame the baby, but Putin is not a baby.

At least Ted Rall is paid by Russia to carry Putin’s water (and he attacked Biden’s trip too). Is Putin paying the other goons too?

These goons don’t want to blame the company that created the toxic disaster in East Palestine and they don’t want to blame the fascist dictator who is threatening armageddon. The GOP is NOT the party of responsibility.

Even if the air raid sirens going off in Kyiv during Biden’s visit were “fake,” Gary and whoever else is making that claim ignores that President Biden traveled through Ukraine by train for ten hours. And then ten hours on his return trip. That’s 20 hours when a Russian bomb could have hit President Biden’s train. Yes, Putin was given advance notice that President Biden was visiting Ukraine, but that was a gamble itself. They were trusting that the guy threatening nuclear war and has intentionally dropped bombs on daycare centers wouldn’t want an international incident of murdering an American president. Maybe they told him Trump was on the train.

And just because it was stupid, Gary Varvel drew President Biden riding a snail labeled “FEMA,” not realizing that what happened in East Palestine doesn’t fall under FEMA’s directive.

Biden’s trip was historic. It was the first time an American president visited a war zone that wasn’t occupied by American troops. He was in a danger zone. Russian missiles and bombs hit Ukraine. It was extremely brave and heroic of President Biden to visit. It was everything Republicans would love if one of their guys did it. They would have called it “manly.” If Trump did it, they would say it was an act by the “alpha male.” So of course, they’re trying to diminish what Biden did. All they have to do this with is Trump’s visit to East Palestine where he gave out Trump-branded water and MAGA hats.

It sure was nice of Trump to visit the site of a train derailment while President Biden is in office because he sure didn’t do it for any of the thousands of train derailments during the four years he was president (sic). But maybe the fact the entire Trump presidency (sic) was a train wreck makes up for his lack of visit.

They love to claim that while President Biden was in Ukraine, Trump, the guy who called for terminating the Constitution, was in East Palestine putting America first.

It doesn’t matter what either guy does according to the MAGAts. To them, Biden is a horrible person because maybe two dozen classified documents were found on his property, while Trump had every right to steal thousands of documents. You can’t win with the goons. They ignore reality like the fact Donald Trump is a racist.

President Biden walked through a war zone under the threat of bombs falling on him. Donald Trump is afraid of getting his hair wet.

Music note: I listened to Sananda Francesco Maitreya.

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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99 Putin Balloons

Here’s your cartoon for this week’s CNN Opinion newsletter. Please sign up to get these in your inbox every Sunday

I have drawn balloons for the past three weeks for the newsletter.

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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Cake Treason

February 24 will be the first anniversary of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. It’ll be the first anniversary of Vladimir Putin bombing churches, hospitals, schools, apartments, playgrounds, and the civilian population of Ukraine. It will not be the first anniversary of Putin being a war criminal because he’s been doing that his entire life.

I’ve been expecting President Biden to pay a surprise visit to Ukraine which he did this morning, visiting the capital, Kyiv, and strolling outside with President Volodymir Zelenskyy while air sirens were blaring.

I think Russia’s war criminal of a president was hoping to visit Kyiv before President Biden, so this trip is an insult to him. But, he has support in the United States.

Matt Gaetz said, “When our border is in crisis, Joe Biden goes home to nap in Delaware. When Ohio burns with toxic chemicals, Biden’s admin says everything is fine. So on President’s Day, I’m not surprised that Biden is ditching America for Ukraine. He ditched America’s interests since the start of his presidency. They can keep him!”

Freshman Senator Eric Schmitt, tweeted, “If you want to understand why so many Americans are frustrated right now: Biden is in Ukraine before Ohio.”

Josh Hawley said, “No time to visit East Palestine, Ohio but plenty of time for this.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted, “This is incredibly insulting. Today on our President’s Day, Joe Biden, the President of the United States chose Ukraine over America, while forcing the American people to pay for Ukraine’s government and war. I can not express how much Americans hate Joe Biden.” Then she repeated calls to impeach President Biden without specifying any crimes he’s committed.

Senator Tommy Tuberville, who thinks the three branches of government are the House, Senate, and White House, tweeted, “#POTUS has now spent more time in Ukraine than he has at our southern border. @JoeBiden refuses to address the AMERICAN crisis that will impact generations and poses an immediate threat to our national security.”

Representative Scott Perry tweeted, “Breathtaking that President Biden can show up in Ukraine to ensure their border is secure, but can’t do the same for America.”

I can’t tell you what Ted Rall is tweeting about it because he blocked me several months ago for pointing out he works for Russia and has a permanent Putin boner, but I’m pretty sure he’s filling a diaper over it right about now.

Take note that each of these Republicans are goons for Putin. They were fine with Donald Trump kissing Putin’s ass and handing over classified information to the Russians. They were fine with Donald Trump praising Putin and calling him a “genius” for his invasion of Ukraine. Also take note that a few of these goons asked Trump for pardons for their involvement of his coup attempt.

Also, take note that President Biden has dispatched federal resources to East Palestine. For some reason, Republicans really want a photo-op.

We are supporting democracy over fascism with our support for Ukraine. President Biden’s visit is moral support to Ukraine and a slap in the face to Russia…and obviously, to Russia’s supporters here in the states. What will Tucker, “Why should I hate Putin?,” say tonight on his show?

The goons love to point out that Russia didn’t invade Ukraine while Trump was president (sic) as if Putin was afraid of how Trump would react. Ha. Yet, they’re upset we’re supporting Ukraine militarily. MTG even tweeted a lie this morning that Zelenskyy is commanding U.S. troops in Ukraine.

But the reason Russia didn’t invade Ukraine while Trump was president (sic) is that it didn’t have to. Invading Ukraine has given NATO renewed purpose and in fact, has increased the size of NATO by two more nations. Why would Putin have given NATO a renewed purpose while Trump was trying to destroy it?

President Biden bravely visited a war zone while cowardly Republicans are tweeting in the safety of their offices…all except Matt Gaetz. There’s no telling how many STDs have contaminated that office which is probably more toxic than East Palestine.

President Biden visits a war zone while air sirens are sounding. Donald Trump canceled a trip to a former war zone because the rain would mess up his hair. Apparently, bleached skunk carcasses don’t do well in humidity.

An American president is supposed to be able to multitask. He can direct aid to East Palestine, Ohio, and work on border issues while representing the United States on an international trip. He’s currently visiting Poland but none of these Republicans have mentioned that, just Ukraine which is very telling.

The thing about President Biden that upsets Republicans the most is that he’s a good president. He’s visiting a war zone while Donald Trump is golfing at his country club…unless it rains.

Take note: I did a cartoon on the one-year anniversary of Putin’s illegal invasion for CNN, which I’ll post here later.

Music note: I listened to Nirvana’s “Unplugged.”

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:

Read The Room

One thing that President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the White House and address to a joint session of Congress did yesterday was help the anti-democratic pro-Putin fascists expose themselves.

Sure, they’ve been doing this for a while, but we got to see seven Republicans sit on their hands for the majority of Zelensky’s speech yesterday. These GOP goons were Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, Andrew Clyde, Diana Harshbarger, Warren Davidson, and Michael Cloud. What did they disagree with about Zelensky’s pro-democracy speech?

The truth is, they don’t want to support someone who opposes Putin, but they don’t want to come out directly and praise Putin, except for Trump, who called Putin a “genius” for his invasion of Ukraine. What they try to do is disguise it.

Kevin McCarthy tried to disguise it by pretending to be a fiscal conservative, which he’s not. He said after the GOP takes over the House in the next session, that there will be no more “blank checks” for Ukraine. Lauren Boebert howled about sending $47 billion to Ukraine and attacked Mitch McConnell for his support. The $47 billion is the Republican’s number, and not all of it is going to Ukraine.

Donald Trump Jr, who inherited everything he has, attacked President Zelensky and called him a “welfare queen.” He probably would have said the same thing if he was around when we were sending military support to the UK and Winston Churchill to fight Hitler and the Nazis.

A pro-Putin fascist with a bought blue checkmark tweeted conspiracy theories at me this morning that was created by Putin. He also accused Zelensky of being a “warmonger” even though it was Russia that invaded Ukraine, not the other way around.

Marjorie Taylor Greene has consistently opposed supporting Ukraine stating, “It’s not our responsibility to give Zelensky and the Ukrainian people false hope about a war they cannot win,” although they are winning. She also claimed that Democrats care more about Ukraine’s border than our southern border with Mexico as if Mexicans are bombing U.S. churches, schools, and daycare centers.

Ted Rall, an American cartoonist who “draws” for Putin, claims Ukraine is corrupt while ignoring Russian corruption and that nation’s fascism. He also spreads lies that President Biden is taking bribes, which Republicans also spread.

Another pro-Putin cartoonist, Gary McCoy, posted outrage on Facebook that we’re sending $44 billion to Ukraine while antibiotics are being rationed at Walgreens. Somehow in the MAGAt mind, there’s a correlation there.

Other MAGAts are crying that our supply of weapons is dwindling because we’re sending it all to Ukraine. We spend over $800 billion a year on our military so I think we’re going to be OK. We have warehouses and stockpiles of military supplies that will never be used. Others cry that this is padding the pockets of the military-industrial complex. Again, we spend over $800 billion a year. Now you’re concerned about enriching the industry that manufactures weapons?

And then there’s the complaint that the money we send to Ukraine isn’t being accounted for. I don’t know where this one comes from because from all appearances, it seems Ukraine is putting it to great use, proven by the fact Russia hasn’t won the war and Ukraine is actually retaking territory. For me, watching Russia retreat is our audit.

Here’s the thing, goons: Sending money to Ukraine to fight Russia is money well spent. Russia is our enemy and we’re not fighting them. We’re not sending troops. Instead, Ukraine is inflicting a beating on our greatest enemy and weakening it for future conflicts. Russia is a nation that continues to attack us in an attempt to destroy our democracy. They worked to put a pro-fascist racist goon into the White House. They have it coming. I don’t know if $47 billion is enough.

I’m going to continue to support Ukraine because supporting its war against Russia is pro-America. Those who support Putin and Russia are anti-American. They are the enemies of this nation and democracy.

I stand with Ukraine. Go, Ukraine!

Facebook Suspension Update: There are 22 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.

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Putin Loses

There were two big losses for Russia this week. First, they lost the city of Kherson in Ukraine. Then, they didn’t get the Red Wave they were expecting from the Republican Party which was making some noise about ending military aid to Ukraine.

It was also a huge loss to Putin’s useful idiots here in the USA.

Music note: I listened to the B-52s and The Kinks.

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:

Putin is a Terrorist

Vladimir Putin claims that Ukraine striking a bridge is an act of terrorism, so he responded by firing missiles from drones into playgrounds.

After weeks of military setbacks for Russia with Ukraine retaking over 1,200 square miles since late September, the destruction of a bridge from Crimea into Russia came off as an exclamation point. The war hasn’t gone well for Russia since day one and the recent setbacks have even emboldened some Russians to publicly criticize Putin’s handling of his illegal war.

Russia claims the attack on the bridge was committed by Ukraine and aided by other nations. Russia also claims investigators have established that the truck which they say blew up travelled through Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, North Ossetia and Krasnodar Territory.

Vladimir Putin said, “There is no doubt, this is an act of terrorism aimed at destroying Russia’s critical civilian infrastructure.” There is no doubt, Putin is a war criminal.

Crimea doesn’t belong to Russia. This bridge, which has partially reopened since the explosion, was built in 2018, four years after Russia stole Crimea from Ukraine. It’s a 12-mile bridge and the longest in Europe. It’s been vital to Russia as it’s been used to move military equipment, ammunition, and personnel from Russia to battlefields in southern Ukraine.

If Ukraine is responsible for the explosion, it would make sense. They are in a war and the bridge is being used to bring in supplies to kill the people of Ukraine. It would be justified as a military target. Besides, after you kick Russia out, why give them a bridge to come back in?

Russia started an illegal war based on lies and they’re getting mad when Ukraine fights back. Since the start of the war, Putin has bombed schools, playgrounds, hospitals, apartments, and vast amounts of Ukraine’s infrastructure. And he now says that a bombed bridge is an act of terrorism?

Putin is as big of a gaslighting liar as the Republicans in the United States who support him. I recently saw one post from a MAGAt who suggested that Ukraine attempt to end the war by proposing Russia keep all the territory it’s stolen and has conducted sham referendums from the areas’ citizens. Today’s Republicans would have suggested ending World War II by letting Hitler keep Poland and France.

An adviser to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said, “there is “only one terrorist state here and the whole world knows who it is.” Well, Republicans don’t.

Russia fired missiles into 11 Ukrainian cities, killing 14 and injuring 89. The strikes, used with some drones from Iran, didn’t seem to have any strategic purpose other than inflict revenge. Putin’s bombings are failing to demoralize the people of Ukraine, much in the same way Hitler’s blitz of England failed to demoralize the British. If nothing else, Putin is making his chosen enemies fiercer with more determination to drive his failing army out of their country. It’s also made Ukraine’s allies more determined to supply them with weapons to defeat Putin. President Biden is promising to send more air defense systems to Ukraine.

These missile strikes don’t retake territory for Russia and soon, most will fail to make any impact.

Putin’s latest missile strikes is desperate from someone who started an illegal war, doesn’t know how to operate a military, and is just trying to save face.

Putin is a terrorist and a war criminal. One of the targets was a playground. How is bombing a bridge an act of terrorism but hitting a site where children play not? I want to hear some Republicans defend this.

The people of Russia need to do the right thing and depose Vladimir Putin. Then, Putin needs to be brought up on war crimes. He is a war criminal. Putin should be tried for war crimes against Ukraine…and the trial should be held in Kyiv.

Creative note: This was drawn back at my own drawing table in my own apartment while drinking my own coffee. It’s nice. I’ll be drawing cartoons in another hotel room tomorrow. Ugh.

Music note: I listened to the Shins and Splender.

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:

Roughs, Volume 156

It’s time for roughs. All of these were drawn last Friday, September 23, except for the first one. It was drawn the day before. All of these are on Russia, Putin, and Ukraine, except for the first one.

I liked this cartoon and the only reason I didn’t do it is that I had already drawn two others on the subject.

I did something similar to this at the start of the war, and I forgot about it when I roughed this idea out. Later in the week, I stumbled upon the other one I had already drawn. A lot of cartoonists do this, forget they had already drawn an idea.

I wasn’t too crazy about this one and I did an image search after I drew it for “political cartoons,” “Russia,” “Putin,” and “meat grinder,” to see if it had already been done. It had. A lot.

I dug this one and turned it into a real cartoon.

I did not like this one.

I didn’t like this one at all. It’s boring to me, but I started throwing ideas against the wall to see what sticks.

I wasn’t crazy about this one.

I did three on Russians fleeing their country to avoid Putin’s draft. They’re all similar and I was trying to find the best way to implement the concept. I felt I had something but wasn’t sticking the landing.

This was OK but I still kinda dug it.

I really liked this one but chose the Putin Youth cartoon over it.

See? Another version of the fleeing Russian draft dodgers. I don’t blame them.

This is the one we went with for last week’s CNN Opinion newsletter. I really liked it.

So which ones are your faves?

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