Zero Dimensional Chess
I want to acknowledge that most Dems actually opposed Schumer, and there have been several courageously speaking out and doing everything they can to repel this onslaught. AOC, Elizabeth Warren, Jamie Raskin, and Jasmine Crockett come to mind, though they aren’t the only ones. At least they are making the case, trying to explain to the public what is happening and why it’s outrageously wrong. These people deserve credit for their heroism, and I don’t want to diminish their efforts by painting the entire party with a broad brush. That said, my hopes for the budget showdown were not terribly high, given how much has already been allowed to happen. We shouldn’t be here in the first place.
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The Sorensen Monologues
Playing the Wealth Card
The sheer chutzpah of these billionaire technofascists who assume it’s their right to take over the country, destroy our government, and financially terrorize millions is simply beyond me. I find it a little strange, though not surprising, that we rarely heard the words “radical libertarianism” in the mainstream media before the election, and as far as I know, we still aren’t hearing much about the extremist ideology behind the current chaos. Not that there hasn’t been excellent reporting elsewhere. I highly recommend reading Wired magazine these days — in particular, this article about plans for corporate-controlled cities operating outside the scope of pesky federal regulations like environmental protection and worker rights. These guys belong to a pseudoscientific cult that conveniently places them at the top and devalues the lives of everyone else.
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An Ill Wind of Change
1980s pop culture was filled with reminders of the existential threat posed by the Soviet Union, some of it jingoistic (Rocky IV comes to mind), and some of it deeply chilling, such as the Sting song “Russians” referenced in the first panel. Like many in my generation, I internalized the idea that being an American meant living in a democracy, however flawed, that existed in opposition to the worst dictatorships. As I grew older, I became increasingly aware of ways in which the US failed to live up to these democratic ideals (hence the political cartooning career). Yet even after all we’ve been through, it’s still shocking for me to see America reject our European allies and embrace Putin’s Russia.
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“Protecting the Children”
I don’t envy kids growing up today. Of all the problems they — and we — face, however, the availability of carefully-administered medical care to delay puberty (sometimes used for transgender kids) isn’t one of them! It’s not even in the top 500 list of political issues America needs to concern itself with, because it’s not an issue to be “debated” so much as a medical question. Yet relentless propaganda efforts have put this topic front and center in everyone’s minds. Meanwhile, the actual health and safety of millions of kids are imperiled by the ongoing destruction of the US government.
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Welcome to AI-merica
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the government employees losing their jobs, all these decent people having their lives totally upended. Musk says he wants to replace much of the federal workforce with AI. In the private sector, we’re also seeing layoffs and fewer job openings in industries where bosses are trying to use AI to cut labor costs. At the same time, the social safety net is being threatened with massive cuts. What are people supposed to do? What’s the point of an economy that no longer serves the interests of human beings?
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The Consumer Financial Destruction Bureau
Founded by Elizabeth Warren in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau addressed all sorts of sleazy practices in the financial services industry, from shady loans to exorbitant junk fees to insecure payment apps. They recovered some $21 billion on behalf of the American people. This was an example of good government fighting corporate abuses on behalf of the public. Yet how many voters even knew or heard about it? Many have been led to believe the oligarchs ransacking the country are fighting “corruption.”
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Pluto-brats
Like many news stories these days, this one is so outlandish it’s difficult to exaggerate. Musk’s lackeys have infiltrated the U.S. Treasury payment system and are, according to WIRED, editing the code as I write this. This is not only illegal, but a grave security breach that violates the privacy of most Americans.
For further thoughts on what’s happening to the country right now, you might check out this Guardian article on the far-right, deeply misogynist roots of technofascism.
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Beware of TLAs
The term “DEI” is being used as a cover to tear apart much of the federal government. And they’ve started invoking the scourge of “DEIA” too, which refers to accessibility.
It’s not that this language didn’t exist before, but it’s being weaponized now. Suddenly the cold, impersonal-sounding acronym DEI has replaced “diversity initiatives,” “civil rights,” “equal rights,” “fairness,” and “anti-discrimination” in everyday conversation. I would suggest that one small thing we can do is return to using those actual words.
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Recent Interviews
A few things I’ve been up to lately:
Fast Company magazine held a great roundtable discussion about political cartooning in a broken media landscape. I have to say, the sample art that they chose from my comic for the feature image is perfectly timed.
The Comics Journal also published a lengthy, well-researched article on political cartooning on the eve of the second Trump administration, interviewing several artists. I’m in the latter half of the piece, in the section about altweekly comics.
Finally, if you have some extra time on your hands, you might consider watching or listening to this Zoom recording of cartoonists reading from books and essays that speak to our political moment, organized by the great illustrator and humanitarian Steve Brodner. This was created as an alternative to watching the inauguration. It was a humbling group to be a part of, and I was truly impressed by the selections. My reading begins around the 1 hour and 31 minute mark. Note that this is very much an informal Zoom chat and I didn’t have any interesting visuals, though a few people managed!
Your New Order Has Arrived
I get the sense that many people had no clue about the revolutionary nature of this administration, or still don’t, and I’m not just talking about Trump voters. Though it may be moot at this point, we need to ask why this is so.
In case you haven’t heard about the meme coins, Trump has issued his own branded cryptocurrency, $TRUMP, which has attracted billions in investment over the last few days. Melania followed suit with a $MELANIA coin. As you might expect, government ethics officials view this as a gross conflict of interest with massive potential for corruption.
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Oligarchically Correct
Longtime readers know how much I despise the term “political correctness” for being a loaded insult that is only ever lobbed in one direction, ignoring the many orthodoxies and laughable euphemisms of the right. It’s a form of name-calling that’s often sloppily used to denigrate all positive social change. Now we’ve entered a era of repression worse than anything I imagined possible in my lifetime. Ideas unpalatable to the billionaire class and would-be dictators are being methodically purged from mainstream discourse. The most annoying scolds on the internet are the bros and broligarchs constantly screeching about diversity initiatives (they are actually blaming the LA wildfires on the fact that the fire chief is a woman, among other conspiracy theories). And yet a kind of conventional wisdom still holds that these are the freethinkers, not monstrous threats to the freedom of others. The lack of concern about Hungary-style crackdowns on academia also strikes me as bizarre.
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How to Get in the Holiday Spirit
To be clear, I do not actually recommend slipping into unconsciousness for the next twelve years. That’s probably not the way out of this mess. I have to say, though, the normal expressions of seasonal joy feel like an exercise in cognitive dissonance.
The Statue of Liberty in the ground is a reference to the ending of The Planet of the Apes.
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