Political Memes, Comics, and other Shenanigans, Part 37

[fraurosena]

Apropos of nothing, here’s a chart on how countries take care of problems.

[GreyhoundFan]

 

"Musk You Mansplain?"

Quote

Kids, class is in session. Today, I’m going to educate you on the use of a specific slur. Now, not all of you need to be schooled on this but there are quite a few of you who are ignorant motherfuckers, so you’re the ones I’m really talking to.

The slur we’re going to address today is “Karen.” Everybody has heard this used before but some of you aren’t using it correctly. Wait, there’s a question from the class. Is it always sexist to use the slur “Karen?” The best answer I can give you is, probably. But, there are times when it’s definitely sexist.

A few days ago, one of my cartooning colleagues used “Karen” in a tweet. Even though nobody knew who he was tweeting to or what he was talking about, he got screamed at a lot for being sexist. He apologized and promised never to use it again. Even though nobody knew how he was using it except it was supposed to be an insult directed at someone, it was decided it was sexist. It probably was.

Another question? Yes? What is a Karen? Good question.

First off, a Karen has to be white and female. Now, if you call a dude “Karen,” then you are being sexist. Some men are called “Kens.” And since there is a “Ken” maybe that means “Karen” isn’t always sexist. But, the true meaning of Karen means an entitled and demanding white woman. Now if you want to call a black woman a Karen…never mind. Just do it. I dare you.

Remember that lady in Central Park who called the cops because she saw a black guy? Remember that other time when a white lady called the cops because she saw a black family having a picnic? Remember when Donald Trump asked a black reporter to set up a meeting between him and black members of Congress because all black people must know each other (for the part for a minute where that’s NOT a reporter’s job)? Remember the white St. Louis couple who pulled out and pointed guns because black people were walking in front of their house? Ever see a white person ask to see the manager? Ever see a white person screaming they shouldn’t have to wear a face mask during the pandemic? Those are classic Karen moments.

The pandemic has been ripe for Karens.

A few months ago, I was at my favorite sushi place in town and I was standing in line behind a white woman. She was dressed very nicely as if she came from money, but I wasn’t judging…yet. The wait was taking a couple minutes and as a younger lady walked near us, the nicely-dressed woman, I guess she was tired of standing in line, stopped the younger woman and said she just wanted to get a table and if the young woman could take her to one. The young girl told her, “I don’t work here.” The young girl was Asian. And then I said very loudly, “Good job, Karen.”

I lied. I didn’t say that. I only thought it. I was afraid if I did say that, then the older woman would’ve clocked me, or at the very least, I’d still have to stand in line next to her for a few more minutes. I’m not letting no Karen get between me and my spicy tuna roll. But, I think that would have been the proper use of “Karen.” The older white woman was entitled, believing she shouldn’t have to wait in line, and she assumed the younger woman worked at the sushi restaurant because she was Asian.

What is not a proper use of “Karen” is when you hurl it at a female just because she disagrees with you. Basically, if you’re a Republican, you shouldn’t use it at all. If you’re rich, yeah, just don’t. That word doesn’t belong to you. It’s kinda like when liberals called Don Jr “Fredo,” and then Trumpers started using it for Hunter Biden and Chris Cuomo. The “Let’s Go Brandon” morons can’t create good insults. Case in point “Let’s go Brandon.” Also, “snowflake,” and “libtard.”

Billionaire Elon Musk used “Karen” incorrectly. Earlier this week, after being named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, he called Senator Elizabeth Warren, “Senator Karen,” for saying Billionaire Elon, who’s worth $297 billion dollars, needs to pay taxes.

Elon tweeted at the Senator, “Stop projecting.” What is she projecting? Is that another word you don’t know how to use, Elon? In 2018, Elizabeth Warren and her husband paid $302,227 on $913,000 of income. Between 2015 to 2017, Elon paid $70,000 for those years combined. In 2018, he paid nothing. So, Elon…what is Elizabeth Warren projecting? And that’s when he called Elizabeth Warren “Senator Karen.”

He continued tweeting and said, “You remind me of when I was a kid and my friend’s angry Mom would just randomly yell at everyone for no reason. Please don’t call the manager on me, Senator Karen.” Can anyone make sense of that? Who’s the manager in this situation? Was the friend’s mom in a grocery store while screaming for no reason? Also, how is Senator Warren a “Karen”? Did Elon just skip through a few right-wing memes?

Let me point something out to you, Elon: Senator Warren has a very good reason to scream at you. Every American taxpayer has a very good reason to scream at you. And you don’t know how to use the term “Karen.”

Another person who doesn’t know how to use the slur is Joe Battenfield of the Boston Herald.

Battenfield wrote that Elon used the term “perfectly,” in that Warren is a “rich, privileged, older white woman used to getting her way and bullying people around.” Battenfield claims the “richest man in the world wins this round” and then uses Elon Musk’s slur in calling Warren “Senator Karen.” Battenfield copied it from Elon Musk because again, conservatives suck at coming up with their own slang and nicknames, even the ones who are writers, like Joe Butthole (It’s cool that I call you “Butthole” since we’re making up nicknames for people now, right?). It’s like how they always use Donald Trump’s juvenile insults like, “Pocahontas.” Oh, yeah. Elon sent a tweet with a link to that too. So, not only are Elon and Joe “Butthole” Battenfield being sexist here, they’re both racists.

Also, what’s funnier than “Senator Karen” is “Space Karen.” You’d think Elon wouldn’t want to bring “Karen” back. “Space Karen” is catchy.

But, Joe Butthole…how is Elizabeth Warren bullying Elon Musk? Leave it to a conservative to say a man worth $297 billion is being bullied by a woman. That’s pretty Karenish right there, Butthole.

When you receive billions in government subsidies and then campaign against other billionaires receiving government subsidies, that’s when you lose all rights to accuse others of being entitled, Space Karen. When you spread misinformation on a pandemic and vaccines, that’s when you lose the right to call anyone a “Karen,” Space Karen. When you buy spaceships just for fun and as a novelty, that’s when you lose all rights to call anyone a “Karen,” Space Karen.

Note: I apologize to all the Karens I know, and those I don’t, who definitely are NOT Karens in this sense. I especially apologize to Karen Black, who is one of my very best friends (even though she won’t even try sushi and puts ketchup on everything), is about as liberal as I am, is a huge advocate for saving the environment, and is part Jamaican. Hell, even her last name is “Black.” So, my favorite Karen, and one of my favorite people (even though I once caught her putting ketchup on a hot dog on America’s birthday), is not a Karen. The Karens are making it really bad for the Karens. I propose we drop “Karen” and replace it with “Ivanka.” Who the hell knows an Ivanka?

 

[GreyhoundFan]

[GreyhoundFan]

[GreyhoundFan]

[GreyhoundFan]

[ADoyle90815]

[Black Aliss]

There's more to look at here than in an Hieronymous Bosch painting depicting hell.

[Cartmann99]

[church_of_dog]

10 hours ago, Black Aliss said:

There's more to look at here than in an Hieronymous Bosch painting depicting hell.

I recognize almost everyone, but not the snake, the spider, the skunk, and whatever's in the bottom right corner.  Help?

8 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

Aren't those Chris Christie's shorts?

[fraurosena]

1 hour ago, church_of_dog said:

I recognize almost everyone, but not the snake, the spider, the skunk, and whatever's in the bottom right corner.  Help?

The snake on the right is Lauren Boebert, the snake on the left looks like Mike Pence to me, no idea about the spider or the skunk, and the hedgehog(?) could be Devin Nunes.

[WiseGirl]

Me either.

 

[church_of_dog]

8 hours ago, fraurosena said:

The snake on the right is Lauren Boebert, the snake on the left looks like Mike Pence to me, no idea about the spider or the skunk, and the hedgehog(?) could be Devin Nunes.

Thanks!  Boebert was an easy one for me, but the other snake puzzled me.  Pence is a good guess, I just wasn't sure Pence was still considered on Trump's side.  Same with the hedgehog-thing -- maybe Nunes like you say.  I also thought it looked like DeSantis, but again wasn't sure if he had hit the outs with Trump yet.

The spider and the skunk will remain a mystery for now but I'll be looking for them in the news...

Thanks!

Edited December 19, 2021 by church_of_dog

[ADoyle90815]

This applies to the 45 Cult members.

[GreyhoundFan]

 

"Joe Poverty"

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Joe Manchin is going to destroy the Build Back Better Bill. After negotiating with President Joe Biden all week on the Build Back Better legislation, Manchin has now said no. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said his comments “are at odds with his discussions this week with the President, with White House staff, and with his own public utterances.”

Manchin says he can’t support the bill because of inflation, rising debt and a mismatch between the package’s 10-year funding and its shorter-term programs. The bill doesn’t have anything to do with inflation or the rising debt. It’s to be paid over ten years, by taking away “some” of the tax cuts Trump gave to billionaires, with many of the programs lasting beyond a decade. Manchin, just like his nimrod Democratic colleague in the Senate, Kyrsten Sinema, is saying no just because they like to say “no.” It gives them power and attention. They also get to play footsie with Republicans across the aisle which is just icky.

Joe Manchin played footsie with the Fox News fuckers on Sunday morning, where they like to aid and defend white nationalist terrorists, to announce his no vote. Manchin said, ““If I can’t go home and explain to the people of West Virginia, I can’t vote for it. And I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I just can’t. I’ve tried everything humanly possible. I can’t get there. This is a no on this piece of legislation. I have tried everything I know to do.”

Tell you what, Joe Manchin. You go home and explain to your constituents, those 181,000 poor families, that they won’t be receiving their $446 montly checks anymore, that reach over 305,000 children, because you’re worried about putting too much burden on billionaires.

You go back to West Virginia, Joe Manchin, and tell those 50,000 children that slip into poverty because of your no vote that it’s justified because it got you on Fox News on a Sunday morning.

One in five children in West Virginia lives in poverty. Maybe Joe Manchin can go back to West Virginia and tell them he’s cutting them off because of inflation. Maybe Joe Manchin can explain to those kids how decreasing their families income is the right way to fight inflation. You explain how to pay for goods that are rising in price with less money in your pocket.

Maybe Joe Manchin can explain to those children how he’s worried that helping them out of poverty is too much for the national debt, but tacking on $2 trillion by tax cuts to billionaire assholes is good for the debt. Joe Manchin can explain to these poverty children why they can’t receive any aid but Donald Trump’s five trust-fund babies can.

Joe Manchin needs to explain why he’s pro trust-fund babies and anti poverty babies. I bet West Virginia has more poverty babies than trust-fund babies.

Manchin voted against Trump’s tax cuts for the rich but he’s now defending them. By voting to keep children in poverty, Manchin may as well be helping Trump put babies back into cages.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

 

"Constitutional Irony"

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I had this idea a couple months ago and put it aside. I may have even included it in one of my batches of roughs, so it’s possible you’ve already seen this idea. But after passing it over, I decided to save it for another day. I knew it was going to come up. I knew one of the Trump goons would testify and invoke his Fifth Amendment rights. Yesterday, that happened.

First, in case you’re a dum-dum, then you need to know what rights and protections are included in the Fifth Amendment. There are five. It gives you the right to a fair trial. It gives you the right to a jury trial. It protects you from double jeopardy (can’t be tried for the same crime twice). It protects you from the government taking your property without compensation. Finally, it protects you from self-incrimination.

Self-incrimination is when you open your mouth and rat on yourself, often unintentionally. If you’re stupid, you really want to plead the 5th. Pleading the fifth is what you do instead of answering a question from a cop, or in a courtroom setting…or while testifying before a Congressional hearing.

Instead of refusing to appear before the January 6th committee like his fellow Trump goons, Mark Meadows and Steve Bannon, Roger Stone chose to testify before the committee.

Roger Stone was Nixon’s fixer and then became Trump’s. He’s a dirtbag. He likes being a dirtbag. He recently offered to freeze his sperm for far-right racist democracy-hating conspiracy theorist antiSemitic Islamophobic Laura Loomer, who’s written hate pieces for Infowars and has been banned from everything from social media platforms to food apps (Uber probably won’t deliver to her house), Laura Loomer. She even got banned from CPAC. She called the 2019 Women’s March a “Nazi Organization,” and was taken away by security while shouting, “What about the Jews?” She once protested a Mexican restaurant for it being a Mexican restaurant.

Apparently, Roger Stone and Laura Loomer are planning to make the anti-Christ. There is a demon sperm! But how icky is Laura Loomer if even Roger Stone refuses to crawl on top of her?

Also, the next time the federal government has to raid Roger Stone’s house (yes, the next time because it’s happened before), I highly recommend, implore even, that the search team wear hazmat suits, maybe double up even. I would rather wade through flaming toxic sewage laced with ketchup while listening to Nickelback than have to handle Roger Stone’s frozen sperm. The only element more dangerous than Roger Stone’s frozen sperm is Roger Stone’s unfrozen sperm. If that shit’s in Florida, then we might just have to eradicate the entire state of Florida.

Stone testified before the committee for less than 90 minutes. It was that quick because he refused to answer any questions as he pleaded his Fifth Amendment right not to self-incriminate. And, that is his right.

Stone came out of the hearing lashing out at the committee. He said he invoked his Fifth Amendment right because “I am fully aware of the House Democrats’ long history of fabricating perjury charges.”

That’s a funny comment coming from a goon who committed perjury before Congress. Stone was convicted in federal court of obstructing Congress by lying about his efforts to contact WikiLeaks on behalf of the Trump 2016 presidential campaign. The Justice Department, Trump’s Justice Department, successfully argued Stone lied to Congress to protect Trump. Then, William Barr took over Trump’s Justice Department and tried to drop everything against Stone AFTER he was convicted. And then Donald Trump pardoned Roger Stone.

Yesterday, Roger Stone told the press, “I stress yet again that I was not on the Ellipse. I did not march to the Capitol. I was not at the Capitol and any claim, assertion, or even implication that I knew about or was involved in any way whatsoever with the illegal and politically counter-productive activities of January 6, is categorically false.”

Roger Stone is a liar. He’s always been a liar and he always will be a liar.

Roger Stone was in the capital on January 6. He hired (or they volunteered) Oath Keepers, a white nationalist hate group involved in the attack on the Capitol, as his personal security. Roger Stone promoted his appearance at a “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6 and raised money for it. Before the march to the Capitol, he stated his purpose there was to “lead a march to the Capitol.”

It’s like Austin Powers’ Swedish-Made Penis Enlarger Pump. “This is my bag, baby.” Committing an insurrection with white nationalists in order to overturn a democratic and fair election in order to destroy democracy and install a fascist unelected dictator is Roger Stone’s bag baby.

And that’s where the irony comes in. Roger Stone, like a coward, uses the very Constitution he tried to destroy to protect him.

I want our Constitution to give Roger Stone every right he’s entitled to…and I want the laws within the constitution to put Roger Stone, and all his fellow goons, in prison. There’s no pardon for Roger Stone this time.

Also, go watch The Omen. Don’t say I did not warn you.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

 

"Burning Morals At Both Ends"

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There have been accusations that employees of a candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky, and an Amazon Warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois were threatened with termination if they left work during a tornado. Other employees have disputed the accusations.

But in Mayfield, a class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the employees against Mayfield Consumer Products, where they make those candles.

One thing is clear. These companies put profits over their employees. At least eight people died in the candle factory and six died in the Amazon warehouse.

There were reports that Amazon warehouse supervisors threatened employees with termination and cell phones were not allowed on the floor. Those reports remain unfounded but some employees did have their phones on them and called their families during the tornado. One driver detailed that as he was arriving at the factory minutes before the tornado, he was directed to seek shelter in the building.

This isn’t the first time a tornado killed Amazon workers. Two employees died in a Maryland Amazon warehouse in 2018 from a tornado.

Amazon says their buildings are up to code, but since Amazon doesn’t own these warehouses, is it their responsibility, or does that belong to who they rent them from? I’d say both. There are no federal laws that warehouses must have tornado shelters, but maybe there should be in places like Kentucky and Illinois. Amazon did have a “shelter” location which was a bunch of bathrooms without windows. Maybe Amazon should have tried harder to provide safe areas after that 2018 Maryland tornado killed two of their workers.

In Illinois, one driver said he had an Amazon-provided phone on him at the time a warning came through on it…and the warning was in Spanish. The driver does not speak Spanish.

I don’t believe Amazon threatened their employees with termination if they left. But I do believe they don’t care all that much about their safety. The corporation has been accused throughout the pandemic of unsafe work environments and health protocols.

More than 100 people were working at the candle factory when the tornado hit, and according to Representative Jame Comer, production had been going 24/7 to meet Christmastime candle demands.

Candle factory worker Elijah Johnson said, “I’ve been making statements and every statement I’ve been making they denied it, and that’s just not right. They’re neglecting everyone that’s in there.”

Johnson is one of the workers claiming a supervisor threatened to fire him if he left.

“I said, ‘Man, you’re going to refuse to let us leave, even if the weather is this bad and the tornado’s not here yet?’ He was like, ‘If you want to decide to leave, if you want to leave, you can leave, but you’re going to be terminated. You’re going to be fired.'”

This wasn’t minutes before the tornado when these workers wanted to leave. They had three hours between warnings.

A company spokesperson said some people did leave that night and workers are free to come and go as they want. But McKayla Emery told CNN that she heard people ask a supervisor whether they could leave, and the supervisor “told them word for word: ‘If you sign out, you more than likely will get fired.'”

Factory employee Haley Conder told The Associated Press a supervisor threatened her with written disciplinary action if she went home early because storms were approaching.

Conder questions why the company did not encourage workers to go home, or at least give them a better understanding of the danger between a first tornado siren around 6 p.m. Friday and another one around 9 p.m., shortly before the tornado hit. See? Three hours.

Another worker said he never heard any of that, but he was also under 15 feet of rubble after the tornado tore the factory apart.

The lawsuit claims the factory had “up to three and half hours before the tornado hit its place of business to allow its employees to leave its worksite as safety precautions.” The factory showed “flagrant indifference to the rights” of the workers by refusing to do so. Don’t most corporations show “flagrant indifference” to the rights of workers?

The lawsuit also alleges serious violations of worker safety laws and a massive cover-up scheme to protect the interest of the candle factory. One of the attorneys representing the survivors called the factory “a modern-day sweatshop.” I’m sure we’re going to learn a lot more details as this lawsuit moves forward.

Even if the candle factory did not threaten employees or allow them to leave, these plaintiffs have a case. The factory did have three hours between tornado warnings. And keep in mind, these were tornado warnings in December when tornadoes typically don’t happen. That seems like something that should be taken seriously.

Of course, it’s not being taken seriously by Republicans who tell us climate change is not a thing despite melting polar ice caps, rising sea levels, and fucking tornadoes in December. In fact, my windows in Virginia are open right now. It’s warm.

Some of the workers at the Amazon warehouse were not employees but contractors, which means they can’t unionize. It’s like they’re professional wrestlers. In Kentucky, it’s a right-to-work state which really means it’s a right-to-fire state. A right-to-work state basically means employers can fire employees without any reason. In fact, it’s safer to fire someone without reason than it is to provide an explanation. The explanation might get the employer in legal trouble where firing without any explanation is that employer’s “right,” so long as he’s in the right state.

What is desperately needed for the safety of workers are unions. Unions care about worker safety while corporations do not. It’s why Republicans hate unions. We need unions to prevent corporations from placing profits before safety…before lives. Corporate America sees blue-collar workers as ants. They’re easily replaced.

If you’re in a union, you can’t be fired for fleeing from a tornado. Corporate America says, “Yes, you can. And what are you whining about anyway? Didn’t you see the bathroom we provided for you to hide in?”

Corporate America says, “Don’t forget to flush between hiding from the tornado and returning to the assembly line.”

You’re just a fucking ant to be stepped on and replaced later.

And if a tornado sweeps you from a candle factory or an Amazon warehouse and you land in Oz, stay there. The wicked witch is way more compassionate than corporate America.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

[GreyhoundFan]

[GreyhoundFan]

[GreyhoundFan]

[church_of_dog]

On 12/18/2021 at 10:42 AM, Black Aliss said:

There's more to look at here than in an Hieronymous Bosch painting depicting hell.

Aha!  The skunk is Mo Brooks!

[GreyhoundFan]

[Cartmann99]

[GreyhoundFan]