Republicans were super giddy when Nancy Pelosi got “caught” going to the hair salon without using a face mask, violating COVID restrictions. Conservatives were celebrating the “gotcha” moment they just scored, but then… Trump’s words. A report by the Atlantic stated that Trump referred to fallen troops as “losers” and “suckers” when he canceled a visit to the Aisle-Marne Cemetery in 2018. Trump deals with his numbers after his rally. Donald Trump's photo op when the country protests George Floyd's death asking for change... 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.
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.
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.
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