I've never understood anti-Semitism. As a Mexican-American man with little exposure to Jewish people up until college, that hate always seemed like one group of white people discriminating another group of white people for no good reason. I never understood why if our country went to war against the Nazis in World War II to save Jewish folks from genocide, we would have Americans that would act like the enemy. We are supposed to be the heroes not the villains. So, it never made sense why ANY American would hate or promote hatred or fear towards the same group of people our soldiers died to save. It seems to me like a betrayal of our values and what our ancestors fought for. Why save a group only to hate them and persecute them later? It seems to me at that point we become our enemy. 

In the wake of The Tree of Life Synagogue shooting  the words "I'm sorry", "that's horrible" and "what a tragedy" don't seem enough. No words seem adequate to express the terrible feelings around this unfortunate event. Presently, I have many close friends and loved ones that are Jewish. Any of them could have been in attendance. Although I am not religious myself, I personally have accompanied many of them to their place of worship for festivities or ceremonies. It could have been me. Any one of us.
 
Then to add insult to injury, President Trump shows up in an attempt to, let's say pay his respects or console people. Both of which he failed to do as his response to this atrocity was that all they needed was an armed guard inside the place of worship to stop the gunman. The degree of disconnect in our Commander in Chief is astronomical.  I later learned through a friend that the dinner on Air Force One on the return from the visit to the Tree of Life synagogue for Jewish staffers onboard was pork ribs. One would assume that for a man who's son-in-law is Jewish as well as his daughter (whom converted) and grandkids, he would have a greater sensitivity towards the Jewish faith and culture.  However, it's not surprising. His track record shows the opposite. His failure to decry racism, sexism, anti-Semitism and his penchant for promoting fringe ideologies as well as violence towards those that disagree with him have led us here.  In the span of a week two Trump supporters attempted to carry out their own schemes with the intent to kill people that Trump has in the past blamed or demonized. Words do indeed matter. Especially when they come from a man that is supposed to be a leader and a role model. Words can influence and inspire as can silence. In this case what Trump is saying is just as important as what he is not. By not taking action and not denouncing these vile behaviors he is basically silently condoning them.  
"Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. " -Elie Wiesel

“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” That's the poem on the Statue of Liberty written by Emma Lazarus, a Jewish woman in 1883.  A woman who back then did not have the right to vote and came from a group of people that have been and continue to be persecuted the world over. A woman who was the daughter of immigrants. The point being is that America is a nation of immigrants, founded and built by immigrants. It continues to be to this day.  To be xenophobic is almost by definition un-American. We all know what happened on September 11th 2001. We also know who hijacked those planes and where they were from. The attacks that took place that day changed America forever and that includes increased security measures on travel to and from the U.S. We have to  take our shoes off and submit ourselves to "Total Recall" type X-ray machines or very intimate pat downs. We also know what happened in Germany right before World War II. The persecution of a certain group of people that according to the German leadership at the time was responsible for all the ills of the nation. A group of people that needed "extreme vetting" and surveillance. That group's vetting got scaled up bit by bit until they found themselves in labor or concentration camps. During that time America did the same thing, to our citizens of Japanese descent. History tells us that these approaches to our security were a mistake. We need to learn from history. We cannot fight terrorism with fear. Ben Franklin said it best "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Immigrants are not our enemies, Muslim, Mexican or otherwise. They are our backbone and always will be. But this is just my opinion, of course.

About two weeks ago I get a request through my website for a commission from a very cool fella in Canada.  I have yet to meet a Canadian I didn't like. This particular gent wanted me to draw good ole Trump and Putin in a BDSM scene. That alone sounded super fun. I was all geared up to draw this and then the "golden showers" allegations happened. On a silver platter! As a cartoonist that's then most amazing thing that could occur when you are looking for satirical inspiration. So I took my Canadian client's request and the recent "stream" (pun fully intended) of events and ran with it. I must admit it has been one of the most vulgar yet fun pieces I have ever done. I teased parts of  it a bit on social media and got plenty of requests to see it. After much deliberation I decided to show it here and make it available for sale. If you are interested in purchasing a copy of this piece drop me a line with your address and use the Paypal button on the right or my Bitcoin wallet address and submit a payment of 20$ and I will ship you an 11x17 inch poster of this image. If you live outside of the US standard shipping fees will apply, don't worry I will let you know what they are.

I'm now accepting bitcoin! If you need an illustration please let me know and I will send you my wallet address or just use the QR code on the right. The pricing will be in dollars but I will accept the bitcoin equivalent. Hit me up and let me know what you need.  ​

Donald Trump is my president-elect. Come January he will be my president. Unfortunately.
Somehow a loud-mouthed, vulgar, orange alleged billionaire not only won the Republican nomination, but also the election. The man with possibly the most fragile ego on Twitter managed to win the highest office in the land.
If you have kids prepare to explain to them that at some point in American history we voted (well the Electoral College did) into office a man who uttered the words “you can grab them by the pussy” in reference to women. If you have daughters, well you’ll have to either denounce that statement for what it is, or like the rest of the Trump supporters, find some sort of justification or excuse to downplay it, such as, “well, he was only 59 at the time.”
Also, have a good explanation for why we decided to go with the candidate who was enthusiastically endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan. If you are a minority of any kind or have friends or relatives who are, this is another time when it's good to have a handy-dandy excuse ready. Maybe, “we felt as a nation that racists were also underrepresented.”
The about-to-be most powerful man in the world ran on a campaign that espoused sexual assault, denied climate change and the benefits of vaccines, stoked fears of foreigners in a nation founded and built by immigrants, and advocated violence at his own rallies. Let that sink in. Then realize that as far as we know life only exists on Earth, so that also makes him the most powerful man in the known universe.
That guy. That’s the guy we decided should be in charge of our nation.

This is what happens. When as a society we allow ignorance to be protected under the guise of politics or religion. When we defend other people's insecurities in an attempt to conserve and protect values that may be traditional to some but oppressive to others. 

This is what happens when we don't promote respect and acceptance of diversity through knowledge and understanding. We encourage ignorance which promotes fear and hatred of people different from us. This is inexcusable. My heart goes out to the LGBTQ community and the victims of today's massacre in Orlando.

​Calling this an act of terrorism or a gun tragedy or anything other than a hate crime is taking away from the LGBTQ community and almost making an excuse by blaming it on something else, distracting from the real issue. The fact of the matter is that as a society we have been doing this for generations.  LGBTQ people have been murdered, beaten and raped (yes raped) just because they simply consensually love another person that a heteronormative culture does not approve of. Not to mention the countless amounts of discrimination they faced and continue to face on a daily basis. From marriage rights to lack of employment protection to getting something as inoffensive as a cake baked for their wedding.  This is a hate crime and we have all been complicit in it.

As a nation we still treat our LGBTQ brothers and sisters as less than or something other than. Even with the Marriage Equality act they are still second class citizens.  Then there is the astronomically high suicide rate among teens that are LGBTQ. As I write this, sexually active gay people are being denied the ability to donate blood to the victims in Orlando, but not sexually active straight people. The odds are stacked against anyone that is not "straight and normal" in our world and the systemic support is pretty much non-existent.

​Can we make this a terrorism issue? Yes, of course. After all, the guy did claim allegiance to ISIS. Can we make this a gun issue? Absolutely. It was a gunman. He used guns. Can we make this a religious issue? Very much so. Much like the Westborough Baptist Church, ISIS is a fundamentalist extremist sect of a very popular world religion.  Can we make this a political issue? Certainly. All the presidential hopefuls have all chimed in. But in the end, we are all avoiding the deeper issue; excused, acceptable, and defendable ignorance, hate and intolerance. 

How many times have we called someone the "f" word. The one that ends with "g"?  Or said "that's so gay"? Or heard someone else do it and not say anything? Furthermore, we don't stop to consider if the person saying it is with ISIS or what political party or religion they belong to.  More often than not its excused, because its "just a joke".

​You want to fight religious extremism? Fight ignorance first. Religious extremists need ignorance in order to brainwash people into following them and their warped beliefs.  You want to put an end to gun violence? Fight ignorance first. We need responsible gun owners and not ignorant ones. Don't use the 2nd amendment right (which is how this gunman was able to acquire this weapon LEGALLY) to threaten others or as an excuse to constantly live in fear that someone may attack you. Banning guns won't make a difference, ignorance always finds a way.  You want to fight homophobia? Fight ignorance first. Being afraid of people that are different from the majority is how we got the public lynchings during the first half of the 20th century.

​We make excuses to defend our ignorance. We shield it under religious beliefs, politics, superstition, tradition, pseudoscience or morality. Its time to drop our defenses and open up and accept. Its the only way to learn and gain knowledge over our fear of the unknown, and its the only way to fight ignorance.

It seems Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will be facing off as the Presidential nominees for each party. Its time to decide between a corporate owned establishment legacy candidate in Hillary Clinton or the big mouthed, bigoted billionaire in Trump that allegedly bought her in 2005 to go to his wedding according to his claims. If we this is correct then crazy ole Trump wins whether or not he becomes POTUS. If he wins the Presidency, well, he wins. If he loses, he STILL wins, because all he has to do to get the President to do his bidding is offer her more money again according to how he claims Hillary works. Remember, as with most foul deals, the devil is in the details.

Sooo, it seems Mr. Trump decided he's going to come and stump in Arizona isn't that special? The most ignorant and racist Republican candidate has taken an interest in campaigning in the most ignorant and racist state in the nation, my home state of Arizona. What a shocker. As I write this there are multiple protests going on in Tucson and along the freeway from Phoenix  to Tucson, by the few Arizonans whose brains haven't been rotted out dealing with the backwards policies and regressive leaders in this state. I doubt these protests will be the last of them in the nation. Good ole' racist Don even managed to find the most racist public official in Arizona, Joe Arpaio and went to go get his blessing. Seeing as how the Trump circus is not going to see an end anytime soon, I figured the least I could do was try to contribute and help out the good people that decided to stand up against such a bigoted bully. For this reason I have made my Trump digital download free to anyone that wants to use it to protest. So anyone in any part of the world or USA can now download my Trump caricature for digital use. You can make a kickass meme or Facebook post, tweet or anything else.  Feel free to share this with as many people you know that want to stand up to this clown. Happy protesting and please don't let this idiot become POTUS.

The primaries are now in full swing and even though the Republican field has the more entertaining candidates, the Democrats have the more interesting race.
Hillary Clinton, the expected front-runner, has encountered a major hurdle in the form of a fiery ole democratic socialist from Vermont by the name of Bernie Sanders. The guy has managed to close a 50-point gap and give Clinton a run for her Wall Street-backed money. He's also motivated the millennials and raised millions in private donations, which Goldman-Sachs was probably not expecting. Sanders has not only won several states, but has managed to make Clinton look like the only sane conservative running for president. During the last couple of debates, Hillary's best strategy in defeating Bernie has been to say the same thing he said months earlier. Although, he is still behind her in the polls, he's maintained a close enough distance to keep the Clinton campaign awake at night — so much so, that they finally agreed to appear in a debate hosted by Fox News. Sanders had agreed to do it way before her all on his own, but after he took Kansas, Maine, and Nebraska she had a sudden change of heart about the whole Fox thing, or maybe she just had a bit of "heart Bern."

​Feel free to download and share the cartoon with this link.

 Three school shootings in a week (2 of them were in the same day) and one of them was a mass shooting.  So far, this year there have been 294 mass shootings in the U.S. according to the Washington Post. Yet, guns don't kill people, abortions do, so let's make them harder for women to get. Guns are an American right so lets not limit access to them but education and healthcare aren't, so we should limit access to both of those things as much as possible. The argument isn't to ban guns, but to at least address the issue in order to address the inefficient laws already on the books. My gut feeling is that if gays, immigrants and women were lobbying to have more access to guns there would already be a law banning them.  

Maybe we could employ some sort of qualifications in order to buy a gun, like being 18 for tobacco or 21 for alcohol. How about if a guy is an anti social, sexually frustrated white male they should NOT be allowed to buy a gun, for starters anyway. 

Check it out and more at the Tucson Sentinel andPocho.com.

​

This January the Fox network is going to shake-up their Sunday evening comedy by including a Latino animated series produced by Seth McFarlane. Before you start to worry about it being another "A Million ways to Die in the West" or just Mexican Family Guy, know that McFarlane is not involved in contributing to the show. That honor goes to none other than  Mexican-American superstar cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz and the very popular Mexican-American columnist Gustavo Arellano of "Ask a Mexican" fame. The animated series which airs after Family Guy will be titled "Bordertown" and stars an all Mexican American cast of characters and voice actors as well as writers and takes place in the fictional town of Mexifornia.  I was fortunate enough to see a preview of the pilot and another episode yesterday hosted by Lalo Alcaraz at the Tucson YWCA.  Right out of the gate the show was hilarious. It was also incredibly smart and well written.  The show revolves around a Mexican immigrant landscaper by the name of Ernesto (voiced by Nicholas Gonzalez)  that is neighbors with a very Archie Bunkeresque border patrol agent by the name of Bud (voiced by Hank Azaria). The comedy is all border issue related and man is it spot on. From the interior of Ernesto's house to the cameo of the Virgen of Guadalupe, yes, the Virgen of Guadalupe makes an appearance. Now it has not eluded me that this show about Mexican American immigrants is on the Fox Network which owns Fox News and is a huge promoter of anti-immigrant sentiment, but to be fair, keep in mind that this network also brought you the Simpsons, Family Guy and Cosmos.  Furthermore, a show like this could only air on Fox, there's no way any other networks would take the risk of airing such a groundbreaking and funny series. Never before has there been an animated show that stars Mexican American voice actors dealing with Chicano issues with a prominent political cartoonist such as Alcaraz as a show contributor. Check out the following trailer which, after seeing  two full episodes does not do the show justice.

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Given the recent events, I could not help myself and just had to draw Donald Trump. Without him running for 
president he is a walking, talking cartoon character. Then he decides to run for office and things get insanely interesting. Not only does this cat come out and call Mexicans "drug dealers and rapists" he manages to get on Fox News's bad side by insulting Megyn Kelly all over social media.  Oh and he's the Republican candidate that is leading in the polls. Then when I think things couldn't get anymore ridiculous Mr. Trump encounters veteran Univision journalist Jorge Ramos in a press conference in Iowa. As soon as Ramos asked about immigration, The Donald had his security thugs remove the reporter. The more Ramos insisted on getting answer the faster he got removed. With Trump telling him to "go back to  Univision".   So, I decided to draw the fella. I must admit he was one of the most fun caricatures to date. 

As a cherry on top, I decided to add a "for print" section to the store and reduced all the digital art on sale for only $0.50. That's right, for only half a buck you can download a high resolution version of any caricature or cartoon for your personal use, whether its to post on an article, rant, blog or your personal desktop.   The "for print" section has just one high quality PDF at the moment of the Donald that you can print out and frame, make into a poster or into a protest or support sign if that's your fancy.

And now Martha...McSally that is. She's trying to save the A-10 and will let you know she was in the Air Force. Well now she is in caricature form for all your visual enjoyment and online needs. This one was particularly difficult since her looks have changed considerably since her make over. I don't think I've seen such a dramatic physical change since Greta Van Susteren decided she was going to go under the knife.