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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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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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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!

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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Don’t Take the Bait

Vance admitted on CNN that manipulating news coverage was the whole point of the fake stories they were telling (while of course arguing it was “disgusting” to suggest that the ensuing bomb threats that closed schools and hospitals had anything to do with their rhetoric).

I recommend this excellent Jamison Foser post about how the press should cover the lies about Springfield. To quote Foser:

When Donald Trump lies that Haitian immigrants are stealing and eating pets, that should be the hook for an article about Donald Trump’s long history of lying; about the fundamental lack of honesty, character, and integrity that this demonstrates. The result of Trump’s lies shouldn’t be articles about immigration, it should be articles about Donald Trump’s lifelong dishonesty and the consequences it poses, and articles about Trump’s lengthy history of directing hatred at racial minorities, and about his lengthy history of intentionally inciting threats of violence as well as actual violence.

It is possible to have a good-faith discussion of immigration policy, but this isn’t it.

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Weirdo Welfare

I’m fully on board with the trend of calling these far-right extremists “weird,” as the Harris campaign has savvily been doing. This is the marginalization of fascism that should have been happening all along, instead of the normalization we’ve been seeing from so many mainstream institutions. I think that’s why it feels so refreshing. These people ARE fringe, and it’s okay to say so!

As I was reading about how Vance has been lavishly funded by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, the old expression “wingnut welfare” came to mind. Vance was hired by Thiel after meeting him at Yale Law School, set up by Thiel with his own venture capital fund, given $15 million by Thiel to run a Senate campaign in Ohio, and now he’s the Vice Presidential nominee at the tender age of 39. Yet, as this excellent essay by a fellow Ohioan notes, Vance has expressed disdain for the lack of bootstrapping by the poor people he grew up around, and doesn’t support policies now that would actually help them.

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The Great Regression

Like many Americans, I marvel at the speed with which we went from the historic election of Barack Obama to the brink of fascism. Clearly these events are not unrelated; racial resentment exploded in reaction to Obama’s presidency. But this moment of reactionary politics goes well beyond that historical first and now seems to permeate every aspect of life, anywhere some degree of social progress has been achieved. What we’re seeing is a broad-based backsliding on many fronts, with rights that took decades to achieve — or even hundreds of years — disappearing before our eyes. It’s important to keep in mind that this is largely a top-down movement, driven by billionaires and corporate interests. Plenty of them are lining up behind Trump.

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Using the First Amendment to End the First Amendment

In recent years, the First Amendment has been shoddily invoked to justify decisions that ultimately diminish its very raison d’être, quite possibly leading us to fascism. 

Alarmingly, we’re now seeing state-level absurdities such as Florida removing sociology as a core course in its college curriculum and replacing it with a course teaching the “historically accurate account of America’s founding.” Indiana’s Attorney General Todd Rokita has launched the creepily-named “Eyes on Education” portal for the public to report “indoctrination” in classrooms. The West Virginia House just passed a bill allowing for the prosecution of librarians if an “obscene” item falls into a minor’s hands.

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Signs Your Government is Committing Crimes Against Humanity

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir responded “Hague Schmague” after the world court allowed South Africa’s charges of genocide to proceed. Netanyahu’s Twitter account posted “Nobody will stop us – not The Hague, not the axis of evil and not anybody else.” Whenever you hear government officials attempting to discredit The Hague, that is a huge warning sign that something has gone very wrong in that country. Yes, Hamas committed heinous crimes requiring a response, but Hamas is not the same as the whole population of Gaza, which is being indiscriminately slaughtered and starved to death. Journalists reporting on the carnage are being targeted as well.

For more background on the third panel about the State Department making human rights exceptions for Israel, see this Guardian article.

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Nothing’s Shocking (for long)

I had hoped that I would never have to draw Trump again, but those hopes were dashed as he made headlines recently for his use of the word “vermin” to describe political opponents at a rally in New Hampshire. I’m glad to see that the comment has been widely condemned for what it is. Yet I find myself wondering if this will follow the same pattern as so many other examples of extremism that shocked us initially, only to become normalized over time. After the January 6 insurrection, many corporate donors tried to distance themselves from the coup attempt. Now we have an election denier as Speaker of the House, and others making regular appearances on talking head shows. It seems there is no limit to the erosion of norms through sheer repetition and a focus on horse race coverage.

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Self-Parodic Sages