Political Memes, Comics, and other Shenanigans, Part 51

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This made me laugh:

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"Bad Santa"

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The Atlantic Magazine has devoted its latest edition to sounding the alarm of a second Trump administration (sic), saying it’ll be much worse than his first. This should be taken seriously because if you were alive between 2017 and 2021, then you should be able to recall just how truly horrible and terrifying that first term (sic) was. Ugh.

The Atlantic link has a paywall, so you probably won’t be able to read the article, but I will give you a report on it from The Hill.

Besides, you don’t have to read the article if you’ve been reading my cartoons over the past few years because I can’t imagine the Atlantic warning you about anything that I haven’t already covered. You already know that a second Trump term (sic) is a threat to democracy. And you don’t need the Atlantic to tell you Donald Trump is a threat to democracy…Donald Trump will tell you, which is what he’s saying when he talks about building concentration camps and imprisoning his enemies. It’s what he’s saying when he literally said we should TERMINATE the Constitution.

Donald Trump is also projecting when he talks about President Joe Biden destroying democracy. It was Donald Trump who refused to leave office peacefully and attempted to cling to power by attempting to steal the 2020 election and sending a white nationalist mob of goon terrorists to attack the Capitol while Congress was certifying the election.

The Atlantic’s warning comes in a 24-page article which guarantees no Trumper will read it. Words to MAGAts are like stairs, rain, and broccoli to Trump. The title is, “If Trump Wins” and has a note from editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg introducing the series titled, “A Warning.”

Goldberg writes, “And so here we are. It is not a sure thing that Trump will win the Republican nomination again, but as I write this, he’s the prohibitive front-runner. Which is why we felt it necessary to share with our readers our collective understanding of what could take place in a second Trump term.”

“Our team of brilliant writers makes a convincingly dispositive case that both Trump and Trumpism pose an existential threat to America and to the ideas that animate it. The country survived the first Trump term, though not without sustaining serious damage. A second term, if there is one, will be much worse,” Goldberg continued.

And it will be worse. Trump is putting together a team of yes men (and women) who are more committed to putting Trumpism over the Constitution and the rule of law. Every U.S. Attorney in a second Trump administration (sic) will never say “no” to anything Trump does. Trump will be sure every unqualified nominee for a seat in federal courts is a committed cultist, instead of just most of them like in the first term (sic).

Trump will install an Attorney General to use the Justice Department to go after his enemies for imaginary crimes. The next AG will be like William Barr on crack. Maybe Rudy Giuliani will get the job this time (OK, maybe not crack but vodka and Viagra). He’ll probably put Stephen Baby Goebbels Miller in charge of Homeland Security. In addition to Trump critics, the gulags will be full of people who made fun of Miller using spray-can hair. That shit was funny, yo. Oh, shit.

The Atlantic Article is a collection of columns by 12 writers, David Frum, Anne Applebaum, McKay Coppins, Caitlin Dickerson, Barton Gellman, Sophie Gilbert, Zoë Schlanger, George Packer, Sarah Zhang, Franklin Foer, Michael Schuman, and Adam Serwer.

David Frum, a former speechwriter for George W. Bush, tweeted that his article in the series argues “Trump’s attempt to destroy the legal system will lead — not to dictatorship — but to chaos, to the paralysis of the presidency, the US government, an open door to US enemies.”

Yesterday, The New York Times published an article also warning of a second Trump term, stating, “As he runs for president again facing four criminal prosecutions, Mr. (sic) Trump may seem more angry, desperate and dangerous to American-style democracy than in his first term. But the throughline that emerges is far more long-running: He has glorified political violence and spoken admiringly of autocrats for decades.”

A spokesgoon for the Trump campaign, Steven Cheung, said to The Hill, “This is nothing more than another version of the media’s failed and false Russia collusion hoax. The Atlantic will be out of business soon because nobody will read that trash.”

If Trump does “win” the 2024 election, the Atlantic will probably be put out of business by the new and ‘improved” fascist Trump admin (sic)…and all its writers placed into detention centers.

I disagree with Frum on one point. I agree that Trump will destroy the legal system, bring chaos, paralyze the presidency and government, and open the door to our enemies, but I disagree with Frum that Trump will not be a dictator. Trump will attempt to install himself as a dictator. Fascism will reign. Trump doesn’t care if the majority of voters elect him. He’ll settle for enough people to overthrow the government for him.

Donald Trump is a danger to our democracy, but perhaps the greatest danger to our republic is his followers. The Republican Party, now the MAGA Party, doesn’t care about the constitution or democracy. They don’t care about the rule of law. Many of them are howling for pardons for Trump’s Jan 6 terrorists. A majority of Republicans still claim Trump won in 2020 without any evidence.

I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say our nation will be destroyed if Donald Trump becomes president (sic) again.

That’s a nice democracy you have there. It’d be a shame if something happened to it.

 

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"Tuberville Time"

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And I said I was done drawing Taylor Swift cartoons.

Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville’s ten-month folly of blockading military promotions because of a reimbursement policy for travel expenses for members to obtain an abortion has failed. Tuberville says he will now only block the most senior generals, but over 440 promotions were passed in one fell swoop as soon as his blockade was lifted.

So what did Tuberville get in return for lifting his blockade? Did the Pentagon change it’s policy that offers time off and travel reimbursement to service members seeking abortions or fertility care. Nope. Tommy got nothing which means he spent the past ten months wasting everyone’s time and making this nation more vulnerable and less prepared for an attack by its enemies all because of his pro-forced birth zealotry. Ya know, when Tommy Dumberville was a football coach, he never let his players take time off for an abortion.

Tuberville represents Alabama, a red state that supposedly believes in patriotism and supports our military. But nobody ever accused Tuberville of being very smart. It wasn’t until he was elected to the Senate that he learned the three branches of government are NOT the House, Senate, and presidency. Now he thinks it’s the House, Senate, and Waffle House. Who told him how to block military promotions anyway? It’s not like he figured that shit out by himself. In case I forgot to mention that Tommy Tuberville is stupid…Tommy Tuberville is stupid. That beyotch is dumb.

Tommy Tuberville was less dangerous to this nation as a horrible football coach than he is now as a horrible United States Senator. I have friends and family in Alabama so I know with certainty that Tuberville is not that state’s best.

If Tuberville had his way, he probably would try to block Taylor Swift from being Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. After all, she is pro-choice and not pro-forced birth as Tuberville is. She’s also an excellent role model for girls. Tommy Tuberville is a role model for people who like to march with tiki torches while chanting “Jews will not replace us.”

I’ve seen a lot of people post that they don’t listen to Taylor Swift’s music but they respect her because they’ve heard what a good person she is. She donates significant chunks of her fortune to charity. She gave huge bonuses to the crew working on her current tour. Each truck driver got a check for $100,000, and they’re probably jamming to Jason Aldean while hauling her stage from city to city. Her tour is so huge that cities are begging to be a stop on it because it brings a giant influx to every community’s economy that it visits. She’s also the hardest working musician today, not hardest working woman…hardest working musician. Her current tour started last March and doesn’t end until a year from tomorrow, December 8, 2024. She does take time off during the tour before hitting the road again, but touring is hard. Performing three-hour shows four nights in a row is hard.

Several years ago when I was in a band, Corporate T-Shirt, we released an album (No Thanks to Hancock) and to celebrate it, we played two nights in a row. We played a festival and then had an album/CD release party the next night in a club. I was the lead singer and guitar player. I could barely talk for three days afterward. Now I’m not a vocalist like Taylor Swift and this was back in my smoking days and I had a lot of beer during those two days, but still. It’s hard. I don’t know how smoker Dave Grohl lives to scream every night. I would never recover after delivering a full-throatal assault of “Best of You.” Forget about it.

There a lots of jokes about older people not being aware of who Taylor Swift is, but I’m 57 and I have several of her songs on my playlist, including the entire Folklore album which is brilliant. It’s not an album designed for teenage girls though they love it too. If you love music, any kind of music, you need to listen to Folklore. If nothing else, just listen to the seventh track. Trust me.

I became aware of Taylor Swift about a decade or so ago when I had a part time job for a short while in a clothing store. There were lots of teenage girls there and lots of music that was new to me, including Taylor Swift. It’s also where I first heard of Justin Beiber. “Baby” is catchy and I do like it, but his music didn’t stick with me. Taylor’s did though. When I got past “You Belong To Me” and “Love Story,” I heard some more mature stuff and immediately knew I was listening to a game changer. This was a huge talent to pay attention to…and I did.

My only knock against Taylor Swift is that while she has worked hard, she’s never been hungry. My ex-wife is Tim McGraw’s first cousin and they were good friends. She visited him in Nashville before he made it and from the impression I got, he was living on Ramen and baloney before “Indian Outlaw” hit (which really surprised all of us because that’s just a horrible song). Taylor Swift never lived on Ramen and had support from a wealthy family. Good for her. By the way, Ramen can be delicous if you tinker with it. I add some Creole seasoning and mmm, mmm, mmm.

Now, if you’re one of those people who marks themselves “safe” from caring about Taylor Swift on social media, you failed. You’re that ex that calls to tell me she’s not going to call me anymore… and then calls me again to tell me she’s serious this time. Yes, I had one of those (if you’re her and you’re reading this now, am I talking about you or another girl who killed my rabbit?).

I don’t listen to Bad Bunny (speaking of rabbits). The first time I heard of Bad Bunny I thought, “Wasn’t that a character in one of those bad Matthew McConaughey/Kate Hudson rom-coms (I Just looked it up and that was Bigg Bunny played by Kevin Hart)?”. I don’t know one of his songs and wouldn’t be able to recognize one if I heard it. I don’t know his style or much of anything about him except he’s a rapper, Puerto Rican, and extremely popular, popular enough for me to be aware of him (I’m mostly aware of him because of a girl who LOVES him). But I don’t feel the need to post on social media that I’m ignorant about him and his music. Do you know why? Because I really don’t care. Maybe someday I will. Being ignorant about something is not an accomplishment no matter how much you believe it is.

So if you’re on social media posting that you don’t care about Taylor Swift, or anyone or anything else for that matter…guess what. You do care.

Since I’ve drawn at least four cartoons over the past year on Taylor Swift, one for CNN, then she’s probably a great choice for Time’s Person of the year.

 

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This is excellent:

 

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[Audrey2]

3 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Shouldn't that be Raphael Cruz? We must call him by his given name and not by the name he chooses. Calling him by the name he chooses would be woke.

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"Those Were The Days"

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Norman Lear passed away this week at the age of 101. He worked on over 100 TV shows and created Maude, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jefferson, Good Times, and of course, All in the Family.

All in the Family debuted in 1971 and ran until 1979. I was too young to pay any attention to it at first but I think I started watching it a few seasons into its run. Even though I was just a kid in elementary school, I was in on the joke. The patriarch of the family was Archie Bunker, played brilliantly by Carroll O’Connor. Archie was a working-class guy in Queens and also a bigot incapable of adapting while the world changed around him. The show was the first to tackle many serious subjects like racism, homosexuality, feminism, antisemitism, infidelity, breast cancer, abortion, rape, the war in Vietnam, and impotence among many others.

Perhaps the funniest aspect of the show is that a lot of conservative viewers saw Archie as their champion, even though he was kinda oafish, often the butt of the jokes, and usually burned by his bigotry at the end of each episode. This was similar to conservatives not understanding that Stephen Colbert’s brilliant Bill O’Reilly-inspired talk show host was making fun of them.

Archie was surrounded by people who weren’t as intolerant as he was, such as his sweet naive wife, his feminist daughter, and super liberal son-in-law. Norman Learn did the reverse of this with Fred Sanford, a black junk dealer with prejudice and outdated views living with his more tolerant son, Lamont. Fred and Archie insulted everyone who came into their paths. Norman really should have gotten them two together for a crossover. We did get to see Archie and George Jefferson spar and The Jeffersons, as well as Maude, were spin-offs of All in the Family.

I liked several of Norman Lear’s shows and grew up mostly on Sanford and Son, Good Times, and my favorite, The Jeffersons. I still want to live in a penthouse in the sky.

Of course, Norman Lear wasn’t a bigot, but Republicans would love to rewrite the theme to All in the Family, “Those Were the Days,” return us to a nation of suppression, and “make America great again.”

Creative note: I wrote this yesterday while writing ideas for CNN. I didn’t write this one for them as it wasn’t on my assignment and it’s probably too wordy for the newsletter. I wrote the first three verses yesterday which is how many there are in the theme…I think. I actually didn’t go back and listen to it but I did read the lyrics. I added an extra verse this morning because I was having too much fun with it although this much lettering is a lot of work. I just now realized that every line in the fourth verse ends on the exact same words as every line in the second verse. Pretend you don’t see that. I’ll be Lennon/McCartney next time.